Working on the brake gear today. The bits and pieces although made previously were tight, jamming, out of square, and not pulling up properly and require "fitting".
Some of the hanger pins were found to be bent and I made up a mandrel to hold them and straighten them in the lathe. I taped a permanent marker to the lathe tool to mark the high spot, makes it a bit easier. While at it the hexes on the pins were chamfered and cleaned up.
The brake gear was assembled several times and chamfers applied and swapping of parts around to get best fit, which is all time consuming. The brake gear is not adjustable.
There was some twist in the brake hangers also so they were gripping on one side first. That was rectified.
The spreader beams were still wrong...the front one was found to be bent. The threaded ends were redone to take out some lateral play.
The cranks need to be remade...you'll see why. The brake shaft has silver soldered ends...deciding whether to cut them off and splice more ends on or make a new brake shaft....which I think I may do.
The hand brake column is stiff when the engaging the nut. It could be the nut is cockeyed to the thread.
Happy steaming!
Nigel
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