< Tender Leaf Springs >
The tender is equipped with leaf springs as same as the engine. They are made of phosphor bronze strips. There is a pedestal underneath the leaf springs.
I asked a local machining factory to shear 1.5 mm thickness large plate to 12 mm width strips. They are rolled by bending rolls and cut by a hack saw.
Set four strips in a jig at a time and cut square and chamfers by end mill. I utilized rotary table in order to change cutting angles without changing setup.
Drill center hole in the same jig.
The leaf spring holders are bent to U shape from 12 x 2 mm steel strip. The photo shows the bending jig that has been utilized when making the same kinds of holders. Bend to L shape in a vise, set to the jig and bend to U shape.
Bottom of the holder is closed with 12 x 3 mm bottom plate.
The lower engaged washers at both ends of the leaf springs are cut by the hand made tool that was utilized in making the engine's leaf springs in the report on 20 Nov. 2007. They are pressed into the top spring and soft soldered.
The pedestals are made from 20 mm dia. steel round bar. This diameter cannot pass through the lathe head, so I utilized the fixed steady in order to turn the end of a long blank.
The pedestal has a recess at its bottom and both the springs and the pedestal are fixed with a long screw through them. The bottom plate of the leaf springs are threaded so that the pedestal is not tighten by the screw and can tilt freely.
The upper engaged washers are also made in the same way in the report on 20 Nov. 2007.
I made the spring shafts that hold the both ends of the leaf springs. The shaft part is screwed into the bush part and silver soldered. In order to pour the solder into the thread, I cut thin groove crossing the thread by a fretsaw.
These are pins fixing the spring shafts in the spring brackets. They are turned from a steel round bar and drilled cross holes for split pins.
Now I assembled all of the components. then the tender bogie appears. The wheels are not glued on the axles yet. Next is the brake system.
