# Casper Lumber - Samson expanded build log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I was asked to show more build detail in my next build so I will attempt to do that. I sometimes get involved in what I am building and forget to take photos but I will try to do more in this build.
If it seems like too much or to too little, let me know
The Casper was a 2-6-6-2 lumber engine on the Mendocino coast of Northern California hauling monster redwood logs. It was a compound Mallet
From a book, I scan a drawing which I will use for the general dimensions. It was a standard gauge engine but we will be doing it in 1/20.3 as it will be a better looking engine and fit in with the narrow gauge logging cars which it will pull









I then paste it into Delta Cad, level it up and draw my parts over it. I use my general design but make sure everything is in scale









I then break out the frames and CNC parts that Dennis will cut out on his CNC mill



















I will be doing all of the machining on the cylinders. The front LP cylinders scale out to 13/16" bore and the rear HP ones are 5/8" bore. The stroke is .9375 on both.
The engine had piston valves but I will be using slide valves so I need to draw out cross port plates. Here is the bottom of the plate which reverses the steam flow. On the cad program, I can lay out the end mill positions using a center start point of half the end mill diameter to the left and to the top of the piece.











The top of the plate will have the timing ports of the valve.









The valve chest cutout is also drawn out for both cylinders









I'll post the build photos in the next posting. Please let me know if this is something useful to you.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, that's wonderful. We are grateful for anything you can post about your builds - always educational and interesting.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

DIDO! I always look forward to your posts with so much good information. I also like your articles in SitG.


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## Tdreabe (May 3, 2020)

I really appreciate the increased detail into your process. Especially this step of scaling and designing your plans. It will prove most useful once I have all the equipment to build on my own.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys
On scaling, I find that using the scale cylinder bores and strokes seems to work the best for me, They are usually a little bigger than manufactures use but my ceramic burners don't have any problem keeping up and the engines seem to run more effortlessly. This also makes it fit in with the scale outside dimensions of the overall cylinder size.
The HP bore scales out to .640". I will use .625" or 5/8". Using the 1.7 : 1 cross section ratio used by JVR and Aster, my LP cylinder bore is 13/16" and my cylinder stock will be 1" and 1-1/4" square stock. I will only need less than 3" of stock but I get 6" lengths which are easier to handle and leave me enough to do another job or replace a part if I screw up.

I set up the router table with 1/2" and a 5/8" round over bits. The fence is moved incrementally so I am only taking off 1/16" or less each cut. The bit has a ball bearing which keeps it from cutting too deep. I use a push tool to keep it down and feed it in and a piece of plywood to keep it against the fence


















The piece comes out with very slight ridges (about .001" deep) which are easily sanded out.









The cylinders are then cut on the table saw. My saw is perfectly square and I can cut to within a couple of thousands but I cut the pieces .040" oversize and then trim to the exact size on the lathe.









Here are the two router bits and the cylinders









While I was at the metal yard, I picked up the material for the valves. I need 1/8" material for the cross plate and the cover and 3/8" material for the valve body. I cut them out while I have the saw set up









Now I set up the self centering four jaw chuck and square off each end and then drill out the bore to 1/2"









I don't have any drill bits over 1/2" so I bore the small cylinder to .615 and then ream it out with a 5/8" reamer.









I don't have a 13/16" reamer so I boore the large cylinder out to .812 and clean up the boring marks with a piece of 600 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.









So here are the cylinders ready for the mill.


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## Belpaire (Feb 15, 2008)

Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to post in more detail. It's very enlightening to see your process.

Roger


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The mounting holes for the cylinder heads are done on the mill. I have a bolt circle program on my DRO but first I need to find the center of the cylinder. I have made up these tool as I have different bores to center and keep them around I have a perfectly centered 1/4" chuck and have made the tools for that use. Here are the two ones I will ise here.









And mounted in the mill









When I turn out the cylinder heads, I have holes for the piston rod and the center screw for the front head cover. I use this centering tool to find the center as it is split just above the pointed end and will wobble if off center









I then use a centering bit to start the holes.








After the holes are drilled, I tap them out on my tapping jig.







.

I have various wedges of wood that I use do position things for angled drilling here is a 45 degree one I am using for the steam ports.









I start the hole with a 3/32" end mill to get a flat and then use a centering bit and finally a 3/32" bit.









The valve parts are drilled and milled with use of the digital readout DRO









The various parts are laid out









The sliding valve surface is then made flat on a glass pane and a series of 220, 320, 600, 800, 2000 wet sandings


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## Tdreabe (May 3, 2020)

I liked the clarification in your previous post about the router table being done in small cuts. I was baffled by the thought of doing that 1/4 round cut in one pass. Are they high grade wood router bits? Or do metal bits exist that I didn't realize?

Tyler.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Tyler
Any carbide wood bit will work
I bought my bits on ebay years ago and I think it was $50 for 50 bits
The common thought at that time was to buy a set like that and when a bit goes bad replace that bit with a better one but In 15 years of use I only had a couple of bearings go bad and chipped one from misuse
I just looked it up and saw 35 bits for around $55 and this roundover set for 13








4Pcs Round Over Edging Router Bit Set 1/4'' Shank 1/2" 3/8" 1/4" 1/8" Radius USA | eBay


Quantity: 4pcs per set. Shank: 1/4". Can be used without the bearing as a standard straight bit. Radius: 1/2", 3/8", 1/4", 1/8". Color: yellow.



www.ebay.com


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## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Bill thank you very much for those posted details, great job
Thanks and with best regards Igor


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The wheels are rough castings from Walsall. They also sell finished wheel sets
The wheels are mounted in the external jaws of the three jaw chuck. Even though they are rough castings, the outer rim is very true. I drill and then ream the center hole for the axle









I then cut the back to expose the spokes and measure the cut depth to make sure I can get a 6 mm rim thickness









I then turn it around and mount it in my arbor to machine the front rim to 6 mm









I rough out the tread profile leaving it about .010" oversize









Not shown is where I then mount it back in the external jaws to turn the hub down to ,250"

It is imperative that the crank pins are all exactly the same distance from the axle. To do this, I have a piece of 5 mm axle stock pressed into this block which is then mounted in the mill vise









The dimple on the axle stock was done on the lathe so it is perfectly centered. I use this to zero out the mill and then advance it half the length of the cylinder stroke (.468")
I then lock the X and Y movements so as to eliminate any mistakes and center drill, drill and tap the holes to 4-40. I do the same procedure for all of the wheels moving them in and out of the jig in a production line sequence.



























Then down to Dennis' to do the tread with a plunge cut. The counterweights are CNC cut and attached with JB Weld and they are painted.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

While I was doing the cylinders and wheels, Dennis was CNC cutting the frame rails and axle boxes.
I drew out the parts on Delta Cad and sent them to Dennis to cut.









The axle boxes need a #30 (.128") hole drilled in them to accommodate the 1/8" suspension spring. I center drill it and then drill it through to the axle bearing hole. When the bearing is installed, the spring will bottom out against it. The bearing hole is cut out on the CNC mill to just under 10 mm. I then run a 10 mm reamer through the holes to get a nice slide fit and set the bearings in with 680 loctite. Notice how I use a parallel to set the inner face even to the mill vise









The axles are 303 stainless close tolerance and I cut them to just oversize and then trim them to size on the mill and put a center dimple with the centering drill which I use on the quartering jig.
With the axle boxes setup and the eccentric for the axle pump done I am ready for assembly. I set one side in with loctite and let them set overnight. The next morning I check each wheel to make sure the bond is secure. I then set the opposite wheel in the quartering jig.









The side rods need to have a pivot to allow the wheels to rise and fall independently. A three axle chassis needs only one per side. I use a fork and blade setup and do the slicing with a 1/16" slitting saw in the mill.



























The pilot and pony wheels are very similar. The axle is held in place with a three piece frame









A stainless rod is inserted in the axle bearing holes to keep it true and the assembly is silver soldered together.









I didn't get all of the photos of the build but you can see the frame in this photo of the front engine. You can see what looks like a rod going down to the frame but it is actually two rods, one which is drilled out and has a spring in the hole and the other which slides in the hole against the spring thus giving the wheels a spring support.









Here is a photo of the frames to date.


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## Tdreabe (May 3, 2020)

That is excellent Bill. If I understand the suspension correctly, the #30 hole holds a spring on top of the bearing. The bearing box then slides up and down in the frame slot. With the top of the coil spring against the frame. Is the bearing box sides slotted and inserted from below? Or inserted from the outside like a Ruby?

Tyler


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## Tdreabe (May 3, 2020)

I just looked at the Cad drawing again, you must have a retainer that attach to the bottom of the frame, and the bearing box is trapped on one side by the frame. Are the box flanges assembled inside the frame? Or outside against the wheels?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The Hole is for the 1/8" cut to length spring. You are correct that the axle box then slides up and down in the frame slot. The spring is compressed and fully within the axle box under normal conditions and it pushes the wheel down when it goes over uneven track. if you look at the drawing above, you can see that the slots in the frame are open at the bottom and there is a 1/8" cutout at the bottom of the frame for a 1/8 square strip which is screwed on holding the boxes in place.

The photo bellow is from another build but you can see how the boxes fit in the frame. The spring holes don't show as gravity has them all on the bottom. The outer lip acts as a spacer between the frame and the wheels and allows the axle box some lateral movement for going around curves. As the ball bearings have a close tolerance fit to the axle, the lateral movement is best allowed in the boxes. If I were to use bronze bushings which need a loose fit, slotted boxes would work also. The other advantage of this design vs a slotted one is that these boxes are done on CNC in one operation making the sliding edges and axle bearing hole in one operation. With a slot, the box needs to be repositioned in the mill to do both and that can lead to inconsistencies.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Here is something I always do to the pistons. I cut a slot in the top with a Dremel cutoff tool which allows easy installation, removal and adjustment of the piston.









The crosshead brackets are cut from a 1/8" flat stock on the CNC mill. 1/8" x 1/16" deep notches are cut for the mounting on the frame and the crosshead bars. In the past I have silver soldered 1/8 x 1/16" flat stock pieces into the notches. This works ok but you can never get it perfect so some bending is necessary to get everything true. This time I decided to try something new. I used 1/8" square stock and then on the mill, I cut the soldered on stock to be even and true to the main piece.









Here you can see the frame mounts that have been milled and the crosshead bar mounts being soldered on. Note the snippets of solder at each joint.









And the two finished and bead blasted units









Here is the crosshead bracket for the rear engine. The large hole is for the ball bearings supporting the eccentric link and the upper small hole is for the reverse arm rod










And here is the front unit with the holes in the same place but with a different supporting setup.
You can also see the crosshead and crosshead guides in place. The front of the crosshead guides have a 1/16" round nub turned on them which goes into a hole drilled into the rear cylinder head









On the front pilot deck assembly, I start with a Trackside Detail pilot and coupler. The coupler doesn't fit in the recess in the pilot so I have to cut it down and solder it in place but I think it looks ok. The steps are shaped n the mill and soldered on to a strap which is bolted on to the buffer. The photos and drawings show a wood buffer which seems to go right through the main frame. In order to maintain strength and a scale look, I have a brass buffer bolted to the front of the frame and a hardwood piece glues to the buffer on each side.
The headlight is an Accucraft one from the EBT kitbash I did with the lower mount changed to match the prototype









The step sides were cut on the CNC mill by Dennis slots were made for the steps. The assembly was held together with music wire pins and clamps and soldered together.









A grab bar is made per the prototype and the steps and upper platform are set in place.









Finally the sand box is made and attached and everything is disassembled for painting


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Brilliant idea Bill where you put a slot onto the front side of your pistons for easy removal. Saves a great deal of hassle and time when a piston decides to unscrew itself from the crosshead that has happened to a few of mine, let alone easy piston ring replacement. When I have pistons removed for what ever reason I will do that.
Thanks Russell


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The crossheads seem to be different shapes and sizes on every loco. As they are something that is clearly visible and a vital to the cylinder performance and life, I take care to reproduce them to scale and shape.
I start with 1/4" brass stock and cut the overall dimensions on the Table saw crosscut sled.
Then on the mill, with a 1/8" end mill, i cut the slots for the crosshead guides









I then rotate it 90 degrees and do the slot for the drive rod









Here is the Cad drawing for the crosshead








And the milling









In the above photo, you can see the 5/32 hole for the shoulder bolt which acts as the drive rod pivot. It only goes through one side of the slot for the rod. On the other side a 4-40 threaded hole holds it in place 









Here is the crosshead which has been tin plated and has the drive rod set in place.


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Hi Bill, I am curious about the tinplating, how do you do it or get someone else and does it stand up well to wear as I assume that's why you do it?
Russell


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Russel
I use Liquid Tin which is real easy. You just dip a clean piece of brass into it for 3-5 minutes and rinse with water. It holds up real well. I have eight year old jobs that still have the look they had when first done.
The last bottle I got was $11 now I see it is $27 but it will do many platings


Amazon.com


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks like a very useful chemical... thanks Bill! (and for asking Russell)


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Thanks Bill, great idea I'll hunt down some 'liquid tin' here in Australia
Russell


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished most of the rear engine today and made most of the front engine parts so it should go together fairly quickly.
I want to show the construction of the expansion link which is the heart of the Walschaerts valve gear.

In the photo below from left to right are the link, backer link, backer pivot bar and ball bearing set.









The pivot bar is 1/8" stainless turned down to 1/16" at the shoulder. It is a snug fit which keeps it perpendicular to the link back
It is then silver soldered to the link. You can see the snippet of solder and the flux ready for the heat









Since the backer link is low carbon steel, I only pickle it in citric acid for 20 minutes as not to corrode the steel. It comes out slightly pink.









The wire wheel cleans things up









2-56 socket head screws hold the two pieces together and .070" spacers are used to provide a slot for the 1/16" wide radius rod









Another tricky part of the Walschaerts gear is the combination lever which advances the timing at top dead center by moving the valve to the just open position.
The holes are drilled in an exact proportion of two times the lap plus the lead to the cylinder stroke. This ratio is usually around 10 to 1.
To stay in scale with the Samson, I need to have a very short combination lever which makes the two upper holes less that .100" apart. That means that the valve rod and radius rod need to be ground and filed to clear each other.
Here is the valve rod









And the radius rod attached.









So here is a side view of the chassis









And a top perspective


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Wow Bill, making the expansion link from scratch is a marvel but the close fit on the expansion link pivots is a work of patience and precision, well done this job is coming along nicely. I can't wait to see it finished and running.
Russell


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## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Thank you very much for the detailed sharing, it will come in very handy in a couple of years when i will building my own.
I read all of your posts with a lot of interested.

With best regards Igor


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## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

@bille1906 
Thank you very much for you detailed posting and pictures.
But your wheels are in a "smaller corner" then mine?
I think that i do something terrible wrong( i like prototypical but it seems not to work!!!(Bigger loco's btw) it is not working
My wheels have a to large angle(3 degrees off), and yours "seems to be 90 degrees" 
I hope you are willing to share for me a drawing with the proper cutting angles and what ever comes with it.
I think for the bigger locomotives "on scale" it must be almost an exact 90 degree angle and what i was doing so far is wrong...
This screenshot is prototypical but it will not work and thus wrong for scaling down...

















yes i 3d printed them for try and error before i am going to cast them in aluminium.
But what about your thoughts?
It seems we have two different wheels "running surface???"
What would be your advice or recommendation or thoughts, because what i did, it does not work( yes i am losing the prototypical idea)

Thanks in advance with best regards Igor


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Igor
three degrees is correct 
This is what I use for wheel sizes and profiles. I think it is from G1MRA


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Igor,
Your angle as measured on the screen is close to 12degrees. So something is wrong with your 3D model. We have been using 3 degrees for many years and they work well. Also you should have a radius between the flange and the running surface of the wheel (R in Bill's drawing).
Regards


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I was able to get both engines tested on air and they both run great. In the photo below, you can see the two bolted together with the strap which allows them to negotiate curves. The front deck is now complete and painted with the working headlight, hand rails and the sand box between the two decks.









You can see the strap connecting the two chassis in the next photo. This has to be closely coordinated with the boiler mountings to prevent binding on turns. I first make it as short as possible without interference between the two chassis on y 7' radius track and then measure the distance between boiler mounts which I will use on boiler mounts. I also use a cushioned pivot on the strap which will give a little when going over dips in then track.
The piping is what I use on all on my compound locos. It is a bypass valve that lets only a small amount of superheated steam into the LP cylinder at startup which prevents LP cylinder lockup. As the amount of steam which bypasses the HP cylinder id so small, once the loco is underway, it is working on full compound









The next photo shows the completed valve gear with the reverse arms and cross bar. The wires are for the headlight and haven't been routed yet.








Here is the boiler shell which was cut out from a piece of type L 2" copper pipe.









The end plate and tubes were drawn out on CAD. I used to just do it with a compass and straight edge but this is a little more accurate. I then cut it out and glue it to the plate cutout, The cutout is then clamped to the piece that will be the throat sheet and holes are drilled through both pieced so that the tubes will be perfectly aligned.









A step drill is used to drill out the tube holes









The throat sheet is then cut out to fit in the boiler shell. Both pieces are now done,


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

As you can see from the last posting, the boiler is very long and narrow. Here I am setting the tubes up prior to soldering. As they are bunched together tightly, I make rings from 1/32" silver solder which will surround each tube.

















The solder rings melt and fill the gap between the times and the holes in the throat sheet









The other side has full access so the standard brazing technique works here









The assembly is cleaned up in citric acid and two pegs made from copper ground wire are set in place for support of the crown sheet during the soldering process









Here a piece of copper is set in place to show how the pegs will support the crown sheet
The irregular shape on the top is for alignment on the sides and the center raised portion is to keep the steam pipe that goer from the dome to the throttle from dropping down. The valleys are for water flow









Three pegs are set in the front to support thr tube sheet while it is soldered 









The saw cut in the boiler is 3/32" wide and the throat sheet is the same thickness so it makes for a nice soldering joint









The throat sheet and front tube sheet are soldered in the same setting


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Bushings are turned from Bearing Bronze








The firebox is the last to be soldered up









Everything is finished with the soldering and cleaned up and tested

















The brass smokebox is cut from 2-1/8" inside diameter pipe which is a press fit onto the boiler. There is a a row of closely spaced rivets at the front and slightly larger rivets and more spaced out at the rear. I measure the spacing from the drawing and then lay it out with a compass. I clamp a wood block in the mill vise and rotate the pipe for each drilling.









The stack is tapered with a radius at the bottom with four screws attaching it at the bottom.
I cant drill the holes out from the top as even mounted in a vise, the drill bit would slide off coarse and the chuck would hit the top of the stack with a normal length drill bit.









I drill the mounting holes from the bottom prior to shaping the stack








And then shape it on the lathe. You can see the hole poking through as the lower curvature is cut.









The hole now needs a step to receive the screw head and provide a flat for it to seat.
I need a long step drill for this. I use a length of 1/8" drill rod and turn out .063" and .100" steps. I leave the .063 round but on the mill I make the .100" section into a D bit


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Thanks Bill, another good idea here I never thought of, drilling the stack mounting holes BEFORE you start shaping the tapers. 
Russell


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## DetailsDetails (Jul 28, 2021)

Bill,
Thank you for this detailed record of your effort.
It will help many people understand how to tackle similar challenges


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## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Following all your updates and threads whit great interested as always:

Bill, thank you very much for your detailed update.
I am looking forward to see your next update, especially on the heating part.

Btw why not coal, or is it easy to remove the gas thingy and convert it to coal???
I am pretty interested in your heating thoughts and how you handle gas, that was a pretty interesting topic on the ceramic burners, would love it again in detail, sorry

Thanks in advance and please keep up the great work, thanks, it will help me a lot
With best regards Igor

Ps
Sorry for my ruff american English


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes the ceramic burner could be replaced with a coal setup but with the dry firebox, the you would have to make sure you always had water above the crown sheet as the coal fire could be hot enough to melt silver solder (1100F) if it were to run dry. My friend Rob uses wet legs and dry backhead for his coal builds and hasn't had any trouble 
I like the gas ceramic burner as it is quiet, easy to light, adjustable and it provides plenty of steam.


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## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

bille1906 said:


> I like the gas ceramic burner as it is quiet, easy to light, adjustable and it provides plenty of steam.


I can't argue with that, except the smell of coal, sorry about that.

1100f is not much indeed for coal burning.
Sinds i have the option for copper welding, would this not be a better option for a coal burner?



bille1906 said:


> My friend Rob uses wet legs and dry backhead


Could you explane this one for me please, i dont fully understand, sorry.
What is a wet leg and what is a dry backhead?

If you think i am hijacking this thread send me a pm than i will remove this message, i am not curios but i would like to know it all

With best regards Igor


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The sides of the boiler that go down to form the firebox are what we refer to as legs. In most coal burners, there is a box inside the firebox that creates a space between it and the legs of the boiler thus surround the area heated directly by coal with water which prevents it from getting too hot.
Here is a photo of my Heisler boiler which shows the assembly parts of a wet leg boiler


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The smoke box is fitted with the stack It looks high now but will look more in proportion when the stacks are added to the boiler









The smokebox front is made from a piece of 1/8" brass bar. I center pop where I want the center to be and then draw out the circle a little bit oversize. I drill a 5/32" hole which fits my arbor and then cut out the circle on the band saw. The circle is then mounted in the arbor and on the lathe it is cut to final size. It has a 1/16" rabbet is cut on the circumference. It is then drilled out and rivets are glued in with Loctite. 
The smokebox door is made in two parts. The main part with the dogs is cut out on the CNC mill by Dennis. I then turn the domed part on the lathe in similar fashion to the front. The Baldwin name plate is from trackside details.









00-90 hex head bolts are set in the holes with loctite in all but the left center hole which will hold the door closed. They protrude slightly and are sanded flush when set. The door is then set in place with the center hinge and the long 00-90 screw on the left center.









Back to the boiler, the cab floor is mounted and the sight glass is set up with the bottom tube routed under the floor and to the boiler in front of the firebox. the throttle and clack valve are shown on the backhead as well as the window showing the ceramic burner









The dome bases need a 1.062 radius so I set my bill that distance from the vice and adjust the cutter on the fly cutter to just touch it. This gives me the proper cut and I then move the Y axis to 1/2 the bar stock diameter









The dome base is the checked for fit.









The steam and sand domes are then set in place along with the bell harp










I made a faux center mount that goes outside the actual mount to replicate the scale size









and here is the progress to date


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The steam lines to the rear engine have a sharp bend at the smokebox. To duplicate this, I use 3/8" street elbows from McMaster and cut of the ends so that they can be silver soldered to my 3/8" tubing. There are two connections in each pipe that I duplicate on the lathe


















The smokebox front is finished up and a number plate from Trackside details is fitted on. A number 7 is painted red to match the prototype and attached with JB Weld









The running boards, radiating pipes, air tanks, and domes are painted and checked for fit
The boiler wrap will be green to match the domes but more work needs to be done first


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I made the cab and a few other parts this week and painted the boiler yesterday
The cab is four sides soldered together. The outline and cutouts were done on the mill using the DRO.
On CAD, I will be using a 1/8" end mill so I set the zero at .0625" above the top and to the left of the left side. I then draw temporary lines .0625" from each cut and measure the distances.
















My rivet tool is home made and just turned on the lathe








The female receptacle for doing rivets on the edge is set up with various holes to adjust the spacing. The holes for the rivets is drilled out to the diameter you want the rivet head to be. The punch tip needs to be smaller by about .020" which will stretch the material out to form a nice head








For rivets midway on the piece, I use the following setup which was milled out of a piece of steel and has a setup for two different size rivets and spacing








I use a guide for doing a straight line of rivets. I use a flat bar or parallels or whatever works for the job and hold them in place with mini vise grips.
















The cab and roof are both made from .032" brass sheet. The roof is annealed as it has a sharp bend on the sides. It is annealed, then rivet embossed and then bent to shape.

The doors and window frames are cut on the mill using the same technique as the cabs.


















I am limited to 10 photos here so I will sign off and continue on another thread.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

This is a follow-up to my posting earlier today which was cut short because of the 10 photo limit
The boiler bands are installed and the boiler is painted Hunter Green
The hand rail and stanchions are larger than what I usually do. The rails are now 2 mm stainless and the stanchions are now 1/2 " from the boiler to the rail center. This required making a new stanchion forming tool.









The sand dome and and pipes are attached with JB Weld
The dynamo is setup to emit steam out the pipe which will be controlled by a valve in the cab
The windows and doors will be installed after the cab decals are installed and clear coated









The model is set in front of the drawing. The drawing looks smaller because of being further from the camera but you can see the accuracy of the build. One note, the drawing is of the post accident loco with thr headlight on the smokebox where as the headlight was originally mounted on the front deck .


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Thanks for the images Bill as well as description of how you do embossed rivets, a picture is worth a thousand words as they say.
Russell


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

As usual, thanks so much for sharing, I always look forwards to your craftsmanship and ingenuity!

Greg


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
One thing I didn't point out is that the holes in the female part are in pairs as the first hole is for embossing the rivet and the second receives the embossed rivet thus setting the spacing.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the descriptions Bill, and that's a beautiful model.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

What a wonderful tutorial for us all Bill, I have been so involved into the construction of my new pike in Ardèche, that I hadn't followed this fantastic: "How to do it " tutorial which is better then what the model engeneer magazine ever did. making and describing every step as you go along, takes a lot of time and we should all thank you for this extra effort. Now I just can't wait to get my track finnished so that I can get back to the workshop to work on rolling stock again. I still have a long way to go though...
best, Simon


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I added a few detail parts this week which don't make a drastic change but take a while to do.
The whistle has a different shape and a long valve lever I duplicate the shape on the lathe and flatten out a piece of 1/16" brass rod at the end to drill a rope hole through.









I have had these injectors for a while but didn't have the cab space to use them. I think they are from an Accucraft electric engine.









The power reverser is partially hidden by the radiating pipes but you can see the top valve body and the supply pipe and shifting rod.








The tool boxes in front of the cab also act as steps from the cab door to the running board









I make some clack valves on the lathe and solder on some small knobs I had laying around.









And here it is with the added detail parts


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Another great build Bill thanks for the very detailed description. Can't wait to finnish working on the layout and building rolling stock again.
Best


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

This engine has a Vanderbilt Tender which I haven't done yet 
I start with the drawing and in order to match up the side dimensions with the cuts I will be making on the sheet which will become the tube, I cut out a 3-1/2" circle on card stock and then draw the lines on it which I can nor measure along the circumference to get The measurements I need.









I then cut a sheet which is the circumference by the length of the tube and mark the lines I will need to cut. I cut the straight cuts I can in the table saw and finish up on the band saw.
I wasn't sure which way to do this. I was afraid if I just rolled a tube and then cut it it would not be accurate enough and I wasn't sure if I could roll out the odd shaped sheet evenly but my Friend has a nice roller set which worked great









I did the rivet embossing on the mill. I use a plate secures with vice grips as a guide


















I designed it so the seam is on the top so there is a minimum of soldering. I need strength though so it is silver soldered









The end cap has a slight bulge to it. I decided to make it from a 1/4" plate and turn it on the lathe. I start by center punching and drawing a slightly larger circle with a compass.








And the cut it on the band saw 









I then drill out a hole for my arbor using the center pop I use for the compass and mount it on the lathe. I trim it to the outside diameter and then cut a recess .032" deep which will fit inside the tube.








I check the fit while the piece is still in the lathe








I then turn it around on the arbor and carefully turn out the curved side









That is all the photos I can post here so I will continue on a second post


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

*This is a continuation of the thread below. You should read it first*

I need to make a front plate. It needs to be .032" below the sides and curved to match the tube, I set the tube on my sheet and mark the curve with a pencil.









I then cut it out on the band saw and trim it with the 1" belt sander and silver solder it on. I use silver solder here as I don't want it moving as I do the other soldering jobs








This needs to be water tight so I check the solder on the other side.









The flat platform is the base for the oil tank and the hand pump. It will be a sealed joint at the front but will stop short of the rear cap which will be the sealing member there. I draw out and cut the curve where it terminates in the tube and then bend it down to support the platform at that end.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Now that the round tube is formed it is time to start on the oil tank. I cut it to shape on the table saw and emboss the rivets per the drawing. It is held in place with my spring wire clips for soldering with Staybrite









A walking deck is cut out on the CNC mill by Dennis 
The deck and legs are cut from one piece and V grooves are cut where the bends in the legs are made.










A second sheet fits over it and is removable to access the hand pump. On the prototype, there was a large water hatch protruding through the deck and a light mounted on the rear.
I also add hand rails per the original.









The rear buffer is set up with a coupling setup which will work for link and pin or KD couplers.
It needs to be rounded so I use a 1/4" roundover router bit mounted in the mill for this.









There is a cow catcher on the rear buffer also









It is a little weird but the tender was designed as an oil tender but a wood rack was installed in case they ever needed to use a wood load. 
I used 1/16" brass rod for the railing and cut a block out of a 2x6 to the inside dimensions of the rack. I then bent the rod around the block and silver soldered the pieces where they met.
I had to figure out a way to solder them all together and keep everything straight and parallel. I turned the four corner posts from 3/16" round stock with 1/16" grooves spaced at .200" apart.
I held the posts flat in the vice and weighted the opposite corner to keep the rails in place while soldering.









The center posts were done with the same grooves but on the mill









The tender shell is painted with high gloss paint for decaling and will be finished off with a low gloss clear coat.









The fuel tank and hand pump are made and fitted to bolt on to the tender


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Another clever idea using the weight to hold everything in place when soldering the wood rack rails. 
Russell


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Here is a photo of the pump and tank installed








And the tender and loco painted and decalled

















I wanted to show the wire I use sometimes to give better sight glass visibility. I paint a brass or stainless .046" wire with red engine enamel and bend a loop at the top and bottom to keep it centered in the glass. This photo shows one with only a loop at the top.

















Here you can see the water level just below the top. Below the red wire is large and bright but above it is small and dimmer








I added a light just to see if it can be read better when running indoors or on a dark day









My carry case is just a box which is split to form a top and bottom
The one thing I do is use half lap construction which makes it very strong. I use 1/2" Baltic/Russian Birch which is actually 6 mm now.
Here I have a 1/4" dado blade set up against a wood fence where the blade is set into the fence to give me a 6 mm cut









This is then done to all joining sides and to the edges where the two box halves join
It looks like this.









I am limited to 10 photos so I can't show everything here but here is the case with the engine in it. You can see how the top has a longer side in the front to cover the roll off space in the bottom.


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## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Looks great Bill, the loco sure has a long and rangey look to it. I like the idea of the red wire in the sight glass as glass with a red line is often hard to get but have you found that the wire helps by breaking up the water surface tension inside the tube? I have often thought that maybe a thin wire would help to stop bubbles "sticking?" as the loco rocks 'n rolls around but I have never tested the idea. 
I must do a light in the cab of some of mine too as even in daylight the water glass can be in shade under the cab roof and I can't read it properly ( maybe old age and poor eyesight?) and I never have a torch when I need one.
Russell


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes
I have used red pin striping tape in the past but it only works from certain angles where as the wire is in the middle and can be viewed from every angle plus the breaking up tension effect.


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