CNW J class Mikado

[Harold_V]

In the interest of proper terminology, the material is silicon bronze, not silicone bronze.
Beautiful casting, by the way! Well done.

H

[FLtenwheeler]

In the interest of proper terminology, the material is silicon bronze, not silicone bronze.
Beautiful casting, by the way! Well done.

H

You are correct Harold.

Just to let everyone know the cradle was investment cast.

It was expensive but I think it was cheaper than paying someone to make a pattern.

Tim

[Harold_V]

Just to let everyone know the cradle was investment cast.

It was expensive but I think it was cheaper than paying someone to make a pattern.

True, that, but the benefits are greater than that. An investment casting, barring a failure of the resulting mold, will have much better detail, offers a patina that is very acceptable, and will be far more accurately created than the typical sand casting. The chief reason that type of casting isn't more commonly used is the cost when compared to sand casting.

When I was in my apprenticeship, small magnesium investment castings (about 3" in size) were produced for the missile. They were complex housings for electronics, and were cast holding .005" tolerance. Try doing that with sand.

H

[FLtenwheeler]

I received 2 sets of cylinder castings for the locomotive.

[NP317]

Drool...
RussN

[MsChrissi]

Would love to see all the patterns for the cylinders.

[Pontiacguy1]

DANG those are pretty!

[Harold_V]

Pretty, indeed.

H

[765nkp]

Are those from Wayne Godshall? Look just like his. I machined up a set of his about a year ago for my Mikado. They machine very nice.
Tim

[FLtenwheeler]

I used the same foundry as Wayne but I used my pattern.

Tim

[FLtenwheeler]

I have not worked on the locomotive in a long time. I need some castings to replace parts that I spoiled and am not up to casting anymore. I found a foundry that does investment casting in metals that I use. They now have their own 3D printer for short run parts. They have agreed to work with me on my project so I sent them a few STEP files for some parts. It is not going to be cheap but I will start to make progress again. I am planning on using OSH Cut for my sheet metal parts. Again not cheap but I just need to upload Solidworks files and they will get it done.

I have heard that there is another C&NW J class being built in CA. Does anyone know anything about it? It is from a later group than mine. I would love to compare notes with the person building it.

Tim

[FLtenwheeler]

Instead of machining the crown brasses from stock I have decided to cast them to shape. They will be made from 936 high lead bronze. These are to test fit the axle boxes to verify size. I will cast the oil/grease grooves in the final part.

Tim