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Hinged Doors for a Luggage Box


MikeOxon

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By the end of the previous post, I had completed the chassis for my planned Luggage Box. I expected the Luggage Box itself to be a simple construction: two panelled ends, two sides, and a roof.

 

Following my now usual practice, I created each of these parts as a separate ‘body’ in ‘Fusion 360’, so that each could be laid flat on the printer bed and could be printed in a few minutes, to the required panel thickness. A wave of a 200° soldering iron to seal the joints and that would be that – Bob’s your Uncle, etc.

 

868408880_Alfred-Winchester320x200.jpg.dac588681061fcb3441dfffd738b7eab.jpgIt didn’t turn out like that because one of those pesky Danes  @Mikkel  raised a challenge (I thought King Alfred had settled things with

them a long time ago), so Wessex honour was at stake.

 

The challenge was to provide hinged sides, so that it could carry the wedding trousseau of the future mother of Amy and Blanche from Gloucester to North Leigh, for her marriage to Lord Wilcote.

 

I’ve never tried to build jointed parts with ‘Fusion 360’ and had little idea of how to begin but a cunning plan soon emerged. In fact, I started exactly as originally intended by drawing the ends, sides, and roof to the required dimensions. One thing I learned, when thinking about moving parts, was how different the necessary clearances look on a computer screen from when reduced down to a 4 mm scale model. What I thought were gaps large enough to drive the proverbial bus through, turned out to be impossibly tight in the actual model.

 

 

 

Adding Hinges

 

Once I had drawn the end profile of the roof and extruded the drawing to create a solid roof, I added more drawings, to form two cylinders running along each side of the roof, as shown below. I used exactly the same procedure to add tubes to the side doors:

 

140076781_Addinghinges.jpg.5e6d4e3bb7e5064a788f57b4e0fc462b.jpg

 

 

After creating the cylinders, I used the ‘Hole’ tool in ‘Fusion 360’ to open them out into tubes, to take standard 2 mm diameter axles. In the case of the tubes along the roof, I drew two rectangles on the top of the roof and used the ‘Push-pull’ tool in ‘cut’ mode, to open apertures that would accommodate the hinge parts on the two side doors. Similarly, I limited the length of the tubes on the side doors to fit into the gaps that I had cut out from the roof.

 

 

1382626442_LuggBoxHingedFlapsannotjpg.jpg.81aef07735802b1dfa8cfed5ab2db50a.jpg

My 3D-model showing hinged components.

 

The first attempt was far too tight and although the sides fitted in the closed positions, the axle pins would not thread though the relevant tubes. Rather than trying to calculate the clearances required, I took an empirical approach. I examined the first set of test prints and estimated the amount of extra clearance that was needed. I then returned to the design on the computer and used the ‘Move/Copy’ tools to re-shape the hinge components on the side panels. Amazingly, the 2nd test print fitted together quite well. I’m sure a little more fettling and adjustment would improve things further but, for the moment, I’m satisfied that the method works :)

 

 

928302570_Hingemechanism.jpg.e8b08583cd0e5a54a4759b0f77dadfd8.jpg

Hinge mechanism as printed.

 

I covered the roof with a film of black self-adhesive vinyl. The roof is slightly curved, with a one-inch rise to the centre (in the prototype). My FDM (layered) printer showed obvious lines between the deposited layers, where it had tried to follow the curve. The vinyl hides these ‘steps’ and also masks the (small) gaps around the hinges :)

 

 

113290090_LuggageBoxcmpts.jpg.5e8dd287a96f7ada59feca1d67cef486.jpg

Components of Luggage Box

 

On the subject of roofs, I read an interesting snippet in D.K.Clark’s ‘Railway Machinery’, dated 1855, page 274: “The roof is covered with ox-hides stretched tightly over it, or stout canvass, well saturated with white lead; ox-hide is superior to canvass, when luggage is to be carried on the roof. The covering is turned over at the edges of the roofing and fastened under the cornice mouldings.” I have not read before of hides being used in this way.

 

I extended the side rails from those shown in my previous post, so that they could pass through slots in the end panels and stand slightly ‘proud’, as shown in the ‘Bourne’ lithographs. The whole model looks quite complex, when viewed on the computer screen but, by breaking it down into separate ‘bodies’, I created a collection of simple components that could be printed in just a few minutes each and modified independently, if adjustments were needed.

 

Once I had welded together the various components, my model looked like this:

 

1519443100_LuggageBox2sides.jpg.94cc8e705224d7d0ed1bb72aa4ae8c6e.jpg


Two views of my model, as printed and assembled

 

There’s a lot of ‘finishing’ to be done but I’m pleased to have the basis of an interesting model. I now need to move on to thinking about a complete train, perhaps with a ‘Fire-Fly’ class locomotive in charge.

 

Mike

 

The heading image to this post shows my models headed by one of the Gooch singles

Edited by MikeOxon
Restore images

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Hi Mike.

That luggage box is looking great in model form. I've been following your BG threads with great interest and been impressed with your methods of arranging the printing as a set of parts as opposed to trying to print in one piece. I've only just started trying to learn 3D drawing techniques and your description of the thought processes involved has given me the inspiration to try a bit harder. I still have to decide what type of 3D printer to buy. I've been dabbling with BG models since I bought a couple of Mike Sharman 'Firefly' kits about 40 years ago (1 each with 4 wheel & 6 wheel tenders) and plan to try and get them up and running with proper mechanisms sometime in the next 12 months. My previous methods of running involved a couple of home made, four wheel, power bogies fitted inside a six wheel first and a iron luggage van. Both motors lost the magic smoke that makes them work around the year 2000 and my 28mm test track was scapped about the same time.
 

Dave R.   

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That's a brilliant solution, Mike! I like the use of the axles, very creative thinking.

 

The vinyl on the roof is also quite clever, I don't recall having seen that used to hide stepping etc before. 

 

The whole thing looks just as intriguing as the prototype.

 

Allright you can keep Wessex, and I promise to be quiet now :-)

 

 

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50 minutes ago, Devo63 said:

That luggage box is looking great in model form. I've been following your BG threads with great interest and been impressed with your methods of arranging the printing as a set of parts as opposed to trying to print in one piece.......

I'm pleased you like it, Dave, and hope you get your own BG modelling back on track, soon :)

 

It's much easier to experiment when prints take minutes rather than hours.

 

48 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

Allright you can keep Wessex, and I promise to be quiet now :-)

 

 

International dialogue is needed more than ever nowadays, so please don't hold back with your thoughts, Mikkel. :)

 

The pin-points on the axles helped them to find their way through the hinges.  Once I had started to make my own wheels, I got a stock of axles from the BGS and I'm finding new uses apart from their original purpose.

 

Mike

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Great work, it’s a wonderful example of one of those vehicles you only get on the Broad Gauge where the wheelbase is wider than it is long!

Will you be printing the luggage too?

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Thank you 5&9.  Ultra-short wheelbases seem to have featured on several early BG vehicles, including the Horse Box that is on my to-do list.  Even passenger carriages were not exempt:

BG_1837_4whl-2nd_col.jpg.3a8813dff4f8aa03a7fa420818277edc.jpg

I find it hardly surprising that, according to the diary of George Gibbs (an early GWR Director), these 4-wheel carriages were ordered off the line at a Board Meeting on 12th July 1838!

 

Mike

 

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34 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

Thank you 5&9.  Ultra-short wheelbases seem to have featured on several early BG vehicles, including the Horse Box that is on my to-do list.  Even passenger carriages were not exempt:

 

The ride must have been dreadful.  I suppose it was OK if the horse box was for rocking horses!

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