Robert has been in touch with pictures of a most tricky task, the construction of the smokebox door hinges. Bear in mind that Robert is building this model from scratch & has had to scale everything from the works drawings…….
‘The smokebox door looked a little naked without the hinge straps, so this was the next job. Made out of mild steel they were a relatively straight forward job, a combination of milling & filing.
Then came the tricky bit! Both hinge ends had to lie in line to mate up with the brackets on the smokebox ring. Straight forward? Well, actually no. A little more complicated as the straps don’t come off the door edge straight due to the curvature of the door!
The ends of the straps needed a little compound twist in them, just enough to take the curve, but then the ends needed to remain parallel for the hinge pin. You get the idea…. Tricky! All done cold too.
To finish the job the straps need to be riveted to the door.’
