# Olomana Coop Build



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

First, I'd like to acknowledge the members of this project. Cheif Mechanical Engineer Dennis Mead, Cheif Machinist and assistant mechanical engineer Henner Meinhold, researcher, designer and carpenter Richard Kapuaala.









I dream about projects for years before I actually start them and then take even longer to complete them after I start them. One summer day I decided two things, I wanted a model of the world famous engine Olomana, but not the dolled up version sitting in the Smithsonian. I wanted the down and dirty version that was covered in sute and dust from the cane fields. The one pictured above,,, not this below.









I came across these plans one day on the SE forum.








These are actually the erection drawings for the engine Pokaa which is the same class and all. I've worked with less. I collected a lot of photographic information and was looking around for the materials I needed. I decided the scale would be 1:12 and I sized the drawings accordingly so that I might print them out and use them as reference. I did a lot of research and dreaming but my main concern were the cylinders. I toyed with the idea of making them myself, but I lack the expertise. Then as fate would have it, a friend of mine from MLS wanted a figure for his unique little Guinness Beer engine and we struck up a deal. Not only would he make the cylinders, he would also make the boiler and enlist the assistance of his good friend Dennis mead (mechanical engineer) to desgn the cylinders and the frame. All I had to do was sculpt a figure and give him a few custom painted and unpainted. 
So thats that, enough back ground garbage. I will update this topic this evening or tomorrow with some images of our progress.


----------



## Ralph Berg (Jun 2, 2009)

Isn't it grand when you can barter for needed talent & expertise...... 
Fortunately, you have a talent to barter with. 
Interesting that there is no headlight or fuel bunker in the original photo. 
I wonder at what point these were added. 
Ralph


----------



## David Fletcher (Jan 2, 2008)

Pokaa was wasn't quite so ugly when new, but not as fancy as Ward and Best did their restored engines. 

http://www.mikemassee.com/gallery/v...e_full_size/10-04-22_Chloe-OERM-2982.jpg.html 

There is a lot of stuff and more detail cards for these engines, including the paint cards if you're interested. 

David.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks David, as always you are a great resource for information.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

This is the state I want Olomana in. Thanks for the link David.


----------



## norman (Jan 6, 2008)

Amazing what Ward Kimball did with that old heap! 

The Chloe is a work of art.

Do you think it possible that we could get enough buyers together for Accucraft to build the Chloe?


Norman


----------



## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

If Accucraft made one bet it would still be cheaper than the prices of LGB ones on ebay lately and more reliable than EPLs crappy belt drive.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Henner has been working on the bushings for the boiler. I'm still messing around with Dennis's drawings and trying to decide how I'm going to cut all that steel with the tools I have. Well, I actually know how.








A drill and a file. It will be 1/4" thick steel. I think I'm going to try a test run on some 1/4" mdf first, assemble and do a mock up. MDF is not exactly steel, but it's not as expesnisve as steel especially when it is scrap. If I make a mistake on my approach, I will not have lost anything but I will have learned from my mistake at no cost.


----------



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Richard-- 

This looks like an interesting project. I would put my band saw to the test (with the addition of a speed reduction pulley). I cannot imagine cutting all that by hand form 1/4" plate steel. It would be too big for my Sherline mill. 

I know a small business in Massachusetts with a waterjet cutter that would make quick work of that frame of yours. He would be accurate and pretty reasonable. I would guess that project to be $100 or less. You will have to drill the holes and hand polish the cuts. I have used him for small brass parts for a sailing model boat and he was quite reasonable if NOT fast. 

How is your 7/8" scale Ruby modification progressing? I was inspired by it to try my own.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks Eric, I have a lot of time and no money, so cutting it by hand seems the most prudent thing to do. The smallest blade my bandsaw will take is 1/4" so I don't think that's going to be a viable option. I will probably use the grinder and a grinding wheel on a dremel to cut out a lot of it. I didn't do anything today as I got involved with making a form for the headlamp on Kauila. I'm going to try doing these two projects in tandum so as to take advantage of my add.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Rick,
if you really want to cut 1/4" frames by hand, try the trusted chain drilling method; at least for the inner cut outs. You drill holes along the cut out, which almost touch and then break the walls with a saw or chisel. The rest is just humble filing.

Regards
Henner


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

I hear you are hanging out with Henner and Eric on their Saturday work parties. That's good news. Those boys make history every week.


----------



## steveciambrone (Jan 2, 2008)

Making the frames from 1/4" steel is excessive, and very heavy. Heavy is good for adhesion, but add it all up and it may be too heavy. I would use .100" maximum, more like (.080 to .090) and if you are going to do it by hand it will be far easier. 
If you go to a metal supply place you can buy "Rems", remanants, or off cuts. They are usually small pieces and sold by the pound, this can save you money. 

Steve


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the reminder Henner. That method works good for mortices in wood too. Steve, I'm sorry the plans call out for just over an 1/8" Dennis seem to feel the same. I was worried and thought it should be 1/4" but now I'm glad to hear all the feedback supporting Dennis'es original specs.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Dennis and Henner worked on my boiler today. They got quite far. I will post some pics as soon as I get them and I will try to explain the process, even though I was not there except on skype.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Here are some picks of the new boiler. Henner and Dennis worked on it Saturday and Dennis spent that night cleaning it up. Its a work of art!








Just out of the pickling solution. Like me Dennis uses distilled vingar. He adds salt to his solution. I'm not sure how much, but I added a couple of teaspoons of salt to mine and haven't noticed any improvement. I'm gona have to ask him about the proportions.








Now he has leveled the surface and taken off all the warts from the soldering. 








This image shows the boiler just out of the pickling solution too, but I want to draw your attention to the steam dome flange. A very nice touch  









A full view of the cleaned up boiler. I'm very excited about starting on the water tank now even though I should start on the frames


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

That's quite the nice piece of work! That's a big steam dome, what's going to go on top of that?


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Amber, Dennis fabricated a plate that is machined for a pressure valve, a fake whistle and some fake pop valves. Its a very nice touch I think. I ordered the flat ground low carbon steel for the side frames last night.


----------



## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Wow, What a great project. What will the over all length be? Was this a standard or narrow gauge engine? What will you be firing it with? What is you boiler diameter? I'm guessing this could be for 7.5" track if it was a standard gauge loco done in 1:12 scale? Sorry about all the questions, I just get excited sometimes.


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Sweet looking boiler. What size is it??


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

The length should end up around 13 5/8" the ht from the top of the rail to the top of the boiler with be aroiund 4 1/4" to the top of the cab 8 5/8" . The boiler is 2.125" in diameter x 10 approximately. I don't have it with me to measure.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Oh,,, its for 3" track. I'm going to have to lay my own. I wanted it to be a working scale model and since the original engine was 3' gauge this one is 3". I figure, 3" is close enough to 1:20.32 scale standard gauge that if I want to model some of my favorite SP engines in the future, I can do so. Of course running on my track I'm going to be limited to the 0 6 0 switchers.


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks like the 2" pipe works just right. This one will be a sweety, can't wait to see it running.


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

So...how is this project going?


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

I am behind schedule for the valve/steam chests







.


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Stuff happens that we don't expect, and we get behind in our projects. Sometimes, like myself, we get distracted by other stuff.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

I took a break from doing any modeling for the past few days to focus on some much needed domestic requirements.


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rkapuaala on 30 Mar 2012 10:06 PM 
I took a break from doing any modeling for the past few days to focus on some much needed domestic requirements. 
Women -- they are always in charge.


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

You are correct, sir! LOL


----------



## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

It’s different in our house, I’m boss and I have my wife’s permission to say so.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Wait a minute,,,, wait a minute. I'm the boss of me, I tell my wife that all the time and she understands it perfectly and accepts her role as long as I do what she tells me to.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

I've fallen down on the job and Dennis took over making the frames. Part of it is my poor craftsmanship when it comes to working with steel that thick, and the other is my preoccupation with sculpting and playing with Kauila. 
Any way, these shots are what he has done so far. I hope you folks enjoy as much as I am enjoying.


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

So, these frame are made of steel then?


----------



## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Was he setting up an ARO (analog read out) with those calipers? That's the best poor mans DRO I've seen. If so, I love the idea! I also like how he left in the bottom of the axle journals until the rest of the frame was finished to keep things from bending. That's going to be a nice piece of iron there. It's a big frame for that little 0-4-2 . Glad you, or someone







is back at it!


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Randy, I'm not sure, I was hoping Hener would be able to answer that question. They are up North a ways from me and I was not there while they were working.


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

I'm curious, were the openings in the frame milled out or drilled out? I can see markings that look like a series of holes were drilled in places to define the edge of the openings.


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Henner, would know for sure, but I would suspect that the were both. It would reduce the amount of hogging you need to do and help to orient the cutter, but I wasn't there


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I spent way too long studying that 1st photo trying to figure out why he was routing out the letters "LC LC LC LC" in the steel. Even when I got to the 3rd photo I had to look at it a long time before I realized the letters are printed on the steel! These old eyes do sometimes deceive!


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Yep! I can understand the confusion there, Semper!  
About 12 years ago, before the poop hit the fan in my life, I bought one of those inexpensive (cheap) cross slide tables to use with my drill press, along with one of those flat drill vices and used that setup to mill out a set of aluminum frames for a 2-6-0 in 1/20th scale using a couple of end mill cutters that I had gotten from the local hardware store, back when they carried that stuff. The frames actually came out pretty good. But then, aluminum is easier to cut than steel. The frames were for the Quincy & Torch Lake #1, an engine that still exists in derelict form as part of the display at the Quincy Hoist site above Hancock, MI. I had made several trips up there to photograph and measure it, and had a pretty good set of drawings to work from. I bought a set of Bachmann Big Hauler drivers to use on it, they're just about the right size. But, I never got past that stage, and it's still sitting in a box that I have stored in the house. Some day, I might get back to it....


----------



## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Henner is working on the valve chests cutting the contour to fit in on the cylinders. 








His goal is to finish cutting in the channels by this weekend. 








They are going to look fantastic!


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Ooh, those cylinders are nice!


----------



## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Looking nice Rick. This kind of work is a real journey, isn't it.


----------

