# John F Byers build log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

My friends have been after me to build a real scale Byers for a long time. "isn't it just a Cricket?" I asked. "Not quite bill" Henner replied. First off it has two coke bottle engines with full working Stevenson gear and a T boiler as well as many other differences.
So, I finally decided to do it
Here is an advertisement for it









A photo of the Right side









And the left side with an out house added which I will not duplicate









And here are the scale plans that Dennis and I put together using and modifying drawings that were made of the original. It is very busy so I highlighted some of the components. You will notice that the rt side gear was very close to the wheel to keep it from hitting the boiler. The gears are in green and the brackets for the idler gears are magenta. The engine stand is yellow.









I started with a piece of 1/4" round and made a card stock template of the shape I wanted and turned it on the lathe and drilled and reamed a 5/16" hole all the way through it









Then on the mill, i cut the flat down to the top of the 5/16" hole and then with the end mill, I plunge cut the inside shape by staying 1/16" away from the edge.









Blocks of wood keep things aligned without damaging the edges









And here is the outside face of the lower cylinder









One thing about this engine is that nowhere is there any information on the coke bottle design or valving, It seems like the only things that were measured or documented were those visible from the outside. I researched coke bottle designs but found that the main crankshaft bearings were supported with complex spider mountings which would be impossible in this scale. But, since the Byers has an engine on both sides of the loco, I determined that only one main bearing per engine was necessary and is probably how the prototype was. So I made this bearing and silver soldered it on with an undersized hole and then drilled it to size afterwards to ensure proper alignment.









The scale cylinder size would be just over 1/4" bore x 5/16" stroke. Because of the size needed for the con rods, my stroke needs to be no more than 1/4" so I did the cylinders at 5/16"









Dennis has his CNC mill up and running now so he made these valve gear pieces for me


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow I really looking forward to seeing this build, especially being a big fan of the Cricket. Cant wait to see how it all works when complete. Very cool.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Nice job. Appreciate you posting your progress

Jerry


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
a terrific start. I would have pondered about how to make the coke bottle engines for at least a month.... How did you drill a 5/16" hole into a 1/4" bar . Will Dennis cast the frames in Zamac or do you intend to mill them from the solid?
Regards


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

This project is going to be fun to follow, and I envy your rate of progress.

Larry


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Henner
Nice catch and subtle humor 
The bar stock was 3/4"
Dennis is going to do the frame out of 3/8" x 3/4" steel on the CNC mill. He is also doing the buffers the same way


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill: Another great project. I'll have the rolling stock ready at Sac next year.

By-the-way, here's your next project:


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Bob
That is an interesting project
Here is my progress for the week

The connecting rods are milled out and then filed and sanded to clear the coke bottle cavity









The piston and crosshead are turned our and milled. The crosshead will slide up and down in the 5/16 " reamed hole in the lower cylinder piece.









The piston rod is silver soldered on and then the piston is truied up on the lathe. the PTFE ring and 0-ring backup is on the rt.









clearances are checked









The D valve is mounted in the mill vise. Two strips of brass are used to ensure it is level and the proper height above the vise. The center is scribed with a digital caliper.









I have a very small counter sink that comes to a perfect point which I use with a magnifying glass to get the center lined up.









Then using the DRO and a 1/32" end mill, I trim the length to spec and cut the center cavity









and here it is









The piece on the left is not finished. the pice on the rt is. The slots for the nut and valve stem are cut on the mill and the bevels are done on the 1" belt sander.









This just shows the lap on the admission side of the valve which is .020" on both sides.









Tool steel is used for the radius links which go from the eccentrics to the Stephenson valve expansion link which is 1/32" thick so the slitting saw is used to make the slot









The valve stem at the top is silver soldered to a piece cut from 1/8" round brass and tapped to 0-80. The radius links are silver soldered to the eccentric followers.









Valve chest, cover and D valve & nut









I think it is turning out to be a nice looking engine.


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Bill,
Just plain old WOW !
Larry


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Really fine work!


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## John Allman (Jan 2, 2008)

Its not nice, its spectacular!


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> I think it is turning out to be a nice looking engine./QUOTE]
> 
> I'm nominating you for Understatement of the Year Award. "Nice looking?" I'd have my ears pierced and wear that thing as jewelry!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dennis finished the engine platforms on the CNC mill and I finished the assembly today. It is tuned and ready for the air test but I am still waiting for my shipment of scale 0-80 nuts before I bolt everything together 

Here is a very small stud for the expansion link









And an 0-80 screw is cut down and a collar turned out for the expansion link slot. The slot is too small to use a block. the bronze collar should wear well and be easy to replace.









Here is the expansion link with the thingie, I think they call it a saddle which goes across the link and has a clearance slot for the head of the screw to pass through. The little stud will be attached to the lifting link of the reverse arm









Here it is on the engine stand. The two legs you see will be bolted to the side frame.
















]

Here is a closeup of the gears. The larger gears are idler gears and will mesh with the gears on the wheels. The final ratio will be 2.67 to 1


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

Again Bill....WOW!
Beautiful work in "miniature! Thanks for posting the work!
Larry


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## FHPB (Feb 25, 2011)

bille1906 said:


>


Wow, what a beauty! Thanks for sharing your work with us -- this makes my day.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Billi, sent you some files that mey help with this project. Looking fod so far. I love the little cylinder assembly.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow I love the cylinder assembly. Amazing work so far.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update so here is what has been going on

Dennis completed the CNC work on the frame and it came out beautiful. We hollowed out the frount buffer and filled it with lead to balance it out a little. I made the axle boxes on the mill and found some LGB wheels that were the perfect size and shape. I cut the flange down to 1/16" and made bronze bushings to replace the plastic inserts

Here is a shot of the underside.









And the top view









and the side









I will be using a prototypical T boiler with a ceramic burner. The horizontal barrel is a standard size but the vertical portion needs to be cut down so I needed to reinforce the seam with the piece I cut out

Here is a shot of the firebox end.









The tubes are fluxed up and the front plate is used to keep them parallel









Then small curved pieces of silver solder are set in place. I like to do this even if I am going to feed more solder to the underside or an adjacent place as when the snippets melt, I know I am ready to go.









I actually heat it up from the other side as the solder will flow to the heat. When it comes through like this, you know the job is good.









The ceramic burner box is also the rear boiler mount. If you look at the ring at the top, you will see where it has a gap on the left. This lines up with the boiler splice and registers everything.









Here is a view of how it will line up except the burner will be turned around









like this









Here you can see the burner mounted with the brass side strap shown under it. 









and with the partially finished boiler on top. You can also see that the eccentrics are now more prototypical with the balancing holes cut out on the CNC mill by Dennis.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Wow! Coming along nicely, and your craftsmanship is phenomenal. 

Looks like that firebox is going to give plenty of heat.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

really neat Bill! geez!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Unbelievable! Your engine and drivetrain is an amazing work of art and engineering!


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Billy
One of the reasons to go to NSS is to see and hear about your custom builds in person! Once again it will would great to get first hand insight about your efforts on this locomotive


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys for your kind comments

I worked on the front end this week. It was quite a task fitting everything in but I think it came out ok

The smoke box needed to be cut down a little. You can see the seam on the bottom. The front and door were turned from flat stock on the lathe after it was roucgh cut on the band saw. here I have it marked for the hinges.
















I silver soldered the hinges to the smokebox front and put a 1/16" piece of music wire through both hinges to keep them aligned. I then attached the hinge straps and glued them to the door with CA. I then drilled rivet holes, removed the straps and cleaned off the glue. I tapped the rivets in and silver soldered the straps on.











The side tanks were made by cutting a strip of .032 brass as wide as the height of the tanks. The sides of the strip were rivet embossed and it was annealed and bent around the wood form by hand. the seam was marked and cut and it was silver soldered. I then set them on another brass sheet and marked the inside with a pencil and cut the tops and bottoms out. I cut shy of the pencil marks and finished them off with a 1" belt sander and then soft soldered them on









I approximated the original bracket shape on the band saw









And here are the two tanks mounted









The exhaust piping follows the same route as the prototype. the T under the smokebox is secured by a screw from underneath the frame.









The smokebox door is insulated with Fiberfrax and a stainless plate. The exhaust T has an 8-32 thread.









Side view. The rear tank bracket will be attached to the frame with JB prior to final assembly. The top of the bracket is screwed to the tank so It will be easily removable.









and another view









Here is everything fitted in. You can see that the elbows are soldered together but are attached to the tubes with JB as I didn't want to risk the solder wicking up inside the tubes


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Got some work done on the rear end this week

The main frame was cut out from scale measurements and drawings of the original but there is nothing about the rear frame extension and how it was mounted to the main frame. The prototype had a wood frame extension but because the only clean way to mount it was with this cantilevered type of a mount, I decided I needed to do it in brass for strength.









Next I cut out the cab floor and left the red layout fluid on for marking the fuel tank, lubricator and Johnson bar









The fuel tank will go in the corner as far from the boiler as possible. There is room to put a heat barrier between the tank and boiler if the tank gets too hot while running.









The cab sides are made and the holes are drilled, in the support posts, for the poles which will support the roof. Nothing is permanently attached at this point









The lubricator is pass through made from some K&S thin wall brass tubing with brass top and bottom plug turned on thr lathe. The bullet casing shape is for a large capacity while keeping a small volume above the steam hole to prevent over lubrication.









The lubricator is set in place while I tyr to figure out where to put the Johnson bar









The reverse lever and link are attached to the Stephenson expansion link and the cross over bar fits in under the boiler and above the gears.









Here is what things are looking like so far. I still need to shoe horn in the reverse arm, reach rod and Johnson bar and run the tubing from the lubricator to the two cylinders. The line to the left cylinder will need to cross over the boiler which would make it hard to remove the boiler so I will probably make some small brass fittings so the crossover can be easily removed.


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hey Bill, wouldn't the cab have an open back so the engineer can get in? Just a thought.

Regards,


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Eric
I couldn't find anything on whether or not it was open. The front was open so I assume it had to have some kind of bracing or back to keep the sides straight. I see where the Cricket is partially open in the back but it is also partially closed in the front which is not prototypical
I don't want to do the cab all over but maybe I can do a faux door on the back


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

In the first prototype photo there's a sliver of daylight visible between the firebox and the front edge of the cab side, suggesting the back was open, or at least partially open. Of course, when you are creating such a fine work of art, there's nothing wrong with a little artistic license!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Richard
Henner just sent me a photo from the rear and it did have an open back


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

One idea would be to make an opening in the middle of your back sheet to allow entrance to the cab and still leave some material at the edges which would maintain some structure and help conceal the fuel tank. The Regner Konrad is constructed this way. A quick google search will show you what I mean.

Awesome work as usual Bill. This loco and your single truck Heisler are the ones I covet the most!

Regards,


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Eric
Your perspective is always welcome and appreciated
I worked on the piping of the gas and steam as well as the lubricator mount and will be able to see things more clearly tomorrow but for now, it looks like things will be so cluttered that there wouldn't be room for an engineer anyway. I'll shoot a picture of the cab area and post it tomorrow.

I opted for more of the running options in the cab vs the artistic such as large fuel tank, large lubricator, sight glass, pressure gauge and easily accessible throttle and gas knobs and it cost me in lack of space for someone to run the darn thing..


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## Captain Dan (Feb 7, 2008)

<Quote>You can see that the elbows are soldered together but are attached to the tubes with JB as I didn't want to risk the solder wicking up inside the tubes
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I am intrigued by your use of JB Weld on the steam pipe. I have used it for many items, but the use on small steam pipes is new to me.

Have you ever done this before? Can this be considered a permanent solution? Can you use JB only on the steam exhaust side or can it be used on the pressure side?

BTW, were you a watchmaker in a previous life???? Your workmanship is outstanding!!!!!!!!

Dan


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Dan
JB is water proof and good to 600 degrees
The exhaust piping is under very low pressure and even if it leaks, the only harm will be the exhaust steam coming out at the leak
I haven't used it on steam pressure lines and would only do it as a last resort. I prefer compression fittings silver soldered on. Soft solder works ok as long as there is a tube which is sliding over another such as a 1/8" over a 3/32" K&S tube and you have at least 1/8" overlap.
Thanks for the compliment. No watch making history. I learned most of my skills from my friends Henner and Dennis


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Bill,

I understand the need for practical design elements in the cab. On small live steamers concessions to prototype are often made for practicality. At the same time, it is still a model and I would add the opening at the back of the cab for the same reason that our models have roofs or windows on the cab; they show aspects of how real locomotives were configured and a cab with no way in is just seems odd to me. I would add the opening and paint out the lubricator, gas tank, piping and other backhead fittings to black. Anyways just my opinion. I'll drop the issue now 

Regards,


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## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

I repaired a Shay steam delivery pipe to the cylinders using JB Weld about 5 years ago. I regularly run it and it is still holding and doing just fine. I just posted another use for it where the heat is very high and subject to the flame from an occasional butane over fire.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Eric
I cut an opening in it today but it was more out of necessity as I needed some clearance to remove the gas line if I had a plugged jet. I have a sliding door to cover it while it is running. I liked the way it looks with the brass so i polished everything up and clear coated it today including the stuff in the cab. I will probably leave it like that for a while (not as long as Betsy) and then paint it to prototypical colors if I can find what they were.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well it is just about done. I have a few knobs to make and I want the pop-off valve to extend through the canopy

The prototype had lagging which was riveted on so I embossed some .032 sheet brass and bent it as best I could to duplicate the look









Here it is ready for paint. I made a bell and bracket and the bracket is mounted and ready for paint . the small hole behind the bell is for a stud which will hold the sand dome in place.









It is too heavy in the back and with the short wheelbase it will be popping wheelies without some weight in the front. i added some lead to the front of the frame and here you can see where I added some lead shot to the side tanks.









The prototype had a wood buffer but I made this one out of lead. I sprayed it with dark grey primer and then with brown paint and lightly brushed it with a small wire brush while it was still wet to get a wood grain look









Here are the boiler fittings. The safety is on the left and the banjo fitting for the pressure gauge on the right with the goodall fitting in the front and the throttle in the rear. The sight galss and pressure gauge are on the left. 









The dome and bell are mounted









Most of the innards are covered up but you can still see some gears on the right side.









The left side view with the sight glass and pressure gauge. The prototype had straight braces on the canopy but I like the arched ones better


















Here is a good view of the steam and exhaust piping









And the right side with the stainless Johnson bar 









And the rear view with Eric's opening for a very little engineer and a sliding door on the right of the opening


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

What can I say Bill. It looks gorgeous! The black and brass looks sweet! Can't wait to see it running around your track!!

Regards,


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

That is really cool! The black boiler makes all the bright brass look all the brighter!


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## cocobear1313 (Apr 27, 2012)

What a jewel!!!!!!

Dave


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Outstanding model either way []


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## JimB (Jan 25, 2013)

I vote Genius. That is a beautiful loco.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

You could put it on a chain and wear it around your neck!! It would be way cooler than the guys that wear lots of gold chains. Seriously, that is a fantastic accomplishment!!!.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow amazing work. It is beautiful.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments
I need to wait for it to dry out a little before I give it its maiden steam test
In the mean time I finished up a few details.

I found this Trackside Details thingie in a box and thought it would make a good knob for the gas valve.









I don't like to burn my fingers so I added this hardwood (Purple Heart) handle to the throttle valve.
I guess they ran these things with and without rear buffers so I decided to put one on but leave it somewhat inconspicuous and recess the coupler 









A regular size pop-off would shoot steam in the cab so I made this extra long one. In the past, Dennis has made these for me but since I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted it, I decided to do it myself. Dennis gave me the drawings of the valves he does and I changed them to fit my needs. My first try produced one that popped off at 60 psi but didn't reset till it got to 30 psi. Using the depth gauge on my digital calipers, I found that the height of the ball cavity was 0.106 vs 0,063 which the plans called for. My tap hole for the 5 mm hole was not deep enough. I then chucked the valve in the lathe and drilled the hole .043 deeper and tested it again. It now pops off at 60 psi and resets at 57 psi.









And here is the valve poking through the canopy. I left enough poking through to add a canvas covering and a flange if I decide to do that later.


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