I understand castings cost a lot, but why drawings?

This forum is dedicated to the Live Steam Hobbyist Community.

Moderators: cbrew, Harold_V

David Powell
Posts: 523
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2003 10:38 pm
Location: Pickering Ontario Canada.

Re: I understand castings cost a lot, but why drawings?

Post by David Powell »

If you do not have the money, or inclination to buy drawings then you can make your own.
I have, in the course of nearly 60 yrsi n this hobby built two traction engines, one steam roller, one steam wagon and a Tom Thuimb style loco without buying a single drawing or casting intended for any of them
That said, they all have features copied or adapted from drawings published in various magazines,published fromthe early 1900s to date, or from drawings in my possession for other engines.
None of them would win a prize for authenticity, they are freelance, general lookalike jobs. That said they all run strongly and take or have taken a full share in public running.
I never made proper drawings, just enough sketches to give me essential dimensions, Sometimes looking at photos of real engines, or originals at events gave enough information to get a start on features or general dimensions. Every now and again finished parts hit the dust because I simply felt I could do better.
I have enjoyed purchasing collecting and running or repairing scale model engines built by others . But my favourites are those about which I can honestly claim ALL MY OWN WORK.
Regards David Powell.
User avatar
Greg_Lewis
Posts: 3014
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:44 pm
Location: Fresno, CA

Re: I understand castings cost a lot, but why drawings?

Post by Greg_Lewis »

I'm the type who doesn't draw much, if at all. I need to have materials in my hand and see it in tangible 3-D. Only when the materials are extraordinarily expensive or the consequences of an error are highly significant will I draw something out. And even then I usually only draw the most critical elements. Having received a charity C the second time around in high school geometry, most of the time my CAD program is used only for solving geometric problems. I can draw a critical feature and then let the software figure out an angle or a dimension that would be difficult to measure otherwise.
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.
User avatar
NP317
Posts: 4557
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: I understand castings cost a lot, but why drawings?

Post by NP317 »

Greg:
That sounds like a good use of resources to accomplish your goals.
Russ
Post Reply