The Home Machinist!

Thank you Pontiac Guy, Russ N and Bill S for your kind comments. Here is a picture of the drilling of the steam ports utilizing the jig. A new #30 extended length Made in USA drill bit obtained from McMaster-Carr made drilling these very easy. Almost all of the time spent was in making the jig, and ...

Jack Bodenmann has some very nice 3/4-inch scale couplers. I have 3 or 4 pairs. You might consider getting some from him.

Your work looks very nice so far.

Keep posting progress.

Astute observers will notice that I made a few changes from Mr. Coventry's original design.
Pieces of scrap were utilized.
Next is actually drilling the cylinder castings.

Taking a break from machining the cylinders ... and house painting.
Astute viewers should be able to detect a few deviations from Mr. Coventry's 1930 print.
Enough goofing off. Now back to the cylinders.

Quote: "The material didn't give under the hammer so there's enough there to safely hold the pressure."
Nope.
Don't put yourself and others at risk.
Do as suggested by Fender and check for under-thickness areas.
Fix them, then hydrotest to confirm.
Safety First.

Your eccentric rods are very nice.
You just learned a valuable skill. There are a lot more rods and levers to do.
Keep posting ... your work is very interesting.

Ask and you shall recieve:
The 3/4-inch re-railer set arrived in the mail yesterday.
viewtopic.php?t=112748
They are as nice as can be.
Thanks Jim! Thanks Jack!

My Family and I visited Jack on the way home from a vacation last week. Since the photo was posted above, the air compressors and mounting are all coated and painted. Even though the photos are 2X+ on-screen larger than actual they still don't do justice. The detail is truly eye candy. My, do I wish...

IMG_4493s.jpg The castings included extra material on the outside of the cylinders so the first step was machining a flat that could be referenced for other operations. Then the mating faces (shown) were milled. One casting required boring a 7/8-inch diameter recess, 3/8-inch deep, for a plug to ke...

KenG's photo appears based upon paint and rust that it is from the tender currently behind the 5300 in the B&O museum. Most interesting. The B&O made many modifications to their Pacific tenders. I was looking at Bob Withers' book about B&O Pacifics and the variety just on the P7 class is...

Dave Dalton has shared some photos of the P7d tenders being fabricated. There is an item in the coal space that is a mystery. The attached one of Dave's photos shows show a square rod sticking through a tube along the starboard side. P-7d 5304 Streamline Tender Front progress.jpg Dave suggested that...

Jim Kreider (seated) and Bob Chamberlain