The Home Machinist!

I got off e-bay a pair of cast iron trucks in 3.5 inch gauge.

one side frame arrived broken...

it looks like cast iron

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c301/ ... CT0318.jpg

not sure how to do pictures

weld?
find another casting?

costs ?

victor

I was going to bid on those, but can't really justify until I have something to pull them with.

Was it insured? If so, take it up with the shipper and tell them what the repair or a replacement set of trucks cost.

As to the repair, others with more experience will have to chime in.

Steve

yes, the box is insured
the sender is not really willing to help with dealing with the Post Office.

the usps claim form allows that they may be repaired
and they will pay that.... up to the insured value
so I am looking for options here.

I am not confident that cast iron can be welded or brazed
and still have a ride-able side frame.

I was kinda hoping I might get a sense
of what options exist

*sigh* including more side frames


yeah I bid on them feeling they were high in cost
I just wanted an easy quick option for building a riding car.

right now I am trying hard not to feel 'taken'
the trucks do not appear to have bronze bearing inserts
either.

live and learn...

victor

The ad says:
"Each bearing box has a bronze bushing and an oiling hole"

If they don't have bronze bushings, then you should be able to return them for misrepresentation (intentional or unintentional).

Was the damage due to bad packing?

For those of you following, here is the listing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0507135788

Steve

Hi SteveM,

The box looks crushed or dropped.

the packing is hard to say, the parts broke....
so the packing was not good enough.

Frankly, I have not seen anyone selling side frames like them
or I'd ask for seller or post office to buy my another...
the seller is clearly of the opinion that the problem is between me and
the post office.

the real problem here is that I want them for
the fact that they are finished trucks.

As far as I am concerned I truly do not have what I paid to own.

so now I am looking at how I can salvage this.

another side frame is what I'd like. I do not know where to get another.

The cost for someone to weld or braze, assuming that can be a viable repair.

I can afford the loss, in that I have broken and destroyed
more valuable items in my history

I truly am looking for answers.

I know I seem new to this place.
long time lurker etc...
over the past year I decided I was not going to build
EVERYTHING and so I started watching ebay for things
I felt I would need....
these fit the bill.

I hate the growing feeling that I am going to get into
a fight with some cranky fellow in Maine over 200 hundred dollars....
however it looks like that is exactly where this is going.

victor
ETA
a picture of the sideframe
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c301/ ... CT0319.jpg

Clearly this is a new break.

Yep packing failure, did not protect parts from Gorilla Shippers Inc.

If YOU sold it, would you compensate for this? Prolly not.

Best angle I see to repair is high temp brazing with a good flux and Bronze fill material. Pack it in sand while it is still glowing and put it in wifeys oven, preheated to highest temp. Wait ten minutes, and shut it off, Take it out tommorrow, and file/finsh the repair. Good luck. If the braze wont stick, with good flux, its dead. The only other option is to e-poxy it back together, for a pattern, and beg a small iron foundry to run one off for you.

Hi Steamin10,
you have a lot to learn about me if you think I'd handle
the situation the way this seller is.

As far as I am concerned,
I bought the trucks for more than they are worth
and the only reason was for convienience.
This is no longer convienient.

It gets even worse when you see that at least one bearing and axle
are scored from lack of lube and that there are no bronze bearing
inserts to replace as an easy way to tidy up the bearing problem.

I am not sure I can braze the trucks back together.
I may try just that.
Would you ride on such a repair?

Lets say I take one of the other sideframes to a foundry
what do you think would be a reasonable price for a side frame?

any idea how I can find such a foundry?

v

Uh, not to be brutal, but price has nothing to do with it. If you think you overpaid, mebe so. Not the sellers fault. The packing issue is unfortunate. Heavy but fragile items get broken, or dive out of the box in shipping all the time. Ive had ups give me 6 wheels of 8 shipped, and then could not cover the ONE ONLY set, because there was no packing slip.

Train and hobby guys are a PITA to foundries of any size, but can get adopted and get things done in small casting houses. A smile and handfull of broken part is all that is needed to get their sympathy or be run out the door. If they will do it, expect to stay for most of a day, like a nervous mom cat, looking after her kitten, unless they run you off, till tommorrow.

As for finding something in your area, good luck. Ask supply houses like the counter guys at Grainger or similar in your area. They have a good handle on whats going. Small foundries have had a hard time staying alive.

And yes I would ride on them, given that they were repaired with a reasonable skill, there should be no problem. A failure would drop you only a few inches to the tracks. It all depends on the quality of the iron part to start with, as brazing is very common for those repairs. Take a deep breath, and follow it out.

dear abby
dear abby

my fountain pen leaks....

Hi Steamin10

I have re-read your post quite a few times...

take my word for this. I do not care to pay for any...
ummm....character building excercise... .
I've already paid well past all that is my due.

I was sharing background information because I got asked about it.
I also tried explain what I know.
I was not the one who posted the e-bay auction link.

Allow me to point out that for me to make a claim with the post office
for my broken parts, I need a price for the repair or other parts.

which is why I posted in the first place.

so... price has EVERYTHING to do with this.

I can't tell you I know the prices because I can't find parts
like what I have in front of me.

Have you ever seen such trucks?

If I go the repair route, because I understand you will trust such repairs....
I still would like to know, what do people pay for such repairs?
leave alone finding the soul with those skills.

plus I get to waste my time finding the answers.
believe me, ain't none gonna refund me any of that.

victor

3 1/2" PASSENGER CAR BOGIE SIDE FRAMES - £103.36 (adjust for exchange rate and add in shipping):
https://vault1.secured-url.com/reeves20 ... ?id=28/005

Since those won't fit yours, I suggest asking Reeves what a kit to make a complete truck would cost.

FINISHED BOGIE 3.1/2"g-Machined and assembled,finished and ready to use. - 175.00 (adjust for exchange rate anbd shipping)
http://www.modelmakingsupplies.co.uk/bo ... e-kits.htm


There's also OS. Dealer in the US is:
WESTERN RAIL SPECIALTIES
BOB CRONE
3535 E.WOODHAVEN ST.
SIMI VALLEY CA 93063
Tel/805-583-8185
email:westrail@sbcglobal.net

Steve

my day has not gone as I originally planned.

so I used the time to go visit a place that will do it in bronze.

so I should have a new part I will have to machine
and a price to place on the claim form.

for the first time in 6 years of getting things out of e-bay
I am going to be giving a less than perfect feed back.

*sigh*

victor

Hi Stevem

thanks for the links the top one locks my browser
I opened a second browser to view it
the second one is quite nice.

Those prices make me think I got a bargain!

At best I can simply state that I got a pre-assembled kit.

Only one axle looks badly scored
but a couple of trucks look well worn.

the condition of the non-broken parts
removes any bargain value.

v