The Home Machinist!

Bill Shields has a great inexpensive contraption that raises and lowers the loco via a bunch of screw rods and one big chain running in a square. Perhaps he can post some pictures of it...

Sorry, that was confusing. I used Rustoluem primer and THEN flat black top coat.

And cleaned real well with 99% isopropyl beforehand...

sncf141r wrote:Here's me steaming at the 2002 winter olympics in salt lake city.

Lotsa live steam there.

JohnS.

Hey glad to see #93 here.

Waumbek: You should also check out Pat Hutcheson's A3 pages, he posts detailed information and photos about how he machined each part.

http://www.phutcheson.net/a3_switcher.htm

He's almost done with the tender.

--Mike

I think all the A3's have been scrapped, but I found some of its relatives in the Pennsy railroad museum across the street from Strausburg. I've attached a few pics here of what I think is an A5. The wheels are black. I don't know that there are any surviving A3's left. You can use these pics to sup...

Well my own engines aren't finished yet, so here's me borrowing/bumming time on other people's rolling works of art... http://www.mojaveserver.info/forum-pics/mikecprr.jpg Me on Charlie Dockstadder's 4-8-0 Mastadon, which we were just talking about over on another board. This is at my home track - K...

I recently visited there...a lot of nice stuff in many scales...well stocked. Seems like they keep real busy cranking out CNC parts and castings.

Mike, I think you answered most of your questions. Just keep in mind, Tom's trucks/wheels are strong and sturdy. They will give you years of reliable service. But, the trucks are designed to 1.6" scale, not 1.5" scale. That's why Tom lists the 4.375" wheel diameter instead of the &qu...

I'm machining a rough casting bettendorf truck set from Tom Bee. On his page: http://iprr.topcities.com/tombee/tech/fct_spec.htm He specifies overall wheel diameter is 4 3/8. I am guessing that is the dimension where the tread radius meets the tread, the point of contact. Is that right? Measuring th...

That's a tricky one for a beginner, and good practice. I completed those wheels not too long ago as my first ever machining experience, and basically everything needs to be optimal - make sure your lathe is as rigid as it can be - adjust the gibs on your cross slide so they are optimally tight, lock...

Welcome to the group, Walter. And welcome to the all-absorbing world of Live Steam. :) If you ask 12 different people, you'll get 12 different opinions...and you'll get 12 more in this thread. :) If you want affordable, the taiwanese or chinese lathes are the way to go. We even have several of them ...

Thank you all for the many ideas. The difficulty here is the car is pre-assembled (welded) so I don't have a flat piece of metal to work with all by itself. So any drilling and such has to be accomplished whilst maneuvering the entire car around. that would eliminate some ideas and make others more ...