1896 Roper Steam Bike
Paul Brodie

12: Mahogany Box

The mahogany strips were cut by Pacific Pattern. I'm not much of a wood-worker, and don't have the tools. Their quality is very good. These wooden lengths are held in place with brass strips and 10-32 brass countersunk screws. Everything has to fit very well, so it gets time consuming.

Fitting strips around the engine and making slow progress.

At first I had envisioned that the two side panels would come off easily as separate pieces, allowing easy access to the internals. I soon realized that this was just not possible.

Here, the mahogany has been stained and verathaned, and the color darkened somewhat. The chimney is not yet screwed onto the brass ring, and the copper tube (in the middle..) has a 90- degree elbow to shoot the exhaust out the chimney, thereby aiding the draft.

Here's the cladding right before the big stain. The aluminum strips help sandwhich the wood in the mid-section.

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