I got started on the footpegs for the Dragon Trike. I’m making a simple T-bar that will be u-bolted to the frame. The u-bolt mount will allow it to be adjusted and removed for eventual powder coating or other modification. For a ride of any appreciable distance, I would like it to eventually be a bar with footboards on it.

I have a 4 foot long piece of 1-1/2″ square tubing and I picked up a 3 foot piece of 1″ round tubing.

I sawed a hole through one end of the square tubing and centered a 32″ length of the round tubing and welded it in place.

I placed the hole slightly off center so it would be simpler to give a chamfered look to the end. The chamfer will be about parallel to the ground.

I cut wedges out of the “wide” side:

 And folded the side down to meet them:

I then cut a rectangle to fit the opening and welded it in.

The front edge weld in the pic above is possibly the best looking weld I’ve ever done. It’s almost a shame to grind the smooth.

I cut the square tubing to length, 16 inches from the crossbar to the end.

To make the saddle, I used a 3″ x 8″ black steel pipe nipple. I cut the threaded ends off then split the remaining tube.

I had a steadier hand for the other cut 🙂

After cleaning up the edges, used a magnet, barely visible here, to hold it temporarily in place so I could tack it on the end of the square tube.

I welded to two curved straight sides. The curved sides will be carrying the most weight in service, so I cut a couple of gussets to weld in along this side.

My #0 tip just couldn’t throw enough BTUs to do a good job the the intersection of all three pieces, but I’m pretty happy with the long weld along the gusset.

I also ran out of welding rods small enough for the selfsame #0 tip, so this is how it sits at the moment. I will swing by the welding supply joint tomorrow and get a little bigger welding tip and a bunch of the smaller rods. With a bigger tip, I should be able to clean up that mess and avoid a similar mess on the other side pf this brace and the other brace.

This is the nearly completed thingy: