Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

This forum is dedicated to the Live Steam Hobbyist Community.

Moderators: cbrew, Harold_V

Carrdo
Posts: 1444
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 2:20 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by Carrdo »

Are there any construction articles out there for building a small reflex type water glass for either a 3/4" or 1" scale locomotive?

Even the Live Steam Warehouse small scale reflex water glass is too big for my 1" scale Yankee Shop copper boiler not to mention for a 3/4" scale Hudson.

In LBSC's book "Shop, Shed and Road" he shows a general arrangement for such a water gauge with a stilling well but with no details.
User avatar
squandt
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:15 pm
Location: cleveland ohio

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by squandt »

Look on the IBLS web site there are many prints for the 3/4 scale engines,of all kinds of thing's you may want or need.
stay on the shine side of the rail
User avatar
10KPete
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:29 pm
Location: Nordland, WA, USA

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by 10KPete »

I've not seen a place to obtain the ribbed glass in small sizes. I'm assuming the stuff is molded, not ground, and probably not easy to do in the home shop!

The rest would be easy!

Pete
Just tryin'
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10459
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by Bill Shields »

many folks that make 'reflex' glasses in that scale dummy it with a round tube up through the center and a piece of non=pressurized glass on the front.

BvB had a very nice design for that scale, but it was not 'reflex'
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
User avatar
10KPete
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:29 pm
Location: Nordland, WA, USA

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by 10KPete »

The reflex gauge is so easy to see!! Much more visible than the round glass. But I'm not going into the glass molding business...
:shock:

Pete
Just tryin'
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10459
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by Bill Shields »

I have an old Langworthy casting for a 3/4" reflex glass designed for his Hudson....had it for 40 years - have no idea what to do for glass..

Not so sure that in that size it is easier to see than a glass with a light / lines / whatever behind it..
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Marty_Knox
Posts: 1724
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 6:50 pm
Location: Michigan, USA

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by Marty_Knox »

Full size the grooves are ground in, not molded. We found that after about a month and a half we had to turn the glass upside down because grooves would erode away. That made it harder to read, when the new bottom eroded we would replace the glass.
RET
Posts: 960
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:36 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by RET »

Hi,

If you really want to make a reflex or transmissive gauge glass of this type, there are two methods you could use. Remember, the gauge glass works because of the ribs on the inside; they reflect and scatter the light where there is no water and where there is water, the light passes straight through.

The easier way would be to epoxy a piece of plexiglas onto a flat piece of glass of the desired thickness, then use ball end end mills to shape the ribs in the plastic. You would probably have to polish the plexiglas to a transparent state afterward for it to work.

Now the hard way (but better), would be to make a cast iron mould and cast the glass into the proper shape. The mould has to be the size of the finished part with no sharp edges. The glass for the full size gauges would have been made this way (much stronger than trying to work the glass in its cold state). Glass is very strong if it is handled right. If you "point load" it, it will break. It also has no definite melting point; it behaves more like taffy.

Once you have made the mould, use Aquadag which is a colloidal mixture of graphite and water to prevent the glass from sticking to the mould. Paint or spray the Aquadag on after every few parts. You should be able to melt the glass in a crucible. I would use Pyrex glass, not soda lime because its coefficient of expansion is much lower. Both glasses would have to be annealed but Pyrex glass would require an annealing temperature of about 650 degrees centigrade. Soda lime (window glass) would be about 150 degrees lower. For annealing, bring the part up to that temperature and then slowly cool it down to 300 degrees C.

Melting broken Pyrex glass would require a temperature of at least 1,500 degrees Centigrade (almost a white heat). Anyone who does their own casting should be able to do something like this if they really wanted to.

I worked at Corning Glass Works for 30 years and that's where I learned about this as well as many other things.

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

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by Fender »

I don't see how plexiglass would work. It's melting temperature is about 320F, which is below the temperature of saturated steam at 100 psi.
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
david griner
Posts: 137
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:39 pm
Location: peoria,az
Contact:

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by david griner »

Here is a picture of the "reflex" glass I made using tubular glass, as can be noted, there is a small slit in the back of the body allowing light from a grain of wheat bulb. Very happy that I did that, the glass is quite easy to read in use.
Attachments
D&H 15 Cab Int 1.jpg
User avatar
10KPete
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:29 pm
Location: Nordland, WA, USA

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by 10KPete »

david griner wrote:Here is a picture of the "reflex" glass I made using tubular glass, as can be noted, there is a small slit in the back of the body allowing light from a grain of wheat bulb. Very happy that I did that, the glass is quite easy to read in use.
Hard to see the details so I'll ask: You have a round glass tube inside a flat front reflex type housing? The housing is closed on the sides and back with the exception of the slit you mention? How have you arranged the seals for the tube?

I love the look of the reflex and the protection the housing offers the tube!

Thanks,
Pete
Just tryin'
wewilliams
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:44 am
Contact:

Re: Reflex Water Glass for 3/4-1" Scale Locos

Post by wewilliams »

Post Reply