Should The VEX Starter kit come with more then just the 2 small ad 4 large axles?
Posting From Opera Browser On DS.
yeah i guess. but you can always get square bars and cut them. even though that’s a hassle.
Less Axels mean the price is kept down, so if anybody wanted to build beyond the starter kit they could get the tripack bundle for 150 (good price) and get a ton of axels, threaded collars, flat bearings, metal parts, etc. that there are not a lot of in the starter kit.
450 bucks plus a couple of omnis and maybe a couple motors or programming kit would just equal the cost of a PS3 or XBox (or for anbody in the future, the present gaming system of the time you are reading this).
I remember a few months ago i was using vex in school, and the only thing my team had was the axels in the starter kit, (and they were barely long enough to mount small wheels on), so I had to custom cut the axels off a square bar, risking safety.
I agree that vex could put this issue into consideration even though I no longer have this problem.
Posted from my iPhone using Safari.
Ehere can one buy this mysterious tripak you speak of?
Posted From Opera Browser On DS.
Everyone,
Notice that MRClark corrected his own spelling mistake when he wrote the body of his initial posting in this thread…
“Axel” is a person. I don’t want any people or body parts in my Vex kits. 
An “axle” is one way you can use the square bars that are part of the Vex product line. Those bars are something I have bought often so that I could cut them into an assortment of different lengths.
I would personally vote for longer bars before asking for more short pieces in the Starter Kits. Fairly often I wish for a bar that is as long as the 17.5" C-channels and other long metal pieces.
Blake
PS: If you use the forum’s search tool to research what has happened when other folks bought ordinary square bar stock from hardware stores and tried to use it in Vex projects, you will read that they ran into trouble. Some of the threads/posts containing this info that I am remembering might have been on the Chief Delphi site instead of this one.
On the page at this URL (that is supposed to contain all Vex products you can buy from VexLabs) http://www.vexlabs.com/vex-robotics-all-products.shtml search for the word “TriPack”
thanks for clearing that up blake. I think i misspelled the word “axle”, i apologize for the mistake.
A tri-pack is a bundle that contains the motion pack, hardware pack, and the metal pack. You save about 30 dollars than if you were to get all three. An easy way to get to the tri-pack would be to go to one of the three packs, and look right next to where you buy the pack-it offers you an option to buy the tri-pack.
I’m sorry if you have anything against iPhones, it’s just me.
i think that more axles could be put into the starter kit, but it really isnt nessecary based on how few gears and wheels come with the starter kit. i pretty sure that i made do with the axles that came in the kit when i first got it, before i got any more accessory kits.
yea, but the problem is that if you want to mahe the wheels any farther away, you would need more "axle"s to do it. with the pieces in the starter kit, you can have a 2 motor drive with 6 gears, either 60 on the motor and 36 on the wheels, or 12 on the wheels, or a 36 on the motor and 60s on the wheels [the 60s are hard to use on the motor on carpet with the small wheels because they are pretty much the same size as the small wheels and drag on the carpet[which sucks]]. But all you can have is to motors, and the 4 wheels, and even then, you have an extra motor, and servo, that you have no "axle"s to use with them, so there fore they are useless.
Posting From Opera Browser On DS.
A cheap alternative to buying axle is to go to Home Depot and buy their square axle. It’s kept with the other longer round rods and axles. Other hardware stores may have the same stuff.
i agree with the going to home depot idea because i can get three feet of axle for a couple bucks and i can custom cut them to any size i need. Another thing about the home depot ones is that they arent zink platted, well at least mine arent, and if you want to make the axle so it doesnt bend you can temper it or in other words heat it until its glowing then dump it in water. This makes the steel unflexible when in tension but when the tension becomes to great it just will break off not bend. Although I have never had one have enough tension for it to break it is remarkibly stiffer and stronger.
hmmm, you may have a problem with that idea. other people have had the same idea as buying square bar stock from home depot or such stores, but the thing is, those .125" square bars are completely square, unlike the vex axles whose corners are rounded slightly. even a very small change makes the axles virtually useless since the collars do not fir on them.
I have heard of them not fitting too but the axles i bought work perfectly. It might depend on the supplier but i have had good luck with mine.
I’ve found that you sometimes have to do a little sanding but I’ve never had any real dificulty.
I did the same thing and they work perfectly…
No it most definitely should NOT! if it did, you wouldnt have to buy more axels… then vexlabs wouldnt make as much money…
yes but you would also most likely pay a little more the starter kit.
and why are you on the side of spending more money?
Her can find “axls” of this exact size, where id be able to cut them tomy own length? i have searched Home Depot [the most obviost start place] but cant seam to find it, can someone help me out?
Nevermind =D
i found a better cheaper way
i bought a cheap $30 dremel [12,000rpm 24,000rpm 30,000rpm]
and put on a cheap cutting disk
[that shattered after every cut [always where eye protection]]
and now, instead of having 4 12in axles i will never use, i have
4x 3in
2x 3.5in
2x 2.5in
2x 6in
Now, i can do a lot more, and i got a dremel out of it =D
$30 On Debit Master Card ]
i just use a hack saw. It works perfectly. i also have this suction cup secured vice that i use to hold the axle. It works pretty well.
You shouldn’t be shattering the dremel cutting discs. Chances are when you are cutting something you start cut on an angle and at some point bend the blade. Make sure you don’t bend the blades cause they will break as you are experiencing.