Wheel wouldn't ya know?

For Christmas my brother and sister got me an Azusalite 6" wheel ... which I promptly mistook for a hat }{;-)

It took some massive persuasion to get the first hub half to fit into the tire. Finally with some Vaseline to let the hub slide on the rubber and using a dowel to help get it moving, we were able to get it set in place. Insert the tube and the other hub half, bolt the hubs together, add more Vaseline, then pump up the tube to get the other hub half set. It will take some more air to get the pressure up to full recommended, but no hurry. I'll set the final pressure based on how it feels rolling around on the ground in a year...

I also got a very nice belt sander /disc sander combo from my parents. This will really help make the bracket manufacturing go faster. I'll still need to file the last bit by hand, but this will help knock corners off and square up edges much faster. I have yet to turn this one on to see the dust collection in use, but you can see I already put the tool near the A/C intake vent for my apartment. Thinking ahead!

Oh you can also see the filled tire in the picture to the left if you look closely through the nose section structure.

Thanks for a nice Christmas from family and I'm sure that you'll see more posts within the month documenting some spiffy progress.