In our last meeting we put together the long leg structural support of the reflector and worked on a grant proposal for 5,000 dollars for developing a business model around the solar reflector system. obtaining the grant is not crucial to the project, but it could certainly help it out.
In order to ensure that the welds would be even and strong, the first step was to put the pieces together to see what modifications were still needed for a better fit.
Marking where to drill
Lining up the drill press and making sure everything is even. The machines are pretty old so it can be hard to make sure everything stays lined up after you think everything is in place.
Since we were drilling through steal we had to go slowly and use lubricant to keep it from smoking too much and hurting the drill.
There wasn't enough room on any of the work benches so we set up the frame on the floor with weights to hold everything in place while we welded.
When we originally bought and started using the arc welder, it came with some really nice thin electrodes that caught easily, but the pack of new electrodes that we bought separately were extremely frustrating to use because they wouldn't catch and form a continuous arc that often. Luckily, we found some better ones in the shop so we are going to bring them into a welding supply store and ask them to get us something similar. With the electrodes we found lying around the shop we were able to finnish this segment of the project a lot faster and more easily.
It's a little hard to see because the picture is a little blurred, but in order to seal the frame so water won't eventually get in we sawed through the corners, bent them down with a hammer, and welded all of the edges.
This is what the final Long Leg looks like after completion. The welds will be ground down slightly to ensure there are no holes and the welds will be touch up if needed.
Professor Eglash came to the meeting to try arc welding and check in with the progress.
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