The Home Machinist!

I have been doing this recently and found the grade of solder is important. Down here we can buy silver solder with 15% silver in it, as well as the stuff with 45% or 55% silver. The 15% silver solder us useless for steel. It will not flow, it will not stick, it will not do anything. I tried a joint...

I've just come back and marveled at the Walt Disney American thread again. So to show the last 5 years were not idle here is the loco in its current state. IMG_20190206_080715.jpg IMG_20190206_080821s.jpg It runs on air and the boiler is done aside from the superheaters, and the regulator needs sold...

Hi all, I have just done the common gearbox rebuild on my RF-45 clone, changing the gear shaft bearings, oil seals, etc. I did not change the spindle bearings. I am having trouble getting the quill fine feed mechanism to work. The rack mechanism works ok. It used to work before, albeit with a tight ...

Very informative, thanks!

Thanks Dan. I use that method when doing the small rivets, but did not think to do it for these larger ones. I figured there were only 4 holes, what could go wrong? It was not so much a case of one piece deforming as the two being out of alignment from the first hole. I need to look up clecos. Regar...

It seems so pleasantly simple to use springs and no equalization. Our USA prototypes require equalization due to endemic rough track conditions here during those years, unlike "more civilized" railroads around the world. ((-; So our model locomotives require many small hidden parts to be ...

Some progress on the axleboxes and wheels. When the eccentrics are done I can put the wheels on, and push it around

I have done most of the frame spacers now, just the one above the leading wheels to go. Also getting through the axle boxes. First two with their bushes loctited in. The two rear ones still have to be thinned down to allow the firebox to fit between them.

Up to 108 hours on the loco.

Thanks Torch, nice one. Interesting method of making the gear cutter too.

So onto the loco! The frames are cut with a water jet in 3mm steel. The horn cheeks also cut with a water jet from 10mm steel, with just some machining to make a relief for the nuts on the back of them. The drag beam and buffer beam are also 3mm steel, cut from some 3x100mm flat and the drag box was...

RCW wrote:Explain, please.

I'm guessing he means Harold Hall's website.

Yes, I worded my post badly. The thing in the mill collet rotates, but the thing holding the broach doesn't. It just has wobble imparted to it via the ball. The 4 screws just stop it falling out of the rotating thing, but do not clamp it in any way. Using it in the lathe... in this case the work bei...