Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

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VO4454
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by VO4454 »

Charlie, Glenns' idea is a very good suggestion when you stop work on a part while still fixtured. I had this same problem while working on my hinges. My mill is in a very tight area at my shop and somehow a handle got bumped or turned while turned off. I always zero the handles now and lock the table while work is fixtured.

Vic
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Pipescs
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Pipescs »

To make sure I understand you suggestion.

You are saying after I set the DRO to zero, set the axis dials to zero also.

I would suppose I should set the axis to zero from a consistant direction prior to setting the dials to zero to make up for backlash should I have to reset them.
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


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mjahn
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by mjahn »

I think they're saying that you should set the dials to zero whenever you shut down the DRO with the mill in setup (fixured). That way you can tell if the table has been moved while the dro was down. Personally I just leave the DRO on, but I'm asking for a power surge to kill the thing until I get a surge protecter in.
Mattaniah Jahn

Matt Corps. Railsystems,
operating on the Manatee Central RR
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62441046@N06/sets/
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VO4454
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by VO4454 »

Charlie, I bring the table back to X0 / Y0, lock the table, then zero the handles. When I turn the DRO back on if it does not read zero/zero, but my handles are still at zero/zero, I am confident the table has not moved. As far as backlash goes, I like to set the table to 0 while turning clockwise, so yes pick a consistant direction.

Vic
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Pipescs
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Pipescs »

Great

Thanks for all the input. Its 0400 and I am off to Maryland.
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


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GlennW
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by GlennW »

Thanks Vic!

That is exactly what I was referring to.
Glenn

Operating machines is perfectly safe......until you forget how dangerous it really is!
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Pipescs
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Pipescs »

Sitting here in Maryland Working on the frame mount for the brake cylinders.

This brings up the question of where do I find castings for horizontal brake cylinders.

This is the pair on the 1401 displayed at the Smithsonian.


The Fitt drawings discribe them as 16X12 cylinders
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DSC_0116.jpg
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


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Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
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Pipescs
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Pipescs »

Someone advised me earlier to choose the path I was going down. I have choosen the path of buildability and maintainability.

This means simplified parts where they are burried within the frame.

My drawing for the Brake Cylinder Mount minus any mounting holes on top.

Any suggestions or wisdom?
402 BrakeMount (1).jpg
Charlie Pipes
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Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by mjahn »

Could you just bolt a plate between the frame sides? 4 8-32 screws is all roger goldmann calls out for bolting a brake cylinder mount to the top of his rear frame. Here's a brake cylinder mount that's a little more robust than that, it has 8 10-32's running into the end of a .375" plate and should be more than enough and all you have to do is finish 2 ends and drill/tap 4 to 8 holes to machine it.
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IMG_0083.JPG
IMG_0082.JPG
Mattaniah Jahn

Matt Corps. Railsystems,
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/62441046@N06/sets/
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Pipescs
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Pipescs »

I found a set of brake cylinders by Super Scale. Having bought from them Barry before I know they will be nice to work with.

Does anyone else offer them?
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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Pipescs
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Pipescs »

New question. On travel and drawing on plans

In drawing up the journal boxes for a Pacific, With a 3/4 inch frame how much clearance for laterial play should I leave for side to side movement in the frame when making a curve?
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


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Little Engines American
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Fender
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Re: Building the Southern Railway PS-4 Frame

Post by Fender »

Charlie,
Do a search in the live steam forum for "lateral" and you'll find a variety of opinions on this.
On your other question, most suppliers that offer loco castings will have brake cylinders (Allen, etc.) But they might not be available separately or be suitable for you. If Barry's cylinders work for you, go for it!
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
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