As a simplistic introduction to beam loading, this article discusses the complications in calculating stresses and deflection. While it’s pretty easy to calculate beam loading for simple theoretical cases, very few beams are actually simple. A trailer frame, for instance,
Measurements
How To Measure A Bolt Pattern
What is the bolt pattern on your trailer wheels? For the most part it doesn’t matter because you’re not changing wheels that often, yet when it does matter, it really matters. Here is some good info to measure and calculate
Get Thread Tapping Straight
A Tap and Die set is a near must for a DIY fab shop. While the thread creating functions are pretty easy to visualize, sometimes getting the tread to start straight and run true is a different matter.
Reasonably Accurate Way To Bend Metal
There are a bunch of ways to bend metal for a bracket. Do a search on YouTube and you’ll likely find several techniques. Well, we don’t want to dis any of those because
Drill Matching Bolt Holes
So many times we need to make matching holes to bolt something on. You purchased something to mount on your trailer or your workbench or some other project, but now you need the exact
Threaded Rod For Custom Bolts
You can use threaded rod (often called All-Thread) for a million things. Make a long bolt, or just the right size fastener. It’s also good for special brackets if you weld to it. And, if you’re not careful, you can make it fail in a million ways too.
Tricks To Weigh Heavy Things
Do you need to weigh something really heavy but don’t have access to an industrial scale? How can I weigh heavy things — like my trailer frame — without a specialty scale? When we look at “Where Does The Axle Go” and other build objectives, often it is not convenient to haul things down to … Read more
Do You Have Plans In Metric?
Virtually everything on the internet is by definition “World Wide”. Even though Mechanical Elements (Synthesis Engineering Services) is physically located in the USA, we have a world audience, so it’s a fair question