Band Brakes

[Screw]

Screw-In

Scott, Your doing a great job. Keep building and before you know it, you'll be flying.

Screw-Out

 

[Brian Jackson]

The suck part is not being able to fly. I don't mind building.

But at least you've got something to sit in and make motor noises . All I've got so far is some real pretty aluminum pieces to sit on and make motor noises (ouch!)

 

[scottessex]

Vroooom, Whup Whup Whuop!!!!

 

[Brent_Brown]

More like Buzzz, Buzzz , Buzzzzzzz......

 

[GeneWeber]

Hi Folks,

Here is the scrub brake I made for the “Bee Different” (The “Bee Different” is part Honeybee, part Gyrobee and eventually a tall tail). In this photo the front assembly is laying on my workbench before it was installed on the keel tube. The nuts and bolts are not the final properly sized ones, they were just temporary.

The brake pad is a piece of 2” x ¾” oak. I clamped two pieces together and drilled a hole through the center. I used one of those pieces, which then had a channel that the round aluminum tube fit in tightly. I then ran the other side of the block sideways over my table saw blade to make it concave so that it would “fit” the tire and have more contact area. Note that the edges were cut on a 45 so that the shoe would not “grab” the tire when the brake is applied. The sidepieces are 2” x 1/8” aluminum that I shaped as desired and drilled appropriate holes. I bolted the sidepieces on the fork, put the aluminum tube through them, fit the wooden brake shoe on and held it against the tire and marked the correct position of the wood. Then I drilled the holes through the sides into the wooden brake shoe and attached it with stainless steel screws. I then epoxied the aluminum tube in place with JB Weld. The tube fits very tightly, and was hard to move even without the epoxy. A pair of springs keeps the brake off the tire. After painting I put self-adhesive anti-slip material on the tube. Note that I masked the part of the wooden brake shoe that contacts the tire.

It hasn’t been tried out in the real world yet, so I can’t say how well it will work, but it seems to hold the tire well with a modest amount of pressure.

The tire and fork are Brock. Their quality is outstanding. John Mealey created the rest of the front assembly pieces. He is a master craftsman. I’d say he has forgotten more about metal working (and other related skills) than most people know, except I don’t think he’s forgotten anything. His Bee is a real work of art.

Regards,

Gene

 

[Alan Coats]

Gene,

That is a neat design, and the workmanship looks great.

Alan

 

[Flying_Lab_Rat]

band brakes...

band brakes...

Has anyone considered adapting scooter brakes to one of these? The electric scooters have manual brakes, wheels that are often of the same or similar size, and a nifty little lever that clamps onto handlebars normally, but perhaps your control? you can also find disk brakes for them that are very lightweight, and use the same manual control. Just a thought. I did a search on scooter brakes, and it brought up a ton of them. I imagine that the cable lengths can be modified for length fairly easily.

 

[Jazzenjohn]

Several people use scooter parts now. They weren't quite as popular 4 years ago when the thread was last posted to.
I'm trying to find an aluminum or plastic hub wheel, preferably with brake, for a 2.50-4 tire. Did you happen to run across one while you were looking?

 

[Flying_Lab_Rat]

I really wasn't looking that close. I imagine the brake parts could be modified to fit about any size wheel if a person did it right. I was going to adapt them to fit a foam tire for a hand truck(moving cart) or wheelbarrow or something of the sort.

 

[Jazzenjohn]

I have been looking at wheels for wheelchairs and powered chairs, as well as hand trucks and dollies, and scooters. The brakes don't seem like too big a problem if you're handy with a lathe. Bicycle brakes look good too. I have a steel wheel now but I haven't given up hope...

 

[mabik]

Thanks Rat, for digging up this thread. Lots of priceless info here, not all of it on topic.
doc matt

 

[Racer]

Thomas Fernandez put band brakes on his Gyro bee and they worked well, so well that they spun the axil tubes and bent the support tubes. He had to make a bracket near the frame that would keep the axil tubes from turning and now all is well.

 

[Flying_Lab_Rat]

I only wish I had access to a lathe; it would make a few things so much simpler. Unfortunately, for things like this I have to resort to a steady hand and a marker. Fortunately disk type brakes are really forgiving, and you can mark your wheel at the diameter you need to put the holes in, put it on a shaft, give it a spin, and touch the marker to it for a good line. (good ol' farm engineerin'). If you mess it up, erase it and try again. I'll go this route before putting something on that rubs on the tire.

 

[Dale Young]

Racer,
I added disc brakes to my Gyrobee and I worry about torquing the axles like you mentioned Mr. Fernandez's doing. Do you have any pix of how he designed his setup?

 

[Racer]

I am sure he would be OK with me taking pics of his modification and posting them, I will do that next time I am out at the hanger.

 

[Dale Young]

Racer, Thanks! I've been mulling this mod over for some time now and have'nt decided exactly how to do it. I have been worried that mine would eventually torque around.