Hi Guys
The next small item to check off the list is the carrying handle. This is a twisted wire affair with a simple wood handle.
I purchased some galvanized .047” wire from McMaster Carr which is half size of the original. Not only did it have a pretty good curve from being on a coil it was lumpy too.
I was able to grab it in two Jacobs chuck and give it a good stretch which straightened it out pretty well.
The lathe was turned by hand and the tail stock left unclamped to add the proper number of twists. I did a test part to determine the proper length of the wire initially.
The little wood handle was turned from some African Black Wood that I had left over from oiler knobs on the Pacific engine. The original was painted black but this is dark enough I will just leave it as is.
The handle was slid into place and the legs bent, also the start of the mounting loops formed. I used some gun blue on the wire and gave it a light polish with some Scotch-Brite to get rid of the new look.
I made a dummy of the engine top plate to help form the loops in the wire ends. This kept me from scratching up the top of the engine. Also, it is much easier to clamp things in place using some small parallel machinist clamps.
Here it is mounted on the engine, on my original fan the handle was mounted using round head screws as I have done here. They will eventually be nickel plated along with all the other hardware.
It is a little bow legged as is the original, this is to clear the displacer connecting rod as it swings around.
All for now, thanks for checking in and more to follow.
Dave
