February 4, 2023 – several things have come together.
In May, I sent out a pair of gears to be cast (Ep. 4), and in August, I sent out a treadle to a different foundry (Ep. 5).
This week, several good things happened.
On Tuesday, I received delivery of a pair of cast iron treadles. One was the original I had sent out in August (Ep. 5), and the other one was a freshly cast copy. Because metals tend to shrink after they have been cast, the copy was 1/4” shorter than the original – not enough to change the specs. The casting was really good, but it still needs a bit of machining and boring out before I can use it. You may remember that the reason I had to have this cast is that a Gordon (or Damon & Peets) treadle has a significantly smaller rear spread than a C&P treadle – only 6 inches between the rear attachment clamps. C&Ps are 9″ for the same size press so it wouldn’t work.
On Friday, I drove into Denver to pick up the ink disc drive gears I sent out to have cast in May (Ep. 4). The foundry apparently hasn’t been casting much bronze since then, so my turn in line only came up recently. The foundry only had successfully cast two sets, so I will still need two more done – but at a different foundry – I don’t want to wait that long again. After I have those cast, my good friend Don will handle the machining and boring necessary before they are finished.
It may be of interest to folks playing the home game that my Gordon uses 3/8-16 bolts to attach these gears, and my Damon & Peets uses 7/16-14 bolts. The smaller gear requires a shoulder bolt (the shoulder measures 1/2″ in diameter and 5/8″ high), and the larger gear takes the same size bolt, but no shoulder is required. Apparently, this is not a standard thing since a friend has just confirmed that his D&P bolt holes are different sizes.
Extra Credit: Don measured the “original” gears and compared them to the cast gears. Shrinkage was 0.040″ across the board, which in this case is pretty minimal.