The Home Machinist!

Pilot is finished just in time for the ILS meet.

Actual IC mikado pilot.

Pilot is welded. Still need to clean it up a bit before painting.

Carl, thank you. The plates are 16 gauge. I am not sure why the IC decided to make these pilots. Most of the engines coming out of a rebuild got one.. Then later on as steam was bumped to secondary work , a lot of them had the outside plates removed and replaced with foot boards. I am trying to get ...

Right plate.

Left plate.

Center plate.

Pilot frame.

This 20 ton press easily pressed the ribs.

One of 2 dies I made to stamp these ribs. The center piece has a shorter rib.

Thank you. This is my first time using a die . I first used a block of oak as the die. It would not hold up to repeated uses. It was so nice to see an idea come to life.

Side view.