Team Health & Safety - First Time Builder

[Zenith]

Time for an update, as things have not been quiet!

For 2020, there were various things I wanted to do:

1.Update my sawbot Head For The Exit, improving the machine on the faults that were revealed during the Edinburgh event
2.Build a new version of my lifter This Is Not A Drill, for my son to pilot it at a forthcoming event.

As I wanted to get the new machine dialed in on time, I set about with building the new TINAD as soon as possible, so we could get as much driving practice in as possible.

There were various conditions I wanted it to meet:

1. Be a brick, especially since my son would now be piloting it
2. Give it some proper drive- and weapon power for once
3. Build it with the bending techniques used in Woo and HFTE

LINK TO IMGUR BUILD ALBUM HERE (will be updated continuously)

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It was great to just start over, using all the lessons from the years since the last version in a new iteration. Pretty much all of the HDPE used in the new This Is Not A Drill has been bent to some degree, giving it a fresh look to bring it into the new season, updating the lifter to how my machines tend to look nowadays (with a specific nod to its ridiculous wheelguards, that needed to be bent in three places without the use of clamps).

Now as we know the Corona crisis hit, effectively cancelling any events for the foreseeable future. The machine was already finished though, so I've put a detailed run-through of the construction here.

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I even saw fit to make a simple bespoke cradle for it, from the off-cuts I keep.

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Ofcourse, following the cradle of Head For The Exit, also TINAD's cradle got adorned with a warning sign. This sign reads 'PAY ATTENTION, PLAYING CHILDREN'.

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Now, my machines traditionally get their reflective livery right before the event, so this is how both Head For The Exit (with old top armour though completely revisited elsewhere) and the new This Is Not A Drill currently look. I'm still brooding on how the new striping is going to look, but it seems I'll have ample time to think about it.