Whoohooo! I won!!!...and now I have questions

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Heidi, my girlfriend,  found a competition to design a bike rack. She told me about it on a Thursday night, and I thought of a design while walking my dog that night. I did some rough sketches, but they were confusing to Heidi, so I gave up for the evening. Friday she called the head of the committee holding the competition, and he got back to us on Saturday, telling me that they had a bunch of entries already, and that the design was due on Sunday. I spent 4 hours fighting some 3D modeling software Saturday, gave up on the software and just made a rough prototype out of metal in 3 hours. Sunday I spent trying to weld small pieces of 22 gauge sheet metal to 1/4" round steel with solid wire and no gas (I ran out welding on another project Thursday), gave up and just wired the pieces together, then took some pictures of it and submitted it. That was a week and a half ago.Today I found out that I won, they are giving me $1,000 to build it. I'll have to spend almost all of it on tools ($650 for a tube bender, $100 for a ring roller, and probably $150 for the metal), but is there anyone on here that wouldn't work for new tools?  This is my first attempt at design, I am so psyched I won!This is the design I submitted: http://12notes.googlepages.com/gilnorrisbikerackdesignPlease don't critique those welds, they were horrible in concept, design, and execution.  Solid core on a MIG with no gas late at night with insufficient light - it was guess where the wire was, pull the trigger, and watch large chunks of wire fry at a random spot on the model.  I'll post pics of the welder cart and bead roller stands I did for welding critique this weekend.I just guessed on the size of flat stock I need for the wheel shapes, for 1" wide flat stock, will 1/8" be thick enough to withstand flexing if someone sat on it?  The wheels will be approx. 24" in diameter.  Any recommendation on what to paint/coat the tube steel with?  I'd love to polish it, but this is going to be in a public place, I'm sure it will be sat upon, run into and skateboarded on within a week or two.  What's tough enough for this duty?
Reply:I like that design. It's simple, but stylish. It should look really good. Is it for a local park or something? The obvious choice would be stainless. But I guess a powder coat would work too if you can find someone who can coat something that large. I can't wait to see the finished bike rack. Good Luck!Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 Stick Linde HDA-300 MillerMatic DVI MIG Miller Dynasty 200DX Hypertherm Powermax 1000
Reply:I would hope this isn't for a private company that will take your design and market it for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ while only giving you $1000.00Kinda like the Snap-On tools promo paying you $100.00 for a tool idea. What a great deal. They give you $100 if they think there's a market, take your idea and make millions from it.
Reply:nice design only thing i would suggest would be to go heavier on your wheels.  If I was going to build it exactly as your prototype I would consider 1/4 if not 3/8th thick flat bar for the wheels.   1/8"x1" will bend too easy in my opinion.  Again Congrats, and good luck. ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Congratulations on the win and the interesting design. Not bad for throwing it together in a few hours. John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Originally Posted by Hammack_Weldingnice design only thing i would suggest would be to go heavier on your wheels.  If I was going to build it exactly as your prototype I would consider 1/4 if not 3/8th thick flat bar for the wheels.   1/8"x1" will bend too easy in my opinion.  Again Congrats, and good luck. ~Jackson
Reply:The competition was held by the local neighborhood association, it will be installed in a church parking lot where the hold the local Farmer's Market every Saturday.  If there is further interest, I can always make more.I have a bunch of ERW tubing I was going to make a roll bar with, but I'll probably use for this and buy some DOM for the roll bar.  Stainless would be nice, I'll price it out and see if I can, but I doubt it'll be in the budget.I was hoping I could get away with using the $60 Harbor Freight ring roller, but it can only handle 3/16" thick.  I guess I'll be searching for a better, but not too expensive ring roller now.
Reply:Congratulations.  That is a neat design.Unless you just want to spend all the money on equipment, there are other options.  A muffler shop could do the bending for you.  Some local fabricators  could do the bending and rolling for you, also.  Just some thoughts.  You could get creative with the ring roller from Harbor freight.  Roll several close fitting rings and weld them together. 3x3/16"=9/16" pretty thick.  The harbor freight pipe bender would work for bending pipe, not tubing.  Schedule 40 tubing would be a good choice.  If you are going to use tubing I would not use thinner than 1/8".  I guess you could do your own ring if you used a pattern like a bicycle wheel.  Galvanizing is cheap around here $200 for less than 1800lbs. Where are you located? Powder coating cost $5/ft.  After rereading your last post. Seem like this a good opportunity for you to get a tubing bender for those roll cages, though the pipe bender would be much cheaper.Last edited by tapwelder; 04-25-2007 at 01:04 AM.
Reply:Congratulations.  That is a neat design.Unless you just want to spend all the money on equipment, there are other options.  A muffler shop could do the bending for.  Some local fabricators  could do the bending and rolling for you also.  Just some thoughts.  You could get creative with the ring roller from Harbor freight.  Roll several close fitting rings and weld them together. 3x3/16"=9/16" pretty thick.  The harbor freight pipe bender would work for bending pipe not tubing.  Schedule 40 tubing would be a good choice.  If you are going to use tubing I would not use thinner than 1/8".  Galvanizing is cheap around here $200 for less than 1800lbs. Where are you located? Powder coating cost $5/ft.  After rereading your last post. Seem like this a good opportunity for you to get a tubing bender for those roll cages, though the pipe bender would be much cheaper.
Reply:Very creative design.  Great stuff.If you're worried about the "wheels" bending if somebody sat on them, maybe weld in a few round bar "spokes."Congratulations on the win and definitely post pics when you're done.
Reply:Don't ya just love it when a plan comes thgether?   Nice job.  Maybe tubing or pipe for wheels......and a bottle of gas. congrats!DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Originally Posted by PatrickJI was hoping I could get away with using the $60 Harbor Freight ring roller, but it can only handle 3/16" thick.  I guess I'll be searching for a better, but not too expensive ring roller now.
Reply:Congrats on the win. I went to the metalmeet.com site and found the post on the ring roller. Do you have a link where the plans if any are posted. Looks like a cool project.Thanks.  T.J.www.tjsperformance.com
Reply:Here's my ring roller.http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=9891http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...ht=ring+rollerDon't think youl will save much money or time by making it.  What is your time frame for completing the project?
Reply:Spokes, while they would be strong, would ruin the look I'm trying to go for.  I do like the idea of rolling 3 close fitting rings and welding them together - I don't think the skateboarders will be able to hurt 9/16" thick rings.  That will allow me to use the cheap ring roller (which I don't yet have another use for) and I can still get a decent tube bender (which I have another use for.)  If I can break even with the cash on this project and have some killer tools, I'll be happy.I'll have to do the bending myself, since the angles are a visual thing for me, not something I would want to calculate exactly until I've got one full size one the way I want it.  There are also a few other things I'd like to try with the bender as well.I'm meeting with them next week about the money, the time frame, how the installation will work and the exact location at the site.
Reply:Just a thought, could you use thin 'slices' off a piece of pipe for the wheels?  They would be nice and round and pretty sturdy.Great design, you might want to look into some sort of intellectual property protection for it.Bart
Reply:Two comments  ....Fantastic design!   I Love it, best idea for a bike rack I've seen.The wheels probably need to be stronger or they will get bent from kids climbing on it etc.Errrrrr... three comments I guess ... You can probably market this to parks and recreation type areas all over the country. They are always looking for neat ideas to make things look a little less sterile and perhaps a little more artsy fartsy.Good Job !Washman
Reply:Congrats on winning the contest. That really is a pretty cool design. I can see where you're comming from, wanting to bend the tube yourself to get it to look right, I'd want to do it by eye too. The wheels however are just a circle, you may want to call a few local metal shops and see what they would chaarge you to make them, I'd want to use 1/4" thick strap not only for strength, but sucurity, work the angle that you are doing it for a church/park, and they may cut you a deal on forming the rings.
Reply:I just want to add my congrats and remark that I am really impressed with your design.  I tend to think in mechanical purely functional terms -- your "artistic" idea is actually inspiring!john
Reply:I like your design. I want to build it out of my own materials of choice, but keep the basic design.But I won't steal your design. How much would you charge me to use it to make one for my house? I am constantly yelling at my kids to put their expensive bikes away in the back shed, but maybe they would use a bike rack with a lock if it was easy to use.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:Originally Posted by Joker11I like your design. I want to build it out of my own materials of choice, but keep the basic design.But I won't steal your design. How much would you charge me to use it to make one for my house? I am constantly yelling at my kids to put their expensive bikes away in the back shed, but maybe they would use a bike rack with a lock if it was easy to use.
Reply:to save on a ring roller and time i would just get a length of 8 or 10 inch pipe and cut it up to make rings
Reply:The pipe is a great idea, but I would need at least 20" diameter (preferably 24-26") and I don't know where to get it or who would cut me 1"-2" wide slices of it.  Any suggestions?
Reply:Just wondering how this turned out. Did you ever make the bike rack?Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 Stick Linde HDA-300 MillerMatic DVI MIG Miller Dynasty 200DX Hypertherm Powermax 1000
Reply:I have almost all the material needed to make the GotTrikes tube bender, the Protools Die is the only piece I'm waiting on (it's on the way), I'll start making the frame for the bender tomorrow.  All told, it cost me around $500 for the bender, but that includes the die, the air/hydraulic jack, shipping, and it's way better than the JD2 or Protools benders I was about to spend about $750 on (shipped, w/stand & die).  Once that's done, I'll bend the "body" pieces, and figure out what I'm going to do for the "wheels".  I went to look at some semi rims today thinking I could cut slices of them, but 20-24" diameter isn't going to look right, I need at least 30" for the look I want.  Looks like I'll be investing in a ring roller, after all.  It's in the budget, since I saved a bunch on the bender.Hopefully, next week I'll post pictures of my bender, and have the "body" pieces done soon after.  The "wheels" will follow.  I'm getting a quote on powdercoat.  I think I might weld the wheels to each body, but bolt the 4 frames to each other using tubes to space them.  That will reduce the size for powdercoating to 4 pieces of aprox. 6' L x 3' H x 3 inches wide, instead of one piece at 6' L x 3' H x 6 feet wide.Depending on what I spend on the steel for the "wheels" and the powdercoat, I could actually break even on this, which, considering the tools I'll have once done, would be awesome.I actually have until October to get this done, but I've set a deadline for being completely done with this in 6 weeks, after that I probably won't have much time with the new job.PatrickLincoln 175HDIts been a while, but did you ever get this done, pics?
Reply:He did.  Perhaps you can check his threads.
Reply:I know that it's been along time since you've posted on this thread but I would love to see what happened to this project. it's a very creative idea, and holds a lot of promise. with that being said if you are willing to consider selling the idea to a company that could give you royalties at the chance that your baby may go into production there is a company that manufactures items of this type and i'm sure a finished design would grab their attention, and don't get me wrong I don't work for this company and i have no idea if they would buy it, but if anyone would it would be these people. my former employeer use to sell them some material, that's how i heard of them.please don't think the worst of me because i suggested this, it's just an option and it is a beautiful work of art. some inventors get screwed when they sell others make money.http://www.maglin.com/sorry if i offended anyones creative process.Last edited by cannonfodder; 03-09-2009 at 12:59 PM.