The Home Machinist!

Note on scale mass: Our model locomotives present approximately the cube root of mass on the rails, compared to full-sized locomotives. Agreed. The S-12 I'm building in 2" scale is estimated to come out around 800-1000#'s, yet in full size it was about 250,000#'s. That's 31,250#'s per wheel in full...

Funny you mentioned sp-1 Little Giant X1 that's my next project working on the truck drawings right now Our shop made a set for another member here about a year ago for 12" gauge that will utilize take up bearings with the tensioner end cut off riding on functional springs and equalizer bars. Don't...

One thing I'd like to mention, is that we have several local shops with lasers and 2 with water jet cutters, but only one 3D printing business that is extra expensive. The GE 44 ton locomotives and others similar to it like the Southern Pacific narrow gage X-1, share fabricated plate trucks instead ...

I have a friend who was involved in Mini-sprint car racing with his dad. Several of those with the fancy enclosed race trailers with the racers # stickers on them and all that jazz vanished into thin air. They sold theirs and bought an old horse trailer instead, no one looks twice at an old and like...

We also buy our alloys from EMJ, nothing wrong with them if you want to go with 4140 or another hardening steel. I agree with another poster though and think that a hardened wheel would suffer from low traction.

Working on my GE44 project and my cast iron wheel blanks don't quite have the diameter on them that I would like, so I'm thinking about shrink fitting some 4140 or other steel tires to them. DOM tubing? I wouldn't think I could find a size that I need. Flame cut from 1" thick plate? Pretty sure wat...

I'm pretty much ready to start retrofitting everything onto the dozer to get it rolling on it's new rubber tracks. I need to trim away some of the old plate ribs that were under the engine where the front axle will now reside and move in a slot under spring tension, match drill the channel frame rai...

I've done a lot of cruising of various boiler builds here on Chaski and there is a huge thread here with a myriad of pictures, various designs, pics of some failed boilers cut open, etc etc. I really don't see a problem bolting on your smokebox in my opinion. I would want the holes "blind" so that t...

I would case harden (carbon pack) them if I still had access to the forge at technical college, but I think for this application the A572-G50 will work well. Can look into AR plate in the future if wear seems to be premature.

I do not, thought if I could save it though that it could be "offerup'd" as I looked up the pump number online and Northern Tool sells it for $599 new.

The PB blaster broke it loose, it wasn't stuck all that bad. The starter rope was also frayed and was catching inside the starter recoil and then broke, so I rewound it with some west marine sailing cord (1,200# rated and nice and soft, about same size)....and it runs! I didn't run it long because I...

I'm trying to salvage both if possible. Oil doesn't smell or look bad so I'm thinking the engine may be stuck at the rings from sitting for years. I just sprayed a bunch of PB blaster into the spark plug hole and I'm going to let it soak until tomorrow and see if I can't crack it loose. The last one...