Kit 7 construction tips

Memory dulls the pain of the previous construction of a tender, I'd forgotten what a pig it was to shape the beading . Having tried a file and a dremel and a grinding wheel I found the quickest and easiest method to use was a flap wheel in an angle grinder. It takes away a good amount but in a controlled manner and by swerving it across the face it produces a good shape within about 10 mins.

I'd also found that one side of the tender was just a litlle warped at the top from the welding resulting in it not lining up with holes. It was baised towards the inside i.e. I could not squeeze it together it needed to be prized open a little and try as I might I couldnt even budge it with brute force. After musing on it for a bit it struck me to cut a block of wood the exact distance of the bunker and knock it in betwen the plates gently. Sure enough it pulled them out just enough and the bolts went in fine. Everything looks good now and its at the metal finishers being shot blasted.

Hope the others go well.

Kev.

I found the right hand side of my tender had curved in about 6mm, probably due to the welding, around the curved sections at the back. If you put a straight edge on the side it really showed up & I considered it too much to try & pull in on the rivet bolts. I laid it on the bench and with a small block of hardwood & a hammer dressed the side to reduce the curve to about 2mm. This was then pull-in-able with clamps. In fact I started off pulling in the bottom & then spreading the top to get all the holes to line up. I fitted all the rivet bolts along the bottom first then worked upwards. The good thing is that all the holes are in the right place for it to be square. I had to open up some of the holes with a drill bit but only by a navvy gravvy (little bit). Steve's right about the laser cutting hardens the steel so I used a cordless screwdriver/drill & used the clutch so that I didn't break the drill bits when they jammed.