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PDGood:
Not many people attempt to build a pedal from scratch, however mokah at drumtown.info/forum not only built one, he made this double pedal.






FROM THE POST ON DRUMTOWN.INFO/FORUM
mokah:
It's starting to take some form, I have a pic of just the one side, though the slave is also cut. Now I have to wait 'till Monday to get my screws to actually mount the posts for the axle. It's a lot bulkier than I had planned, but I don't really care about how it looks, I'm just excited to have a set of longboards, and I only paid about 100 bucks for all the aluminum and steel. And I have a bunch left over for whatever other delusions I can come up with.
Anywho, there's 2 angles of the pedal just resting on some spare aluminum and I figured I'd show the bearings I'm using as well. I harvested them from some roller blades at the DI (short for deseret industries - a western states thrift store), cost like 3 dollars. I was just going to buy them, but they're like 10 bucks a piece brand new.







Little update. Got the slave pedal nearly there, just need to buy the right screws and make the spring assembly, then it's on to the main. It was really even easier than I had thought, though its taking significantly longer.... I had a bit of trouble with getting the bearings to actually fit. The drill was just barely too small. I could get them in with a hammer, but it pinched them and made it so they wouldn't spin freely. So I figured the best idea was a strange one, of course. So I took some plastic round rod and taped some sand paper on there, put it in my drill and ran it around the inside. Worked like a charm.

If anyone is curious, the axle is 5/16 steel, and the aluminum is 3-8 inch thick. For the axles I just used a really long 10-24 screw and counter sunk the head. My drill press and I are getting to be really close friends. A right good chap he is though, so I can't complain. A question though, where on God's green earth does one find the U joints they use for double pedals? the only thing I can find when I try to look it up is the u joints used in cars, for the steering wheel assembly. And they're way too big, like an inch and a half at the smallest. Anyone have any ideas? I can always make an adaptor of some type if it's not 5/16, but I'd like it to be close.





kwas:
For the U joints, try to find a company dealing with machine parts. They should have all kind of sizes.
Something like this:
http://www.maedler.de/Product/1643/1628/1877/896.aspx

I know, this is a European site, but they should have it everywhere in the world.
Those small joints are used for connecting small electro motors to the shafts or hand drive.

sdolcourt:
McMaster-Carr is awesome!
http://www.mcmaster.com/#universal-joints/=aopnrk

The pin and block type U joints come in bored and unbored, so if you got the unbored, you and Mr Drill Press might be able to customize to your specs.
Also, check out wmberg.com, or applied.com (Applied Industrial)

mokah:
It's done. Works B E A Utifilly. (that was an Ace Ventura reference, yep) When I say its done, I mean it works. I do still need to buy some decent beaters, and wait on those u-joints to show up, but it actually does work, and it works well. I can't say how many problems I had to fix, but damnit I have some longboards finally. Played them today and I gotta say it's been too damn long since I've even had a double pedal at all, it was glorious! Forgot to take a picture of it on my kit, but there it is against the wall.

The McMaster-Carr were by far the cheapest - like 12 bucks a piece.

sdolcourt:
Just one question from me. How do they grip the kick's hoop?

mokah:
And that, sir, is the final problem I have to fix. I just kind of set them in front of the kick. But the slave needs some spikes on the bottom to hold it in place as well.