Building the 2.5" Scale Shay

[Soot n' Cinders]

Harold, My 1/8" end mill is carbide and only has 1/8" tall flutes on it so taking slow 0.010" cuts worked out just fine. The ideal arrangement wouldve been a slitting saw in a horizontal mill, but I have neither. The woodruff cutter may have worked but there isnt enough clearance on my mill because the quill is so thick. Either way, exact widths aren't necessary as my latch block is tapered so it locks into the notch tightly. Got both the block and the quadrant made last night and got them mounted. Now for the guide for the latch and the handle.

[Harold_V]

Got it, Tristan. I didn't expect a short carbide end mill, which was a good choice under the circumstances.

Well done!

H

[FLSTEAM]

Wow, Looking good........

JB

[Soot n' Cinders]

Thanks guys! Forming the handle should be interesting. Probably just going to take time and a hammer though.
The handle, latch lifting link, and spring retainer are the last three parts of the valve gear to make. Then I need to start looking at what to do for the drain cocks. I was going to use modified valves from American Model Engineering Supply, but since they've shut down I have to find plan B. May have to make my own from scratch.

[John_S]

Quadrant looks absolutely fantastic! Good job!

The handle and latch are lots of fun to make. I made mine oversize (for my big, clunky hands). I love making little tapered handles and whatnot.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Quadrant looks absolutely fantastic! Good job!

The handle and latch are lots of fun to make. I made mine oversize (for my big, clunky hands). I love making little tapered handles and whatnot.

Thanks John! How did you make the handle for your mogul?

[Soot n' Cinders]

Got the handle and spring retainer made today so the johnson bar is complete! Also sanded the wood for the deck boards and end sills, I'll start varnishing them tomorrow so they will be ready in time to take to the railroad on Saturday.

[NP317]

Building those small fiddly parts sure is fun. BTDT.
Great results there! Gives your fingers goodies to play with and admire.
Keep having fun.
~RN

[Soot n' Cinders]

The wood is hung up with a coat of varnish right now so I spent the evening fiddling with finishes for the quadrant and johnson bar. After playing around about I went with a hot blackened finish for the quadrant, will probably do the same for the johnson bar but haven't completely decided yet. I do like the oxide finish and it seems pretty durable, plus it isnt too hard to apply. Just coat the cleaned steel part with some boiled linseed oil and heat with the torch until it turns black.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Got the johnson bar blackened, the truss rods installed, and the wood mounted today. Now its ready to go to the railroad in the morning!

[John_S]

Tristan, the handle itself was turned from a piece of 3/8 round steel. I hogged most of the rough shape out and then used files and sand paper to get the finished shape. If I remember correctly, I left a 3/16 stub on the end of the handle that got silver soldered into the top of the square lever arm.

I made it very much oversize because I don't have little girly hands!

[Soot n' Cinders]

Well, progress on the shay slipped back a bit. While disassembling the engine for painting, I found that one of the press joints had torn apart wrecking the hole in the counterbalance and also completely wearing out the rearmost carrier bearing in the engine base. After a couple attempts to repair the crankshaft by remaking the one balance, I have to remake all four. I can't get the keyways to line up correctly which renders the whole crankshaft useless. So I've pressed the whole thing apart and am remaking all of the counterbalances.
I'm remaking the crankwebs and will be using counterweights off the old shaft. So the new one will be assembled much like the prototype ones, the crankweb has a mortise with a matching tenon in the counterweight with the whole then held together by a threaded metal strap. Also, instead of pressing the joints I'll be doing a heat shrink fit. Trying to get the proper 0.0005" interference for the 0.5" hole is too tight for my old machinery. So I'll be using heat shrink fits with a 0.001" interference. I think this should work out much better, and should keep the holes from getting shredded by the force of the press cause my 20 ton press had no problem doing that.