Media blasted the inside of the upper gate to clean it up before welding the new part on. Unfortunately this revealed more in the way of pits, through holes, etc., so it now looks like more fabrication....
Time to attempt some dies for the Lennox. Tonight's choice is some 1" thick phenolic sheet...
Here's the profile we're looking for...
The dies installed in the holders....
An offset bend was added to the sample 19ga in the brake, then the first of three passes.....
Final pass.....
Dies held up well....
Safety tip of the day, 3" roloc discs do a good job of shaping phenolic, so skin is no match.... (note thumb in above pic)
Where my "test sample" was made initially with straight bends in the brake, the actual piece on the lift gate is not straight, so the bends on the "good" piece will need to be bent using the tipping wheel.
The profile needs just a bit of tweaking, and I may try using a piece of metal inserted in a band saw blade cut to sharpen up some of the details.
