The day starts with more band saw cutting (for the box beams) followed by an introduction to the grinder (for ensuring the box beams do their job – in this case, I believe it will hold an axle).

Emma takes a turn at grinding, and even in full daylight we can see some spark action. Note we’re outside the old wood barn, in the soon to be new pig pen.

The Red Team works out where they need pieces welded so that they have some wiggle room for where the motor will mount. Bike chains have limited adjustment, so you need the gears to give you some leeway.

Nicole has agreed to spend the day teaching the Tinkerers the basics of welding, and then help weld up the cart chassis for them. (Luckily she brought a MIG welder, since the one Gever has isn’t working.)

Emma is imagining all the things she can build now that she is learning to weld. And it all starts with this face shield.

Theo can already see the welding setup in the workshop. “I wonder what kind of airplane I’ll be able to build?…”

Will they be relocating this perfect mud pit to the new stall? If not, I don’t think she’s moving.

It turns out the bandsaw blade isn’t holding up, so at this moment it’s actually faster to use the hacksaw to remove the precious front fork from Jewels & Pearls. Samir is mesmerized while Tywen wishes the bandsaw was working better.

Toby asks Tom if the big camera is heavy, so Tom lets him give it a try. He might need to bulk up a bit if he’s going to carry that on a regular basis.

Samir gets a turn using the bandsaw (which is still making its way through the box steel – very slowly). Luckily it’s noticed that blade is actually completely worn, and once the new one is in place things go much more quickly. For a while.

Gever is digging this new outfit that Nicole has loaned him. I think I know what he’ll be getting for Christmas this year.

Gever has brought a cart from last year – the only one saved. It has actual rack and pinion steering – a Tinkering School first. Theo explains to Nicole what didn’t work about it (and likely all the ways he wants to improve it next time).

Nicole also gets a run-down of how the Red Team chassis will need to work, so she can help the team be better prepared for their turn with the welder. (Right now Gever is the welder, since the TV crew wants to film him.)

The Verde Team was first up with the welder, but now that they’ve roughed out the cart they can determine how they’ll mount their front fork. There are endless possibilities of distance and angle, so it takes some trial and error to figure out what works best. Then they’ll have to wait their turn to get more welding done.

Gever works with the Bleu Team while Jason and Tom film them. It results in one of the longer welding sessions, but everyone needs a second (and possibly third, or even fourth) round, so we’re already trying to figure out how to do more welding tomorrow.

Samir learns how to use the chain tool and install a bike chain. Bryan is indicating how to finesse the feel of the links.

As the last in line for the welders, the Red Team does the most sketching and visualization. For their revolutionary 2-drills-on-one-wheel drive design, no one can figure out if it will tear up the wheel when one motor stops. So they mock it up and give it a try.

Hanna can’t believe her team dodged ANOTHER bullet – it looks like the freewheel is exactly what they need for the drive design. And luckily the gears they are using _have_ freewheels! Isaac is not so impressed. Or maybe, as a member of the competing Verde Team, he’s just worried!

Hanna takes her turn doing a test weld to get the feel of it. Looks good!

Twyen is up next, with Samir looking on, so he’s ready for his turn right after. Everyone did some tests, and then tacked part of the frame. In the interest of time. Nicole finished the tacking with an assistant from the team, and then finished all the welds on her own.

Apparently everyone is too busy today to talk to Jason and Tom, so they are interviewing anyone who will hold still. Or is trapped in a pen and can’t escape their attention. (Just kidding, although I do believe that they are really filming the pigs. And the pigs liked it – they wagged their tails and scampered about. I wonder what Tom said to them? Promises of fame, fortune and Green Acres?)

The Bleu Team needs to get their mount piece into the bike frame, which can’t be welded (wrong metal). It’s also the wrong shape for what they can feasibly build, so they’re bending it to their will.

Since they need a nice solid, flat, dense wood surface to do their metal pounding, the Bleu Team decides to use a stump in the goat pen. Lucky for them it was feeding time, and the animals left them alone to the task (which worked).

Leo and Toby can’t resist the cute bunnies who are out and about. I really think they must not have pets at home. Emma wants to pick up a bunny, but has been warned that they might kick and bite. Rule #1.

Yet another new game where the “target” takes all the abuse of misses. But Isaac doesn’t miss (this time). At least in this game the tire goes back and forth, providing equal opportunity target-practice.

Maxine is helping Jiro figure out how far the wheel should come out and at what angle (this is familiar territory – also covered by the Verde Team). But really what she’s doing is imagining just how fast this cart will go. How fast? Very fast.

It’s been suggested that Maxine should do a Vanna White with the Makita drill. But she has a better icon in mind.

The little pink Jewels and Pearls fork seems dwarfed by the sturdy box chassis. But it really is just a fashion statement waiting to happen.

The Bleu team needs to figure out a strategy for finalizing their fork mount support. This particular approach is not working out. Note, however, how great the mount fits in the pounded bike frame – like they were made for each other!

Samir does a test-sit on the Red Team’s chassis, now that the front fork is mounted and the wheels are in place (sort of – they’re actually in the wrong place, but not really mounted so can be fixed). Tywen can’t quite imagine sitting there, especially after Samir points out it’s much more comfortable if you sit cross-legged.

Tom and Jason have given up on the farm animals, and are taping the escapades of Leo and Toby. It’s not quite clear why the wheel game is done this way, but it probably makes for some great footage. Maybe they’re actually shooting for America’s Funniest Home Videos?

Gever is trying to get his new welder to make a decent weld, and failing. He’s done another sample and had Jacob test it. It only took five easy taps with a hammer to break it apart. Gever doesn’t want to believe it, so gets the story again.

Theo does the first test-sit on the Verde Team cart. The seat isn’t installed (and there is no throttle, or drills for that matter), but the front axle fits perfectly on the bent-box-beam support and is the ideal orientation to the chassis. It has a brake (on the front wheel). So it’s now officially a cart!

The Red Team – yet again! – is relieved to discover that the perceived massive issue is… not an issue at all. Their design WAS well-thought-out, the fork just got twisted around while they weren’t looking.

Now that the Verde Team cart is practically rideable, it’s almost too much to have to wade through more measurements and calculations. But the drills have to be installed rather precisely, to get the desired speed. Estimates vary as to what exactly that speed will be.

Now that it’s getting darker outside, the grinding is much more impressive. Also, everyone’s technique is getting better, so more material is taken off more quickly. And there’s always the matter of: Leo LOVE sparks.

The Red Team has a few more pieces that must be welded in order to do any more work. Specifically, the wheel mounts are needed so that the wheels can be mounted. Everything else is installed based on that. Hanna supervises (the deck mounts) while the team recuts a few miscalculated pieces. Once those are done, they should be motoring!

Light is fading, so the camera crew has gone home and the photographer is calling it a night. But when the welding starts, it lights up the pen (and the privacy screen installed to protect the eyes of passersby). Hopefully they aren’t out there welding until dawn.

The excitement of learning to weld.

Today’s newest entertainment.