Just got back from the school workshop, so time for another update, I have nearly finished making the radiator brackets, I made another 2 240mm brackets today as I wasn't happy with the quality of the first one.
At this point I have filed down one bracket so that all the cuts are flat and I have sanded it down using wet and dry, starting at 600 grit and moving up to 1200 grit. I used a 6 inch flat file for all of the filing which worked quite well. We had this clamp thing hanging around that no one was quite sure of the use it was intended for, but it worked pretty well as a guide for filing, you just slot your piece into it and adjust it so that the amount that you want to file away is above the "hinge" and then just file it down.
Still to do is order some hinges and sand down the other side of that bracket and file and sand the other one. It is unlikely that there will be another significant update before next weekend as I am in the middle of my GCSEs (important exams) so I only really have time at the weekends, but from time to time I may be able to do a bit of work during the week.
I also need to mark out and drill the holes for mounting the brackets to the radiator and once the hinges arrive I will be able to mark out the holes for those too.
Without further ado here are some photos:
The first attempt on the radiator itself, I won't be using this bracket in the final design as I wasn't happy with the quality
Using a pillar drill with a 3.5mm drill bit to mark each corner, this will make cutting between corners much easier.
The metal cutting blade for the scroll saw has been fitted through one of the corner holes, so now I can cut all of the straight edges. I like to use the scroll saw as the level of precision is much higher that using a jigsaw or dremel, it may not cut as straight a line as a jigsaw but that can always be fixed with a file and some guides.
First one of the day cut out, the original on the right and the new one on the left, you can see that I have made the tabs for the middle set of screws much bigger as previously the screw holes would only just have fitted without breaking through the edge, it also exposed the bracket on the radiator itself, which I didn't like.
The hinge thing I was talking about, once clamped in the vice it doesn't let the bracket budge allowing you to file a nice straight edge, I then started to clean up with wet and dry while it was still clamped just to remove the marks made with the file.
All sanding completed, I have never felt metal this smooth, as I said earlier this is using 1200 grit wet and dry which makes for a really nice finish, I may need to rough it up a little further down the line when it comes to painting but for now I just want to remove any scratches etc. Any one know what sort of grit I should use for preparation for painting?
The color of the paper towel after a quick wipe down to remove all of the fine metal dust created by the sanding
Some masking tape to protect the surface until it is needed again.
BTW the wooden block you see in the background was clean before I started cleaning up the surface :/
Any name suggestions for the build would be awesome too
