making a scratch built combine header, making tines

[Tractorman810]

well after a request from ben and jez, and knowing a few other people are looking at making a combine or improving their current britains or siku one i went and did a few pics tonight,

first up you wont need many tools, just 1 set of snips, 1 or 2 sets of pliers, depending on how strong you feel, a vice and a small bit of rod or screwdriver , i use a instrument screwdriver ,as it suits the size of the hole i need to have in the tines

step one find some nice thin bendy wire, i personaly use .4mm thick copper telephone wire from work, just remove the insulation and your ready to go

place your rod or screwdriver in a vice so its gripped nice and firm, then loosley wrap the wire round it once or twice depending on how many rings you need(twice for  mine in this case)

then pull tight with either both sets of pliers, one on each side, or just hold with one hand and pull with the other whichh i do, having the screwdriver in a vice makes this part so much easier

[Tractorman810]

repeat this process as many times as you need, bearing in mind if your like me then you have another  153 of these to go, as i only made 10 for this topic :D :D :D

next step is to work out how many you need to each section of reel, in my case 9, so make a spacer with marked notches on, place against the reel and mark with a pencil or similar

i personaly now find it easier to use a bit of .5mm thin brass rod and burn a small starter hole in place, as each rod is 1.5mm thick and round, keeping a small .5mm dril on in place without busting the rod is very difficult

once burnt, i then drill out each hole using a hand drill with .5mm thick drill, you can use a drill, but the extra weight can lead to the main bar being snapped

[Tractorman810]

once drilled out, place each tine in position, then in turn with a bit of rod drop a small amout of super glue in place, remembering to hold each one straight, as they will turn under the weight,this is where leaving the tines long each end makes it so much easier, you can hold them with tweezers or your fingers easy enough, no fiddly small bits to deal with

this is where using copper compaired to brass helps no end, as you tend to drill the holes out from the easiest angle, in my case straight in from the front,as the coppers so thin and bends easy you can dog leg the bit through the main bar, so putting the tines facing downwards,

once dry trim each one down, removing the excess on the back, and the lenght of the fronts as required,job done

[Tractorman810]

hope this helps out a few people, as i said in the earlier post i have another 153 of these to make, without any i drop, which will happen  :D :D , so dont expect it finished to soon

once painted you wont be able to see the fine gaps between each tines ring section, not had a problem with paint on copper, primer deals with that easy enough, seeing as they are short despite the copper being soft and bendy normally, you will have a job to bend them unless your really rough with them, you prob stand more chance of some falling out if the glue doesnt run between the rod and copper ,but 99% of the time the paint once on will hold them in palce to anyway

as i said, hope this helps out a few people , any questions just fire away lads

[Lord Ferguson]

Brilliant Sean E Kins... you ARE the daddy at this mate... thanks for sharing the method... I don't think I will be trying it in a hurry mind you.... making 150 of those would drive me potty  :D

[Simon]

Brilliant Sean, thanks for that mate, I'll bookmark this one ready for when I do the Dominator.... 

[FB]

cheers Sean, now what was the burning for and how come you didnt melt the thing!! :D

could you not use a small tipped soldering iron?

[Tractorman810]

because the rod your drilling into is only 1.5mm thick, and round, trying to hold a hand or power drill in place and getting the hole centered is hellish difficult,i found this out doing the 625 reel , so by burning a starter hole ,i find its easier to then drill out the main hole,its almost like making a punch hole/mark in metal before drilling  i guess you could melt the hole right through, dont see why it wouldnt work, ,i just find it easier to drill for some reason

as for the iron, do they make small .5mm thin tips for them?? only one i have is a lot bigger and would prob just melt the rod in one easy go, henc why i use brass rod, same size as the drill i use, so wont oversize one side, and its thinner than the main rod

[rich.new holland]

you could make tedder tines doing that but just bent the other wire paralel to the other one  very good sean good luck with your 150 

[Tractorman810]

dont see why not rich, did think about making a haybob sometime, but aint got round to it yet,

[jcb4cxkid]

good idea Tracman saves you having to convert a stranded header to suit your needs 

[Jez]

Perfect mate. Nice one.

Just need the combine now...

;)

[Udimore]

:o Seanie baby you never cease to amaze me 

Awesome mate and for you so well written 

Don't think there will be many weirdos giving this one a bash though 

[Tractorman810]

Perfect mate. Nice one.

Just need the combine now...

;)

shes coming mate, cab interiors on the way now,

[Jez]

shes coming mate, cab interiors on the way now,

No I need the combine mate. The combine I want to modify...

[Tractorman810]

oh with you, well go buy one or try a scratch build, with the access to plans you must have it should be simple for you

[MPR Models]

This is just amazing mate,no it is perfect Sean i told you that i like the header before but this will be the best header ever mate   :o

[Tractorman810]

cheers peter, i will prob just knock 10 tines a time, do one bar a night or time i am out doing other bits, gettting a fair few unfinished models out there now

[Murray]

now that is tidy well done sean 

[mickelcarroll]

how do you do this then with a siku header? or is it the case of making a whole new head?

[Tractorman810]

i dont see why this wouldnt work on a siku header mick, although i can say i have not actually tried it myself, only modifyed one i have done is a modifyed britains mf 7200 i did a while back ,

these were all done for two of my scratch built combines

[mickelcarroll]

Was it difficult? I'm only starting out at convertions and wouldn't like to make a mess of the good header!! Would I be better off ( in your opinion ) making a scratch built header instead that would replicate the original?

Thanks

Mick

[Niels]

Looks very good Sean, well done!

Just what I needed