It's been several weeks since my last update, but I've been plodding along. So this will be a fairly big update.
To make the grouters, I use 22GA sheet metal. Placing my HF bandsaw in the vertical mode, I cut two strips 1.5" wide and about 12" long.
I double-sticky tapped those two together and milled them to 1.5" wide - the same width as the rear wheels.
Then I cut a ~67.5 degree angle on one end, and trued it up on the disk sander.
Using that angle as a guide, I cut a 1/4" strip off the end.
I did that a whole bunch of times. While the band saw cut wasn't exact, it was pretty close. And to help out, between each cut, I cleaned up the end of the stock on the disk sander to make sure my angle was staying true.
Here are 28 double thick grouters. I only need 24 per wheel, but I wanted some extras for the mistakes I'm bound to make.
After separating the double stacks, I drilled holes in each end of all 48 (plus the extra) grouters. I carefully set the hole 3/32" in from the edge.
Here's a big pile of them after drilling the holes, but before clean up. You can see the wicked burr around each hole.
After FAR too many hours filing and cleaning up the grouters, I divided them into 'left' and 'right'. The wheels are 'handed'. The grouters point opposite directions in each wheel, and I picked the 24 that looked best on one side for the left wheel, and the 24 that looked best on the other side for the right wheel. The spares laying about randomly.
Then I took one of the wheels and drilled 24 rivet holes carefully spaced around one side of the left wheel.
And started riveting the grouters to the wheel...
First step, countersink the edge around the holes in the grouter to give the rivet something to hold onto. These rivets will be filed flush after I'm done attaching all the grouters.
Then rivet one side onto the wheel. (no picture, oops!)
Then, using the grouter as a guide, drill the hole in the far side of the wheel for the 2nd rivet.
Now rivet the second side.
My process for riveting each side is, of course, the same.
First, set the rivet, so that its up close and personal with the far side:
Then using a thickness gauge, as was recommended, I cut the rivet to lenth:
Here it is cut to length:
Then I use an intermediate punch to tighten things up some, and the final snap. For these, I'm not actually forming a rivet head, so I'm using a very FLAT punch for the final step to get the rivet down in the coutnersink.
I was humming along, not setting any speed record, but making pretty good progress - I was on my 12th or 13th grouter thinking I'd do just one more before I went in for dinner. And wouldn't you know it, the little drill bit I'm using for the rivets snapped
. And I couldn't get the tip of the bit out of the wheel. I tried all sorts of tricks. It hadn't drilled all the way through, so I couldn't punch it out. It broke off flush, so I couldn't pull it out. Try as I might, I couldn't get that sucker out of there.
So I resorted to destructive means. I finally used an end mill to cut around the broken bit enough that I could finally break it out. It's far uglier than it looks in this picture.
At least I was careful not to mill all the way through, and to keep my 'mess' small enough that it could be hidden under the grouter (I thought that was pretty smart
). So I went ahead and tried to rivet the grouter in place.
Alas, with that big gaping hole behind the rivet, things squished all over the place as I started to hammer the rivet in place. So I stopped.
See how its all askew? I think my next attack will be to mill out a nice round hole and solder a piece of steel in place. Then I should be able to drill and rivet. Hopefully it won't look too bad.
So here's where I'm at. The good part:
And the ugly part:
I'll be sure to let you all know how it comes out. I'm sure you'll be 'riveted' to my build log just waiting to find out how it all works out!
Thanks for following along,
Kim