The frame rails have all been annealed to help relieve stresses from the cold rolling of the bars. The bottom one has gone through the first machining step of milling to length, adding the rear frame alignment notch and alignment holes drilled. The two main rails will be bolted together so that they can be machined together to provide a precise alignment of all of the features. January 9, 2017.
The second frame rail has been notched and milled to length. In this shot the two frame rails have been bolted together, note the key in the slot on the left end to keep them aligned. Next up will be the drilling and machining of all openings on the sides of the frame. January 11, 2017.
The corners of the various cutouts in the main frame rails have been drilled. The driver centers are marked with the long vertical lines with the upper corners drilled out for the openings. The large diameter holes mark the corners of the large cutouts that will be milled in the frame. January 14, 2017.
The front frame cutout has been roughed out in this shot. The second cutout is in process with an added complication of a couple of tabs in the center to be finished. Also note that the back side of the cutout is angled. January 15, 2017.
The slots that outline the tops of the driver openings have been completed. The first two cutouts in the frame have been finished on the right side. Two more cutouts to work on which are outlined by holes in the center and at left. January 21, 2017.
The frame rails now have the four rectangular cutouts. The next step is angling the left edge of the left three and once that is done it is time to start machining the bottom of the frame. January 23, 2017.
The three frame cutouts now have the back edge angled about 5 degrees. The tail has also been shaped where the rear frame extension will attach. A small cut has also been made on the bottom edge at the front of the frame rails. January 26, 2017.
The eight driver pedestal binders were machined together to create a matching set by running two rods through all of the to make one large block. One of them has been cut down to the final thickness. Just repeat for seven more then it will be time to add the holes to bolt them to the frame. Feb 12, 2017.
The eight pedestal binders have been finished to size and drilled for the mounting bolts. Feb 18, 2017.
The bottom side of the main frame is being machined to receive the pedestal binders. Here we see a binder being test fit for driver number two. These need to be fit before the remainder of the driver opening is machined as the frame may warp while removing all of that material. If the frame does warp it will be bent back into shape to fit the binder. Only three more drivers to go! Feb 19, 2017.
All of the pedestal binders have been fitted to the main frame and the driver cutout locations established. The next step will be to rough out the driver openings and check for any bending of the frame rails with the large openings cut out. Once any frame warp is adjusted, the driver openings will be cleaned up to accept the driver boxes. Feb 28, 2017.
The openings for the drivers have been rough cut on this frame rail and all of the binder attachment points have been tapped for the 4-40 hex head bolts. The next step will be to mill the driver openings to the final dimension with the binders in place to keep everything aligned. March 20, 2017.
The driver openings have been machined to the final dimension. Next will be machining the four rectangular tabs to final thickness and cutting off the alignment holes at each end of the frame. March 27, 2017.
Both frames have had the driver openings machined and all drivers have been test fitted in the frame. The four tabs are to be machined to thickness next and then the frame machining alignment holes at each end will be trimmed off. June 10, 2017.
The frame will require front and rear extensions for the lead and trailing trucks. The table is about 3' 6" wide for a size reference. June 11, 2017.
The leading truck transom was machined today to provide a pivot point for the truck and frame rail spacing. Note that as Kozo mentions, the dimension have to be altered when using 3/8 stock for the frame rails vs the metric stock. June 24, 2017.