# Yet another snowplow build log.



## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

This one is a bit different though.  I wanted to do a fairly easy project before I started on my locomotive and thought that this would be a good starting project. I found a patent of a snowplow from 1840 and it looked a lot like a pre-cursor to the later wedge type snowplows. It also was a lot more practical looking then other ones I found. Here is the patent in PDF format:

Snowplow patent 1840


I have also found on the net an interesting resource from 1889 on snowplows. It was published in the Journal Association of Engineering Societies and written by F. E. Sickels. The cool thing is that he talks about the old snowplows and goes into a bit of a history of them. Here is an extract from the article.


" [Read December 2, 1889.] 

The action of the best form of old fashioned snow plow is to first lift 
the snow to a sufficient height and subsequently throw it to one or both 
sides of the track, by the action of the mould-boards. The machine con- 
sisted of an inclined plane with its lower edge within two inches of the 
track, with mould-boards or wedges placed upon this inclined plane, back 
of Its front edge, far enough so that the action of these mould-boards would 
tend to throw the snow on top of the surrounding snow. The machine 
can be placed, if not of very large size, say up to nine feet in height, upon 
four wheels. The axles of these wheels should be very large, having bear- 
ings four and one-half inches in diameter, by eight inches long in boxes 
that are not lixed, but can slide up and down in the pedestal, and then if 
the plow is heavily loaded, say at the rate of four tons to each wheel, and 
made strong throughout, it will do very efficient service in all ordinary 
snow storms. The various accidents that have happened to this kind of 
snow plow have mainly arisen from causes not necessarily inherent in this 
plan. These plows have left the track, for instance, by reason of the boxes 
being rigid in the pedestal and the front end of the plow striking say, a 
mass of ice at a road crossing and lifting the front end of the plow up, the 
wheels are lifted up and the plow leaves the track. And again, when not 
heavily loaded they have left the track from lateral action, as they are 
more easily shoved off the rails. The history of the action of this plow 
when properly made, has demonstrated it to be a very effective machine 
in almost every case where a snow plow is available, though it is true that 
the rotary plow that is now coming into use is more effective in cases 
where the snow has drifted in upon the track, carrying with it sand, and 
subsequently freezing into a hard compact mass. "


This sounds very much like the plow in the patent, although there are some differences between his description and the patent. There are also some other items on the patent that would not have worked at all. Like the dividing board being hinged at a different angle then the inclined plane. The dividing board would get hung up on the inclined plane if you tried to move it to one side or the other. It would work much better if the hinges were set perpendicular to the inclined plane. So with these changes in mind I started the model. First I needed a couple of wheelsets, so I purchased two from Dave Queener in F-scale standard guage. The wheels are prototypically 30" in diameter which follows the patent very closely. The patent shows spoked wheels and the ones I got from Dave are solid, but it shouldn't be a problem as there were solid wheels being used all through the 1830's and 40's. I wanted to limit my self to wood and metal only and use very small scale bolts, nails, etc. in the construction. 


Here is what I have done so far:





























The second picture is a close up of the ice-scrappers on the front wheelset. I cast the journal supports and boxes/scrappers out of white metal. Sorry for the out-of-focus parts of the picts, my camera doesn't do so well close-up. I even set the macro mode.  I wanted to ask those who might know, if this looks like something from the 1840's construction wise? The model is already getting heavy at this scale, a whole lot more then my old HO cars.  I'm starting the upper deck so I will post more pictures when it's done.


Jason


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great with that weathered rail you have made, looking forward to more pics!! Sean


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks Sean,

I have finished the upper deck frame, I will post pictures tonight after I get off work. 

Jason


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Okay, did I miss the post where you talked about your track for that display? Looks great! (The track and the plow) 

Later, 

K


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks K,

I talked a little about it in my strap rail thread here:

Strap rail thread


It a model of the cast iron tramway rails from the 1820's, although I think I over-did the rust a bit. 

Jason


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Here are the pictures of the finished top deck frame. Next I'm going to put in the center dividing moldboard support. Then it's on to the inclined plane.




















Jason


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Here is another update. I have finished the lower deck and have gotten farther with the upper deck.




















I also made a link-and-pin coupler for the plow, so much fun, although I did break one of my endmills in the process. I was pushing it too fast and it was the small 1/8" one, so it's not very strong anyway. I milled the coupler from a piece of 1/2" square steel bar I had. I made the pin on the lathe from a length of 1/8" steel wire. I'm not sure on how to finish the pin. There isn't much space on it to drill a hole in it to attach a chain so I was thinking that I might solder a loop on to it instead. Does that sound like a good plan?











I attached the coupler to the snowplow with some 00-90 bolts and nuts. Here is a close-up of the coupler.










I have the inclined plane about halfway done. The only thin plate I could find at the hardware store was galvanized, so I'm waiting for the vinegar to finish stripping it off so I can use the metal. It is taking a bit longer then I had hoped. I should have some picts of the incline soon, I hope. 


Jason


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## FH&PB (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautifully done! I love seeing scratchbuilt projects like this, and you have a particularly interesting one. Thanks for sharing the photos.


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

That is a great-looking oldie design.

A thought crossed my mind: those ice scrapers, with a very little bit of mod (like a piece of spring brass) could be used as electrical pickups for us sparkie guys.

Also, what's this with using vinegar to strip the galvanized off sheet metal? 

Les


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks Vance, It's been a blast. 

Thanks Les - The vinegar works OK, and I put a bit of salt in it to help it along. The salt mixes with the acetic acid in the vinegar to make a weak solution of hydrochloric acid. I have had better luck with lemon juice though, especially if you warm it up a bit. I might have to scrounge around and see if we have some lemon juice somewhere or try warming up the vinegar.  I don't see any reason that you could use the scrapers as pickups. You could even hid them behind the wheel if you didn't want them seen.


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Grimm are you going to weather this plow to go with the rail? Every thing looks straight and square and too new to go with the rail.I can't wait to see how it looks when you're done. Sean


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Hi Sean,

Yes, I'm thinking about it. I choose an oil based stain for the wood so it wouldn't swell like with water based stains. This kind of limits me to using just oil based paints which I don't have. I have some acrylic paints but you don't want to apply those over oil, it would not be pretty.  I'm thinking I might get some other oil stains, darker ones and do some weathering with them. I am going to paint the nuts&bolts and other metal parts with the same rusting solution I did the rails with. This stuff is called Sophisticated Finishes and comes in two bottles. One is a paint that has iron particles suspended in it, the other is a rusting solution that you apply on the other paint. The neat thing is that it is real rust so it has the correct look. You can also apply the rusting solution to clean steel and iron to get a similar effect. You do need to seal the rust so the reaction stops and makes the surface stronger. 


Jason


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Update:

The galvanization has been striped off.  I have finished the inclined plane, that is everything except the weathering. I also did some work on the top deck planking. 




















I just have the plane put on temporarily, I need to go to the hobby store and pick up a #1 wrench to fully set the lag bolts. I also need some more scale lumber to finish the top deck and the sides. I think I need to start weathering the plow before I go much farther. I think I'm a little more then half way done now. 

Jason


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Jason,

Thanks for the info on the vinegar. I'm going to try a piece in that today, see what happens.

Les


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

I really enjoy watching your progress with something out of the ordinary. Re:a loop for the coupler pin, MicroMark sells very small brass eye-pins that are great for hanging brake linkage, chains, etc. You could drill into the top of your pin and insert one for the loop. Also, MicroMark sells very small hex-head lag screws, ideal for projects like yours. 

Looking forward to more pix. 

Larry


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

So how did it turn out Les? I still think that lemon juice works better, although it is more expensive. 

Thanks Sean.

Larry - That is a great idea. Especially given that many of the early pins had big loops on the top. I have found a couple of online stores that sell the bolts, etc. in bulk, much cheaper.  Here is the online store I like best. Micro Fasteners


Another update:

Well I thought I was finished with the inclined plane, silly me, I forgot the two sleds that help the plow run over the ends of the strap rail, or loose spikes. I made them out of some scrap 16 gauge plate I had. They are attached to the inclined plane by two lag bolts. I have almost finished the top deck as well. All that needs to be done is to put in the nails on the right hand side. I have been experimenting with various methods to weather the plow, but nothing is looking as good as I would like. I'm going to continue to work on it and see where it goes. I did do some more work on the strap rail I made, several sources say that they did cover the stringers and sleepers with tar, etc. so I was trying for that look. Here are some more pictures...






























Jason


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

This may sound trite but nothing weathers quite like the weather! Find a spot that is relatively protected and let it sit. Of course, your little beauty is pristine at the moment and would have come from the shops exactly that way...


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

You shure that's not 1:1 ? 
The cuts and the fit look way to good for small scale! 
I guess we'll have to put you in the "bolt counters group"


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Great looking model. Good detail also. One thing I have used for the rust look is a rust Antiquing set that I got at Hobby Lobby. Neat stuff and a two part application. Later RJD


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Steve - good suggestion, with my luck in Fairbanks it would just stay frozen for about 7 months and no weathering would happen.  

Sean - thanks, is a "bolt counter" better then a "rivet counter"?  

RJD - thanks, I have some stuff that is done by Sophisticated Finishes, is your stuff the same? 

Jason


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Update: I have finished some of the weathering now and started fabricating the pintel hinges for the dividing plane. The inclined plane is finished and fully attached. I think that I didn't get all of the galvanization off of the steel sheet because it didn't rust very well.  I guess it looks ok though, next time I'm going to use some lemon juice. I didn't go overboard on the rusting this time, as I'm trying for the well-used but not old look. Here are the picts...






































Almost done.









Jason


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Jason looking real crappy. 
If you're going for the old and never used you got it! 
However if you wanted old and used, you need to gouge it up a bit! 
Put scratches on the blade,gouge the wood as it you plowed with it. 
Looks awesome!


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Jerry,

That is looking fantastic. I hope I can find this topic, because I want to build one eventually. Where my RR is located (in my mind--and inside) it doesn't snow much, but hey, too much realism is a pain.









Les

BTW, the switch is not forgotten, just pressed by helping daughter settle in.


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks Sean, good idea. I started attacking it with a chisel, but only acheaved some wimpy scratches. I'm going to have to put some more muscle into it, now where is my hammer.









Thanks Les, no hurry.









Jason


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Maybe a De Buring tool in a Dremel will make it easier to put gouges in it.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

A round tip engraver would make very realistic gouges because you push the tip through the metal. For this project one could be made from tempered steel and a wooden dowel for a handle. 
A round metal burr might leave teeth marks from the chatter created passing over the metal. 

The engrave tip; 1/16th thick x 1/4" tall, 3 -5" long with a tang to go into the handle, aprox 45 degree tip and a rounded bottom and a flat face. You need sharp square corners on the cutting face so the engraver can lift the metal out of the cut. Or I just did a quick search and found one that can be fashioned from a nail. I'll reply to this post and give you a picture to work from. 
John


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Now the pic...










The taper before the point is a heel to rest on as you push, pushing down on the handle will raise the tip if your cut is going too deep.

Hope this helps, using a light oil on the metal helps.

John


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks John and ... John,  

I have some old gravers my dad gave me, I will give them a try. 

Jason


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Old gravers are good, just be sure they are sharp. If it was tempered after being sharpened you may need to anneal it first, sharpen and then temper again. I have an aprox. 15 step procedure for sharpening and tempering to glass hard, but basically heat to cherry red and plunge into oil covered water to quench. Light oil, a thin layer. To anneal; heat to red and let cool. 
Sharp tools are safer than dull ones. 

John


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks John,

I haven't gotten to do the damage yet. I thought that I should wait until I had everything finished, that way I could make sure the the damage was consistent and not miss-matched between the parts.


Here is another update, I have almost finished the dividing plane, just need some details and the front latch that keeps the plane in place while it's being used. The pintel hinges are done, boy what a pain. I should have made them from brass instead of steel, unfortunately all I had on hand was some steel parts. Steel is much more trouble to solder then brass, but I think I've got the hang of it. I de-galvanized the other steel parts in lemon juice this time. It did a much better job then vinegar, and lemon juice doesn't attack the steel underneath either. It was faster too, about 2 days in the juice was enough. On to the pictures...





































I don't why the dividing plane looks kiltered in the last picture, I made sure that the angle was 90 degrees between the inclined plane and the dividing plane? 


Jason


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

WOW! That looks great! I love the fact that its a wooden snowplow. Its got a primative & solid look. Wel done!!!


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

A work of art for sure.


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

What a great job! Those pintle hinges look good, incidentally.

The 'off angle' in the picture might be an optical illusion, unless you've put a square on it and already know it's off. Not sure I'd worry about it. Once you age it, the offset--if any--might add to the character.

Les


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## Mr Ron (Sep 23, 2009)

Could you comment on the unusual trackwork?


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## Grimm (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks Paulus, Jerry

Les - Thanks, it's definitely canted, there will be a gap when I put the sides on.







The problem is that the pintle hinges are at an angle so they match the inclined plane. If I had also canted the front of the dividing plane to match them, I would have been golden. At this point I don't think I'm going to rebuild the dividing moldboard.









Ron - It is a section of F-scale strap rail that I built to see if it would hold up outside and be fairly easy to construct (and cheap







). I'm eventually going to make my entire layout in strap rail. My interest is in the very early period of the American railroads, 1830-1850, and they used this type of rail for the most part (although there were several other types as well).


Jason


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## Les (Feb 11, 2008)

Posted By Mr Ron on 13 Dec 2009 03:26 PM 
Could you comment on the unusual trackwork? Ron,

I believe that type of rail is called 'fishbelly'. If you go back up this thread, you'll find a DOC that SteveC posted that will fill you in on the major types of track first used, both in England and then in this country. I might be mistaken on which thread it's on, seems there was a 'strap rail' thread, too. 

The 1830-50 period is wide open, I don't think many people look at it because it's almost mandatory to build your own. 

Les


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