by bill from nh » Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:51 am
Dan, is your motor bracket made from three pieces of brass butt-joined & soldered at the corners to form the "U"? That's how the photos appear. Is that .062(1/16") thick brass you used?
Dariusz, that's a fine looking wire sidewinder chassis you built for your first. My opinions on some of your questions are: 1.) A 40W solder iron will do much of your chassis building. The exception will be if you work with a lot of 1/16" thick brass or piano wire bigger than 1/16" diameter, you'll need more heat. At that time, you could choose to get a bigger iron or one of the mini-torches. Generally speaking, "more heat is better" when chassis building. 2.) The 60/40 solder Dan mentioned is what to use. I've used others & some of them will stiffen a chassis to the point it takes several race sessions to get chassis flex. Use an acid flux for chassis building. Not only is it necessary for soldering piano wire & other iron to brass, it can also be used on brass to brass joints. Only on electrical connections do you want to avoid acid flux. Three good brands of acid flux are Lucky Bobs, Stay Clean, & Oatey's liquid flux. Hardware stores may sell Oatey's. 3.) To prep brass & piano wire, you can clean the pieces with fine sandpaper, steel wool, synthelic steel wool, or a wire brush. Also, something that helps prep piano wire is to pre-tin the wire with solder & acid flux & wipe it down while hot with a rag. Pre-tinned piano wire can usually be soldered by adding acid flux & heat without adding more solder. And pre-tinned piano wire doesn't rust because it has a thin coating of solder on it from the pre-tinning.