Armour Dreams

[Jonathan Moore]

I now have two completed sprockets so my next task was to make the sprocket flange look something like the real thing. The original has a nice curve on it where as mine is, well, rustic

[Jonathan Moore]

I was going to make a sort of hub cap that bolted on but in the end I decided to roll a cone and weld it on to the flange.

[Jonathan Moore]

And after a bit of welding.
Then of course there was quite a bit of grinding but I am quite happy with the end result.
The next job is to make the cover to go over the hole in the middle.



That' all for now.

Jon

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for the great update, Jon.

Nice work, as always!

David

[Petr Brezina]

Excellent craftsmanship!

[Jonathan Moore]

Thanks both but I am just doing what I enjoy.

Both sprocket flanges are finished as are the two cover caps and hopefully this weekend I will find some time to test fit them onto the final drives.
Then apart from the three vision port covers, associated fittings and the dummy gearbox cover, in theory I have finished making parts and the whole thing needs stripping and painting. That of course ignores the elephant in the room, the track links. In a moment of shear madness I emailed every iron foundry in the UK, attached the wartime specification for Malleable cast iron track links and requested a cost, some luck. Most didn't even bother to respond, some were down right rude and some where clearly taking the P. However one did provide me with a figure of £30,000. That was before the current increase in electricity and material costs, so it's back to fabricating them, oh joy.

[Jonathan Moore]

I found time this evening to have a test fit of one of the sprockets.