Ok folks, sorry for the long hiatus. I had a trip I had to go on so I just got back to working on the oven yesterday. I want to get the control box done, but I can't do the control box until I get the stand done since the control box will be welded (and integral) to the stand. And I can't get the stand done until I get the hinges for the door finished, because doing the hinges means I will be moving the oven around quite a bit for the welding and such. So I got the hinges done this weekend.
I'm using 3" bullet hinges. I've done enough work with bullet hinges to know that I mess it up every single time, so I bought twice as many as I needed for this project. And I was right: I messed up the first set, so good thing I had extras. I'd say it's a close call what I like less, welding bullet hinges or tapping holes. Either way, I got to do both this weekend.
I'll also say that this hinge mechanism is the only part of this build that has kept me up at night wondering how I was going to do it. I wanted the hinges to be completely adjustable so the door will fit flush no matter how I build the door. You can see from the photos how I did it, and I have to say it works absolutely perfectly. I have a lot of wiggle room to adjust the hinges to make the door fit perfectly.
Here's the setup:
I welded 3/8" bar stock to the door, and I welded the hinge to that bar stock. Don't pay too close attention to this first photo. I have the hinges upside down on it (thus the messed up first set).
After I cut those hinges off and flipped them right side up, I set the door with the welded hinges on top of the oven and measured where the second part of the hinge would meet the side of the oven. Then I welded 3/8" stock underneath that since I'm going to be putting 3/8" bolts in to hold the hinges and I wanted more metal to tap into.
Then I took the bottom part of the hinges and welded bar stock to them along with a spacer block.
Then I drilled some 7/16" holes in the bar stock that bolts to the oven. Then I went over to my mini-mill and slotted those holes. If you look closely, you can see the hinge poking out behind the milling vise.
Then I drilled and tapped holes in the blocks I welded to the oven frame originally.
Now you can see how this fits together. Those are 3/8" bolts.
Here is a photo from the back of the oven looking towards the door. You can see that I am able to get it fit up pretty good. If you look closely at this photo, you can see I'm using washers as spacers between the oven frame and the door hinge slotted bars. This way I can move the door in and out, left and right, and I can also adjust tilt and vertical to some degree.
That's it for this weekend. Next week I'm going to get the stand done so I can then get to work on the control box.
I'm using 3" bullet hinges. I've done enough work with bullet hinges to know that I mess it up every single time, so I bought twice as many as I needed for this project. And I was right: I messed up the first set, so good thing I had extras. I'd say it's a close call what I like less, welding bullet hinges or tapping holes. Either way, I got to do both this weekend.
I'll also say that this hinge mechanism is the only part of this build that has kept me up at night wondering how I was going to do it. I wanted the hinges to be completely adjustable so the door will fit flush no matter how I build the door. You can see from the photos how I did it, and I have to say it works absolutely perfectly. I have a lot of wiggle room to adjust the hinges to make the door fit perfectly.
Here's the setup:
I welded 3/8" bar stock to the door, and I welded the hinge to that bar stock. Don't pay too close attention to this first photo. I have the hinges upside down on it (thus the messed up first set).
After I cut those hinges off and flipped them right side up, I set the door with the welded hinges on top of the oven and measured where the second part of the hinge would meet the side of the oven. Then I welded 3/8" stock underneath that since I'm going to be putting 3/8" bolts in to hold the hinges and I wanted more metal to tap into.
Then I took the bottom part of the hinges and welded bar stock to them along with a spacer block.
Then I drilled some 7/16" holes in the bar stock that bolts to the oven. Then I went over to my mini-mill and slotted those holes. If you look closely, you can see the hinge poking out behind the milling vise.
Then I drilled and tapped holes in the blocks I welded to the oven frame originally.
Now you can see how this fits together. Those are 3/8" bolts.
Here is a photo from the back of the oven looking towards the door. You can see that I am able to get it fit up pretty good. If you look closely at this photo, you can see I'm using washers as spacers between the oven frame and the door hinge slotted bars. This way I can move the door in and out, left and right, and I can also adjust tilt and vertical to some degree.
That's it for this weekend. Next week I'm going to get the stand done so I can then get to work on the control box.
