Thread: 3 wheel scooter

Good to see you back in the harness. You've done a decent job with your chisels and drill press sander. With limited tools at your disposal and using your initiative it's surprising what can be achieved. Keep it up.

Yes well done Mick but now you've caught the bug [making toys, etc] the next stop is the tool shop; it's an even worse bug [way better than the pub or club] and it brings so much joy to you the maker and the person you made the toy for.
Looking forward to another update and more photos.
Cheers, Crowie.
PS - Putty or filler and a coat of paint make a good job great.

I like the idea.

Reminds me of scooters we made when I was a kid [prototype of the now famous skateboard - if only we had known].

We had a pair of old roller skates - the type which had the front and back joined with a bolt. One pair of skates equaled 2 scooters.

Took them apart and attached them to the front and back of a flat board, piece of 3x2 nailed to the front and a crossbrace nailed to the top, an old orange crate [on end] nailed to the other end to sit on. There was enough give in the skates to allow us to turn by leaning - any tight turns, of course, resulted in a close encounter with the hard stuff. Everything was nailed, we were after all kids, nail too long - no problem - bend it over to clench.

We would stand up and use it like a scooter on the flats and sit on the downhill runs.

We got away with it for a while and had heaps of fun with it until the local constabulary couldn't see the funny side of it. We couldn't really see a problem with being on the quiet suburban roads as there wasn't much traffic around, besides, the skate wheels didn't work at all well on grass.

Great memories.

Crowie,

I have a reasonable number of tools but recently had to sell my lathe and big band-saw when my partner moved (as they were in her garage - and how dare she sell her nice big house with a garage), Now my tools are mostly in my lounge room (I only have my daughter living with me and it is my place!) and some wood and and a small combo planer/thicknesser in my parents garage! To use my router and tablesaw I wheel them out to my porch. Even so, I am looking at getting a mini-lathe.

I also have plans for a 3-wheel ride in cart but put this off as my partner's daughter was going to buy a scooter for her son for Xmas and everything takes me a long time - working full time gets so much in the way!


cheers

Mick

my 3 wheel scooter is nearly finished - well before Xmas. It is at a state where I can let my grand-son give it a test ride. I finally think I have built a toy which he cannot destroy inside the first 30 minutes! Everything else I have made for him has been used in such unexpected ways that I have always had to make some improvements. I am obviously an optimist as I think this one will last without any 'improvements'.

I still need to add in a proper 'steering stop' underneath (thanks John/Munruben) but figure this can be added after the trial. For Crowie and John, I have a nail through the base of the steering shaft which goes through the axle to stop it from turning.

One of the things which I could have done better is aligning the steering 'wheel' (someone please give me a better name for this) with the axle. I would say they are about 5 degress out.

Anyway, I am happy with the result - I have lightly tested it and it holds my weight (70kg) so hope even my solid grand-son won't be a problem.

For me this has been a very interesting project which started with my partners daughter sayiing she was buying one for her son and me thinking I could make one of those. Usually I struggle even if I have a plan!

As always, any questions/suggestions, etc greatly appreciated

cheers

Mick

Thanks for the update and pics Mick, The wider track on the front wheels certainly make it look more stable and will provide a better steering I think.

I'm sure the little one will be highly delighted with it. Kids love these kind of toys and it will give many happy, pleasurable days to the youngsters who will be riding it. This is what it's all about, bringing pleasure to someone and getting enjoyment and satisfaction yourself from making the project.

G'Day Mick,
Sorry for the slow reply but I'm have all sorts of issues gaining a consistant access to the Woodworker Forums.
Anyway, enough of me;
What a top job you've done and all from your head -- great effort.
Thanks for the pics,
Keep up the good work and just enjoy the woodwork!!
Cheers, Crowie

Originally Posted by mick59wests

One of the things which I could have done better is aligning the steering 'wheel' (someone please give me a better name for this) with the axle. I would say they are about 5 degress out.

how about we call the "steering wheel" the "steering control arms"
or maybe "Steering control bar"?

well, I gave the scooter its first test run, which found out some deficincies. I was a bit optimistic thinking this toy was only going to require one job!

The first one was that the the threaded rod I was using for the axle bent! Perhaps I should have just let the little mite use it, but I want to build toys which are near indestructable - there is plenty of learning for me before I get to this!

The axle was obviously (well, obvious now) taking almost the entire weight right in the middle. With my increased axle length, the 10mm thickness was not strong enough to cope without significantly bending. My solution for this is two-fold. Firstly, use a stronger axle and secondly (if I can explain properly what I am intending) is to have the axle supported in the middle by the piece of wood which is attached to the steering shaft. This will hopefully mean that a much smaller amount of the axle (one on each side) is taking the weight.

The other issue is that the surface area of the friction for the underneath steering is quite large and the steering was very heavy. Without trying to put in a complex steering mechanism (which I do not think I even have the ability to do anyway) I plan to reduce the surface area and also apply wax to each surface.

I have some pictures of the problems but have not yet started on the solutions, so any thoughts/suggestions/pieces of magic greatly appreciated

cheers

Mick

To start off any ideas - I also adhere to the solid as a double brick outhouse standard when building things.

First thing which came to mind was a largish ball race bearing which could be epoxied into a hole [forstner bit] leaving approx a quarter exposed. Would act a little like a lazy susan bearing.

As to the axle - threaded rod today is not what it used to be - a while back I tried to bend some 12.5mm threaded rod into a "U" it broke rather than bent [at approx 75 - 80 degrees] - when examined it was severely honeycombed and not solid as the old stuff I was used to.

I very much like the ball-bearing / lazy susan idea. I think that as the main weight is close to the steering I will need something better than wood on wood. I will see what I can salvage or (heaven forbid) buy to do the job.
cheers
Mick

Depending what age group the scooter is aimed at will determine how strong it has to be. In your original post, the scooter was designated for a 19 month old child and I would imagine this type of toy would be suitable for a child up to around 6 or 7 perhaps.. Testing the scooter with a load of 70 kilos could be a bit excessive I think. According to some figures I just googled, the average weight of a 6 year old is around 21 kilos so I would imaging the scooter would be used by a child with a maximum weight of around the average of say 25 Kilos.

I agree with your idea of building something to last and be strong enough and I usually overkill too when making something but if that is the case, you may have to rethink the whole design to accommodate the kind of weight you are testing it with.

I bought a lazy susan 'mechanism' for the steering - thanks Bob38S (I am pretty sure you have helped me at some time in the past as well).

I also have a thicker axle which I am going to ensure is fully supported as much as possible (this will be around 100mm, which is the width of the lazy susan attachment). I will rout a trench in the wooden piece that I am attaching to both the lazy susan and steering rod (the piece in the attached photo) which will support the axle.

Hopefully this will all give smoother steering and a much stronger axle. Also, hopefully I will have an update with pictures in less than a month!

The input has been greatly appreciated and I am not sure if I could have got this far without it. In fact, I often wonder if I would have given up woodworking some time ago if it were not for the help I receive here.

Mick

Mick,it all has to be in alignment . The shaft has to be right in the centre of the lazy susan or it will bind when turning