New KSCC "wire"

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walterclark
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New KSCC "wire"

Post by walterclark »

As many of you know the wire used by KSCC at Okemo and Burke for years has been literally falling apart the last few seasons.

In another post here in Projects, John R. suggested we look at WD-1 or WD-1A.

This past fall SCCNH, in the person of Drew Young, generously offered me (KSCC) the unused wire (WD-1A) they had in storage. You may know SCCNH uses a similar wire at Ascutney. We gladly took them up on the offer and I departed Ascutney II with 2 reels (4k) of the steel core WD-1A and 2 reels (2 miles, each) of a copper core military surplus telegraph wire that is similar. Later last fall Drew found a 3rd partial reel of the WD-1A and i picked that up as well.

We (I mean I) decided KSCC would go with the steel core wire and offer a reel of the copper core to SCCV, whose current wire is about the same vintage as the old KSCC wire, but with about a fourth the abuse.

Plans are forming to put the new wire down at Okemo 1 a day or two ahead of that event to give us an opportunity to install drops for Okemo as well as mark and leave pieces of shrink on the wire approximately where the Burke drops should go. So far Sherm, Smokey and I are on board to do this and I think we could use a couple others (Paul?). I want to do it on a Thursday, but working people, like Sherm, need to do it starting early Friday.

In preparation, Sherm has been working on a new reel system to replace the old. The plan was to make it easier to handle than the current reel.

I have been working on a new deployment block. In the past, various things representing a turning block have been used including a carabiner. That seemed to work for the very flexible copper wire, but that would be extremely hard on a steel core wire. Having ruled out the otherwise fine large boat snatch blocks as unaffordable, I went off to design something from scratch.

I was able to locate a pulley made by Fenner that seemed to be almost ideal for what we needed...wide to accommodate the wire and drop stubs, large enough diameter to avoid "bending" the steel wire as it travels around about 180 degrees of the block, nylon construction to be light, durable and avoid chafing the insulation, with decent bearings to run free and last a long time and cheap (about $15). This is what I found, the RA4802:

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Then I set to making up the rest of a "block". This is my first attempt:

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Ignore the long 3/8" bolt holding the pulley in place. That was a place holder until I could get the form right, then buy a proper length and hardness bolt. The frame is 3/4" square 1/16" steel tube and the pulley bolt goes thru a bushing welded into the frame tube. The eyebolt is designed to rotate in use or be locked down in any position. It all seemed to be pretty good before I assembled the frame to the pulley, then I realized the space between the pulley running groove and the bottom of the bushing / bolt retainer was way too small to be passing an often flailing drop stub connector thru without damaging the connector and stub wire. With the time that had gone into it up to that point and the only thing I really saw wrong was that spacing, I cut the longer bit of the bar and welded in a 1 1/2" extension:

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Much better. Being happy with that, I went ahead and powder coated the frame (red to make it easier to find in the weeds) and bought a proper grade 8 bolt and nylon insert lock nut. I envision the block be connected to the pole with a zip tie thru the eyebolt as a safety valve against a snag or mishandling of the wire putting excess strain on the wire.

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I may also come up with a nylon or delrin fairing around that eyebolt bushing area to help deflect and guide the stub, but am not sure that is needed.
Last edited by walterclark on Thu Mar 13, 2014 3:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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sachilles
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by sachilles »

Cool! I appreciate the hard work!

Tentatively I might be able to make that work at Okemo. My work schedule is a bit fluid right now, so I won't know until closer to the summer.
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by Mopar 151w2 »

Eggcellent...... When I was first introduced to this process, soap and beer was the hot setup for lubing the wooden v-block bearings. A lot of folks have kept our "no-tech" system on the up-n-up for 40+ years, and they all deserve an attaboy - and an extra bowl of garbage soup.
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sdwarf36
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by sdwarf36 »

I haven't been doing it THAT long, but I do remember when the "magic stick" was indeed a stick. :)
I like it Walter. I like that the edge of pulley is close to the frame-I could envision the wire hoping off + getting stuck between.
I'm trying to picture it in action-it will be horizontal in use-if it faces "open end" up- and its hanging loose from the magic stick, I see the wire trying to jump out if theres not heavy tension on the wire. At rest, the wheel is going to want to hang straight down -it will take the force of the wire to turn it to 90 *. Thought: :idea: Turn the eyebolt 90 degrees-parallel with the axle bolt. That way , it's horizontal to begin with.
After seeing what you have with the eybolt idea, I can see sliding it over the end of the stick. ( The last 3 ft of it is plastic 3/4" pipe, which is a good shock absorber.) Position it with a pair of cheap plastic clamp. That way if theres a snag,it pops the clip + the wheel slides off when the pipe bends.
And actually, we need two of them. The wire runs off the reel-downhill apx 50ft- then turns back uphill-thru a carabener-turns 90* parrelel with the stick-then thru the other carabener turn 90* downhill.
Translating road racing to hillclimbing:
Proper tire selection== nothing hooks up on moss or wet leaves.
Staying on the racing line==anything paved is considered good.
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walterclark
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by walterclark »

sdwarf36 wrote: And actually, we need two of them. The wire runs off the reel-downhill apx 50ft- then turns back uphill-thru a carabener-turns 90* parrelel with the stick-then thru the other carabener turn 90* downhill.
A second one, huh? Same as the first or different?
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walterclark
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by walterclark »

I have ordered another pulley and the bushings for it and will be fabricating the additional second block when my 14" chop saw blade comes back from the sharpener.

This one will be a little different. It will attach to the inboard end of the 1" steel square bar that leads out to the plastic pipe (on the end of which the current block will attach). It will be fixed in the horizontal plane rather than be on a swivel like the current one and will be adjustable from horizontal to about 20 degrees down (toward the road). This second one will pick up the "buffer" wire from the road and transfer it to the first block on the outboard end of that plastic pole.
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DaveEstey
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by DaveEstey »

sdwarf36 wrote:I haven't been doing it THAT long, but I do remember when the "magic stick" was indeed a stick. :)
We still use a stick at Ascutney and we continue the tradition of making the new guy go out in the woods to find it.
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walterclark
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by walterclark »

Finished the second block today.

Image
Image

This one is intended to slide over the 1" square tube that holds the plastic pipe (which will carry the first block I made). The angle is adjustable so the wire from the road can lead in fair. Its also black since I dont expect this one to get launched into the weeds. If it does there are probably bigger issues at that point.
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by dsldubn »

real nice work, Walter. Thanks for doing this.
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sdwarf36
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Re: New KSCC "wire"

Post by sdwarf36 »

If I did a build thread on the new reel, it would be as long as Walters car build thread. :roll: ( Besides-I don't have Steve Jones 3rd hand to shoot the pics.) And that wouldn't even include the amount of math involved. :o
Its gonna be so cool, I'm gonna keep it undercover-you want to see it, you gotta be on the wire crew. ;) Taking reservations now. 8-)
Translating road racing to hillclimbing:
Proper tire selection== nothing hooks up on moss or wet leaves.
Staying on the racing line==anything paved is considered good.
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