Thread: Hey i need help with a design for making a wood billy cart at school?

hi pat
hoping you have access to the tools to make the dovetail and biscuit joints

billycart is nothing more than a wooden box on a T frame with a swinging cross piece out front with wheels mounted on to steer with - use your feet to swing the front wheels um thats your steering - the brake was a stick nailed to the side and pulled down into the dirt to stop it.

hardest part we found when building a cart when we were kids was finding wheels. once we had em the other bits were scrounged begged or borrowed from the wood pile found around any house

oh and BTW no self respecting billy cart would ever be seen in public with no dovetail / biscuit / or dowell joints - getting caught with a cart built like that you would get run outa town or worse get beaten up for being a smarty pants

the prime objectives of billycart building:
spend no money,
use no technology cept maybe a hammer and a blunt handsaw -
all parts should be found rather than bought - hard rubbish piles are ideal
never build to a plan

Originally Posted by old_picker

hi pat
hoping you have access to the tools to make the dovetail and biscuit joints

billycart is nothing more than a wooden box on a T frame with a swinging cross piece out front with wheels mounted on to steer with - use your feet to swing the front wheels um thats your steering - the brake was a stick nailed to the side and pulled down into the dirt to stop it.

hardest part we found when building a cart when we were kids was finding wheels. once we had em the other bits were scrounged begged or borrowed from the wood pile found around any house

oh and BTW no self respecting billy cart would ever be seen in public with no dovetail / biscuit / or dowell joints - getting caught with a cart built like that you would get run outa town or worse get beaten up for being a smarty pants

the prime objectives of billycart building:
spend no money,
use no technology cept maybe a hammer and a blunt handsaw -
all parts should be found rather than bought - hard rubbish piles are ideal
never build to a plan

tar thanx for thth yea we have acces 2 pretty much evey toll ya can imagine at school. yea i not not my choice to use the joints but have 2 part of school certificate criteria. as for your help much apprecitated i wil use some of ya information but also so in criteria as 2 be pretty elaborite as for brake like idea but if ya have any suggestion about more steering ideas using shafts and metal would be great. thanx again for your feedback

G'Day Pat16,
Here is a pic of one I made my grandkids a while ago.
There are no fancy joints in it but you could use-
Biscuit joints in the seat
Dovetails in the back support
and
Dowel joints to hold the back supports to the seat.

You might be able to mod it to your needs.

catch ya
Andrew

oh thats great thanks for that. will look into this.
by the way very nice woodwork.

Pat16,
As a general rule, bike wheels allow the thing to go faster due to reduced rolling resistance, but they are not very good at coping with side forces on corners etc, and tend to buckle.

Is this to be a downhill style unit or a flat ground pushy style? For a pushy, you probably want a taller back than in the piccy above.

dont have it stered by your feet it is mutch better to have it steered by a rope. you get mutch better controll.

we have 2 lying around here somware we used to race down the back hill. they went like hell and stood up well to the rought track.

one used golf cadie wheels (the kind on your golf bag) and the other bike wheels witch were hard to attach it took some welding and cutting to make the a frames fit side by side.

ours had no backs originaly but we did add an old school chair witht he legs cut off to one witch made it mutch more comfertable.

the only othr type of steering is rack and pinion witch is a lot of work and would need steel frames and stuff. made esayer if youhad an old ride on mower.

Am I just being a grumpy old bastard but is the world a sadder place that a 16 year has to use the internet to work out how to build a billy cart?

Originally Posted by BobL

Am I just being a grumpy old bastard but is the world a sadder place that a 16 year has to use the internet to work out how to build a billy cart?

i can relate to that
the world has changed
billy carts were the domain of the sub 12 year olds - its how we learned to build stuff
by the time we was 16 it was paddock bombs go karts and shotguns

i to think its sad that he has to ask but that is what the world is coming to at least he is having a go. i made my first when i was 10 al be it not verry good the wheels fell off when i sat in it and it had no brakes actualy none of them had brakes.

here ya go a desight of a good looking billy cart using 400mm bike wheels for the back and large push mowre wheels for the front.

the brakes were and after thaught so please exxcuse the poor drawing.

you use the internet just in case you can find if someone has invented a new wheel.

hey thanks for all ya help its not sad i live pretty much in city and realy dont have room for billy carts so never really thought bout building one. the only reason am buliding one is for my year 10 school certificate task and had some ideas but was looking for some people that where wiser and actullay knew wht they where doing for some ideas all your indo is much appreciated and has helped me grately an as i am doing my assesment if i have any probs that my woodwork teacher cant help with u guys will be the first i ask. btw i have acces to pretty much every tool at school.
p.s i am leaving the year yr 10 and looking for an apprenticship for carpentry in the Hunter/ Newcastle area if any one knows some one they i could talk to or ways of going about getting a carpentry apprenticship would like to hear from you
thanx