The TErover | Custom Bamboo Deck | Hanger Trucks | Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 motor | Custom Mount | 8S | VESC

I haven't posted a project for quite some time and decided an electric skateboard was the way to go.

The Board

I first mixed up some epoxy: 

 The hardeners set time is around 2 hours which gives me plenty of time to make 3 boards.

Then I filled the grooves with it.

 A tongue and groove bamboo flooring was the perfect choice for a solid and appealing board.

I slotted the boards together.

 The process was repeated once again for a total of 3 bamboo floor boards per longboard deck.

Ratchet straps were used to put the joints under pressure. 

 Although the size of the straps might have been a bit overkill they did provide enough tension to put a slight curve in the "composite" board.

Mineral spirits saved the day!

The extra epoxy that oozed out was easily wiped off with paintbrush cleaner. 

For the layout of the board I used Adobe Illustrator:

At this point, I used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to stick the template to the rough side of the board.

I first used a combination of a handsaw and a circular saw, but quickly realized those were not the right tools for the job. Thankfully the Touchberrys (my friend's parents) let me use their bandsaw and router until 11PM. 

 Top after being cut out and sanded.

Bottom after being cut out and sanded.

Power Train 

To mount the motor I used a piece of aircraft grade aluminum that was cut drilled and bent at home:

Marking holes for the motor mount and using a hacksaw to cut out the piece.

My largest drill bit was not quite big enough.

 So I used a drill rasp to make it larger.

 Large enough hole.

Mounting holes drilled.
This video:

and this one:

and this presentation (especially page 28):

 http://www.slideshare.net/RakeshSingh125/f-precipitation-hardening

and this forum thread: 

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/tips-techniques-180/265481-how-do-i-harden-k-s-soft-aluminum.html
are very useful if you are planning to bend your own motor mount.

To anneal (soften) the aluminum plate I first used a regular lighter to put a layer of soot on the aluminum to indicate temperature.

 I then used a blowtorch to heat the plate until the soot disappeared.

 I then bent the plate at a 90degree angle with both a homemade metal brake and regular hammer.

 I repeated the annealing process, but this time I quenched the aluminum on ice (heat treating).

I then put the mount in a toaster oven at 200 degrees for 1 hour for the precipitation process to occur (hardening aluminum is complicated). I used a thermocouple attached with Kapton tape to monitor the temperature more accurately.

On the wheel side, I used a timer pulley that I modified by knocking out one bearing.

 I then drilled and tapped holes on the pulley and screwed in M3 screws.

I also had to file down the truck so that the inside of the pulley did not scrub.

On the motor  side, I used an 8mm bore hole timing drive pulley and the collet provided with the motor.

 I drilled holes in the board for the mount.
(Drill from the clean face down if you don't wan the ugly chips seen here).

I then bolted on the mount.

Test run of the board:

I used this belt from eBay.
I am using this board from Walmart to test things out before mounting onto the bamboo board.

The problem with the current setup is that the belt slacks after use and then starts to skip teeth.
 In order to try and solve this, I tested different types of tensioning, but to no avail.
Back to the drawing board for the motor mount.

ESC

Building Benjamin Vedder's  VESC was a major challenge that I decided to take up. 

You need very fine tweezers in order to place SMD component's on a PCB.

It also really helps to use double sided tape to stick down the cut tapes and then mark the parts on the table with an expo marker.

Bamboo skewers are the perfect tool for dabbing solder paste on all the pads.

When (not if) you drop an SMD component, sweeping the area around you helps (unless you have carpet, in which case the static discharge probably killed it (or that's what you can tell yourself anyway) ).

Into the toaster oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 30 seconds.
Then Ramp the temperature to 225 as rapidly as possible and keep it there until the solder reflows.
Lower the door keeping the temperature high for around a minute and then allow the board to cool fully before taking out.

I had quite a few solder bridges, so I used solder wick to clean up the board.
"Whatever good things we build end up building us."
- Jim Rohn