Roger Zimmermann

Thanks for the suggestions. I will pass them to Hans.

A friend of mine is trying since some weeks to consult the AACA forum, without success. He can log into the AACA site, but when he want to see the forum, he is getting the attached notification. Is a problem from his side or from the AACA side?

The knuckles are now ready with the addition of the adjusting device. Of course mine is not functional. You can see that the surfacer from the axle is already damaged. That's not a problem; in due time it will get a new coat. The goal was to cover the surfaces with are difficult to clean. What's next? Well, Christmas is almost at the door! Enjoy that period of the year!

...but I don't especially like blood! The fact is that those people do wonderful things, helped with some visual systems. I still prefer to work on brass!

Thanks Martin! Just come home and see how I'm doing it! Joke aside, it's nothing special. Just have the brain associated with small things and the corresponding tools!

Thanks Paulie (and the others too!) the bracket is for the steering levers as you can see on that picture from a real car. This is how the knuckles are getting the input from the steering wheel.

Finally, the steering knuckles are ready. There was a lot of machining, silver soldering and filing. I just have a regret: the steering arms are attached with 2 bolts to the knuckles; to have a flat surface for the head's bolts, a counterbore is provided at the knuckle's mounting point. Unfortunately, I cannot do that; I just could provide a flat surface. I don't know how this was done in production because the upper part of the knuckle is in the way. Maybe from the other side with a special tool? What I still have to do is the device to adjust the play; the original knuckles having an upper and a lower ball bearing. Of course, my device will be just here for the show.

There are sometimes parts I don't know how to begin them. The knuckles are a good example. I did first the shafts but I had to modify my plan: the first idea was to have "bearings" in steel as large as possible therefore the hub would be rotating over the fixed very large shaft. This solution is not at all practical as I could not take easily the drum from the model. Consequently, I did 2 shafts in mild steel and "bearings" in brass pressed into the hubs. The shafts will then be silver soldered into the knuckles. I then took the largest bit of brass I had, trying to machine all the needed details out of it. Unfortunately, I discovered that the bit is not thick enough! Therefore the attaching channel for the steering knuckle arm will be a separate element silver soldered to the main part. But how to begin? Drill the hole to attach the shaft or drill the holes for the knuckle pin? I opted for the second possibility with the hope that the hole for the shaft will be at the correct angle to have the front wheel with a very slight positive camber. As it can be seen on the picture (this time with the big quarter), there is still a lot to do! When I began the wheels, I thought that I would need months to complete them. In fact, the job went much quicker than that. This is quite the opposite with the knuckles, they are still in fabrication. During milling, I suspect that the milling bit was not tight enough and went down. The result: a scraped part which can be seen on the left on the third picture. As you may see, there is still some work till completion!

A few people are even taking their car with!

Effectively the die must be expensive...

Nice little car! Good luck with it.

I do forget it too often because it's so heavy!

Thanks Mike! Modeling is just creating an illusion. It seems that I succeed with this axle!

Nice work! It seems there are still people who can shape and weld sheet metal!

Thanks! I hope I can continue to amaze you!

The front axle is almost ready. Since the last report, I silver soldered the lower flange, added a sole or shoe (maybe there is a better word) at the location for the front springs, trimmed the whole axle and lastly added the four tiny pieces at each end of the axle. Two will get the grease fitting; the other two are staying closed. These four parts took a long time: I had to drill them, put a pin, drill the axle to accept the pins. Without that, I would not be able to soft solder them at the right place or the one soldered would get misplaced while soldering the one the other side of the axle. What is missing? Again 2 tiny parts which are acting as a steering stop. Only when the brake shield will be done I will see the exact location; they will be soldered with the same method as the four ones, with a pin. What is coming next? Logically, the knuckles. Here we go!

Very nice! Congratulation for that good catch!

Not too much distorsion on the straight panel from the last picture?

You are welcome, Mike! Indeed, it's not easy to replicate cast parts. The only method is to divide the assembly into simple elements and put them together. There will be a large amount of castings with this model!

To Mike: sorry, no picture when I silver soldered the parts below, but I did following to have a decent report to you: first, I mixed fresh flux to get a creamy solution. With the rod, I applied a generous coat of that flux. By heating the assembly, the flux tuned white like snow (although it's white when applied) and was boiling (this is the water). Then it more or less disappeared but in fact it went on almost all the surfaces. When the color of the joint to be silver soldered is getting almost the same color as the liquid solder, it means that the temperature is high enough and the tip of the rod can be put into the flame and will flowing into the joint. If the explanation is not enough, I will do some pictures with Christine; the best in my opinion is that you try yourself! Brass is not a necessity; 2 scrap of sheet metal can be used. Depending of what kind of alloy you are using, the sheet metal will turn dark red. My silver solder Castolin 1802 is about the lowest melting point on the market. I can now show what I tried to explain recently. 4 filling pieces were more or less correctly adjusted to the existing axle. To help for the right location during the silver soldering, the pieces were riveted to the axle. Now, I have to trim the assembly to the final shape; the second flange forming the H will be the last part which will be silver soldered. There will be several minor details which will be soft soldered as the are just for the fun. Due to the intense heat needed, I'm glad that the bushings were mechanically stabilized.

Rushing for such task is never good!

Honestly, I never had a problem. Can it be that the flux you had was not a "good" one? When I review in my mind that last part I silver soldered, the flange for the front axle, I put a bit too much water and the flux was more like a liquid than a paste. I saw also the flux getting into balls but I assume that the brass was cleaned over the entire surface because the solder flowed as I expected. Next time I'm silver soldering parts, I will have the correct mix water/flux and try to remember how the flux is acting; I will report the results. If Christine is here, she maybe can do a picture during the process. The age of flux is not important: mine was previously stored into a paper bag for maybe 20 years or more! I have to say that I'm using one of the best product in the world: Castolin.

This front axle may not be very exciting, but I must do it! I first trimmed the part to be able to silver solder the upper flange of the H (or I) and gave its almost final shape. Now, I'm preparing the parts which will be silver soldered on each side to have the correct thickness. If my explanation is obscure, the picture which will come soon will explain better.

How to silver solder bushings at the end of the axle with a hint of precision? I solved the problem by including tabs at each end of the axle and milling a groove into each bushing. The tabs are entering the groove without play, allowing to adjust the correct angle and position before silver soldering. On the picture, both knuckle pins are ready to be put in service; they are at the right diameter to be without play in the bushings. I can continue now by putting more "clothes" to the axle.

Thanks Paulie! The front axle is what I will do next. Usually, live front axles have a section like a H (turned at 90°), but, as it's a casting, the ends towards the wheels are thicker. I'm beginning that simple, but not so easy to do part, with a flat piece of brass. I will add the needed elements more or less like for a Christmas tree (good timing, isn't it?).