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Re: The handrail conundrum

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:07 pm
by Greg_Lewis
Bill Shields wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:34 pm Loctite now....later just wave a torch at it and loctite will fall apart. Protect painted surfaces with ceramic or sheet metal ...or both
Yeah. I'll experiment with that.

Bill Shields wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:34 pm Or broach the center bore hex and use a hex key as the coupler...

A hex broach into the end of a 5/32 rod. Now that would send me to the psycho ward for sure! :lol:

Re: The handrail conundrum

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:11 am
by Bill Shields
I use a sharpened hex wrench pressed into an appropriate hole.

I use an old lathe. Hold rod I collet...key/broach in the tailstock

Re: The handrail conundrum

Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 8:56 am
by Greg_Lewis
Bill Shields wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:11 am I use a sharpened hex wrench pressed into an appropriate hole.

I use an old lathe. Hold rod I collet...key/broach in the tailstock

Clever. I'll try that!

Re: The handrail conundrum

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:54 pm
by Greg_Lewis
Well, I have solved the problem. It came to me when I woke up at 2 a.m. with the urge for a bagel.

The tapered course on my boiler isn't as steep as the prototype. Some testing shows that the 5/32 brass tube I have will slide through just fine and will bend such that it will work past the taper without needing the sharp bend of the prototype. And I have decided that the bend over the sander pipes will just be overlooked. No one will notice, and you guys won't tell anyone.

So I'll run the 5/32 tube along the boiler from the cab to the front stanchion on each side of the smokebox. Then I'll make the U-shaped piece that goes across the smokebox front out of solid rod. The stanchion on the smokebox front will have a stud that goes all the way through with a nut on the inside, thus it can be put on the rod before the rod is bent and attached by removing the smokebox front. I'll have turned down the ends of the rod so it will fit into the ends of the tubes where they end at the stanchions on the sides of the smokebox. So everything will fit and will be removable if needed.

I love it when I wake up in the night with a solution to a problem. (Much better than waking up in the night after dreaming of being attacked by a lion.)

Re: The handrail conundrum

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 7:11 am
by Pontiacguy1
Or falling... and forgetting to wake up before you hit!