I hear you Mal, and isn't that the truth! It’s been almost two months since my last meaningful update! How time flies when life gets in the way!
I’ve had a few days in the shop over those 7 weeks and I’ll try to summarize here. It’s been all sheet metal work for a while.
I started by making the Platform Underframes. There are two of these, a left, and a right. I cut two pieces of sheet metal, and double sticky taped them together. After getting the blanks squared up and to size, I marked out the shape. You can (barely) see my “XXX” pattern which indicates what section is to be removed.
Then to the band saw, where I cut out the waste section.
There are a few holes to be drilled here, for mounting to the horn plates and the platform sides, but I chose to wait to make those holes till I get things all lined up. Here’s the left and right Platform Underframes, ready to be bent into shape.
And this is about where they will go. But before I bend them up, I decided to make the rest of the platform sheet metal parts so that I can better visualize how they will all come together, and (hopefully) get them assembled square with each other.
Here is a shot of me drilling the rivet holes in the Platform itself (this will be riveted to the Platform Underframes, after they are bent.
Next, I cut out and shaped the Fuel Bunker Rear – this will go along the back of the platform. Here I drilled the major mounting holes – my theory on what to drill when the sheet is flat, vs. what to drill after bending, is to drill the outer most holes when things are flat. Then, after all parts are bent, and being fitted in place, I will drill the inside holes for mounting, so that they (hopefully) all end up in the right place, and square with the rest of the assembly. This goes for the bolt holes, as well as rivet holes.
The next two pieces that I made (today
) were the Platform Sides (lower left) and the Fuel Bunker Sides (lower right). The upper left is the Fuel Bunker Rear, and the upper right is the Platform Underframes.
I’ve got two more parts to make before I start bending and assembling: the Fuel Bunker Insides, and the Firebox Backsheet.
These parts aren’t too exciting right now, but I think it will really start to unfold when I get them bent and assembled.
Thanks for following along with my excessively slow build. I doubt it will be moving much faster for some time. There’s a lot of stuff going on at the home front, and as we all know, that takes precedent!
Kim
