johnsmachines

After yesterday’s disaster, I realised that I could not fix the door and vent that I had spent so many hours making.  The vent holes and the vent itself were too big for the opening into the boiler.  So I had to totally redesign and remake them.

But you know what?  When you make something a second time, you have done it before. And the second making is MUCH faster.

So I remade the firebox door and the vent control grill.  Then I made another hinge.  And I attached them to the boiler.  And you know what else….   I broke another f*****g 1.5mm drill bit in the hinge…. again.  But it is OK.   I have made that mistake only twice on this job, so I have got two more goes before I slit my wrists.

As for the suggestion that I use EDM to remove the broken drill piece, I really doubt that would work on a 1.5mm drill.  But maybe…..

But the broken drill bit was in both the door and the hinge.  So I just left it there, and it can become half of the hinge pin, permanently.

The top hinge pin is the broken drill bit.  The bottom half is the 2mm cap screw which I managed to thread in place.  The photo is upsidedown.  This is not yet finished.  I still need to make and install a baffle for the door.  And the ugly soldering splodge will disappear under the paint or the wooden slat lagging….  haven’t decided yet. 

The door is eliptical.  And it will be painted so I have not fussed too much about finish.  This photo needs to rotate 90º.