Recumbent Bicycling – Page 39 – The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Too Many Deer: Roadside Attraction

A mutual staredown during a utility bike ride:

Roadside Deer - Rt 376 Marker 1111 - 2018-06-20 — Roadside Deer – Rt 376 Marker 1111 – 2018-06-20

This is just after noon, when deer should be snoozing, north of Paula’s Public House, with the deer on the creek side of the road. I’m towing the trailer with an empty propane tank, coasting down from 18 mph, and expecting the deer to jump in front of me, because that’s what deer do. It waited patiently until I passed, hopped the guide rail, trotted across the road, then clambered up the steep hillside away from the Mighty Wappinger Creek.

Searching for deer will reveal many more encounters.

2018-06-24

Power Line Inspection

We heard God’s Own Weedwhacker off to the right as we approached Jackson Drive on the way home:

Chopper over power lines - Vassar Rd near Jackson Dr - 2018-06-11 — Chopper over power lines – Vassar Rd near Jackson Dr – 2018-06-11

The chopper followed the power lines, just over the treetops, with the downdraft thrashing the leaves:

Chopper over power lines - Vassar Rd near Jackson Dr - rear camera - 2018-06-11 — Chopper over power lines – Vassar Rd near Jackson Dr – rear camera – 2018-06-11

Long ago, I attended a talk about using choppers for power line inspection and maintenance. Apparently, someone with nerves of ice can replace insulator supports and aeolian dampers on high-tension lines while perched on a chopper hovering very very close to the conductors. Pilots with experience getting troops into and out of hot LZs are in high demand.

I’m sure they give the E911 call center a heads-up before taking off …

2018-06-23

Turtles All The Way Down

Spotted another big turtle ready to cross the Dutchess Rail Trail along Daley Rd:

Rail Trail Turtle - 2018-06-04 — Rail Trail Turtle – 2018-06-04

This must be the best season ever for turtles crossing vast expanses of asphalt, because I don’t recall seeing this many turtles during any previous spring. Confirmation bias in full effect, to be sure.

The picture is a dot-for-dot crop from the Sony HDR-AS30V helmet camera, demonstrating why image compression has more to do with resolution than the number of dots.

2018-06-10

Snapping Turtle Teleportation

The dark spot in the grass, barely visible over on the left, is a dinner-plate-size snapping turtle recently teleported from the middle of Rt 376 just north of Robinson Lane:

The driver of the white van managed to stop both lanes during the rescue and, judging from the lack of gore, handled the snapper without incurring organic damage.

Color me impressed!

2018-06-09

Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp

In addition to sawing through the side of the cable ferrule, the front derailleur cable began breaking at the edge of the derailleur arm:

Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable - frayed — Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable – frayed

It wouldn’t have survived another ride!

Dan pointed out CNC machined aluminum cable clamps are a thing, but those are sized for larger frame tubes than the 1.0 inch steel used on our Tour Easy ‘bents and, although I’ve shimmed everything else on the frame, I wanted to tweak the cable angle to match the arm on the derailleur.

A bit of OpenSCAD wrangling produces a likely candidate:

Front Derailleur Cable Clamp - Slic3r — Front Derailleur Cable Clamp – Slic3r

That’s a bulked-up revision of the prototype:

Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp - installed — Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp – installed

Done up in orange PETG, it demonstrated the idea worked, but two perimeter threads wrapped around 15% infill isn’t quite up to the task. Note the split along the screw on the far half and various irregularities around the ferrule.

The cable angle isn’t quite right, either, as the proper compound angle would, alas, aim the cable into the pedal crank. The bulky bushings get in the way of putting the ferrule where it should be with the screws aligned in a tidy manner, so I must get used to the jaunty angle.

The bulkier version, done with 50% infill and four perimeter threads, has the same tilt angle, but the ferrule sits further from the screws:

Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp V2 - rear quarter view — Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp V2 – rear quarter view

The view from the left side shows the cable angles slightly to the rear, but the smaller angle should make it happier:

Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp V2 - side view — Tour Easy Front Derailleur Cable Clamp V2 – side view

Probably should have used black PETG. Next time, for sure!

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Tour Easy Derailleur Cable Clamp
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU – June 2017

	/* [Build Options] */

	Layout = "Build"; // [Build, Show]

	/* [Extrusion] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25; // [0.20, 0.25]
	ThreadWidth = 0.40; // [0.40]

	function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

	/* [Hidden] */

	Protrusion = 0.01; // [0.01, 0.1]

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	/* [Cable Clamp] */

	FrameOD = 25.7; // Tour Easy has hard inch tubing + paint

	Ferrule = [1.5,5.1,12.0]; // cable ferrule

	EntryPoint = [0,13,60]; // cable entry to derailleur, +Y to rear of bike

	CableTilt = -20; // tilt from parallel to frame tube
	CableTheta = 0; // rotation around clamp from +X axis

	/* [Screws and Inserts] */

	ClampScrew = [3.0,5.5,35.0]; // M3 button / socket head cap screw
	ClampWasher = [3.7,7.0,0.7]; // M3 washer
	ClampNut = [3.0,6.0,4.0]; // M3 nylock nut

	/*
	ClampScrew = [4.0,7.0,25.0]; // M4 button head cap screw
	ClampWasher = [4.5,9.0,0.8]; // M4 washer
	ClampNut = [4.0,8.0,5.0]; // M4 nylock nut
	*/

	NutShift = -0; // slide bushing toward nut for clearance

	//- Set clamp ring dimensions

	WallThick = 10.0;

	BushingSides = 8;

	Bushing = [ClampScrew[ID],
	// ClampWasher[OD]/cos(180/8) + 4*ThreadWidth,
	Ferrule[LENGTH]/cos(180/BushingSides),
	ClampScrew[LENGTH] – 2*ClampWasher[LENGTH] – ClampNut[LENGTH]];

	Ring = [FrameOD + HoleWindage,FrameOD + 2*WallThick,Ferrule[LENGTH]];

	ClampScrewOC = IntegerMultiple(FrameOD + ClampWasher[OD],1);
	echo(str(" screw OC: ",ClampScrewOC));

	ClampKerf = 0.75; // kerf between separated halves

	NumSides = 8*4;

	//- Adjust hole diameter to make the size come out right

	module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes
	Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);
	FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);
	cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);
	}


	// Construct things

	module ClampRing() {
	difference() {
	union() {
	cylinder(d=Ring[OD],h=Ring[LENGTH],$fn=NumSides); // basic ring

	for (j=[-1,1]) // screw bushings
	translate([Bushing[LENGTH]/2 + NutShift,j*ClampScrewOC/2,Ring[LENGTH]/2])
	rotate([0,-90,0]) rotate(180/BushingSides)
	cylinder(d=Bushing[OD],h=Bushing[LENGTH],$fn=BushingSides);

	intersection() {
	rotate([CableTilt,0,CableTheta]) // reinforce cable ferrule
	translate([(Ring[ID] + Ring[OD])/4,0,Ferrule[LENGTH]/2])
	rotate(180/8)
	cylinder(d=3Ferrule[OD] + 0ThreadWidth,2*Ferrule[LENGTH],center=true,$fn=8);
	cylinder(d=2*Ring[OD],h=Ring[LENGTH],$fn=NumSides); // basic ring
	}
	}

	translate([0,0,-Protrusion]) // frame tube
	cylinder(d=Ring[ID],h=Ring[LENGTH] + 2*Protrusion,$fn=NumSides);

	rotate([CableTilt,0,CableTheta]) // cable ferrule
	translate([(Ring[ID] + Ring[OD])/4,0,-0.25*Ferrule[LENGTH]]) {
	rotate(180/8)
	PolyCyl(Ferrule[OD],Ferrule[LENGTH],8);
	rotate(-22.5)
	PolyCyl(Ferrule[ID],2*Ferrule[LENGTH],4);
	}

	for (j=[-1,1]) // screw holes
	translate([Ring[OD]/2,j*ClampScrewOC/2,Ring[LENGTH]/2])
	rotate([0,-90,0]) rotate(180/6)
	PolyCyl(Bushing[ID],Ring[OD],6);

	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1]) // screw & nut seats
	translate([i(Bushing[LENGTH]/2) + NutShift,jClampScrewOC/2,Ring[LENGTH]/2])
	rotate([0,i*90,0]) rotate(180/BushingSides)
	cylinder(d=Bushing[OD],h=Bushing[LENGTH],$fn=BushingSides);

	translate([0,0,Ring[LENGTH]/2]) // slice it apart
	cube([ClampKerf,2Ring[OD],2Ring[LENGTH]],center=true);
	}
	}


	//- Build things

	if (Layout == "Show") {
	translate(EntryPoint)
	cube(1,center=true);
	ClampRing();
	}

	if (Layout == "Build") {
	ClampRing();
	}

view raw Derailleur Cable Clamp.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

2018-06-08

Rt 376 Overgrowth: Red Oaks Mill to Maloney Rd

The weeds are once again taking over the shoulder along Rt 376 south of Red Oaks Mill:

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New shoots from the Japanese Knotweed stand just north of Maloney Rd have begun punching through the asphalt along the edge of the shoulder.

This section is in the purview of NYS DOT’s Dutchess South Residency, extending south of Red Oaks Mill to the end of Rt 376 near Hopewell. In contrast, DOT’s Dutchess North Residency continues to keep Rt 376 well-trimmed northward from Red Oaks Mill to Poughkeepsie. I’ve never gotten any explanation why the two Residencies have such strikingly different weed-control standards.

2018-06-05

Tour Easy: Front Derailleur Cable Angle

Spotted while in the midst of replacing my Tour Easy’s rear grip shifter:

As you might expect, the cable saws through the side of its ferrule and the brazed-on frame fitting, because it’s been basically impossible (for me, anyhow) to find a replacement derailleur duplicating whatever the good folks at Easy Racers shipped back in 2001.

On the upside, this derailleur’s cable entry has a nicely rounded ramp eliminating the need for my brass cable pulley widget.

Memo to Self: Perhaps running the cable around a bearing anchored to the frame fitting would help?

I’ve obviously forgotten to fix this for several years, so putting it here may serve as a Round Tuit.

2018-06-03