Chapter 5.8– Top PlateThe Top Plate was cut from the larger brass 0.040” sheet using my Rigid reciprocal saw. This works quite well, but it’s not overly accurate. It cuts fast, but you have to leave a good margin.
I’ve fixed a couple of pieces of steel bar to the edge of the bench that I use to clamp larger thin sheet while filing – anything too big for my vise. It’s not perfect, but it works OK. I wish I had a way to clamp it in the middle, but I haven’t figured that out yet.
Anyway, using this, I cleaned up the edges, squared up 3 sides, and took it to the correct width.
I then lined it up and used a scribe to mark the shape of the cut out for the front end.
Like so (this is the bottom side that I scribed). I then took that mark and transferred it out 0.080” – this is the aprox line that I’m aiming at for this cut-out. (The 0.080” comes from the thickness of the vertical board and the verge board.)
I then proceeded to cut the shape out using the scroll saw.
And then slowly filed it to shape, test fitting frequently between filings.
One thing to point out: despite all my carefulness, the back end of the Front Plates came out slightly different lengths. One side sticks out a tad more than the other (see the red arrows). I shaped the top plate to match this.
After getting the cutout to fit, I bent the top plate to shape. I had to do this in order to know exactly how long it needed to be. As I bent it to shape, I also shortened the length till it fit.
This took a lot of twiddling and adjusting, but I’m pretty pleased with the fit at this point.
Next, I need to make an access cutout in the top of the tender. The Tender Manhole will eventually be fitted into this cutout. There are also a few holes for mounting the Headlight Base. Here’s the layout for the cutout and the holes for the headlight base.
Since the corners of the cutout are supposed to be 1/16” radius, I used a 1/8” drill in each corner. I’ll saw out the opening between those holes. I used the mill table to accurately locate each corner of the cutout, and to locate and drill the headlight mounting holes.
And here’s our state of play at the moment:
Thanks for taking a look.
Kim