2-1/2" NG class A shay.

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littleevan99
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by littleevan99 »

Brian, are some of those staybolts hollow?
1.5" scale CliShay
1.5" scale 2-10-2T
2.5" 36 Ton Shay under construction
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

No hollow staybolts, may just be an illusion with the photos.
Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Mount at the firebox are all finished and welded to the boiler. I tacked the sides and welded the tops of the mounts, After I took this photo, I took the boiler off and finished welding the sides. With my welding skills, (or lack of) I need to get into the most comfortable position as possible.
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Front link mounts fitted up.
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Silver soldered to add fillet. I still need to buck the rivets on the back side. I just put them is to see how it looks.
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Hello All,
A couple updates on the shay,
I had to make an extension for my water glass to get the bottom 3/4" above the crown sheet... nothing too exciting.
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The Smoke stack base was next on my list to work on. I started with a casting and modified it to match the drawings that I have from Lima. The OD and ID was machined and the top was drilled and profiled with a ball end mill. I really enjoy using the rotary table, more so than the CNC mill.
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After machining the top profile, I used the dremel to blend the top to the base.
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If I would have done more planning before I started machining, I could have stepped the end mill over and down to get closer to the profile... It would have saved a lot of dremel work. I still have a little work to do. Once I think I'm close, I'll either bead blast it or paint it with some primer to see how it looks and if I need to do anymore shaping.
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JBodenmann
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
I have been enjoying this thread and admiring your fine work. One little trick that may be of use here is to go over the areas that have been smoothed with a dull center punch. Lightly tapping with a small hammer and moving it around. Also re grinding the tip on the punch from time to time. This will put some texture back and restore the as cast look. Then it can be blended with the blast cabinet. On large items like a full size locomotive stack I have used a needle scaler with the ends of the needles ground to various configurations.
Happy Model Building
Jack
Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Hello All,
I have not done a very good job at updating this build. First off, Jack, Thank you very much for the kind words and suggestion on how to bring the "texture" back to the casting, I'll have to experiment and see how it comes out.

Although I haven't posted for over a year... I cant believe it has need that long... I have been making some process.

To pick up where I left off,
I used a fly cutter set at the correct diameter for fitting to the smokebox.
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Next on the to do list is the stack. I decided to go with the Tapered stack because I really like the looks of the 20 Ton shays from Kelley Island.
I could not find a piece of DOM pipe with the correct ID and OD so I had to machine it from a solid piece.
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Using the steady rest, I drilled the center out and created all of the inside tapers. I also machined the diameter that goes into the smokebox.
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Mounting it in the 3 jaw and using a center in the tailstock, I profiled the outside. The wall thickness is a little thicker than scale but I do not think it took away from the looks.
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Next, its off to the rotary table/indexing table... whatever you call it... (It was a freebee) to start profiling the base of the stack. The next set of photos will show the progression.
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All of the machining shown above was done with the stack 90 degrees to the mill spindle. to get the taper profile extended past the lugs and to the base, I tilted the stack up about 4.5 degrees. (I think, I can't remember, lol)
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Finally, Mounted on the smokebox
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Moving on to the back of the boiler, I started to make the false back head. I always like when others make the false boiler sheets with all of the scale stays and rivets. After reading and reviewing Jack Bodenmann's process on a couple of his builds, I decided to try and form the back head out of 1/16 thick copper.
First was to make the forms. Nothing too fancy, it is a pretty simple back head.
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Now time to heat, beat and repeat.
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Finally with all the "necessary holes" I still need to locate, drill and add stay detail.
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

I used the castings supplied by John Buckwalter for the firebox door. Comparing to the Lima drawings, the castings are almost dead on. I made the handle and lock per the Lima drawings. The Aluminum is just for machining.
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The shay that I am modeling has a distinct exhaust casting that connects the exhaust pipe that runs down the side of the boiler into the smokebox.
This casting comes out of the smokebox and then dogleg down. I went to the hardware store and bought a handful of 90 deg steel elbows. After some Eyeball engineering, I started to cut and weld.

The pipe is just for alignment.
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This piece was cut again and another elbow welded 90 degrees, you can see the Lima print of the part in the background.
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The next picture is an example of where it enters the smokebox. I actually made this piece over. I thought the original was too long so I made another one that I thought looked closer to the drawings.
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Brian Hilgert
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

More parts to the exhaust casting.
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The next photos is the test show the fabrication and test fit of the delivery pipes.
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rkcarguy
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by rkcarguy »

Gorgeous machine work on that stack!
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