|
Pete
The gussets are bent around a piece of pipe that matches the radius Ron says. The trick is this; you weld the end of the tube to the pipe in the direction in which you will wrap it. The next step is what Ron told me to do so don’t yell. Remember the debate about heating the tube to bend it; well as much as you are not supposed to heat the tube, you heat the tube. Ron said only use a little heat, a rose bud tip works well, do not turn the color of the tube, and the heat is only to relax the memory. If the tube turns red it will distort, keep your torch moving the length of the tube and don’t keep it too close. You may lose the first 6” until you get the hang of it, also make sure that it’s .060 wall. Two people work best, put a vice in the center of the room so the other person can walk it around, the person working the torch should push on the pipe also. There may be people out there that have a better way, this is just what Ron said to me.
I’m posting some pics of my progress on my axle box, the first pic is the two pieces bent, the second is the finished product. This box is made to Ron’s plans, it was a real pain to build, I had originally thought that this looked like it would be fun, I was terribly mistaken. Ron had told me that you can make the box using aluminum angle and just order the four pieces from Wicks. But since I had access to someone with a brake, I thought I would save myself some time. In the end I think it took longer. Although the aluminum angle presents some problems if you put it on the inside then you have the problem of the anti-rotation plate not being able to come out. If you put them on the outside then it will cut away at your rib quite a bit and you will need to fill in the spaces between where the plywood goes for the ribs. I could have put the angles on the inside because I have left out the anti-rotation plates because I’m not putting brakes on mine, but I think most of you are.
Good Luck
Ed
|