Building the 2.5" Scale Shay

[Shakeyjake36]

Tristan, what about finding A285C? It may be just as difficult to find but its an option.

[jtdute]

I have one of my shops that stocks PVQ SA516 Grade 70 that the HD plasma cut for me. PM your requirements and I can check for you. smaller pieces are more economical to ship.

[Brian Hilgert]

Anybody know where I can get my hands on a quarter sheet of 3/8" A516-70 steel plate

Why 3/8" why not 5/16"?

I just ordered my steel plate from alro steel. I'm getting mine delivered through my work but they do have an on-line store where you can buy whatever size you need.

Below is a screen shot of the material that I was going to order before I got it through my work. (saved shipping). This should give you an idea of the cost. The 1/2 sheet was a drop so the price was greatly reduced.

If you are using 1/2 for your flue sheets, I have extra. (I called and got a larger size local drop than what is show above) I'm planning on having the flue sheets water-jetted out. If you are interested, I can have a set cut for you. PM me if your are interested.

B

[redneckalbertan]

Don't know where you've tried looking, these places look to be manufacturing companies. They may have drops they would be willing to sell...

http://www.thomasnet.com/nsearch.html?c ... &act=C%2CM

http://www.thomasnet.com/nsearch.html?c ... &act=C%2CM

[Soot n' Cinders]

Well, the hunt for metal goes on. I think I may just tell the waterjet shop to order metal and pay their fees. It's just not cheap to get a piece of A516 in Atlanta apparently, so oh well. Thanks for the help guys.
This along with being sick for a week and having to do some serious work on the club diesel I'm in charge of has cause a regrouping of my plans. Since it is now spring here and the weather is getting nice and warm, I'll be building a paint booth, then disassembling and sandblasting what I have so far so I can give it a good coat of paint over my spring break in two weeks. Just have to get all the oil and grease that's kept it from rusting thus far off of the metal.

[apm]

For pressure vessel steel in small quantities call up American alloy steel and ask for drops. I think I paid less than $1 lb for plate that was shipped to my laser cutter and their truck shipping was dirt cheap also. I think I got a 3x 7 Ft piece of sa-286 3/8" I think shipped from Texas to Connecticut for $275. Shipping was half of that too.

[Soot n' Cinders]

APM, thanks for the tip, Ill look into American Alloy!

On another note, the shay is currently in many pieces. The rear truck has been disassembled and degreased and is currently being sandblasted. Its weird how fast the trucks came apart compared to how long it took to get them together. I'll post pictures of the pile of parts later before they go into the paint booth.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Time for some pretty pictures of the painted truck! The rear truck is now complete and ready to join the rest of the parts as they get finished.
The paint is matte black ceramic engine block paint from Eastwood, and the oil cups are from American Model Engineering Supply.

The unpainted truck next to the painted truck.

[Brian Hilgert]

Looking good!

Eastwood seem to have some good products, I use their extreme chassis black for my shay engine and I am surprised how durable it is and it looks good (at least I think so). I haven't tried their ceramic engine block paint. Is that the 2 part paint that mixes together?

[Soot n' Cinders]

Looking good!

Eastwood seem to have some good products, I use their extreme chassis black for my shay engine and I am surprised how durable it is and it looks good (at least I think so). I haven't tried their ceramic engine block paint. Is that the 2 part paint that mixes together?

Yes. You can paint with just the paint in the can, but they recommend mixing in the activator and using a spray gun to paint. So far it's very durable stuff and the semigloss sheen the paint has from the activator looks really good.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Front truck has been waiting patiently to be reassembled, been in Colorado the last week and a half so I havent been able to get to it. Saw a lot of narrow gauge equipment out there and it gave me some ideas. Rode in the cab of the Georgetown Loop #12 (ex-West Side Lumber shay 12) and I was shocked at how far hooked up they ran that thing, about 2 or 3 notches off of center was all it took.
Anyway, Im back now ready to work on mine. Also just picked up the boiler sheets from the waterjet place and they look good! Still have to notch and drill out the barrel for all the half coupling holes as well as the steam dome. One thing Ive run into is the plans call for welding the front tube sheet in 7 inches from the end of the barrel to create the smokebox, but I am not comfortable doing that. So I would like some suggestions on how to make the smokebox separate and reattach it so its strong enough as the only front support for the boiler is the smokebox. Thoughts?

[Claralinja]

Hi Tristan. I have joined the club so to speak, having just ordered the castings from John. Being in Australia does present a few challenges but do appreciate your posts to this forum.
Re you concern about welding in the front tube plate , I was part of a group that built 6 quarter scale traction engines using 8" boiler pipe similar to the shay. The tube plate was 6" from the end of the smokebox. Here are some pictures to show how it was done including alignment, tacking, and protecting the reamed tube holes. Ralph