How To: 20-cwt GS trailer hand brake

[Grant Bowker]

New parts were made to the size given by the "enlarged to full size" diagram from the parts list. The main upright was 3/16" to match the ratchet plate on the eBay handle, stiffening webs 1/4" to match the diagram, base plate 3/8" to match the diagram, sloped plate for cable/rod to pass through and its curved wedge support a mix of 1/8' and 3/16" from the offcuts bin. All parts were welded together and the raised profile of a mig weld ground to resemble the dish profile of the original casting or forging. At this point I still hadn't seen an origina, I was working from a mix of known dimensions, period drawing (wildly enlarged but seemingly dimensionally sound) and thinking about it in terms of "how many ways could the part be made" to fit what I knew.

Images are the welded assembly before and after sandblasting and phosphate treatment. The sandblasting left a quite uniform surface that encouraged me to carry on.