Fat Dragon
Newbie
Unlike a lot of the people who seem to make their own baskets, I'm a total dummy when it comes to making things. At the same time, I've got some ideas I'd like to try to put into action.
Here in China, the chief natural resources are oil in the northwest, coal in the eastern mountain ranges, cheap labor in the cities, and busted up bicycles in the apartment complexes. I may have made that up, but let's just say any bicycle parts I might want to use for a DIY target would be available in plenty, and while I can't weld or cut metal, I could get it done very cheaply.
I'm thinking a spoked wheel for the upper cage and another for the base of the basket, two rims supported somehow by spokes and maybe a few brackets of some kind for the walls of the basket. Cut up some bike frames or use PVC or bamboo for the posts (lots of thick bamboo growing nearby - wouldn't be hard to find a piece the right thickness and hopefully strong enough for this application). The busted base of a five-wheeled office chair or maybe a contraption of three or four sets of bicycle handlebars welded together for a base. Cheap chain (less likely), rope-and-hose chains (ala the Pinwheel design), or bicycle chains (would look awesome, but high-maintenance and heavy) for the chains.
So, with that basic parts list in mind, does anyone have any advice on what theories I might want to scrap from the get-go? Challenges I might need to overcome? Suggestions for making this easy to break down and transport (I drive a 2015 Honda Fit, if that makes a difference)? If I get nothing, I'll try to see what I can do on my own, but things would almost certainly go better if I had some guidance from better minds than mine before I get started in earnest.
Here in China, the chief natural resources are oil in the northwest, coal in the eastern mountain ranges, cheap labor in the cities, and busted up bicycles in the apartment complexes. I may have made that up, but let's just say any bicycle parts I might want to use for a DIY target would be available in plenty, and while I can't weld or cut metal, I could get it done very cheaply.
I'm thinking a spoked wheel for the upper cage and another for the base of the basket, two rims supported somehow by spokes and maybe a few brackets of some kind for the walls of the basket. Cut up some bike frames or use PVC or bamboo for the posts (lots of thick bamboo growing nearby - wouldn't be hard to find a piece the right thickness and hopefully strong enough for this application). The busted base of a five-wheeled office chair or maybe a contraption of three or four sets of bicycle handlebars welded together for a base. Cheap chain (less likely), rope-and-hose chains (ala the Pinwheel design), or bicycle chains (would look awesome, but high-maintenance and heavy) for the chains.
So, with that basic parts list in mind, does anyone have any advice on what theories I might want to scrap from the get-go? Challenges I might need to overcome? Suggestions for making this easy to break down and transport (I drive a 2015 Honda Fit, if that makes a difference)? If I get nothing, I'll try to see what I can do on my own, but things would almost certainly go better if I had some guidance from better minds than mine before I get started in earnest.