Minnie Traction - Perch Bracket

I have spent all day trying to make the Perch Bracket....DISASTER. I have found it really hard to make the relevant bends. I confess that I had drille the 7/8th hole first, but not sure that effected the result. Anyway I now have to start again.

It seems there is now easy way to anneal steel , or am I wrong ?

But Brass aneals easily. Is there any good reason not to use Brass for this item. But still having the curved prtion in steel. Equally is not possible to make the item from three pieces of brass silver soldered where they join ?

Can any of you bright people give me any advise as to how I can progress.

In anticipation THANKS

regards Malcolm

You can anneal your strip of 1/16" steel by heating to red heat, hold it there for 60secs or so and then allow to cool slowly

If you are going to try it in brass then use one of the softer brasses as hard brass can crack if you are not careful.

Best way to bend it to machine up a bit of hardwood to 1.375" thick and put a small radius on the corners where the metal is to bend. Clamp metal to one side and bend to form the bottom then add another clamp so it does not move while you bend the metal up the other side. Start with a strip of metal that is plenty long enough then you can trim back each end to side once bent. Do the hole after bending.

Same when you come to do the curved part that fits the smokebox, bend that up over length and then trim back once soldered to the "U" shape. Finally make the two end plates by marking off from the soldered up perch bracket that way if your sizes are a little off the plates will still fit.

Edited By JasonB on 23/12/2017 16:47:12

I did not find it necessary to anneal the steel (that's poetic!). I cut a block of wood and bent the metal around it. The dimensions are not critical, if it looks ok it is ok.

Once it is bent mount it in the four jaw chuck with the block of wood and bore the hole.

Edited By norman valentine on 23/12/2017 17:03:33

Jason, Yet again thank you...I will try again tomorrow. Initially I will try Norman's idea of no annealing. It is likely all my fault for drilling the hole first.

I have a lot of Corian (used for Kitchen worktops)off-cots these are really good for making formers. You can make them any thickness by lightly sandinfg, appl;ying superglue and clamping. They cut really easily, and are equally easy to file. I now3 use nothing but. - Off cuts can be obtained from any Kitchen installer or of course on Ebay.

Once again thank you all for being so helpful. ...Happy Christmas

Malcolm

Had a similar need to make 2 bends in 25x2mm steel strip with accurate distance between the resulting 'arms'. After several failed attempts I made bends in 2 separate pieces then cut to length, clamped and butt-welded. After grinding back and painting no-one could tell it was not bent up in one piece.

Again thank you all for your help and suggestion.

I have today had SUCESS. All bent with only minor problems. I hope to have the time between now and Jan 1st to complete this task. I will immediately post a photo of my finished Perch Bracket.

Now time for a drink and relax for Christmas

Best wishes to all

Malcolm

Happy New Year 2018 to everyone.

At last I have completed my Perch Bracket. A bit of tidying up to do but I think I am well pleased. I want to post a few Photos but nut sure how to do it.....HELP please

Best regards Malcolm Farrant

This will show you what to do

JasonB, Thank you. Hopefully I will have posted a photo or two before the end of the day.