Electrical Box 4

Working With Metal Continued

Once I had the longer sides finished, I used an indicator to make sure my work piece was square, clamped it down and machined the ends.

I made some wood blocks so that when the door is placed on them, door would be at the correct depth. And to hold the door while I placed it in the box, I used two magnetic bases as handles.

I gave the door about .025" clearance on each side which should work out pretty good.

Here I'm getting ready to install some hinges.

I drilled and tapped for some 8-32 threads. First I drilled the outside holes, installed the screws and then drilled the center holes.

I placed one of my blocks so it would allow the door to stay open while I was checking some clearances. By using 8-32 screws, this gave me plenty of clearance between the holes in the hinges for adjusting my door.

These are some cheep hinges because there is a lot of play in the pin. In fact you might say too much play but I'll make it work.

I'm using a tubular can lock with a 3/4" cylinder that uses round keys. This set also has a few options for latching, and if you want the key to move 90 degrees or 180 degrees then you can do that as well. Now the cylinder has two flats on it, which means it can be used with the special formed washer or not (arrow).

If you don't use the special washer, the hole the cylinder fits into would need to be the same shape (two flats along with the remainder being round). Or you can use the formed washer and make two small cutouts in the mating part. I'll be doing the later and cutting two small cutouts in the door for this formed washer to rest in.

I'm using and end mill to size the hole with in place of using a drill. This method leaves a very nice finish and it just as easy to do as drilling.

I used a 3/16" end mill to make the cutouts for the formed washer. Once the cylinder is installed into the washer it can't turn, which is just what you want when it comes to people using an Escape Room.

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