Building the Frisco 1522

Where users can chronicle their builds. Start one thread and continue to add on to it.

Moderator: Harold_V

User avatar
Fender
Posts: 3084
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 8:33 pm
Location: Chattanooga TN

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by Fender »

I'm not an expert on reaming, but wonder if you're trying to remove too much metal with the reamer, using 15/64" as the pre-drill?
That's enlarging the hole by about 0.015" in one pass. If you drill first with a letter size C (0.242") or D (0.246"), the reamer wouldn't have nearly as much metal to remove.
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
User avatar
Harold_V
Posts: 20231
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by Harold_V »

Fender wrote:I'm not an expert on reaming, but wonder if you're trying to remove too much metal with the reamer, using 15/64" as the pre-drill?
That's enlarging the hole by about 0.015" in one pass. If you drill first with a letter size C (0.242") or D (0.246"), the reamer wouldn't have nearly as much metal to remove.
The amount isn't excessive, depending on the depth being reamed. Reamers don't clear chips well, so the flutes can pack to the point of jamming, which sounds like what has happened. In such a case, it's a good policy to remove the reamer for cleaning and re-lubing. Getting in and out of the hole reasonably quickly is a good idea, as is ensuring that the reamer is well aligned with the hole.

Reaming from a lathe tends to be troublesome, as a tailstock isn't usually well aligned. To help compensate for that scenario, assuming one isn't using a floating head, the reamer can be gripped by just a short amount, short enough to allow the reamer to seek center. It may still not cut well, but it limits the reamer's ability to act like a boring bar.

The less material removed with a reamer, the better the chance the reamer will cut size.

I've made no secret of the fact that I don't much like reamers. They provide a false sense of precision and will betray the operator when it can least be afforded. They are notorious for cutting multi-sided holes, as well as yielding less than acceptable finishes, as well as tapered (bell-mouthed) holes.

Yes, I do use them, but not regularly, aside from relying on them for installing dowel pins.

Harold
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
LocoJerome
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:30 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by LocoJerome »

Finished up the pilot truck side frames. The side frames were water jet cut at the same time I had the main frames cut. The original material we 7/8" so I had to thin them down to reach 3/4". This was the dimension used in the Little Engines Pacific pilot truck that I was basing my design on. I'm also using some of the Little Engines pilot truck castings so I tried to follow many of their dimensions. The frames were stretched about an 1-1/2" overall to match the prototype which required custom frames and equalizers.

The machining went pretty much as planned. I first pinned the two frames together with dowel pins. These were the holes that ate up my carbide reamer. I also learned that I will next time use hardened pins instead of drill rod. The drill rod was too soft and deformed enough that driving them out was a little harder than I anticipated. With the frames pinned together, I machined the mating surface to the center plate and machined out the pockets for the journals. Several light finish cuts were used on the pockets to prevent a tapered pocket due to the long end mill flexing. I then separated the frame and milled them to thickness and then used a ball end mill and smaller flat end mill to 'carve' the sides of the frames.

Up next, the journals.
Attachments
Milling the mating surface to the center plate.
Milling the mating surface to the center plate.
Milling out the journal pockets.
Milling out the journal pockets.
That's why using a brush is better than your fingers.  8)
That's why using a brush is better than your fingers. 8)
Planing the sides and shuffling clamps.
Planing the sides and shuffling clamps.
Carving out the sides of the frames.
Carving out the sides of the frames.
Last edited by LocoJerome on Wed Oct 14, 2015 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
LocoJerome
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:30 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by LocoJerome »

Here's a shot of the first frame finished along with the second ready for planing to thickness. The large Sandvik shell mill makes planing quite enjoyable and sure throws chips everywhere.
Attachments
One down, one to go.
One down, one to go.
User avatar
Dick_Morris
Posts: 2841
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:09 pm
Location: Anchorage, AK

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by Dick_Morris »

shot of the first frame finished
I really like the looks of the frame. :)
seadevil10
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2016 11:01 pm

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by seadevil10 »

Any updates?
LocoJerome
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:30 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by LocoJerome »

In short, no.

But your timing is quite coincidental as I'm just about ready to hop back on the the project. I had to step away from the project and work on overhauling my woodworking shop. My parents passed away 2 year ago and their house on the Mississippi River along with my father's very nicely equipped woodworking shop in his basement was just sitting there. Over the Christmas 2015 holidays the river experienced an unusual winter flooding that actually reached their basement and we were forced to move everything out. So I packed up his wood shop and placed it into climate controlled storage. At that point I put the 1522 project on hold and began tearing down walls in my own basement woodworking shop to expand it and make room for the combined sets of equipment. Everything has been moved into the new shop and I'm about a week or two away from returning to the locomotive project. I really can't wait to get back on it but I won't have the woodworking shop become another half finished project. The new shop turned out really nice, to the point that I would like to build some nice looking wooden era cars some day even if they do predate the 1522 a little. I'll post some picture of the shop this coming weekend. So much to do and so little time it seems.
Oktrainboys
Posts: 119
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 12:14 pm
Location: OKC, OK

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by Oktrainboys »

Thanks for the update as there are folks wanting to see updates on you locomotive!
User avatar
slsf1060
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2003 5:18 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by slsf1060 »

I can't wait on this one. Looking forward to your progress.
Darren McNeely

and the sons of Pullman Porters, and the sons of engineers,
ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.

www.swlsonline.org
LocoJerome
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:30 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by LocoJerome »

Finally!! I finished my project that was keeping me from the locomotive project. I had to, somewhat unexpectedly, expand my basement wood working shop to make room for my father's equipment. Dad passed away a couple years ago and my brother and I kept his house with his wood working shop in the basement. The St. Louis area experienced an uncommon winter flood over the last Christmas and New Year holidays. The Mississippi River rose high enough to reach the basement floor and we were forced to move everything out into climate controlled storage. It just didn't make sense to move it all back into the basement when it would eventually end up at my home so I decided to put the locomotive project on hold while I expand my own basement woodworking shop. It took about 8 months but it turned out nice. If interested you can find some photos of My New Woodworking Shop.

But I'm really happy to be back on the project. I've returned to working on the pilot truck. I bought a set of cast iron journals from Little Engines and milled and bored them for bearings. I still need to mill in the relief to allow the journals to rock in the frames to account for uneven track. The cast iron journals were cast in a single set so they were cut apart and then rough milled square before they were put in the lathe to drill and bore the holes. The holes were bored to accommodate needle bearings.
Attachments
Roughing out the journals to square up the sides.
Roughing out the journals to square up the sides.
Drilling out the journals for boring.
Drilling out the journals for boring.
Milling the slots for the journals to slide in the frame.
Milling the slots for the journals to slide in the frame.
LocoJerome
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:30 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by LocoJerome »

The last step for the pilot journals was to mill in the necessary clearance allowing them to rock from side to side in the presence of uneven track. I feel like I may have over-thought this one. When looking at the Railroad Supply Mikado and Little Engines Pacific plans the amount of clearance specified seemed to be sort of a "that is probably good enough" design. I was curious how much clearance was really necessary when a wheel was at its maximum deflection. My journals have a travel of roughly 5/16" in the vertical direction before they bottom out on the frame so I drew up what this would look like in CAD so I could calculate the amount of rotation of the journal and how much I would need to remove from the inside of ears on the journal to accommodate it. I found the cutting path on the inside of the ears needed to consist of a small arc joining two straight cuts that were a tad over 4-1/2 degrees off the vertical. The clearance also left 0.018" of slop side to side when the journal was truly vertical. This seemed to fall in line with the 0.020" clearance that I found on the plans.

To cut the inside face of the ears I set up the rotary table rotated 4 degrees 36 minutes off vertical, then using the y axis I would start at one end and cut the first flat surface stop at the beginning of the arc and then rotate the table around 9 degrees 12 minutes and then continue on the with the y axis cutting the other flat surface. I probably spent 2 hours setting everything up and testing this setup. That actual cutting took less time. I set my depth a few thousandths above the slot surface as I didn't want to disturb that surface and knew that my little vise I was using to hold the journals was probably not perfectly flat. The remaining material was filed down to the proper depth.
Attachments
Milling the journal clearance on the inside of the ears.
Milling the journal clearance on the inside of the ears.
A view of the setup being used to mill out the journal clearance.
A view of the setup being used to mill out the journal clearance.
Drawing of the journal showing the clearance dimensions.
Drawing of the journal showing the clearance dimensions.
LocoJerome
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:30 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Building the Frisco 1522

Post by LocoJerome »

The equalizers are a little different on the 1522 than those on the drawings for the Little Engines Pacific. So I drew one up in CAD and cut it out to use a template for cutting the 1/8" sheet. I just rough cut them out on the band saw and then milled and sanded the edges to the final shape. Afterwards I made the necessary bends using some clamps and vises. A pretty simple part to make.
Attachments
Template and cutting the rough shape
Template and cutting the rough shape
Milling the straight edges of the equalizers
Milling the straight edges of the equalizers
Using the vise and small vise to make the bends at the proper locations.
Using the vise and small vise to make the bends at the proper locations.
A couple more bends.
A couple more bends.
Post Reply