3/4" Scale J1e

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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Thank you Dan, I'm having a lot of fun making trinkets for the little Hudson. Here is a bit more concerning the sander casings. The ends were soldered together and then held up to the sand dome and boiler to have a look. Stay Brite solder was used for this. The rest will be assembled with 50-50- solder as it has a lower melting point. The design of this door varied greatly over the years these engines were in service. Eventually they were removed from many of the engines leaving the sanders out in the open.
Happy Model Building.
Kack
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casing6.jpg
Casing7.jpg
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Managed to make some progress this weekend. The masters for the throttle lever assembly were pretty much finished up. They will get a few shots of primer and maybe some putty here and there. The latch release handle and the small lever were made. These are really tiny parts.
Jack
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Throttle20.jpeg
Throttle21.jpeg
jeffsmith
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by jeffsmith »

Neat little details. It all adds up to make a very smart looking model. The lever is something I usually machine out of solid because soldering three pieces together it sometimes ends up not lining up perfectly, at least for me. It's tricky getting things to stay in position with out sucking a lot of heat away from the part. You don't seam to any problems, because all of your work looks perfect. Looking forward to your next post.
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NP317
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by NP317 »

Indeed nice parts!
Can you share a photo of how you secure those small items during silver soldering?
I could learn some new useful tricks.
Thanks.
RussN
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Thank you Jeff, your work is no less perfect than mine. Your narrow gauge engine is the cat's meow and hopefully you can bring it to the Alcalde & Coalfield sometime. Also thank you Russ. To answer your question, I hold things for soldering several different ways. The tiny pieces of the throttle lever shown above with the pencil were cleaned, fluxed, and as they are flat on the backside just set next to each other on a smooth piece of fire brick. Small bits of silver solder were snipped off, and with tweezers dipped in flux, and sat right on the parts. Once the solder melted capillary action held them together. I had to "adjust" them while the solder was melted with a pointy metal rod that is kept handy for situations like this. This method is a bit haphazard but is quick. Another way is the use of frogs as shown below. I don't know if that's actually a proper name for these things but that's what my old friend Pierre always called them. They were just made from whatever was laying around, in this case a bit of angle iron and some 1/4" rod bent with a point on one end. I have them made in many different sizes and styles. Once again made from what was laying around. They can be used for holding simple items for soldering and are pretty effective. Here they are being used to hold the parts for the Hudson bell yoke. Another method is to fasten parts together with tiny brass machine screws. This is the most positive and accurate way of holding things together but, is also the most time consuming. For complicated assemblies like the running board supports shown earlier in this thread that is the only way to go. After soldering the heads are then filed off. All three methods have their merits and situations where they work. I'm sure other model builders use different techniques. Perhaps they will share some here. Use the materials and techniques you are comfortable with. The important thing is to just get out in the shop and do it! The more you do the better you get at it. Get er' Done!
Jack
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NP317
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by NP317 »

Jack:
Your photo shows what I suspected. The "frogs" are a new term to me which I will gladly adopt.
And now I see the simplicity of their construction and use. 'Gotta love gravity...
Thanks for sharing. I'll run with that idea.

I love silver brazing for the beautiful job it does, when preparation is careful.
Art.
RussN
SteveM
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by SteveM »

Those "frogs" are so simple, it's genius.

Steve
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Haven't made any progress on the loco, been working on John's baggage car. But here are a couple photos of some frogs. Big and tiny. Some have alligator clips on the end. All were cobbled together from what was laying around. Sometimes hemostats will be used, and sometimes cross locking tweezers. Putting things together for soldering with tiny screws is always a last resort. It takes a lot of time. Get er' done!
Jack
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Frogs1.jpeg
Frogs2.jpeg
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NP317
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by NP317 »

Jack:
Thanks for posting those frog pics.
Great tools, and I will be making them as needed.
RussN
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by Greg_Lewis »

A side note about silver soldering. I was just chatting with Russ via p.m. and mentioned that with small stuff, the size of the end of your little finger or less, I set the work on a piece of 1-inch or so angle iron in the bench vise. I set everything up, fluxed with bit of solder in place, and heat the angle iron from below with the o/a torch, letting the workpiece soak up the heat as it comes through the angle iron. Thus no burned flux, and the metal melts the solder, not the torch. I set the torch to have a long feather on the flame and go slow with the heat-up. I also have a short length of thin welding rod to use as a scratch tool to help the solder flow if needed.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Greg's method is one I have never used but sounds like a great idea. I'll have to give it a try.
Jack
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Here's a photo. The example part is a little cab corner bracket. Heat the underside of the angle iron with the torch and let the heat soak up into the part.

Also, in the background is a plastic "turkey tub," from my wife's deli lunchmeat. I have saved a dozen of them and they help keep small parts from escaping. I try any time I set anything down to get it into a turkey tub. When working with little stuff I also try to hover over a turkey tub so when I drop the part (which I will do) it will land in the tub and I don't have to crawl under the workbench to retrieve it. That works about half the time, which is better than nothing.
IMG_8425.JPG
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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