one of the best cages i have seen

[rctenracer]

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=91458&id=18535

[shodog]

Agreed, that is some nice work

[Prince Steve]

This is super sweet.
I love aftermarket takes on the vintage R/C. As long as it is done well and tastefully.

[badhoopty]

that is nice for sure.

anybody who likes this stuff should really try it for themselves.

once you get the hang of bending, fishmouthing, and brazing it becomes almost meditating.

certainly time consuming...

[Prince Steve]

I might have to look into that. I am very good with my hands and could use some meditation..

[Bormac]

Badhoopty your cramwler cage is ACE! Where can I go to learn how to bend pipes the way you guys do? I have bought myself a blow torch and was even thinking of soldering brass together to make up a cage but Im sure brazing would be even better. please direct me...I must learn...

[jwscab]

just need a cheap tubing bender, readily available. typically you use 3/16" tubing, which is pretty easy to bend by hand if it's steel. It's brake line. Stainless is a bit harder to work with.

for tight radius stuff, it's probably a good idea to fill the tube with sand, and close off the ends, make your bends, and trim the ends off afterwards.

as far as brazing, you can probably use just a propane torch and brazing rod, which has a flux coating. the fit up and jigging is the most time consuming. it also takes some skill to master applying the right amount of heat.

just takes practice. the cages on this thread look fantastic!

[tizeye]

Or you could try these guys out..mostly modern stuff but still very cool http://www.rollcagecity.com/
Pete

[badhoopty]

Badhoopty your cramwler cage is ACE! Where can I go to learn how to bend pipes the way you guys do? I have bought myself a blow torch and was even thinking of soldering brass together to make up a cage but Im sure brazing would be even better. please direct me...I must learn...

both scale4x4rc.org or rccrawler.com have tons of info on how to braze tubers.

you NEED to use harris safety silv solder AND flux, and you need to clean every surface to be brazed. anything but harris safety silv will either not work, work kinda, or not work... the harris stuff is much higher in quality and silver content compared to anything else and melts at a much lower temp than normal brazing rod, its like using deans solder compared to plumbing solder for electrical connections.

you will waste alot of stuff in the beginning. after you mess around a bit you figure out bends and how to measure and how to prep the joints. one thing i do on tricky bends is use a coathanger at first to get the right bend, and then bend my tubing or rod to match it. i'll also braze 2 pieces of tubing together to get the exactly the same bends in both tubes, then unbraze them for mirror bends on both sides of whatever.

i use harris 45 & 56 safety silv. 45 for the main stuff and the 56 for details and when brazing close to existing joints.
http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/consumables/alloys.asp?id=30

hmmm... never knew home depot had it.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100672839&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100672839&ci_src=14110944&cm_mmc=shopping-_-google-_-D25X-_-100672839

you can start out with a cheap mapp gass torch from home depot. 90% of the tuber below was done with one, but for the real tight areas where you dont want to spread alot of heat around you will need a mapp/oxygen setup. i got one from home depot for around 50 bucks, its awesome but you will blow through a ton of the little o2 cans if you use it for everything.

anything steel you can braze with the harris and a cheap bottle of mapp gas. tubing, rod, sheet, little bolts and screws, tamiya metal parts... i get my brakeline at the autoparts store and my steel sheet and rod at a hardware store.

for fishmouthing joints on 3/16" tubing or rod, i use a 3/16" dremel chainsaw sharpening stone. i go through a ton them, but its alot faster than using a file.

i've never used a bender, although i'd imagine they are nice to use. i just bend stuff with my hands or use a socket to wrap the tubing around to get my bends. for really tight bends rod is way better than tubing, since you cant crink it and its more predictable to bend by hand. stainless tubing is awesome but its a pain to bend by hand.

so i fishmouth and test fit the joint, then if everything is cool i clean the areas to be joined with a dremel flapwheel (important) and apply the harris flux to the joint, join the 2 pieces together, heat them with the torch until the flux turns clear and looks 'wet' and the joint just starts to glow red, apply the harris safety silv solder to the joint until it flows into the joint, then remove heat. you can also 'pre-tin' both sides of the joint before you braze them together, and un-braze anything that you mess up on or want to change.
the basic principle is exactly like soldering electrical stuff but with much higher heat.

the hood its on in this shot shows how long this project has been taking...

[Doc J33P]

Nice work hoopty. I have been building a TJ for over a year and completely scratch built it all except for the axles and drivetrain. RC Crawling is fun as hell, but scale crawling is even better!

[Bormac]

I realy like the scale crawling thing and have just gotten a Tamiya Bruiser in brilliant condition. Is this a good start?

[badhoopty]

I realy like the scale crawling thing and have just gotten a Tamiya Bruiser in brilliant condition. Is this a good start?

i wouldnt crawl an old bruiser, especially if it's in good shape. check out Scale4x4rc.org or rccrawler.com for ALOT of killer builds and info. you got 2 basic choices, a more realistic looking/driving scale 4x4 or a purpose-built crawler.

i very much like my hi-lift f350, which is basically tamiyas 2nd gen bruiser.

[Bormac]

Thankyou Badhoopty. The Bruiser i have is old but the chassis componants have no marks on them anywhere. I am certain it could be polished up to be a brilliant shelfer. I guess it would be a sin to use it for crawling. I realy like your custom rig but have very little idea of where to start. I will check your website youve given links for.
Many thanks-Jason.

[Doc J33P]

Keep the Bruiser stock and as is. Make your own from parts or scratch. It is more fun. As for purpose built, that is another level compared to scale. If you want it to look scale and real you will not make a great crawler. If you want it to kick ass then you need to build a 1.9 or 2.2 comp class crawler.

Granted I have seen many scale rigs climb and rock crawl but they are not the same as a comp crawler. Scalers are more fun to follow around for a few hours winching over obstacles and such. I love them. But I love my comp class crawlers as well.

I think I am rambling, lol.

[mikedealer]

make sure the safetysilv is cadnium free or it will produce poison gas that you dont want to be breathing in at all