hey guys! another newbie here based in the uk building a land yacht!

I'm basing this on your lefroy mini project designs and i'm not trying to variate too much but i have a few questions about suitable materials, unfortunately i'm not in a position to scrounge much in the way of materials so i do need to buy most things new!

my first question i regarding wheels! on ebay there are a few plastic type wheels available and i wandered which would be the best kind to buy? or if either is suutable?
i have been looking at the boat trolley type cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270284420143
or barrow type http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220482465484
would either of these be suitable?

for a mast and sail i have a windsurfer which i will use for now but will reshape as suggested on this site!

thanks guys and i look forward to getting started!

Welcome to the forum Jifop!!

I'll leave your questions to the experts, but keep us posted on your progress.

In the mean time have a look around other LLF mini builders threads and you might find some of your questions answered there.

Welcome to the forum jifop
Sourcing the matierial can be a challenge without buying full lengths
I managed to get the steel for my mini from engineering shops and the main
spine is exhaust tube 51 x2 mm from an exhaust tube shop
Both of these places were willing to supply short lengths
As has been said anything less than 2 mm makes the welding more difficult
Good luck with the build
regards Hiko

thanks guys! i have had an idea on the wheel front, although more expensive i think i'm gonna go for these www.powerkiteshop.com/accessories/peterlynnwheelstandard.htm they are the standard wheels from a peter lynn kite buggy! i was looking at my mates one last night and figured they probably make sense!

i didn't realise the reason for the thicker stock was welding i assumed it was a strength issue! thankfully i am building a hotrod at the moment so welding 1.5mm is fine which will save me some weight!

i'm gonna take a trip over to see some engineering firms i used to use tommorrow and see what they have to offer in the way of steel!

again thanks for the help so far!

Those wheels and tyres with the 20mm bearings fitted look really good for a mini
to me
Not sure about 1.5mm steel might be a tad light around the mast step area but I
guess you could reinforce it around there and at the rear axle junction
Maybe someone else could comment here?
Cheers Hiko

Welcome jifop.

Those Peter Lynn wheels should be perfect with 20mm axles.

My chassis ended up being made from 1.6mm wall material and I found 2mm welding rods were the best for welding with a fairly low amperage using a little portable inverter welder.

If you keep your welding arc fairly short with the 2mm rods you don't end up blowing too many holes in the material.

If you don't have a welder yet I highly recommend spending a little extra by buying a MIG welder. Better still if you can borrow one.

Lincoln Electric is one of the most highly respected names in the welding game. Their Power MIG 180C is an excellent choice capable of gas or gasless welding plus a spool gun for aluminium welding can also be bought. They retail in Australia for $1,200 so should be around 600 Pounds in the UK. Try www.lincolnelectric.com.au to have a look at it.

What ever you buy it is a good idea to buy from a dedicated welding supplies shop rather than an auto accessories shop. A welding shop should have a demo bay where you can try out the welders.

I didn't plan for my yacht to built from 1.6mm material. I thought I had 2mm.

So far it has proven to be quite strong enough and the yacht was built almost exactly to the plan. My personal variations to the building plan are being corrected except for the material weight. As Paul said when he saw it and had a sail "The 1.6mm material experiment has been done and it works."

If you build it exactly to the plan you will have a great yacht. Happy Building. Cheers Cisco.