To attach the bracket assemblies together I used a scrap piece of wood. Unfortunately, the piece was not as wide as I wanted so I had to add a piece of plywood to each side.
Then I painted the piece and glued the brackets together.
While the epoxy was curing I slide the drive rods through the bearings to make sure everything lined up.
I test fit the panels onto the panel mounts.
This is the position I put the panels in when I epoxied them into place.
Attaching the panels to the arms is proving to be much more difficult than I expected. I tried to attach the panels once, and they cracked off almost immediately after. The epoxy didn't adhere properly to the paint and as so as there was a bit of force applied the epoxy cracked right off. In addition to the weak bond to the paint surface, one of the panel mounts was attached crooked.
The bearing on the left is attached at an angle to the rod. Since the bearings have a 8 mm inside diameter and the steel rod is 5/16" (7.9375 mm ) there is a bit of play.
Since the bearing itself is crooked everytime the panel rotated the epoxy cracked.
I used an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel to cut the bearing off. The heat weakened the epoxy so I was able to pull the rest of the bearing off. The other joints on the rod were also weakened but they seem to have hardened up again once they cooled off.
Since that panel mount and bearing were completely destroyed I had to use one of the 3 extra bearings and make a new panel mount. This mount got attached straight and it doesn't seem to be cracking.
Even though the mounts don't seem to be cracking I'm adding more support.
I cut a piece of wood at 45° and cut 8 pieces to just under 3 cm long each. The notch out of the corner is to make sure they can fit as closely as possible since the epoxy has run out a bit from the previous joint and makes a slight bump.
I painted them and glued them into place. The cracking seems to have stopped.
I also epoxied the drive axles into place and attached them to the drive arms with epoxy. I'm not sure if the bond will be strong enough to take the force but I'll see if it works before changing anything.
Then I painted the piece and glued the brackets together.
While the epoxy was curing I slide the drive rods through the bearings to make sure everything lined up.
I test fit the panels onto the panel mounts.
This is the position I put the panels in when I epoxied them into place.
Attaching the panels to the arms is proving to be much more difficult than I expected. I tried to attach the panels once, and they cracked off almost immediately after. The epoxy didn't adhere properly to the paint and as so as there was a bit of force applied the epoxy cracked right off. In addition to the weak bond to the paint surface, one of the panel mounts was attached crooked.
The bearing on the left is attached at an angle to the rod. Since the bearings have a 8 mm inside diameter and the steel rod is 5/16" (7.9375 mm ) there is a bit of play.
Since the bearing itself is crooked everytime the panel rotated the epoxy cracked.
I used an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel to cut the bearing off. The heat weakened the epoxy so I was able to pull the rest of the bearing off. The other joints on the rod were also weakened but they seem to have hardened up again once they cooled off.
Since that panel mount and bearing were completely destroyed I had to use one of the 3 extra bearings and make a new panel mount. This mount got attached straight and it doesn't seem to be cracking.
Even though the mounts don't seem to be cracking I'm adding more support.
I cut a piece of wood at 45° and cut 8 pieces to just under 3 cm long each. The notch out of the corner is to make sure they can fit as closely as possible since the epoxy has run out a bit from the previous joint and makes a slight bump.
I painted them and glued them into place. The cracking seems to have stopped.
I also epoxied the drive axles into place and attached them to the drive arms with epoxy. I'm not sure if the bond will be strong enough to take the force but I'll see if it works before changing anything.
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