Dust Seals

Work on the wagon has slowed down. We're doing the little niggly things that take time but don't show large signs of progress.

Last Saturday Ollie spent his time replacing all the under-length bolts that hold on the brake hangers with bolts that were long enough, but first he had to run a die down the bolts to clean up the threads. These little things take up a lot of time.

While he was doing that I set about fitting the wooden dust seals that go under the bearings in the axle boxes to prevent road dirt from getting up into the bearing.



The carpenter had made the seals using an old one as a pattern. When we came to fit them we found that they pivoted on their holding pin so that one end of the seal hung below the bottom of the axle box housing. So I spent the day making up filling pieces and glueing them to the top face of the side cheeks of the seal. When in place now the extended tops contact the underside of shoulders inside the housing and prevent the seals from rotating round their pivots.

When I'd finished glueing I began making the metal strips that run up the side of the seals to protect the wood from the metal pivot. That meant cutting 4" x 2" strips of metal out of old steel shelves - much of our work seems to consist in recycling and re-using materials. It may save on costs but it is expensive in time. Volunteer time is free though.

Next week I'll finish fitting the seals by sanding away the top surfaces of the glued on extensions until they fit snuggly in the housings. Then I'll finish bending and fitting the protective strips.