A champion is born.

[pkeiser]

After mucho thought, I think I'm going to "attempt" a B-1 shrouded or hooded Nathan low water arm. So I found this spectacular wondeful and clear old print. I'll see what I can do. I'll get back to you shortly.
I'm not holding my breath here.......

[pkeiser]

Well,,let's see,shall we ? Ya gotta start somewhere. So ya get a 6" steel Starrett rule and ya hold it up and say the first part should be about this size and write that down and cut some metal. Then, sit down again and think about it some more with a 16 ounce can of cold Coors lite.

[pkeiser]

The base for our little Nathan low water alarm is arced to fit against the boiler jacket. I use a Criterion boring bore as in the picture. I little pricey but, it's a must in making sand domes and steam domes,etc. fit nicely the jacket. It's also used for machining the correct radiuus for the cylinder saddle. Next, we sand the base to shape and drill some holes and the silver solder the base to the shroud.

[pkeiser]

Getting there. A little collet holder is just the right thing to hold a round surface and also place it on an angle in your mill vise . Finally, a little silver solder with a very small torch.

[pkeiser]

A little progress,thought I have no idea what I'm doing. Ya just make it up as you go along I suppose. It's nice to have bead blaster in the shop. Some guys dunk parts in acid to clean them up but I prefer to shoot abrasive sand at it !

[NP5002]

Looks Great Paul.

[pkeiser]

The little clamps that hold the rod and the pipe was a much larger piece of brass before it took it's final shape. That was a little stinker to make. The picture attached is pretty much what the final product will look like. I'm going to add some very small valves and plumbing and that will make me happy..More Coors......

[Rob Gardner]

C'mon Paul. Fess up now...you've got Jack Bodemann helping you there in your shop, right?

Haha...looks absolutely dazzling!

Rob Gardner

[pkeiser]

Our little Nathan low water alarm is finished. I used a 16 gauge sheet metal base before I started making all the small parts to hold everything in place and finally silver solderd into one complete assembly. The sheet metal also acts as a template for drilling the mount holes on the locomotive. Now, we just paint the little honey and I show my wife for her approval. I think..........

[pkeiser]

This is the last of my "attend" to make a Nathan low water alarm. I promise ! On to something else. Anyway,the last thing is to paint it. I use Rustoleum Industrial spray cans only.. The paint is far superior to any I have found. It sticks to everything and has a lot solids so 2 light coates will more than do a nice job. It cost about twice that of regular cans of spray paint but well worth the extra money. Home Depot should have it. I get mine from Graingers. Also, I got the very small valves from Mike at Litttle Engines and the "pipe" coming out of the valves is 12 gauge solid copper wire that I strpped the insulation off. Finally we must paint the valve handles red !!!

[boomerralph]

Beautiful work Paulie!

[pkeiser]

In April 2004 I began a journey. Live steam. I had absolutley no idea what I was doing. This photo was taken 2 years later. I remember because I was still afraid of what I was doing. This is my Hudson 9100. I am very thankful for so many friends that encouraged me and also helped with technical information. That's why today we pass it along to the next guys and girls who also are first entering this hobby. The journey has been worth it all !!!