The Home Machinist!

Those flanges are ginormous, I was wondering if they were that big intentionally or if it was ALOT of wear. The drive design is not so bad, as a vertical shaft engine can be used and shares the pivot point with the bolster so nothing moves as the trucks pivot. My big concern would be that the heavie...

I have the 5/16” holes drilled into the frame built to Tom Bee specs. Now for the question. I have older Tom Bee couplers that haven’t been drilled and have no dimples or marks in the castings to tell me where to drill for the proper swing. Can anyone tell me how far out from the frame tube the cou...

Best off find castings if possible. The few parts I've tried to fabricate from plate/bar that see high heat like a firebox have all warped badly. The outer fire door shouldn't get that hot if it has an inner shield with an air space between the door and the shield. See attached diagram. Good to kno...

Best off find castings if possible. The few parts I've tried to fabricate from plate/bar that see high heat like a firebox have all warped badly.

I used 3/8" bolts through my couplers, and have 1" of the shank exposed beyond the end of the rectangle tube. If you don't have very sharp turns on your RR, you can probably have less protrusion. I'm modeling in 2" scale on 12" gage with 40' radius curves, so thought I might need a little more room ...

I actually drew up a little ratchet mechanism and brake wheel to have laser cut that will allow me to attach a cable to the brake linkage and "undo" the brakes with the brake wheel on each car so I can roll them around manually if needed.

I'm going with springs to engage the brakes and using air cylinders to pull the pads off the wheels for an extra measure of safety. My 12" RR build is going to have HEAVY trains and will be working 2-3% grades so I can't have anything get away from me. Unfortunately you do lose the ability to adjust...

A couple observations from a former heat exchanger shop guy: -The tube stock material is not round either. -Twist drills tend to "twist" and load/unload as one is drilling, which can create a somewhat triangular hole. Using shorter drills with split points will minimize this. I have also had good su...

Note on scale mass: Our model locomotives present approximately the cube root of mass on the rails, compared to full-sized locomotives. Agreed. The S-12 I'm building in 2" scale is estimated to come out around 800-1000#'s, yet in full size it was about 250,000#'s. That's 31,250#'s per wheel in full...

Funny you mentioned sp-1 Little Giant X1 that's my next project working on the truck drawings right now Our shop made a set for another member here about a year ago for 12" gauge that will utilize take up bearings with the tensioner end cut off riding on functional springs and equalizer bars. Don't...

One thing I'd like to mention, is that we have several local shops with lasers and 2 with water jet cutters, but only one 3D printing business that is extra expensive. The GE 44 ton locomotives and others similar to it like the Southern Pacific narrow gage X-1, share fabricated plate trucks instead ...

I have a friend who was involved in Mini-sprint car racing with his dad. Several of those with the fancy enclosed race trailers with the racers # stickers on them and all that jazz vanished into thin air. They sold theirs and bought an old horse trailer instead, no one looks twice at an old and like...