Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

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RET
Posts: 960
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:36 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

Just in case it isn't clear how the collection of parts in the pictures fit together, here's a scan of the Roy Johnston design from the June 1986 issue of Modeltec. There were very few dimensions given, but in spite of that, Gerhardt made what looks like an exact copy of Roy's design. The series of 4 Aces articles is very good and runs for more than a year, starting in January 1985.

The second picture of the cross section should answer most questions. Running almost concurrently with the 4 Aces series was one on the full size Big Boy & I'm sure Gerhardt got a lot of his information from that series.

Hope this helps.

Richard Trounce.
Attachments
some text from the article
some text from the article
throttle assembly cross section
throttle assembly cross section
RET
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Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

As you can see from the first picture, the superheaters are now permanently attached to the throttle body assembly with silver soldered bronze flanges and nuts. The superheaters are made from thin wall stainless steel tube and are the "hairpin" style. Its a little finicky to get everything fitted the way it needs to be. The hot header had to be flattened to fit against the throttle body so the smokebox flanges would line up with the cylinder piping flanges and the superheater ends have to be staggered "just right" for them to fit on the two headers.

The next picture shows that assembly in place on the front of the boiler as well as the way the boiler fits on the chassis. The throttle body bolts onto the end of the dry pipe and is sealed with an "O" ring. As you can see, the boiler is copper and is made in cylinders just the way the real thing is built. The superheaters will just fit through between the water tubes in the combustion chamber and they extend to within an inch of the back of the firebox. Anything other than the "hairpin" style simply wouldn't fit.

The third picture shows how I make imitation "chequer plate." Yes, I know it isn't the way the real stuff is, but it looks better than plain sheet for catwalks, etc., especially in 3 1/2" gauge. I learned this trick from Harry Hawkins of TSME. Use a coarse knurl and it doesn't look too bad. The knurling process stretches the top surface of the sheet and distorts it, but it isn't too difficult to straighten it out afterwards. The "C" clamped weights on the clapper box supply enough torque so the knurling tool doesn't ride up on the sheet. The sheet shown in the picture will be big enough and is long enough to make all of the catwalks required for Big Boy. In case anyone is interested, this is one thing you can do with a shaper that you can't do with a milling machine.

This assembly isn't permanent yet, but things are slowly moving along. You can also see the temporary position of the 3 propane burners and the axle pump on the chassis just behind. The cab covers the pump and there is also enough room under it for the automatic boiler pressure control when I get it built.

This shows where things are at the moment.

Richard Trounce.
Attachments
superheater - throttle body assembly
superheater - throttle body assembly
Big Boy side view showing throttle body in place
Big Boy side view showing throttle body in place
Making "chequer plate" on the shaper
Making "chequer plate" on the shaper
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Stuie
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Location: Copehagen, Denmark

Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by Stuie »

Wow! Whats the diameter of that boiler!?
3/4" scale LBSC Bantam Cock
3/4" scale B4 project (re-designed LBSC Juliet)
- Stuart T. Harrod -
RET
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Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:36 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi Stuie,

To answer your question, the boiler is 6 3/8" dia. at the firebox and 6" dia. at the front. It is made of copper and weighs 80 lbs. The firebox is 13" long at the top and 13 1/2" long at the bottom and it will be fired with propane. The complete locomotive is going to weigh something over 250 pounds.

If you read this thread from the start, you should have a pretty good idea of all the details. The model is big for 3 1/2" gauge, but then the real Big Boys were big too. Engine and tender together are 8 feet long. As I've said before, the original builder did most of what you see, I'm carrying on and making any changes that are necessary to make it a working model. Its a slow process, but I'm getting there. Don and I were very lucky to acquire this model; as you can see from the pictures, Gerhardt's workmanship is very good.

Thanks for your interest. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. Welcome to the hobby.

Richard Trounce.
RET
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Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

Lately I've been spending time making the numberplate for Big Boy. For those of you who may be interested, here's how it was done.

Using the original Union Pacific drawing, I started by drawing the numberplate full size in Anvil1000. I next shrunk the drawing to 1/16th full size (right size for 3 1/2" gauge). After using Anvil to make sure all the lines really intersected, I transferred the drawing to Synergy, the 3D CAD program I have. With Bob Schuppel's help (at Weber Systems) I was able to get Synergy (using a .030" dia. end mill) to generate the "G" code required to cut the inside of the shield (the outside was done with a 3/32" dia. end mill with a separate "G" code program). There are over 900 lines in the finished program.

While Synergy has EMC and EMC2 post processors, the code Synergy generates includes "M" codes which the Sherline machine can't use, so they are edited out. It also puts in the proper offset for the cutter diameter you are going to use. I printed out the code and then entered and tested it step by step.

The Sherline "Front End" gives error messages if the code isn't right so you can debug it in "Backplot" before running the machine. In Backplot, G0 (high speed) codes are green, G1 (straight line) codes are black, G2 (curve to the right) codes are red and G3 (curve to the left) codes are blue.

As you can see from the middle picture, I'm using the Sherline CNC mill system, but I've rebuilt the mill into a much bigger, sturdier unit which works much better. As you can also see, I still have to do the "Z" axis, but that's on my "To Do" list. By the way, the shield is just a little over an inch tall and about .9" wide!

Just another small step. Its great when you are finally finished with the code and the machine actually works!

Richard Trounce.
Attachments
cutting the shield inside (.003 to .005" per pass)
cutting the shield inside (.003 to .005" per pass)
Complete CNC mill setup
Complete CNC mill setup
Backplot showing cutter path (incomplete)
Backplot showing cutter path (incomplete)
RET
Posts: 960
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:36 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

Here's a little better picture of the finished shield. Still not quite in focus, but at least you can see how deep the letters are cut into the shield. You can also see some of the tracks left by the cutter. After having the sharp edges smoothed in the acid, it should look pretty good.

As you may be able to tell, I'm pleased by the result, but that's just me.

Richard Trounce.
Attachments
Finished Shield showing letters & numbers
Finished Shield showing letters & numbers
kvom
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Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by kvom »

Nice job. I recently purchased a 3/64" (.046) EM to use in engraving a builder plate. Hope it works as well, given that my mill doesn't really have the RPMs it really needs for this type of job.
RET
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Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi kvom,

Don't worry, the little Sherline spindle doesn't spin as fast as it should either and it works OK. What is probably more important is that your machine is solid with no possible movement. Solid carbide deflects less, but is definitely more brittle.

While the original Sherline mill was OK, especially when you consider what you get for your money, the rebuild is much stiffer with no possible movement on the X & Y axes, since they are both 1" dia. Thomson shafts on support rails with 5/8" dia. machine tool quality ball screws. The shafts and ball screws are both sealed. When I do the Z axis the same way, the machine will be even better.

I run the cutter as fast as the Sherline spindle can go and use a feed of .6"/min. which is slow, but works OK. For the cutter size, I know the spindle speed should be at least 15 thousand rpm., but slower speeds work as long as the feed rate is reduced proportionately. It takes 55 minutes to make one pass, but I find that watching the machine work is fascinating and anyway, I have to be there to vacuum out the chips so the cutter won't recut them and possibly break. There is no way in the world you could write that code manually! Theoretically, a faster rpm. would allow for faster feed rates, but I don't want to push the machine too far, mainly because of the cutters.

I'm not sure, but I think the solid carbide end mills can break from fatigue. I've had two break on me after running for a while, a 3/32" one on the Dart number plate several years ago and one of the .030" ones on this shield. They always break where the flutes join the shank (a stress concentrator). It is also possible that they may have been inadvertently subjected to greater stress than they could take, I don't know. An end mill with a shorter flute length would be better, but that's what I can get from KBC. KBC has them in .005" increments down to .010," with 4 flutes and end cutting.

Hope this helps.

Richard Trounce.
Last edited by RET on Wed Feb 26, 2014 7:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
RET
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Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

As you can see from the picture, the number plate is now finished and mounted on the front of the locomotive. It even looks like it belongs there! For anyone who might want to know how it was done, I spray painted several coats of black on both sides of the plate until there were no light spots. Next I got a spray can of automotive white from Canadian Tire, sprayed a light coat on cereal box cardboard and pressed the shield into the wet paint. It took several tries to get the white on all the lettering, but I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

Now I'm starting to design the headlight housing. It has to be big enough to fit the flashlight bits and pieces I'm using, so shape and size have to change slightly to accommodate the parts. For all this finicky stuff, having access to all 2900 of the Big Boy drawings is essential. You get to see exactly how the real thing was built. The headlight sits above and behind the numberplate. As you can also see from the picture, there is still an awful lot left to do on the locomotive.

I've also been working on the "Z" axis for the little mill and an indexing headstock for the same machine. When I finally get the ball screw & nut I'll be able to finish off the "Z" axis and then I'll be able to use the machine again. The indexing headstock will also add to the versatility of the machine.

Like Don, I often have two or 3 things on the go at the same time. That's it for the moment.

Richard Trounce.
Attachments
Number plate in place.
Number plate in place.
RET
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Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:36 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

Well, now the "z" axis is done and the rotary headstock is also finished. As I said above, the machine is even better with the "z" axis finished and the rotary headstock allows me to do things easily that were hard before. I made the headstock so that it uses all the 2C collets I use in the lathe (1/16" to 11/16" plus a set of metric collets that go up 1/2 mm. at a time).

As you can see in the pictures, I'm starting to build a power reverse unit for Big Boy. I'm using the drawings from Roy Johnson's 4 aces. As far as I know, there aren't any castings available for a 3 1/2" gauge power reverse, so I'm using the little mill to cut the outside surface of the cylinder body since I want it to look like a casting when I'm done. The little CNC mill is slow, but I can do things with it that I can't do any other way.

Yes, I know that I could have turned the outside surface of the cylinder in the lathe and silver soldered the pad and bosses that cover the port passageways on afterwards, but that wouldn't have looked as good. Besides, I wanted to see if I could do it with the mill anyway. By the way, the plan is to make two power reverse units, one for Big Boy and the other for the Boston & Albany.

The G code is in two parts, the first part goes around the edge with a 1/8" ball end end mill to put in the fillet while the second part uses a regular 2 flute end mill to remove all the metal inside the fillet boundary and flatten the top of the pad that the valve body bolts onto. The first cut outlines the pad shape while the second cut flattens it. It takes a while to write the code. You have to draw the part accurately in CAD first, then you can use the dimensions to get the code right.

There are quite a few other parts to make; the control valve is the most finiky, but I'm sure I can handle that. We'll see if I'm right.

Richard Trounce
Attachments
closeup view showing the start of the fillet cuts.
closeup view showing the start of the fillet cuts.
overall view showing the headstock & tailstock as the cuts continue.
overall view showing the headstock & tailstock as the cuts continue.
View showing the last cuts for the removal of the material inside the perimeter and flattening the pad.
View showing the last cuts for the removal of the material inside the perimeter and flattening the pad.
keyrouteken
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Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by keyrouteken »

Very nice Work there, Cardo.. By the way, here is another shot of the late Lindy Knight's 3/4-inch scale "Big Boy" that he built many, many years ago. Lindy was from the state of Maine..

Ken Shattock
IBLS
http://www.ibls.org
Attachments
The late Lindy Knight's 3/4-inch Union Pacific "Big Boy" locomotive.
The late Lindy Knight's 3/4-inch Union Pacific "Big Boy" locomotive.
RET
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Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Union Pacific Big Boy in 3/4 Inch Scale

Post by RET »

Hi,

Here are a couple of progress pictures. The first shows the power reverse cylinder while it is still on the mandrel when the little CNC is finished. The next picture shows the cylinder after the outside is filed smooth and the holes drilled and the "O" ring recesses done. The four #0-80 holes that hold the control valve on to the cylinder still have to be drilled and tapped as well as the cylinder end cover holes on both ends.

So far, each of the parts are a combination of conventional machining and CNC. In the case of the cylinder, conventional machining is used to prepare the blank, ie. boring and reaming the 3/4" dia. cylinder hole and drilling the passages. Both of these operations were done on the Bridgeport because with it I can locate everything to less than .001." The 3 axis Sony readout makes these operations EASY. The readout is capable of 1 micron, but the mill isn't. As a practical compromise, the readout is set to two tenths of a thou. which the mill CAN hold (just bragging a bit).

Once these steps are done and the mandrel made, the operation is transferred to the CNC mill which also works to less than.001." I use each type of machining for what it can do best.

Some of the control valve parts are almost ready to show. The control valve body in particular is very finiky to make but almost done.

Because of this hobby, I'll never be stuck for something to do, I just need two lifetimes to do it in.

Richard Trounce.
Attachments
Cylinder still on mandrel when CNC is complete.
Cylinder still on mandrel when CNC is complete.
Cylinder after filing and with passages drilled.
Cylinder after filing and with passages drilled.
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