One Last Shorty

Where users can chronicle their builds. Start one thread and continue to add on to it.

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Dick_Morris
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Dick_Morris »

a photo of one of Oak Little's LC trucks under car #5.
Are the leaf springs working or dummy?
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Dick_Morris wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 9:32 pm
a photo of one of Oak Little's LC trucks under car #5.
Are the leaf springs working or dummy?
Hi Dick...

If you wander back to my first post, there's a photo of the truck casting "set". On the left side are the leaf spring castings. The dummy leaf springs were cast in pairs (aluminum)...to be cut in half and dressed up by the builder.

Understand that Morris did not or would not cast those anymore. At which point it's becomes a matter of why bother? There was a hobby supplier that sold die-cast leaf springs. Two of those castings made one complete spring. Don't recall who used to offer that. Sorry I can't provide more info than that right now. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
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Location: New Lenox, IL

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

RISING UP FROM THE SAW DUST

Thought I'd go thru car building process even though some of this was covered in the other shorty car construction article.

The center sill had already been mounted to the plywood floor. Holes were cut out in the plywood floor to clear the jam nuts for the 1/2" diameter king pins. Carriage bolts secured the plywood floor to the center sill.

Figuring the plywood sub floor dimensions, had to work backwards. Knew the car body would be no more than 15" wide. Deduct 1/4" on each side for the wood planks. Deduct another 1/4" on each side for the underlayment plywood skin (actually .200" thick nominal). This resulted in a car floor with of 14". Why the deducts? The underlayment and planks lapped the floor so the plywood edge would not be seen.

The corners of the plywood floor were cut out for the corner steps...and again leaving enough space for the underlayment and planks on the car ends. The bottom of the plywood was painted satin or flat back at this point to try and "seal" the wood.

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The upper and lower frame "rails" and wall uprights were made from 3/4" thick poplar wood. Determined the total width needed for (4) rails for the sides and ends...and enough uprights for all four wall sections. Ran a dado blade across the width of the board so ALL NOTCHES were equidistant from the ends. Marked one end of all rails for assembly reference. Once the dado cuts were completed, THEN ripped the boards at just over 1/2" thick. Ran all the pieces thru the surface planer aiming for .250" thick. Yes, I used a caliper to check the wood thickness.

Pilot holes were drilled in each notch for a drywall screw. All the wood joints would get glued and screwed. Could countersink for the screw heads before or after the glue had dried.

Years ago when I remodeled the kitchen in a townhouse condo...part of the job included new countertops. I kept one of those countertop pieces to make a working surface. Attached wood straight edges along the long and short edges at right angles. Used this as a means to glue, assemble and square the wall sections. Here's the long side walls and short end walls glued and clamped. At the time of assembly, didn't know how I was going to frame up the observation deck end of the side walls. So, left the end open.

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When the Elmers Max glue was dry (1 to 2 hours), clamps were removed and 1" drywall screws used to hold things together. Even at this point, the wall frames were surprisingly strong.

One of the side wall frame was glued on the bottom and set in place on the plywood floor and held in place with clamps. Then, the (2) end wall frame sections were glued to the floor and to the erected wall frame. More clamps were used. Lastly, the other side wall frame was glued to the floor and the two end walls. The last of clamps held things in place.

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After the glue for the wall frames had dried, the clamps were removed and the "now taking shape" car body was turned upside down to drill pilot holes and countersink those holes for more drywall screws. As one of my mottos goes...Built Strong To Last Long! Must have done something right if there are cars in the rolling stock fleet that are 30+ years old...and still rolling down the rails.

IMG_5658.JPG

At this point, the car was flipped right-side up in preparation for "skinning the car body". That's where we'll pick up on the next installment. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
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NP317
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by NP317 »

Carl:
I am again enjoying your "project tour."
Always something to learn.
Thanks.
RussN
djjh87
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by djjh87 »

Hi Carl
I'm with Russ very much looking forward to your build. Jim
No problems just solutions.
ccvstmr
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:37 am
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Russ and Jim...

Thanks. Do stick around. Things will be getting interesting soon enough! Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:37 am
Location: New Lenox, IL

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

SKINNING THE CAR ALIVE

With the wall frames up, it's time to enclose the car body. Used 1/4" thick plywood underlayment for this. Found out the hard way, even using such thin material...the sheet of plywood is NOT 1/4" thick. More like .200" thick. Does that matter? Not really.

However, what was disturbing was the fact that a sheet of this stuff USED to cost about $12 a few years ago (pre-COVID). That same piece of material was about 2x that amount for this car! Material prices have gone insane! A house wall stud used to run about $1.75. Walking thru Lowes back then, the same 2x4x7'6" wall stud was ~$7.50. Don't know how people can afford to build homes. Heard some builders have clauses in their contracts for a "lumber adder". Can't say I blame them, but if a contract is signed for a fixed price...they're bound by that contract.

In our hobby world, if you want to build something...wood, steel or other...you pay the going rate. At least Lowes has a plywood saw to reduce the size of the 4x8 sheet for the transport home. Menards and Home Depot (at least around here) removed their plywood saws.

Back home, was easier for me to handle the smaller plywood pieces in the shop. Skins for the sides and ends were cut to the final length and height. These pieces were clamped in position to the sides of the frame. The frame outline was transferred to the inside surface. The same piece was then moved to the OTHER side of the car body (remember, the wall frames are symmetrical) and the frame outline transferred to the outside of the plywood. This was repeated for the other plywood pieces. Now, the frame outline was on both sides of the plywood....on the outside surface so I knew where to drive brad nails to secure the plywood. On the inside surface so I knew where to lay a bead of glue down.

The plywood sides were installed first. With the plywood roof overhang sticking out. Had to be REALLY careful I didn't break those.

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Then end plywood pieces next. Would eventually cut the door openings for both end panels and then these too were glued and nailed.

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Next came the signboard area. Glued some 1/8" x 1.5" hobbycraft plywood strips where the signboards would go. This raises the final signboard surface above the planked walls. Furthermore, that raised edge acts as a back stop when installing the wood plank strips. This helped reinforce the roof overhang extensions on the car corners.

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You might note the (2) drywall screw heads in the center of the signboard area. Took a 3/4" x 2" wide pine board and rounded the edges. Glued, drilled and screwed this board in place. Why? Two reasons...1) keeps the car sides from bowing out (or caving in) and 2) provides a nice handle for lifting the car if/when needed. Eventually, the screws will be hidden by the signboard material...never to see the light of day again.

Can also see the pile of planks that have been cut, planed and beveled. These planks were probably waiting to be drilled on the ends for the nail holes. Pre-drilling the nail holes minimizes the chance of the poplar wood planks splitting...even when driving a #19 x 1/2" brad nail.

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Several years ago, latched on to a bench drill press. Only problems...had to make a new handle to raise/lower the table. Sometime later, had to replace the quill retraction spring. Small price to pay for a machine I got for free! Will add...it's sometimes nice having (2) shop drill presses!

For the last several years, have had this drill set up to drill pilot holes for wood planks (or other). With a base board with back stop clamped to the drill table and an adjustable block on the end to vary the hole distance from the end of the board...the only thinking needed was to drill from the BACK side of the plank. Why? When the drill pops thru the poplar other side, it leaves a "burr". Don't want the burr to interfere with setting the plank in the wet glue.

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When gluing planks, will glue and set one end plank at the wall end. Then, working in areas approx. 6" wide...would lay down the glue and use a plastic scraper to spread the glue evenly across the car surface. Don't need or want a thick layer of glue. Would "pull" the planks sitting in wet glue towards the 1st plank set...while making sure the plank were still square and then sink the nails Word of caution...try not to slide the plank sideways too much on the wet glue. Want to avoid squeezing glue up between the planks. More like...set the plank down on the bottom edge of the car side as close to the final position as possible and then push up against the signboard filler plywood at the top of the wall.

Approaching the other end of the wall, pulled out a furniture clamp and used that to squeeze the planks together and adjust the width of one or two planks so the last plank was even with the end of the wall...BEFORE glue was applied. Yes...that's cheating. But I'd challenge anyone to find that slightly narrower plank on the wall without using a measuring tool.

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Next time, will finish the car sides and prepare for the next step. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
Odyknuck
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

Pretty cool stuff. Your an excellent finish carpenter.
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Dick_Morris
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Dick_Morris »

Thanks for the info on how the springing has worked for you. i have some passenger car trucks on the shelf that need to be finished some day. At one time I was going to try leaf springs, but was put off on that idea after seeing how much work my locomotive leaf springs took. Plan B is to 3D print dummy leaf springs but I wasn't sure how practical it was to only rely on the coils for the springing. It's good to hear they this worked for you.
ccvstmr
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Location: New Lenox, IL

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Odyknuck wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:52 pm Pretty cool stuff. Your an excellent finish carpenter.
Ody...while I would never consider myself a machinist, I can whittle away at metal pieces to make parts. I just say I'm an amateur chip maker. Would hardly consider myself a cabinet maker either...but I can get a couple pieces of wood to stick together. Could more than likely build a dog house... and if I don't stop building RR cars in the shop, the wife might have me move in to that! Thanx for the compliment. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:37 am
Location: New Lenox, IL

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Dick_Morris wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:46 pm Thanks for the info on how the springing has worked for you. i have some passenger car trucks on the shelf that need to be finished some day. At one time I was going to try leaf springs, but was put off on that idea after seeing how much work my locomotive leaf springs took. Plan B is to 3D print dummy leaf springs but I wasn't sure how practical it was to only rely on the coils for the springing. It's good to hear they this worked for you.
Dick...you're welcome. I have made some working pseudo leaf springs for caboose trucks that didn't involve dealing with spring steel. Thought I wrote something up for Chaski...but couldn't locate any posts. These springs consisted of machined steel with solver soldered 1" wide loose pin hinges and a couple coil springs behind the "leafs".

Can contact you separately and share my effort that was borrowed and upgraded from someone else. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
Posts: 2230
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:37 am
Location: New Lenox, IL

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

SKINNING THE CAR...still

Moving along at the speed of oozing molasses in a Chicago area Winter...let's finish up the exterior sheathing for car #7. With the sides of the car completed, it was time to address the car ends. Found it easier to work the car ends when the car was upright. Yes, easy when the car body is only 4 feet long...got a little harder for longer cars.

Made a couple stands so the car could be set upright (hence the handle in the middle of the car body). To keep the car from tipping over, placed a 20# lead weight slab in the bottom that my father picked up years ago. These weights have come in handy many-a-time during hobby and other construction projects.

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Planks adjacent to the end doors were left out for future door frame trim. The 1/2" brad nails were "set" and the nail hole filled with a wood putty. Believe that was an Elmer's product. The putty dries quickly and can be sanded within an hour or so.

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Next comes the car corner trim. Both the plywood skin and planking started/stopped at the corner of the car wall frames. This left a void just under 1/2" square (more like .450" square) to fill.

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Cut a couple strips from some 1/2" poplar board material. Ran those thru the surface planer until I got the desired square dimension needed and then used the router with a quarter rounding cutter to carve the outside curve. Beveled the edges. Sanded the corner piece. Drilled several nail holes. Ran a small bead of glue down the corner notch and nailed the corner quarter trim in place.

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With the car body corners installed, this pretty much completed the planking. The car was turned upside down and used a belt sander to remove excess plank material that extended beyond the bottom of the floor plywood. After cleaning off the wood dust, went back and painted over the exposed plywood and poplar plank ends with satin black paint.

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Now...here's a nearly completed old time wood-sided passenger car.

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Well, if I wanted an outside planked box car or even a refrigerator car, I'd be almost done with this project. BUT...don't think the RR prez or his wife would want to travel in an ice box. So next time, we'll start to let some sun shine in! See you then. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
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