Love That Acetal . . .

The "real world" still intrudes making demands for money and therefor time . . .

Some repetition machining with a fast cycle time per piece meant that there was little time to leave the machines to "do their thing" while I attended to the truck and only one other machine was available for this work.

At least I was able to work with one of my favourite materials - Acetal.
Nice and clean - machines beautifully at high speed and without messy coolant
I needed to make a "catch" or "striker" plate for all the bin door locks to work with as there was no "standard" item I could find to do this job.
So the result looked like this . . . (about 50mm x 25mm x 25mm)





















Of course you may remember there are 9 bin doors (the two main access doors use a different system) so you need a few more of them . . . (with two spares)























As I had to order in this material I also got enough for the covers of the tubes across the chassis where the lifting legs fit.
These were somewhat larger at about (100mm x 100mm x 40mm) and there were left hand, right hand and central versions (of course you would know by now that I never seem to do things the easy way . . . only 'cos I can't figure out the easy way !!)
A r.h. version looks like this . . .





















and fits like this . . .



















A centre one looks like this . . .




















The recessed centre is for a bolt to go through (into the leg and hold the leg and the caps in place
simultaneously when stored for transport) and not stick out too far.

And as there were a few minutes left over (in the week) one more bin door was hung . . .












Only seven more to go . . . .

Very Small Light . . . Very Big Tunnel . . .

A (pleasurable) family commitment on the weekend cuts into time available and with the commercial wolf still at the door progress seems at a standstill!

With the machines dedicated to earning a few shekels I really didn't want to disturb them over this weekend so I needed a separate task to make something happen . . .

I have had the top clearance lights sitting in a box for some time so I decided now is the time.

I was concerned at just where to mount them as it meant breaking through the fibreglass integrity at some point and sealing was going to be important but the exact position was going to be dictated by the steel structure behind the fibreglass and at first glance seemed that the only likely place was going to be too far from the corner.

The "regulations" allow up to 200mm (but this seems a bit too far for my liking).

Eventually it turned out that the best place was almost right at the corners.

Surprise. Surprise. Not often that happens !!

So a few screws (stainless steel of course) and a big dollop of silicone (hope they never have to come out again) and a small mix up with the initial wiring there they are.

It is amazing how bright a few diodes appear to be.

I am still not convinced they are an economical substitute for fluorescents for internal use however, but they sure seem to be the popular choice for clearance and indicators etc..

Rear























Front























It's weird . . .

I have measured and tested and squinted and everything else I can think of and although the tools say they are on square and when they are turned off they look OK . . . they still look crooked when they are turned on.

I Said "Don't Mention That!"

Pressing on with the fixing I decided that I may as well finish the doors and see what they turn out like and if I really am not happy I will replace them at a later date.

First thing is to cover them with the fibreglass skin and then start the trimming etc.

The door handle and locking mechanism need fitting at the same time.

This requires a hole cut into the skin at the appropriate point
and the trim removed to go around the fascia plate





















and the front edge to clear all the actual striker and anti-burst pins etc.



















The handle is then inserted in the hole





















and the trim fixed in the appropriate place




















Of course this is required on the back as well to clear the inside handle

















Then of course all the standard things need to be done "a la" the bin doors
such as cutting out the corners, riveting on the trim, siliconing all the gaps
etc. etc. etc.

At the same time I decided to give myself a fighting chance and modified the hinges (again) to allow them to be positioned with a little more freedom by slotting out the screw holes and using different fixing screws.


















This all seemed to have a positive effect and the end result has turned out quite successfully.























Of course there are still a number of minute finishing details to be done to make it all water and dust proof but for the moment "quite happy".
Of course I still have the left hand one to do now . . .
but for a bit of light relief I decided to fix a bin door in place to see what that would look like as well . . .



































The bin door still needs to pull in slightly against the seal when I fix the retaining plate for the lock arm












but if they all fit like that I will really be happy . . .

DON"T MENTION DOORS !!

I don't know where this last week has gone !!!

Some commercial work to keep the wolves from the door . . .

It's that time of the year when all the big bills come in . . .
and of course the "tax man" needs to know where it all went
and he'd like his bit first "thank you very much"!!

I decided also that I really didn't want to make mistakes on this bit so a cautious approach was adopted.
Bit unusual for me - however "softly, softly . . ."

I was concerned about getting the hinges in the right place.
As they were all to be held in with "rivnuts" -
the rivnuts had to be in the right place!
I decided to put in all the rivnuts in the door while I was constructing it as they could be placed exactly before the door was covered and hung - and if it all went wrong the other three screws per hinge (9 in all) would hold it adequately after adjustment.
So the system went like this:
. fit the centre hinge to the door EXACTLY in the centre of the door,
. fit the centre hinge on the frame EXACTLY in the centre of the frame,
(this should give an even gap top and bottom)
. fit the outside hinges on the door exactly 800 mm from the centre,
. mark the outside hinges on the frame exactly 800 mm from the centre,
. hang the door on the centre hinge only and check the position of the markings against the hinges on the door,























. if the markings are all in alignment -
fit the top and bottom hinges to the frame.























Also the handle/locking mechanism can be fitted and the striker plate positioned from the lock.
"et voila"























Of course nothing is that simple . . . .
First you make it then you spend the rest of the week getting it right !!
Somehow the door got twisted and now the hinges are out of line and the edges don't close evenly and, ... and ...