Thread: 1930 Ford Model A Roadster - Slow WIP

G'Day Steve,
Not long home from the Wood Show and enjoying & rest plus a cuppa.
You surely have done an excellant job on that front bumper....VERY WELL DONE!!!
As for the rear bumper, sorry, I'm just going to wait your brillance at work.
Cheers, crowie

I like the front bumper. I wasn't game enough to make changes on my first one.
You'll work out the back ones I'm sure.
good to see it coming along.
Peter

That bumper looks awesome Steve.

Thanks for the comments, guys. There are a couple of things I'll change on the next one, but overall it came up pretty good.
And after all, anything would be an improvement on the two flat planks in the plans.

I've been busy on the box and other things today, so got nothing done on the Roadster.

As an extra thorn in my side, Carbatec don't have 1/2" Forstner bits in stock and told me they'd put it on back-order, so I had to cancel the order. (I still have a set of riffler files on 'back order', 5 months after I ordered them.)

Wasn't going to wait that long so ordered from WMS on Thursday night but they haven't got back to me yet to confirm the order. Monday hopefully. The wheels are on hold until this sorts out.

G'Day Steve,
I got a set of Rockler Forstner Bits 2 years back.
The Set plus Freight was under A$100 when the dollar was down.

22-Piece Forstner Bit Set - Rockler Woodworking Tools

Cheers, crowie

Originally Posted by crowie

G'Day Steve,
I got a set of Rockler Forstner Bits 2 years back.
The Set plus Freight was under A$100 when the dollar was down.

22-Piece Forstner Bit Set - Rockler Woodworking Tools

Cheers, crowie

They look good. A better set than mine. (I already have a set and a few loose ones, but my set is metric and starts at 15mm.)

I just need a single 1/2" bit. Even a 12mm would be a fraction too small. The tolerances are tight in my hub design.
I've already placed the order with WMS, but I'll keep Rockler in mind in the future. (Added to my 'Favorites').
I just noticed that they're in the US. Delivery would take far too long in this case anyway. I want to get on with the wheels ASAP. All being well, I'll have the bit here from WMS on Wednesday or Thursday.

Originally Posted by Hermit

They look good. A better set than mine. (I already have a set and a few loose ones, but my set is metric and starts at 15mm.)

I just need a single 1/2" bit. Even a 12mm would be a fraction too small. The tolerances are tight in my hub design.
I've already placed the order with WMS, but I'll keep Rockler in mind in the future. (Added to my 'Favorites').
I just noticed that they're in the US. Delivery would take far too long in this case anyway. I want to get on with the wheels ASAP. All being well, I'll have the bit here from WMS on Wednesday or Thursday.

G'Day Steve, In that A$100 delivery was included and only a week.
You could also try McJings in Sydney for your 1/2" bit; there website says "in stock".
Here's the link.

McJING Online Tools Products Search

I've bought from them and they do overnight for about $11.
Cheers, crowie

Originally Posted by crowie

G'Day Steve, In that A$100 delivery was included and only a week.
You could also try McJings in Sydney for your 1/2" bit; there website says "in stock".
Here's the link.

McJING Online Tools Products Search

I've bought from them and they do overnight for about $11.
Cheers, crowie

Hey crowie. Thanks for the link to McJing. I've heard their name a bit. Can never have enough suppliers when it comes to looking for some things.

Stan at WMS just got back to me with the freight cost and will post tomorrow, so I can get back on track with the wheels on Wednesday or Thursday.
Instead of a single bit I finished up buying a 7-piece Imperial set - 1/4,3/8,1/2,5/8,3/4,7/8 and 1" bits for $25 + $10.50 postage. (A new 3/4" bit will also be handy for boring for my Gramercy hold-downs in the workbench.)

Meantime, I can just about finish my box while I wait.

The Forstner bits arrived today, so I'm back in business on the wheels tomorrow.

Meantime, I made a mini router planer sled for the Dremel plunge router and planed the piece of Rosewood that I resawed for the base. It came up OK. Won't need much sanding.

My Gramercy hold-downs got their first real test, too. At least, one of them did. (Toward the top left in the first pic)
They work really well. One tap and they clamp, then another and they release. Very reliable.
With a light tap I can lightly clamp, or a good hard belt really clamps things down.
I've worked out what spacing I want between holes, just have to fire up and bore them when I get time. The first test hole is in the dead centre of the bench.

Little to report - I've been busy with other stuff, but I finished the base plate, (floor). It's NG Rosewood, by the way.

I'm leaving the hole for the steering column undrilled for now, until later so I can get better alignment when I do drill it. I drilled for the gear shift and handbrake, though.

I've swapped all of these holes around to convert from LHS to RHS drive, corresponding to the (also reversed) right-hand hole in the steering arm on the chassis.

I'm considering a couple of slight changes to the front guard shape, so I might be changing the shape of the floor a bit to suit, but so far it's according to the plans. Just needs a little sanding. (I got a small ding in it near the front. Might try steam to raise it.): -

Edit: The sides aren't curved, that's just distortion from the fish-eye camera lens.

Keep going Steve.
I think I'll go with a dalek next, brett talked me into it. Better print out plans now....

Originally Posted by _fly_

Keep going Steve.
I think I'll go with a dalek next, brett talked me into it. Better print out plans now....

A Dalek should be an interesting build.
I'll bet there are some fun angles in it to keep you busy.

Got them from this site.
Dalek Plans

I've got a little bit done over the last day or so.

First, I made the floor sides: -
Attachment 218684


They go on the underside of the floor, like so: -
Attachment 218685


The new design hubs are well under way, too.
First I bored the 1/2" holes to 3.5mm deep for the heads of the axles, (the one that's crossed was a &%*$-up - 4.5mm), then opened up the 3mm pilot holes to 6mm. The holesaw has a 6mm pilot, but tends to leave tear-out, so I prefer to cut the 6mm hole first with a sharp bit, before using the holesaw to cut the hub out. Keeps everything cleaner.: -
Attachment 218686


I ran out of time tonight, but got as far as cutting out the hubs oversize to 25mm dia.: -
Attachment 218687

Next I need to trim them to 19mm tomorrow.
I found a neat way of doing this today. A 6mm bolt/nut through the centre, then into the electric drill at a fast speed. While spinning in the drill, I hold it up against the (spinning) sanding disc on the disc/belt sander. Does a really good job, fast, and unlike some methods, the hub stays almost perfectly round. (Surprisingly, using other methods especially at slow speeds, the hub can quickly go oval-shaped - the end grain takes much longer to sand off, resulting in the 'ends' of the circle being longer.)