The Home Machinist!

I just realized that I hadn't updated this thread in a while.
The drive shaft on one truck is ready for gears now. We should start cutting gears this weekend

(Continued from above) The gears for the shay have come in with the exception of one which escaped its box due to a poor packing job by Amazon. Apparently a flimsy box and a couple of those large mailing airbags was deemed sufficient. By the time I got the box, it was barely held together by some pa...

I'm back to work on the shay after a hiatus to do some track work at the railroad. A section had to be completely reworks with regauging, leveling, and ballasting. image.jpg The next day we were welcomed by a dead tree that had fallen across the track since the ground here in Georgia is so soft from...

Brian Hilgert wrote:Moving right along! Did you order the gears from Amazon? I noticed that the 'in stock' quantity for the gears on the Amazon went from 5 to 1.... I figured someone must have ordered a set for John's shay. :mrgreen

Guilty as charged!

All of the levers for the brakes are done. There is one hanger left to bend and then the brake cylinder. Bronze for the brake cylinder has been ordered and once it is made, all that will be left will be to mount the parts to the frame. The bevel gears should be here Wednesday so it wont be long till...

I decided to lap the end caps to the cylinder since I wont have to worry about blowing a gasket. I was having trouble finding compound though since all MSC and Travers has are 1lb cans of the stuff for $25 each. Seeing how I probably needed three grits, $75 seemed like to much and 3lbs is probably m...

I would suggest JB Weld. Their website says it can handle up to 500 degrees F.

I believe its a feed water heater.

I'll probably use Viton O-rings for the piston rings, graphite rope for the rod packing, and lap the end caps to the cylinder to seal them. Would RTV work to seal the heads on the cylinder? http://www.permatex.com/products/product-categories/adhesives-sealants/sealants/permatex--clear-rtv-silicone-...

Harold, that is an excelent post. I'm going to keep that around to share with some shop friends. Another milestone today. I have finished the truck brakes! All that's left is the brake cylinder, frame levers, and two supports that need to be welded in. The brake cylinder will be a while longer befor...

Ok, thanks guys! What's a good wheel for HSS or how do I pick one?

Harold, That is a very interesting idea. I'll make a couple to fit my standard straight thread dies and my NTP and eventually MTP dies since pipe threads are worse. I have a whole drawer full of 3/8" endmills of various lengths, flutes, etc. Let me know what you need and I'll drop one off at CS...