Got one box today. The box had a few dents, but all was good inside. Some of the pads had compression marks from the track pieces. One additional piece of cardboard would solve that issue. It'll be interesting to see how much the neoprene recovers over the next couple of days.
Temp was as low as 59F inside the box, so cranked up the heat to 72F and waited.
While waiting, I weighed.
The ring pieces weighed 91.4-91..6gms, evenly distributed.
The track pieces weighed 275.9-276.8, distribution:
- 2 at 275.9
- 4 at 276.0
- 4 at 276.1
- 5 at 276.2
- 1 at 276.4
- 1 at 276.5
- 1 at 276.8
All these weights are so close (<0.2%) that I think any balance issues wouldn't be weight related.
Despite that, the last three pieces got trimmed a bit to bring them down to 276.2 or less. I used a Forster bit on the underside on the raised part where all the flanges come together. I was careful to not trim farther than the height of the flanges so as to not weaken the part.
And assembled the base. No hex/Allen wrench supplied, 3/16" fit, 4 and 5mm did not, as expected. They don't suggest using a wrench, but I could significantly reduce shakiness tightening them carefully with a wrench.
Noticed that the wheels are on bolts that allow them to move side-to-side 1/8"+. Assembled just a track piece and two side pieces--there's more space between the wheels than seems needed.
The plastic injection site in the middle of the track pieces needed trimming on 50% of the pieces, and I probably trimmed a bit on 25% more. The trimming was easy with a sharp knife.
Now warm, I assembled the outer rings, intermixing parts by weight. As the weights were so close, I don't think this was necessary. Laying it on the ground, inner side up, I stepped on each joint. I went around twice. Then I turned it over and hit the high joint pieces with my fist--not too hard, didn't take enough to warrant the mallet.
Then, laying down one outer ring, I carefully placed the first track piece with it's centerline at the joint between two ring pieces. I found putting the track on by tilting the upper part out of the ring and applying weight while shifting it vertical, most times the track pieces snapped in place. I then tapped them by hand or mallet to make sure the center lines still lined up with the ring joints. The last piece required some additional finessing and a bit of the mallet to get in, but it wasn't real hard.
Laying the other outer ring on top, I easily snapped it on, only having to move a few of the track pieces to fit the groove, which was easy. I then went around the ring again, making sure it was snapped securely. I then flipped the whole thing over and did the same.
It was obvious that the joints that the wheels would roll over were far from perfect. But, time to try it out. It did roll on the stand, albeit with a bit of shimmy and some points where it seemed sluggish. However, it seemed good enough to put the mats on and see what the cats thought of it.
The mats indeed do fit one pad to two track pieces. As long as you keep to that pattern, there's no large gaps between pads. I think a more concerned person could easily stretch the pads during installation enough to cover all gaps.
Then, out with the toys and treats!
Jax (my Mutt) is the only one I've convinced to walk in the wheel. Ziggy likes standing crosswise in it. He also decided to jump to the top, and it rotated and he jumped off into a chair. It did wobble a bit then, but didn't fall off. Oni thought the boys were hogging the wheel and she kept her distance. We'll see what she thinks when she has it to herself.
I'm going to try to smooth some of the joints, both where the wheels ride, and the outer ring joints next to the track pieces.
It probably took two hours, including everything, to assemble, and could be done in much less without weighing, trimming, and carefully inspecting each piece.
Is it perfect? No. Is it functional? Yes. Was it worth the price? For me, yes. Can I make it better? Yes. That's a project for tomorrow, or this weekend.
And I think One Fast Cat now has the experience to revise the moulds and the injection process to improve the fit and joints. I think the next production run will be much better.
Too tired after working a full day and assembling the wheel for pics. Soon!
