Then....the issue of the rotating head came into play.....i thought of using some square tubing with a slit cut down its length and some tabs welded on to accept pinch bolts....then i figured it best to visit some folks for scrap to see if it would stir some more ideas.

Thanks to my old man, and my missus' old man I found: 
Some U bracket made from 7mm plate 316 marine stainless, 2x 316 SS 1 inch Bolts with 200mm shanks, and 2 feet of 316 SS tubing with an ID of 27mm and a few misc M10 316SS nuts and bolts.
I kept with the theme of SS for the rotating assembly, as welding Mild Steel to stainless…aint such a great idea metallurgically! At these interfaces, I've increased the thickness of the mild steel parts by tig welding 3mm strengthening plates. Thereby, all 4 M10 bolts will be in double shear, across a minimum of 6mm thich material.


Do note, this was all done using nothing more than basic tools: 125mm angle grinder, a cordless drill, a holesaw, some hand files and some home made cutting fluid (canola oil, dishwashing liquid and water). All welds were punched out using my little tig running at its maxed out settings.

So if you dont own a Bridgeport or have three phase, it is still possible to tackle 7mm SS plate!


The tubing fit into the brackets with a press fit, going to show that those Sutton bimetal holesaws are rather accurate! They will be welded in the next few days once all test fitting is complete :)

Aye, i know....tis perhaps overbuild for holding a crossflow....but i find it addictive to keep cutting, welding and over engineering things even when uneccessary!

Let me know your thoughts! :) I hope you enjoy this post, although i understand how it might bore some.

Thanks Shaun for the kind words! I'm trying my best!

The mild steel welds will most likely get painted over with some blue hammerfinish paint....covering those welds... :(

Great work SKC, my next big tool investment will be a TIG, with aims to use it as well as you do!

don't worry SKC, only our old bmx's will have welded frames soon.Unless you can weld carbon, I think the writing is on the wall regarding bike frames.
 
Good advice on the welder, I learnt from others here about getting a good brand, and brought a Lincoln combination Mig/Tig/Arc/oxy. So far I have just been using gasless mig only, but have done a gate, welding trolley,2 workbenches, a short bench mounted folder press, some custom brackets for the shed, and some rust panels on the escort.
 
Its addictive and very rewarding.
 
No tv? How do you watch Survivor?

Hey Deano,

Funny you say. There is actually a mob in the UK called Curtis bikes that oxy braze BMX and MTB frames...amazing stuff. Ah carbon, the way of the future they say! So they say.
I love the stuff, and have had quite a few experiences with it. During my 3rd and 4th years of uni i was part of a group that obtained a truckload (literally an industrial freezer, in the back of a truck) of prepreg carbon off perhaps the largest aero manufacturer in melbourne. We used it to build a few FSAE car chassis that were baked for us by a V8 super car team. I then spent 2 years with a mob in Thomastown making composite tooling and prototype parts using various reinforcements (fancy word for cloth) and matrices (fancy word for...resin). It has great properties, but........gosh nothing beats the flying sparks, the darth vader look with the welding mask, and the flashes of UV emitted during welding when it comes to cool factor. Work in a composites shop, and you may get raided for looking like your cooking drugs.

That is awesome! Lincolns are beaut! And I'm rather envious that you can use yours for all the processes.
you're right, there is something oddly therapeutic about watching a puddle closely. Plus, on these cold winter evenings, it warms you up too! except when you lean to close and something catches alight (that may have happened to me over the weekend...)
It sounds like you're really able to make things exactly how you want. Thats friggen awesome!

Oh, I have a tv....just no antenna. I actually watch a movie, maybe once a fortnight on netflix through the tv.
It's not that i purposely try not to watch it. The glare at work means that i can only look into a screen for 4 hours or so a day before my eyes actually tear up. So I'm forced to do other things.
Haha, does Survivor still exist?

sorry for totally polluting your thread SKC (and others), if we were on a US forum i'm sure we'd be told to get a room.
A friend of mine worked on Swinbournes SAE car a couple of years ago,  so I saw some of the engineering details.
Actually he found me some industrial foam blocks  (I make rc yachts also) so I could shape and glass up the attached trimaran.I haven't got to the vac bagging stage, and usually work with epoxy and polyester depending on the project, but would love to have a play with some carbon one day, it's on the bucket list.
 
Anyhow, I'm glad to see theres another build thread to follow, as you have probably found out, there's quite a few friendly blokes willing to share their knowledge along the way.
 

So i had a few arvos to finish that dang stand. I had to make a few tweaks but it came up well.
Turned out to be a sweet little welding experiment for stainless. I even rigged up a makeshift turntable to do a few fillet welds....just for the fun of it.
The CG is spot on, so you basically undoe the set screw (an M10 bolt) rotate as desired and then do the set screw up. Rock solid and most importantly compact!