The hubs for our new design of arctic cart involves some pretty intricate machining to be done in aluminium to hold the bearings etc.
We wandered around different machine workshops in Sydney getting quotes and most places were a bit alarmed at what was needed to make the stub axles - specifically the 500mm long, 40mm diam hole to be bored through the middle of it to save weight.
John Bridekirk at Sorensen Engineering not only worked out how best to do it and quoted me the very next day, but after showing Chris around their meticulous, high-tech workshop in Brookvale he also became so enthused by the adventure that he did the jobs for us below cost price as well as jumping the que with their lengthy several week backlog of jobs!
In July 2005, two young Aussies Chris Bray and Clark Carter plunged inside the Arctic Circle to travel unsupported across Victoria Island, the world's ninth largest and largely unexplored island. After 58 days of hauling, paddling and dragging 250kgs of gear behind them in their home-made aluminium kayaks with fold-down wheels, they were only 1/3 the way across! It was such an incredible adventure though - including wolves, polar bears, artefacts, blizzards and unseen landscapes - that they vowed to return. After two years of prep, The iiNet 1000 Hour Day Expedition set of in 2008, and finished what they started.
We email out notifications the instant we upload any news items of significant interest, so if you'd like to follow the adventure more closely, then why not Subscribe >>
