The Home Machinist!

Hi guys, I discovered this thread today. I am currently working on a shay in this scale and posting progress photos on flickr in the set http://www.flickr.com/photos/edhume3/sets/72157614192042835/with/6793358220/ I am revising the basic dimensions of Kozo's plan - tilting the motor by 5 degrees, re...

The Raritan plans available through Tanski show a DIY burner made by drilling a lot of small holes in rectangular box that has a penetration for air flow. The Raritan firebox was much smaller. You could fit a camp stove burner in your firebox - you might want to stroll down the camping aisle. Good L...

No. The resin is smoky and hard to cleanup. You will be better off buying solid solder and liquid flux. The flux that the plumbers use is hard to cleanup also. You can buy an aggressive liquid flux that is good for more challenging materials like stainless and easy materials like copper and brass. T...

Just for you Benjamin, a round one:



This is 303 stainless. It takes about 1-1/2 hours to make - about 1/2 hour drilling, 1/2 hour milling the pies, and 1/2 hour rounding the spokes.

Ed

Thought there might be some interest in this photo. I'm not using commercial software or a CAD drawing program. I can specify finer passes on the spoke rounding if desired.



Regards,
Ed

I am really glad I asked this question because this is really good knowledge you all are sharing.

Ed

Bruce, Bill - thanks guys!

Bill, In your recommended procedure to machine the wheels, you specify drilling out the rounded corners of the trapezoidal spoke opening before milling. Can you elaborate on that? A center cutting endmill could cut the profile, for example ramping around the profile in a pattern that looked like a h...

Paul, Ray, I found there was a series in Modeltec starting in Aug 89 on building the Little Engines Crab and I did not find anything on the Crab in Model Engineer, so I think the remembrance is for Modeltec. Also, Modeltec ran an article on Ross Winans in Nov 89. I have not seen these articles. I di...

Dick, That is a great tip on using Google for patent searches - it is way more productive. Paul, I'll see if I can find the combo of ME and crabs - thanks. Kap, I did find an old guide to the Field museum in Chicago that listed the Mazeppa on display in 1905 or so. I grew up in the Chicago area and ...

Thanks for the tip on patents. This afternoon, I did figure out how to download patents from the US Patent Office - http://www.uspto.gov/ - had to horse around with a new browser plug-in for image/tiff files - Apple Quick Time is inadequate. Look at the help and hints for a link to a working plug-in...

Hello everyone, Does anyone have drawings for the B&O Crab locomotive or the Mud Digger loco(s) designed by Ross Winans? I do NOT want drawings from Little Engines or proprietary materials developed by Little Engines or other companies - only historical material or non-Copyright material. I am a...