Old-time
Four Bay Hopper Project - Part 2
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Most cars that I have built in the past required one or two simple dies at the most. Once I got into building this car, it seemed like everything needed a die. There were probably not a lot of electric welders around in the late 20’s, therefore anything like a weld fabricated part was probably expensive. Another way to make complicated parts was to cast them.
In making this car in some reasonable amount if time I elected not to go with a hopper door frame casting but try to use sheet metal and add on the door hinges. I have yet to make the hinge and I may have to resort to casting for this part. However, it will be designed not to require a left and right hand part.
The photo below shows the door frame attached to the car. The next photos show the die used to form a lip on the door hole to seal the door. I made this die in a manner that all the part can be inverted to form the left and right door frames.
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The hopper doors did require
two dies so I made them all on the same plate and formed both doors at
the same time. It requires about 40 tons for 18 gauge material. Some trimming
is required along the corners.
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The side braces required 3 dies. Dies to make the left and right parts and one to make a offset in the corner of the part. The additional offset is for the side angle that runs the entire length of the car to fit in.
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The angle braces required a bending die also. To get the shape required
a semi circle of material was removed from each end in order to keep the
part flat.
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In the future more dies will be required such as the top corner connector and short upper side braces. Detail parts will be machined or cast. Keep looking back for progress.