I started working on the clock again this week, didn`t get very far but here is an update on the bridge plate and pillars:
Marked out the plate:
And roughed to shape with a file:
I then went a made a depth stop for my lathe as described by John in his "backstop" thread
With the backstop, it was easy to get two the same length solving all previous issues when I`ve tried this!
I then drilled a tommy bar hole in the end to ensure we can tighten these onto the back plate:
The bottom end of the pillar is threaded M3 but I had concerns that I couldn`t thread it all the way using a die, I always end up with an untreaded stub so consequently it won`t screw down to the shoulder. I normally just nick this with a parting tool but with only 1/8" of thread, I wanted as much thread as possible. So instead of threading, I drilled and tapped and using loctite, glued in two M3 screws, letting the glue dry and then cutting the thread to size:
As suggested in the plans, to profile the pillar I screwed it into a piece of scrap barstock threaded in the lathe and could then work on the entire length.
And the two finished:
And the pillars and bridge mounted on the backplate:
Next thing is to drill the pivot holes and so it is suggested I remove the pillars and drill through the bridge and packplate together to ensure they are aligned!