Any (other) interest in DIY T-slot extrusion (8020) wheel-stands?

[blekenbleu]

As noted in this thread, Sim Lab's WS-Pro wheel deck is not ideal for direct drive
and the overall configuration does not IMO make best use of space.
While wood is highly reconfigurable and can be adequately rigid,
small adjustments too often involve drilling new holes...

 

[FredAZ]

highly reconfigurable and can be adequately rigid,
small adjustments too often involve drilling new holes...

Isn't anything "highly reconfigurable" if you drill new holes?

 

[blekenbleu]

Isn't anything "highly reconfigurable" if you drill new holes?

Touché, even more so with band saw, grinder and epoxy.
Motivation for extrusions include minimizing generated dust
and reducing required adjustment tools to a driver with hex bits.

 

[blekenbleu]

This repurposed folding clamping bench was adequately stable for an AccuForce wheelbase while also holding a power controller, fan, VR headset, joystick, trackball and USB hub:

 

[blekenbleu]

adequately stable for an AccuForce wheelbase

AccuForce power-on calibration includes abrupt direction changes,
which provoke rattles in other than tightly-attached and well-built steering wheels.
Calibration cycles also facilitate evaluating wheel stand adequacy,
by resting hands on left and right stand edges, to sense reactions.

Beyond shorthand for t-slot aluminum extrusions, 80/20 refers to the Pareto principle:

• 80% of result derives from 20% of effort.

IMO, that wheel stand yielded 80% of the benefit of a full sim chassis, since while busy driving,
I am oblivious to seating position differences from my CRX del Sol or recollection of track cars.

A key issue is that, driving in VR, I reach for where the shifter appears in the HMD,
which is typically wrong and distracting; easily changed shifter position is wanted.

Rather than fully implementing a new DIY wheel stand in 8020,
replacing tubular steel legs of this stand with t-slot extrusions is a Pareto solution.
Since those legs are 25x25mm, 25- or 10-series is the fitting choice:

Drawbacks to these extrusions:

• 10- or 25-series hardware is relatively rare and expensive
• 9mm core cross-section makes these less rigid than tubular steel legs replaced
  • rigidity is mostly recovered by adding a diagonal brace across the back.
• I wanted to standardize on M5 screws, as used for wheel rim mounting
  • but available 10-series T nuts were threaded 1/4-20
  • one hole of corner brackets was drilled out from 5mm to 1/4-inch.

 

[blekenbleu]

less rigid

More than 80% of perceived lack of stability
was attributable to carpet and padding compression,
which subsided within a week.
Padded carpet does help absorb energy
transferred from wheel base plate into extrusions.

While intending to eventually replace yellow pine base plate
with e.g. 40-8020 extrusion:

.. an aluminum base plate will be the largest expenditure for this stand;
requirements for optimizing its cost/benefits will be evaluated empirically.
Yellow pine is being redeployed for that validation.
Mitered corners want fixtures to facilitate drilling screw holes:

 

[blekenbleu]

Clamps are also handy for sorting gross configuration and where to cut extrusions:

 

[blekenbleu]

A little more horizontal separation between wheel and shifter was wanted:

Thanks to @RCHeliguy for the metal cutting circular saw blade tip.

 

[blekenbleu]

The wheelstand is dangerously close to being operational.
In addition to incremental adjustability,
T-slot extrusions enable easy and flexible attachments.
For example, using trackball, joystick and STM32 Blue Pill
to control belt tensioners and (soon) wind sim wants a USB hub,
easily attached using carpet tape, angle brackets and drop-in T-nuts:

This USB Hub is powered by 12VDC,
as are 4-wire 100cfm PC fans for wind sim
and 7.4V regulator for hobby servo belt tensioning.
Rather than separate wall warts,
12VDC power was consolidated to a generic 15A 3D printer supply,
attached by another pair of angle brackets and drop-in T-nuts:

 

[blekenbleu]

Having lost enthusiasm for Sim Lab WS-Pro wheel deck's configuration,
cost savings were anticipated, but overall (at least in the U.S.),
Small quantity T-slot hardware shipping and Internet pricing
work against DIY.

Series 10 legs:

• $35.98 4x 1"x1'x30"
• $9.62 spot weld nuts
• $5.83 1/4-20 x 3/8" stainless hex drive button head

20 series shifter rail

• $21.35 20x40x900mm
• $13.88 M5 drop-in T nuts, M5x8mm hex drive button head screws, 25x25mm inside corners

Series 10 pedal mount

• $28.87 1"x1"x52"
• $5.83 1/4-20 x 3/8" stainless hex drive button head

Wheelbase plate

• $83.52 80/20 Inc 40-8020 80x20x1525mm
• $6.99 4545 blind corners
• $12.00 4040 T-nuts
• $8.40 2028 corner brackets
• 29.99 10-inch metal saw blade

========
$262.26
+ $20 Harbor Freight folding clamp bench - local purchase with 20% coupon

Notes:

• 20-series roll-in sprung ball nuts were a fail;
  too shallow for 2040 extrusion, seemingly not fully standardized.
• no real benefit from roll-in T-nuts for simple extrusion structures,
  where sliding nuts in slot ends is easy.
• Amazon's M5 T-slot hardware kit seems remarkably good value,
  • drop-in nuts work easily and hold better than expected
  • 25mm inside corners easily repurposed for 10 series by drilling to 1/4"
• metal saw blade made only 6 cuts (@ $5/cut) for this stand,
  but has since been used extensively.
• Total is about $10 more than delivered WS-Pro before duty and taxes.

 

[FredAZ]

Total is about $10 more than delivered WS-Pro before duty and sales taxes.

Plus a number of miss-fit parts.
What was the point of this exercise?

 

[blekenbleu]

Rigidity check:

Direct drive force feedback is not appreciably compromised.
SimXperience AccuForce power-on calibration cycle abruptness
famously induces shaking and rattling in anything loosely connected.
Rotational inertia of this 380mm steering wheel aggravates and amplifies
visibility of wheel stand reactions.

What was the point of this exercise?

A wheel stand rigid enough for load cell brake pedal and direct drive steering
with T-slot extrusion adjustability and 3 sq ft bench top.
Rather than miss-fit, hardware is IMO appropriately sized.