Finally, progress!

After much hemming and hawing, I finally got to the point that I could take a brief hiatus from working on projects for the WF&P and work on my own steam engine.

Last Wednesday, I machined the eccentric cranks to the print, and the only thing remaining is to cut the clamping slot and those will be done.



I had lots of binding in the frame rails and cylinder mounts, so I decided to use an endmill to true up the hole locations. Turns out I was off by as much as 20 thousands (by my estimation). I must have done something wrong in the layout and drilling because I didn't think I'd be that far off. The hole was probably slightly crooked. Teaches me to use a cheapo Ryobi drill press! I'll be checking the setup of the table and whatnot before I do any more projects on that.

After setting up the mill for the cylinder mounts, I proceeded to remachine the holes so that they were concentric. I used a 3/16" endmill as that is slightly larger than a 10-24 thread. I am using stainless steel studs that I ordered from McMaster (various lengths) for mounting the cylinders and the cylinder mounts along with lockwashers and nuts (18-8 SS). After remachining these, the cylinder mounts bolted flawlessly to the frame. I had to open up the holes on the cylinder itself, but everything is now bolted together.





In addition to machining the frame rails and cylinder rails, I also did some driver machining. The two sets of drivers I acquired had different flange diameters and thicknesses, so I decided to set up the lathe and machine them all to the same diameter (flange and tread) and put a 2 degree taper on the tread. Doing this took me less than an hour for all eight drivers, and while I was setting up the lathe for the procedure, I machined the mandrel for the crankpin boring fixture. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!





So now I have the mandrel set up in the milling machine ready to re-bore the crankpin holes. I couldn't find the dial indicator that the railroad has so I'll bring it out this Saturday and get it all indicated so she's ready to remachine. If I'm lucky, I'll get it all done this Saturday or Sunday. Worst case, next Wednesday.

So with all that has transpired over the last few days, I am very optimistic about forward progress and plan on proceeding. After I re-bore the crankpin holes, I will make new crankpins that will then be pressed into the drivers. I am debating on if I want to deviate from the blueprints here and go with a male thread on the crankpin so that I can put a castellated nut or a jam nut on the outside (a la prototype). I know castellated nuts would be a pain to create in 1", but worst case, I would put a cotter pin in place. She would still look good and do the job.

After the crankpins are done, I will be ready to press everything together - with the exception of having to put 2 bearings back in the journal boxes, but that should only take a day. That will get me to a rolling frame! After that, I will dabble between suspension components and valve gear components. I have looked at the LE blueprints and am not satisfied with the LE pin designs, as I would feel more comfortable with a shoulder bolt threaded into one side of the fork of the valve gear components. I also plan to use bronze bushings for the valve gear, but I need to find the size I want. I would like to use 5/32 ID, 9/32 OD bushings but will go bigger/smaller if needed.

I've already started thinking/planning out the suspension components, and can't wait to get 'em done! I think construction on that will go fairly quickly as I'll be able to do a setup and machine all of the brackets in one setup relatively quickly.

If anyone has any advice, questions, or simply want to express your interest, please don't hesitate to leave a comment!

See you in the next post!

More progress....

...but not on the machining front.

I finally designed the crossheads after figuring out what features I'd like to incorporate. In addition, I updated the 3-d model to include the valve gear components. This included designing a bracket for the valve gear to mount to, as I couldn't use the original 0-4-0 design (the #2 driver interferes with the brackets).



A profile view of the 2-8-0 as it stands now. You can see that I've also added the aesthetic details such as spokes and so forth. This helps the appearance of the CAD drawing, and is easier on the eyes while trying to differentiate the different parts and such.



3-d view.


That said, I hope to start machining the crossheads pretty soon. I'll be making them out of SAE 932 bronze (round stock) on the lathe, then moving to the mill to complete the process. After that, I will have to either modify the original rear cylinder heads or make new ones so that I can have the crosshead guides properly spaced. Then I can figure out where I can mount the various components and then go from there. The CAD drawing should be pretty close, but we all know that CAD drawings don't always exactly match the finished product. But I'm satisfied with what I've got to date!

Progress, Jan 22, 2011

Well, today was another day. I took an hour or so to put the journal boxes in place, and that enabled me to get an idea of what this thing really was gonna look like in real life. I'd say this is a huge point in the project because now I can really start to envision the finished product. 3-d models do go a long way, but there's nothing like putting your hands on the actual model to get a sense of size/scale.

Here are the photos from today.

2-8-0 Update, 1/21/2011

Well, this week brought a significant amount of progress!

I was able to machine the frame rails to length, drill the mounting holes for the cylinder mount rails, as well as the rear frame (firebox cradle). In addition, I was able to machine the cylinder mount rails.

I've also assembled the locomotive frame. I learned a hard lesson - don't go to your local ACE/Dickey Bub's, just to buy a certain amount of fasteners. I spent $10 for 20 8-32 flathead screws, and when I got home, I realized I needed 16 per sideframe (for a total of 32), and so I wasn't able to complete it. As a result, I made a stop at Fastenal and picked up a box of 8-32 flathead screws (100 ct) for $8.32! Next time I need a certain amount of fasteners, I'll look up Fastenal!


The cylinder mount rails, already laid out and in the process of being center punched


Cylinder mount rails after the holes have been drilled. The Cylinder saddle holes haven't been drilled, as I want to confirm what size bolts I will be using.


Sideframes assembled!


Cylinder saddle in place for the photo!


I've also decided that I may consider new axles for the locomotive, since I want to ensure that they are properly quartered. In conjunction with this step, I'll be re-boring the crankpin holes (probably 0.010" oversize, unless necessary) to ensure they're properly quartered. I don't want to deal with binding drivers later!

So, now my punch list is slightly smaller. The italics indicate that step has been completed.


1) drill holes in top and bottom cylinder mounts
2) machine bottom cylinder mount spacer to length and drill holes.
3) Machine top and bottom frame rails to length
4) Obtain shim stock to install under cylinders
5) Install cylinders (determine size of screws for cylinder mounting, and fabricate if needed)
6) Clean journal boxes and lubricate with grease thoroughly -- Already cleaned, need to be rinsed with acetone/MEK, then lubricated.
a. Install 2 loose bearings with sleeve retainer then do above
7) Drill axles to the bearing races on 2 undrilled axles, tap
a. Cross drill through bearing race if possible….
b. Obtain part number for bearing race for purchase of new ones with through hole if necessary
8) Check fit of journal boxes in the frame
9) Check all drivers for proper quartering. Bore out crankpin holes if needed.
10) Sandblast all drivers
11) Machine new crankpins
12) Order material for pilot support (7/16” x 1-1/2” 1018 speedymetals)
13) Figure out suspension linkage design, send to be laser cut.
14) Construct suspension linkages
15) figure out the rest of the punch list!

Progress on the 2-8-0 Conversion!

After much procrastination, I have finally started working on the Consolidation. I've actually got drawings, and I've actually made chips!

I finally took the time (and had the motivation) to draw most of the parts in SolidWorks. I am still in the process of doing so, but that hasn't stopped me from machining. The first night, I was able to accomplish this:



After some tinkering, and more progress, I finally came up with this:



I have printed all of the drawings to date. If you'll notice, I've temporarily sketched the pilot wheelset to get an idea of location. I also sketched up the pilot deck. For the time being, the drawing shows where the pilot deck will be. I'll finalize those details once I have an assembled frame.

I've also developed the concept for suspension rigging. I just need to order the material and tinker with it. It's a little different, but it will do the job just as well, and will require less effort.

As for machining, I was able to machine the cylinder mounts to length, and will drill the holes accordingly as soon as possible, hopefully this week. If that happens, I'll be able to mount the cylinders to the frame! Thanks to Clayton for rough-cutting the stock to length while I was machining siderod bushings for the WF&P.

I also had an issue with the needle bearings that were installed in the journal boxes. Apparently the needle bearings were all frozen, and had no chance of rolling. I felt that it was likely due to lack of lubrication. I gave one bearing a squirt of WD-40 and let it soak, then worked it for a little bit. The bearing freed up! I also asked Clayton if he'd like a project to work on, and he took on the remaining seven bearings. Now they all roll freely. Unfortunately two were a slip fit in the bores, so I will apply Loctite sleeve retainer and insert the bearing in their boxes after a thorough cleaning with acetone or MEK. This should take care of that problem.

I've also started machining the pilot truck wheels, which just need the tread and flanged machined at this point. I'll machine the axle at some point, but I'm not sure what size to make the axle, as I need to keep the pilot truck in mind. I'll install bronze bushings in the truck for the axle to ride in.

I'll call it quits for the night, but I'll take photos on Wednesday and hope to post them here!
-Mike

Bringing up the rear end....

I've been working on a 1" scale wood caboose, closely modeling a B&O Wood caboose. The original prototype that I am following is located in Covington, KY., and can be viewed at this link: http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=862604

I printed out photographs and figured out how many strips of wood there are that span the length and width of the caboose, and approximated the stripwood to be about 3" -- and this gave me the dimensions for my caboose.

I've already framed the caboose, and have, in fact, already applied the stripwood around the perimeter of the caboose. At this point in time, I believe the roof segments have been completed as well. I am working on completing the windows (I didn't properly plan out the window work, thus I have to fudge it at this point in time). I already have trucks, which have been built. They require a little bit of work to be completed, including paint.

Current Condition:

A conversion in progress....

Among the pile of projects that I've got in the apartment right now, is a conversion of a 1" Scale Little Engines 0-4-0 into a 2-8-0. This project includes adding two drivers, a pony truck, and fabricating a different boiler for the locomotive. I will have to fabricate special valve gear hangers, as the originals are designed to go where the #2 driver will actually interfere with it.

Currently, I have a laser cut frame, however I've been leery about the laser cut frame, as it's 3/8" thick, whereas the original frame for the 0-4-0 is 7/16" thick. I am thinking about ordering some 7/16" stock and directly machining a frame out of this material. That is where this project sits at right now, as the driver assemblies are complete (except for one driver set needing new crankpins), the cylinders are complete. After the frame is machined and assembled, I intend to fabricate suspension rigging, as well as install the components. After I've installed rigging, I can move onto valve gear work.

I'll update when I make some progress!
-Mike