A Bit More Leg Work

Gomez Eylül 20, 2022

Hi, All.

Well, it finally happened. I was sitting in my room, looking at the walker, with no intention of working on it tonight, when I suddenly thought to myself, "I know! I'll glue the first leg on!"

Of course, this was not as simple a matter as it might sound... And so began a few hours' work...

The main 'thigh' piston takes shape. The inner cylinder is temporarilyleft unglued so that I can adjust it to fit the pose of the leg.

I had already mostly made the first leg (the others are presently cunningly disguised as a pile of assorted components) but now came the time to build the pistons and associated parts to drive the legs. This, I admit, was something I had been putting off.

The 'thigh' piston loosely dropped into place on two of the three leg parts.

I am hoping that HMSW Gargantua will be free-standing, with no need for a base or supports, other than her own legs. With the spindly design of the legs, I had my doubts.

Thigh piece and driving piston in place.

In order to make the join as strong as I could, one part of the thigh was pinned and glued in place, along with its driving piston, before the rest of the leg was attached to it.

Left: round plates and rivets are added. Right: feed valves and pipes in place (as yet unpainted.)

I also added a couple of plates on which to mount feed valves for the legs. These incorporated the only rivets of the evening - a paltry 12! And little ones at that! Nevertheless, that brings the rivet-count to 2,349!

Then the leg pieces, pistons, et al, were joined together... Much breath was held...