The work continues on the link rods, albeit slowly due to a cold workshop (i.e. one end of my garage) & tummy bug. The two are not related, as grandson came home from nursery & shared his newly acquired condition with the whole family!
The ends of the link rods once taken to size were slotted & cross drilled. I do whatever I can & that I feel appropriate by machine tool, I do however, like to do the finishing such as forming the radius by hand.
The eccentric straps/rods need to be assembled & get a bit of a polish. The crucial aspect is setting the length, so may make a simple jig to assist with this.
But first, I intend to make the two expansion links out of 1/8" ms plate. Two ways to do this; (1) All by hand, mark-out, drill pivot holes, chain drill slot & file to shape. (2) Machine, mark-out, set-up on rotary table, drill pivot holes, mill slot/profile, then finish by hand.
If mill/rotary table is not available, then the decision is made for you. I do have small mill & as yet an unused rotary table. So it's option (2), just need to decide the best set-up.