Tie Rod Ends used as hinge Question

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Raul
You can get sperical rod ends designed for large aircraft flight control use that do not need lubrication and have right or left threads, they could work as a turn-barrel for adjustment. Tom

[sullivan mcgriff]

new tie rods are really stiff and the taper would be hard to work with, you could use a bike head tube or bottom bracket if you have those laying about, the heim joints are nice too but a bit pricy, round ball bearings are only a couple of bucks and are easier to use.

[raul segura]

I had taken a good look at the bike parts as I have two identical bikes, but one of the kids left one out to rust badly. I would have taken that rout. The spherical are nice to, but also pricy. Ive gone with what is available and cheep, the rods I tested some for shape and stiffness and there all stiff ! So I fit them to the drill press and added some rock polishing compound in three grits. They are soft now and only $6 + each. As I will be welding I can get around the taper connections. The difficult part so far has been finding left hand threaded nuts. Wew. Ive also picked up the swing arms, two orders of H.P.'s crow bars they come in three per set, also cheep I think and should be plenty strong. The nice thing about the tie rods is that they are beefy and should last. The next thing to pick up will be the long rails. Ive picked out some square fence posts at Lowes 12+$ for 2"x7ft pipe. Plus a bunch of nuts and bolts that come with each post. Compare that to the stuff they have stocked for regular use. I agree though the bicycle parts would have been real nice.

Ive had to put this aside for some time as the wife has things that need fixing. But Ill post pictures once I get to the fabrication part.
2-STORE MADE WOOD CARVER.jpg
Here is one I found on e-bay the other day sold for a total of $560.00 with router.