FOUR-WHEEL FUN

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SHOP SHORT

TWO -WHEELERS DON'T HAVE TO be the only game in town. This isn't news to those who spent their fun-filled youth pumping the daylights out of a pipe-and-wheel contraption that was called an "Irish Mail." Well, here's a modern version of that pump scooter, and it can be built with electrical metallic tubing (EMT) and some odds and ends.

The necessary tools include a small welder and two different tubing benders (to handle 1/2" and 1" EMT), as well as a hacksaw, an electric drill with bits, a screwdriver, a round file, a measuring tape, a pipe wrench, and a coping saw. If you're purchasing new electrical conduit (in 10 lengths), you'll need two complete 1" sections, one 3/4" piece, and three 1/2" lengths to handle most of the job. Also required are an additional 2' of the 1/2" size and an 8" length of 1 1/4" tubing. The two-piece seat can be cut from a single 20" X 28" slab of plywood.

The chassis is made from two 58" lengths of 1" conduit which are bent to the same contour, then joined to form a sort of paddle shape. To curve these sections properly, choose one and-starting at either end measure off 4". Make a 90° bend at that point, which should take up about 10".

Building the "Irish Mail"

Mark off 5" more, start a 45° arc (this one uses up 5"), leave an 8" straight section, form the final 45° curve, and then determine the length of the remaining leg (it should be about 21").

Once you've curved a pair of the tubular side rails, join them by temporarily placing your 1 1/2" pipe coupling between the parallel front tubes as a spacer, then welding the butted rear tips to each other. Use a scrap of 1"-diameter mechanical tubing (or filed-down 3/4" pipe) inside both parts to serve as a bridge.

The rear axle housings are welded to the chassis next, and these should be positioned so they intersect the right-angle bends at midpoint and are equally divided by the joint. A 2 1/2" section of 1/2" conduit holds each one to the frame at the inner ends, but since the goal is to mount the housings true for proper wheel alignment and camber, these stubs may have to be made slightly longer or shorter to suit your individual chassis.

The rest of the frame components are made from 1/2" EMT, which can be fine-trimmed as necessary. A 20" cross-member fastens between the side rails at a point 10 1/2" in front of the butt joint at the rear. Then two 90° pieces-one 9" and the other 24" in total length-are similarly arranged to help support the plywood seat.

A one-wheel brake is all that's needed for this simple "pump about." All the cart's wheels canbe fabricated from
discarded bike rims.