I was asked to build one of these recently and am nearing finishing it, so I thought I'd might as well show pics of it. Well, what I can anyway; I'm awful at taking pictures of my own process.
Most of what I did mimicked what @I Make Stuff did in his thread only I was much more cumbersome. Doing some rough measuring, based on sizes of a 308 shell, I figured the wheel is between 13.5 to 14 inches in diameter and that lead to me search for a gear that was 6.5 to 7 in. in diameter. I found one on the 'Bay but it has 60 teeth rather than the 38 the actual thing has but it's good enough for me.
Finding the "right" gear, first off, was tricky but then finding the thing was 9 lbs of solid, heavy, tool steel ruled it out being used. That wasn't a problem but my cold-casting skills were naught before I tried it and it took a good three tries before I got a decent enough pull.
There are no pics of this and the later processes that lead up to where I am now, but if a picture speaks a thousand words, here's this:
...And that's how I got to this:
It some some weeks and it's still got a ways to go (I've only got handtools) but it's near the end. I just need to find a way to put in the eyes, put together the jaw and secure it to the rest of the thing, then rust the gear and one final spit shine to get it...well...shiny and chrome.
Copper skull and brass bits (that aren't bullets or plumbing/sink bits) were all hand cut and hand shaped to get as closely as I could to the original piece. One can even see how I went about it in the pics above (trailer hitch + hammers + car jack + lots of sanding) but, as of right now, only a few things are soldered and held together; the rest is currently pressure-fitted together. I'm trying to avoid using glue as much as possible and keeping the bonds mechanical just so it feels more...authentic, I suppose is the word...to the world of Mad Max.
No wheel for this current build but I do have one and enough 308 casings for it should I attempt to build another one for myself in future, but after this build, I think that'll be some time off right now.:lol
Most of what I did mimicked what @I Make Stuff did in his thread only I was much more cumbersome. Doing some rough measuring, based on sizes of a 308 shell, I figured the wheel is between 13.5 to 14 inches in diameter and that lead to me search for a gear that was 6.5 to 7 in. in diameter. I found one on the 'Bay but it has 60 teeth rather than the 38 the actual thing has but it's good enough for me.
Finding the "right" gear, first off, was tricky but then finding the thing was 9 lbs of solid, heavy, tool steel ruled it out being used. That wasn't a problem but my cold-casting skills were naught before I tried it and it took a good three tries before I got a decent enough pull.
There are no pics of this and the later processes that lead up to where I am now, but if a picture speaks a thousand words, here's this:
...And that's how I got to this:
It some some weeks and it's still got a ways to go (I've only got handtools) but it's near the end. I just need to find a way to put in the eyes, put together the jaw and secure it to the rest of the thing, then rust the gear and one final spit shine to get it...well...shiny and chrome.
Copper skull and brass bits (that aren't bullets or plumbing/sink bits) were all hand cut and hand shaped to get as closely as I could to the original piece. One can even see how I went about it in the pics above (trailer hitch + hammers + car jack + lots of sanding) but, as of right now, only a few things are soldered and held together; the rest is currently pressure-fitted together. I'm trying to avoid using glue as much as possible and keeping the bonds mechanical just so it feels more...authentic, I suppose is the word...to the world of Mad Max.
No wheel for this current build but I do have one and enough 308 casings for it should I attempt to build another one for myself in future, but after this build, I think that'll be some time off right now.:lol
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