Lincoln Wins Gold Medal in 2010 Olympics

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Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project Helps Elevate the United States to the Sport's New World LeaderOlympic bobsled team relies on lincoln!In February, the eyes of the world will be on Vancouver for the start of the Olympic Winter Games. The months leading to the competition have been a whirlwind of activity for the fabricators at Chassis Dynamics, Inc. of Oxford, Conn. - the firm that designs, manufactures and tests the Bo-Dyn brand of bobsleds used by the U.S. men's and women's Olympic teams.An integral part of preparing the sleds is welding the chassis, suspension, steering and internal components. To do this, Chassis Dynamics uses a variety of Lincoln Electric welding equipment, including the Precision TIG™ 275, the POWER MIG® 255XT and the POWER MIG® 180C welding machines. The Lincoln Electric Company is the official welding sponsor of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, a non-profit organization that raises funds for the design and manufacture of bobsleds used by the U.S. Olympic and World Cup teams."Bo-Dyn insists on the best equipment available for the production of these sleds," said Phil Kurze, president of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project. "When competing for a gold medal, the welds must withstand the high speeds and G-forces associated with the sport. We count on Lincoln Electric welding machines to give us top-rated performance."The name Bo-Dyn reflects the roots of the project initiated by NASCAR® Cup Series racer Geoff Bodine ("Bo" for Bodine and"Dyn" for Chassis Dynamics). The idea for the project was initiated after the U.S.'s poor showing in the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games.Olympic bobsled team relies on lincoln!Following the 1992 games, Bodine attended a bobsled race to learn that U.S. athletes were using old European castoff sleds. Bodine asked Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics - a well-known NASCAR racecar design and development firm - to apply its skills and research to bobsled racing. Together they set out to create "Made-in-America" bobsleds that would make the United States a world contender.Since switching to Bo-Dyn sleds, U.S. athletes have risen to the top of their sport, winning multiple Olympic and World Cup medals in both two-man and four-man competitions. They are considered favorites at the upcoming Vancouver Games this year.In the 2002 Winter Games in Park City, Utah, Chassis Dynamics sleds helped the U.S. team claim gold in the women's two-person event and silver and bronze in the men's four-man. The victories signified the most successful Olympic showing ever for the United States. It was the first time since 1956 that any U.S. bobsled team medaled.Olympic bobsled team relies on lincoln!The U.S. team fell short of expectations in the 2006 Torino games with only one metal - a silver from the women's team. But in 2009, the U.S. team won its first gold medal at the World Bobsled Championships in 50 years in a new Bo-Dyn sled."I'm so proud of what our athletes have accomplished this year," said Geoff Bodine. "It proves my original theory; if you give American athletes the best that America can design they will perform at a high level. The team did that, and it makes all I have done worthwhile. Hopefully, at this year's Winter Olympics, we can win our first men's Olympic gold since 1948."In a recent World Cup event in Germany, U.S. pilots Steven Holcomb and John Napier claimed second and third place behind three-time Olympic champion Andre Lange of Germany in a four-man World Cup bobsled race. Nonetheless, the U.S. men's fours team remains the favorite in Vancouver.Olympic bobsled team relies on lincoln!The focus of the initial redesign a decade ago was aerodynamics, which was found to have a significant impact on speed. Today, Bo-Dyn constantly tweaks its designs and makes regular improvements to its sleds. The latest design features are a closely held secret in an effort to prevent competing teams from benefiting from similar technology.The U.S. teams will travel to Vancouver with 17 Bo-Dyn sleds from which to choose. The Vancouver track is considered the fastest in the world, but the specific sleds chosen for competition will be a last-minute decision based on time trials, weather conditions and driver preferences on that track.But a fast sled is only one step in a successful medal bid. It's a combination of four factors that make or break a team - the sled, the driver, the athletes, who push the sled at takeoff, and the finely machined steel runners on which the sled runs."There are hundreds of rules regulating the design of a bobsled," Cuneo said. "The challenge for us is to improve the design and stay within the rules. We are continually updating our designs based on data that we have learned in the past."Olympic bobsled team relies on lincoln!Chassis Dynamics hand fabricates every part of the sled in-house. "Believe it or not, these sleds are every bit as sophisticated as the NASCAR racecars we design," Cuneo said. Quality welds are critical in this sport. With race speeds expected to surpass 90 mph in Vancouver, vibrations, extreme G-forces and constant pounding all take their toll on metal joints that can lead to weld cracking. To test our new designs, Chassis Dynamics uses several wind tunnels, including one at the University of Maryland. Once a design is complete, final fabrication takes four to six weeks.Lincoln Electric's Precision TIG®275 is used to weld the bobsled's steel suspension components and aluminum controls. The materials range in thickness from .030" aluminum sheet metal to 1" thick steel."With the Precision TIG, I feel like I have better control of the arc than on the average TIG machine," said Cuneo. "I searched all over for a machine that would meet our needs. The Precision TIG offers the high quality welding characteristics as the most expensive TIG welders on the market. The 275's arc starting is definitely an advantage."According to Cuneo, the Precision TIG 275 provides excellent starting capabilities and arc stability, even on thin materials. "When you're working with thinner metals, some TIG machines won't start well or will start too hot.With the Precision TIG, you get the weld puddle just right from the start and have precise control through the entire welding process. I thought I'd have to buy a more expensive machine to get this type of arc action, but the Precision TIG is an affordable unit that produces an excellent arc."Olympic bobsled team relies on lincoln!The shop recently added Lincoln's POWER MIG® 255XT. Cuneo indicated that one of the best features on both the POWER MIG®and the Precision TIG 275 is the single-phase input capability. Since repairs and modifications are performed on-site at the bobsled run, having a unit capable of operating from an engine-driven auxiliary power generator is critical."The POWER MIG 255XT is a single phase machine with the performance of a three-phase unit," noted Cuneo. "It has a steady arc with good penetration and control. It's easy to adjust the characteristics of the weld using the controls."Chassis Dynamic also takes advantage of the portable POWER MIG 180C welder from Lincoln. "This machine amazes me," said Cuneo. "It is so small, but it welds so well. Usually a small welder like this is something you only use out in the field because you have to and you wouldn't think of using it in the shop when you have access to your larger welding machines. But this unit makes you want to use it even while in the shop."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.bodynbobsled.com/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Drought ends as Holcomb wins GOLD!!February 27, 2010Back to NewsHolcomb ends 62 years of frustration by winning the four man Olympic bobsled titleWHISTLER, B.C. - Turns out that the Night Train is pretty fast in daylight, too.The United States Olympic drought that lasted over several generations of bobsledders and at least one lifetime ended Sunday afternoon when driver Steve Holcomb drove his Bo-Dyn four man crew to a gold medal at the Whistler Sliding Center. It marked the first four-man gold medal since the Winter Games of 1948.Helped by track records in the opening two heats on Saturday, Holcomb, with crew members Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz on the brakes came to the 16-turn track Sunday with a .4 of a second lead over Canada’s Lyndon Rush and .44 ahead of German icon Andre Lange.Holcomb, in the Bo-Dyn Night Train bobsled that captured the world championship one year ago, extended the advantage to .45 with the best third run. With no troubles on the fast and treacherous course, the Night Train safely negotiated its way to the third best final leg and wound up defeating Lange by .38 of a second. Rush, second through the first three runs, was overtaken by Lange in the finale and placed another .01 behind and in the bronze medal position.Then, for Holcomb, it was the reality of the moment. "No, it's just like last week [during the two-man race] walking through the media zone, but it's a little different talking about gold medals," he stated afterward. "It'll take a little while to sink in. You work so hard to get somewhere and you finally get there and you're kinda like 'Now what?’ I don't know what to do, but at the same time, these guys have been training so hard and working so hard for pretty much the last four years, to finally end on a high note like this is huge."Holcomb and crew totaled three minutes, 24.46 seconds for their four heats. Lange’s silver medal time was 3:24.84, while Rush clocked in with 3:24.85."It’s been a long road. We’ve been building this for quite some time," sighed Darrin Steele, CEO of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. "The athletes have been amazing. Steve’s crew had the fastest pushes and he’s a great driver. There are lots of proud people celebrating in our little family. Steve always had a gift. He was working on his skills for a long time. He is a hell of an athlete... a hell of a driver. It’s a great day for the USA."Steele faced one media scrum during the post-race revelry as his gold medal team was head-to-head with other press."I’m a dreamer. That’s why I took the job," continued Steele. "When these guys won the world championship and broke that 50-year drought, it was a reminder that they could do this in the Olympics. They did this as a team and did this right. I couldn’t be more proud of them."It was the perfect storm of great driving, outstanding coaching, team chemistry and camaraderie and the evolution of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project."With the Bo-Dyn Project, our sleds are as good or better than the competition. But we’ve also built a pipeline of talent. No one gets complacent. They came into the season in the best shape I’ve ever seen them."Pilot Mike Kohn, teaming with Jamie Moriarity, Bill Schuffenhauer and Nick Cunningham on the brakes, finished 13th in 3:27.32.John Napier’s sled withdrew after yesterday’s crash that left his foursome a bit sore and bruised, but not so much that they couldn’t assist with the gold medal celebration.