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Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2021 12:30 pm
by kcameron
Thanks for the explanation. I'm likely to come back to there photos someday to show students how all that works. The way you showed us everything would be very good for a processes course.

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2021 12:30 pm
by Berkman
Very cool.

I feel like one of these days you'll design a museum quality locomotive casting set that will be on par with the berkshire kit in terms of accuracy and detail.

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:51 pm
by AnthonyDuarte
It’s been a rocky 2021 at EE. The day after I finished the 4000C molds my spindle motor gave out. Technician said he’s never seen it happen before, and of course it crapped out 7 months after the 3 year electronics warranty. Mill was down for 3 weeks. When I got it back up I spent a week working on a personal project to regain my sanity (haven’t made anything for myself in 2 years).

Still had the lathe making most of the turned parts. Connections, valve bonnets, nozzles, etc... but now with the mill up and running production is in full swing again.

Going slow with having things cast for the 4000C’s. The overflow bodies did not cast properly. It’s puzzling because the overflow bodies for the 1918A are very similar in shape, size, and wall thickness and they all cast beautifully. The main bodies look like they’ll cast well (only had one cast for now). The quadrant brackets came out perfect and so did the overflow caps. Will take more waxes to the foundry next week.

Wanted to share progress on the quadrants. They just look too cool. Wish I needed one for my engine!

641A40CE-1B70-40BF-A499-6B185ED7D451.jpeg
EBF6AA1B-D285-487C-8DFB-2A82F20F7616.jpeg

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:28 am
by datman
Wow love seeing your work :) :)

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:30 am
by hoppercar
I'm speechless.....absolutely amazing quality and workmanship

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:31 pm
by Harold_V
AnthonyDuarte wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:51 pm I spent a week working on a personal project to regain my sanity (haven’t made anything for myself in 2 years).
A wise move. It is commonly held that the shoemaker's kids have no shoes.

I became a machinist so I could build steam models. I have yet to build a steam model.

I was self employed for many years. I didn't take the time to "play" with my equipment. Now it's a race to get it done before I answer to the grim reaper.

H

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:40 am
by kcameron
Anthony,

I like how you made the rack in the quadrant a separate part from the stand. It will allow for easier adjustments of the notches, which seems to happen much later. To make a replacement with different placements and number of notches that fit the loco being only that little part, you could swap without a bunch of other work in the cab. I've run enough locos that had either too many, too few, or not quite the right spot for the notches.

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 10:37 am
by AnthonyDuarte
kcameron wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:40 am Anthony,

I like how you made the rack in the quadrant a separate part from the stand. It will allow for easier adjustments of the notches, which seems to happen much later. To make a replacement with different placements and number of notches that fit the loco being only that little part, you could swap without a bunch of other work in the cab. I've run enough locos that had either too many, too few, or not quite the right spot for the notches.
The notches are very precisely placed to correspond with what's happening inside the injector. Hopefully no one plays around with it... but now you've given me something to be concerned about! The only thing the end user will have to do is adjust the rod length between the quadrant and injector to make sure the handle is sitting in the "closed" slot when the injector valves are in fact closed.

I made the quadrant this way because it is exactly how the prototype was made. No creative interpretation on my part.

Anthony

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:13 pm
by Kimball McGinley
Fantastic work! I think the quadrant adjustment poster was thinking this was a Johnson Bar.
You said aluminum, is that right? I had assumed bronze or brass?

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 2:47 pm
by AnthonyDuarte
Kimball McGinley wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:13 pm You said aluminum, is that right? I had assumed bronze or brass?
Not sure what you’re referring to?

The only metals you’ll find on my products is brass, bronze, and stainless. Aluminum is for molds, fixtures, and airplanes.

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:42 am
by kcameron
Anthony,

I had looked at the quadrant as a general case and forgot about the injector you designed it for. A number of locos I've worked had kind of ugly Johnsons and your stand would look really nice and be very functional. I would agree that the linkage to the injector is where they would make the adjustments.

My thought would be if the connection to the arm at the quadrant was a shackle and pin. You would thread the end of the shaft from the valve and spin the shackle on to adjust the length and then the pin to the arm to hold it. Would be easy to adjust and maintain never touching the rack.

Re: Nathan 4000C's in 1.5" Scale

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 6:08 am
by Sandiapaul
"Hopefully no one plays around with it... but now you've given me something to be concerned about!"

Reminds me of a story...a good friends dad was a machine designer/engineer/machinist, the best blend of how things used to be back when. There was a machine he had designed(at TRW) that kept coming back all out of whack. He noticed that the operators were fiddling around with it and that was the problem. So as a test he took off one part, took it it the shop and machined a small ring and a groove into a solid part so it looked just like a slotted head screw. Again the machine came back needing adjustments. Sure enough he found marks where someone had tried to "adjust" this "screw"!