We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

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skid-roe
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Location: Yakima, WA

We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by skid-roe »

After 50+ years supplying the hobby with his builder's plates, Robert Dustin has retired.
His graphic computer failed and he has had little demand for producing his etched plates.
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by Greg_Lewis »

That's a loss for sure. He had artwork ready to go which was a big help for many.

But Diane Carney is still making plates, and there are places that do engraving for letterpress printing that can make stuff if you supply the artwork. Here are links to Diane's site and an outfit in Los Angeles that has done work for me:
www.loco-nameplates.co.uk
www.aandgengraving.com
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
Pontiacguy1
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Location: Tennessee, USA

Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

Sounds like CNC has taken away a lot of his business. I've had several of his plates, and they were excellent.
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gwrdriver
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by gwrdriver »

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding was always that Robert Dustin's plates were etched magnesium . . . ie, letterpress etches.
GWRdriver
Nashville TN
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Yes, letterpress plates. While these are geting harder to find there are companies out there. You will have to do your own artwork. The second link I posted above is one source.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
hoppercar
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by hoppercar »

Dave sclavi.from mercer locomotive, has a few good videos on you tube, how to photo.etch.your own plates...seems pretty easy to do !!!
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gwrdriver
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by gwrdriver »

I know the drill Greg, in a former life I was in the printing/reprographics industry and made the art and negatives for many etched plates.

This is a smokebox number plate (2" diam) I made for my first locomotive, IIRC sometime in the late 1960s. I created the original artwork at 4X final size using Letraset, drafting pens, and India ink on Strathmore illustration board, which is actually a thick paper with a very high and hard surface finish. I then shot an orthographic negative at 25%. I sent the negative to a local plate etcher and had my raw plate.

Magnesium alloy printing plates can oxidize in adverse (ie, hot/wet) conditions, so to encapsulate and preserve the appearance I took it to a local metal plater and had it nickel plated. The results surpassed my expectations and there's been no oxidation in all that time, although the maroon paint (Testor's) puddled in the central circle has dulled and faded.

It would be easy for me to say this is easy to do. It was for me because at the time I had the skills and experience to do it by hand, but with today's fantastic graphics programs, not to mention the many railroad-specific graphics collections now available, such artwork should now truly be easy to do. Transmit the artwork electronically to an online etcher and bang, you're in business.
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GWRdriver
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Dick_Morris
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by Dick_Morris »

3D printing may have also cut into his market. Either by metal prints from Shapeways or by investment casting. In the middle of the page is an image of an investment cast bronze plate made for me by VOG in the U.K. - https://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vi ... 9&start=36. The detail blows me away every time I look at it.

Hopefully Robert can find a way and is willing to preserve and make his collection of artwork available to others.
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gwrdriver
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by gwrdriver »

Dick, it appears that 3D, CNC, and digital means are now the standard. One of the better, and most recent to the market, plate producers in the UK does everything, brilliantly, by CNC.
I was also greatly surprised today to find that press-on lettering (such as Lettraset) is still available in this digital age!
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: We lost another live steam supplier, Robert Dustin

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Well it depends on how picky you are. It all will pass the three-foot test, but if you want something that looks exactly like the original, I think the letterpress plates look best.

GWR: Those were the days. There is something about letterpress that can't be replicated. I once ran a Linotype machine (no hot squirts on my left foot!) and hand-set type. Learned the California job case layout and never dropped a case. I still have a Rapidograph pen around here somewhere, and there are two bottles of ink still in the back of the top drawer of my roll-top desk.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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