Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

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steamin10
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by steamin10 »

A good friend now past built two locos on an EMCO maxi-mat type machine. They were 3/4 inch, and painfully slow, but what gems they were. he took the time to fit and finish polish every part. Ina all, i guess it is up to you but a larger machine than a 6 inch will let its power be felt when working things out. A lathe is the base of any machine shop, and can create the functions of all the other tools. Turning is basic. Curly Lawrence built his engines starting on a treadle lathe and a file to cut the wheels. While it is possible, I would go with a reasonable machine to turn with. Kozo is another example of building fine engines in a space not much more than a closet. I wont say you cant do it, It will test your determination.
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Steve Bratina
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Steve Bratina »

Join a night school machine shop class. Use their tools while you figure things out. You may eventually find that girls or electronic things are more interesting and dump the steam all together.
John Hasler
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by John Hasler »

Builder01 wrote: Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:23 am Wheel castings must be machined on a lathe. The cylinders must be bored to size, not drilled. This can be done on a mill or lathe. The pistons as well, must be machined to size on a lathe. Water injectors are readily available from many suppliers from England at very reasonable prices in the scale you need. I list several suppliers on my website (mentioned in my previous post) as well as photos of the injector installed on my locomotive. It is a 1:12 scale locomotive as you are thinking about. I am surprised that during your 5 years of "research", you did not find any.

David
It should be possible to drill and ream the cylinders without a lathe. Pistons seem harder. Perhaps look around for precision parts that can be repurposed?

You're going to make lots of mistakes and follow lots of dead-ends. I suggest that you start by building the simplest possible stationary steam engine and a single truck just for experience.
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Builder01
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Builder01 »

Yes, you could drill and ream a cylinder, but it is very unlikely that the bore will have the parallelism that you need. There is also the
need to have the aft end of the cylinder exactly perpendicular to the bore. Typically, the aft end of the cylinder is faced square to the bore, you cannot do this on a drill press. It would also be impossible to make a proper piston on a drill press. Also impossible to make properly fitting cylinder covers. To even attempt this, then to find out it does not work, would be a tremendous amount of wasted effort. If you have unlimited time and resources, try whatever you want. There is usually a good reason why things are done a certain way. If you need to invent a new way, that is your business. Show us photos of how things work out for you.

David
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Steve Bratina wrote: Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:09 am Join a night school machine shop class. Use their tools while you figure things out. You may eventually find that girls or electronic things are more interesting and dump the steam all together.
Girls vs. steam engines. Hm. I don't see why you can't have both. Let's see how they compare :) :
chart2.jpg
chart2.jpg (32.32 KiB) Viewed 3963 times

:D
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Builder01
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Builder01 »

Greg Lewis, perfect!! Actually, it is possible to have all three. I am using an electronic gizmo right now and already have the other two! Have fun!

"Quiet when you're busy with something else", you are bad!

David
Cary Stewart
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Cary Stewart »

Many 1" to the foot (1:12 scale) Atlantics have been built with a 9" by 18" or 24" lathe. Usually a South Bend. The Taiwan/China built 9X20 lathes are not in the same class as the old SBs are but probably would get the job done. The 7"x ? mini lathes wont do for an Atlantic's drivers. One of he small or medium Mini Mills would be enough for the purposes of this discussion. A drill press is an asset. A small bench grinder would be a good thing to have. Of course the real money is in the tooling to go with all this machinery. Building a live steam loco is not a trivial indever but is doable with patience and careful work. I think the Little Engines 4 3/4" gage Atlantic would be a good choice as many have been built and many folds can help with your questions and problems even on on-line forums like this one. Good luck with your project.
Cary
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Builder01
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Builder01 »

I don't think castings are available anymore for the Little Engines 4 3/4" gauge Atlantic or any other 1" scale LE locomotives.

David
Steve Bratina
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Steve Bratina »

You missed a few on your girls vs steam list. Does it cost money to get rid of it. Does it come with a Mother in Law and when you are with it, does it give YOU directions!?
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Builder01
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Builder01 »

Steve, I think you are confusing Girls with Wives. These are not the same.

David
WJH
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by WJH »

Building a locomotive without a lathe and mill makes no practical sense. Both those pieces of equipment are cheap compared to a locomotive. If you don't have space for those items, then you don't have space for a 1.5" steamer. You might be better served with Gauge 1 live steam and just buying a locomitive.

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Harold_V
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Re: Hello, I am new here and am trying to build an Atlantic without a metal lathe.

Post by Harold_V »

One simple thing to consider is the level of frustration one might experience trying to work with metals and not having at least basic capabilities. Even if successful in making components, how they'd perform is likely to be less than acceptable. I can see that one could spend years and end up with nothing short of junk.

From my perspective, I don't think I'd even consider building an engine without a lathe and mill. Couple the lack of equipment with a lack of experience, I have to think that the end result would not be acceptable. Could be wrong, though! :-)

H
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