Wichendon Machine Shop (restart)

[deemery]

Dave,

The machine shop is looking rather busy.

Is it your intention to have a see through wall so the interior can be appreciated fully or is it just the foundation for the final wall finish?

That's the "final wall".  I'll mount the window and door castings into the acrylic. There was too much work in the interior to not be able to see it.  LM3 custom-printed the trackside (viewer side) wall for me.  

dave

[Rick]

Dave, I can imagine building that tiny chair was a challenge.
Plexiglass wall is an excellent idea.

[Larry C]

Dave the Machine Shop looks fabulous!! Brilliant idea using the Plexi wall. You must have a lot of patience to make a chair that small.

[deemery]

How I did the chair:  (1)  I glued the 2 parts of the seat together with wood glue.  (2) I then put the seat upside-down on a piece of double-stick tape on the workbench.  (3) I put a dab of wood glue into each of the 4 leg holes.  (4) I positioned the legs into the holes, made sure they were perpendicular (or equally slanted...)  (5) I then added thin CA to where the legs fit into the holes.  I did a small puddle of CA for each to get a strong joint.  (6) When that was set, I went back and coated the legs with thin CA for added strength.  (7)  Then I flipped the chair over, put wood glue where the back attaches to the seat.  I checked the position of the figure, and then added a bit more wood glue on the back to lock the seat back into position.  (  Finally, I glued the butt into the seat, and put dabs of 30 min epoxy on the leg bases and the figure's feet, and positioned it on the model.

So a rather involved process!

dave  
  

[Jerry]

Dave great idea with the plexiglass looks great.

This is really coming out nice.  Can't wait to see what you do upstairs.

Jerry

[friscomike]

Howdy Dave,

The plexiglass wall is most clever.  It will look terrific.  Congrats on the chair build; it looks great.

Have fun,
mike

[deemery]

A better mock-up of the clear wall:

I'm still pondering what to do for the freight doors.  But with the plexiglass, you can see much of the belt drive parts, and That's A Good Thing, considering the effort that went into them.  I guess I should hook up the juice and take a picture with the LEDs lit up.

dave

[PRR Modeler]

It looks great Dave.

[deemery]

Today is one of those days where the only thing the glue will stick to is my fingers!   I need to find a new wood glue.  My NESL Flamingo Glue has gotten old (and they don't sell it any more.)  The thinned yellow carpenter glue wasn't working for me today, either.

And then I organized the drawer underneath the airbrush hood, and put some stuff away in the lahyout room, so I could get to the area where Lamson & Goodnow goes.  I need to do the scenery behind that before I tackle the scenery in the hole for the factory.  Doing some scenery will be a good break from Winchendon for a couple of days. 

dave

[deemery]

I'm still building fiddly laser-cut wood furniture. Fortunately, the kit came with plenty of each.  I gave up on the overly fragile drafting table bracket, but I've been successful assembling the chairs.  Work continues...

dave

[jbvb]

For a 1950s drafting table, I'd try bending the support frame out of .012 or .015 wire, then soldering a few points together to stabilize it. I doubt there were steel frames in the 1890s, when everyone was using up old-growth wood like they'd be gone before it ran out (accurately, alas).

[Philip]

Looks great~!

[deemery]

For a 1950s drafting table, I'd try bending the support frame out of .012 or .015 wire, then soldering a few points together to stabilize it. I doubt there were steel frames in the 1890s, when everyone was using up old-growth wood like they'd be gone before it ran out (accurately, alas).

I have several older/antique drafting tables (including my father's student table, that I had to fight my brother the architect for.)  They all follow this pattern, a pair of cast iron arches, cast iron handles, and threaded rods to set the arch, and vertical slides with cast iron parts to set the elevation.

And the wood is always oak.  My wife has one new table (from her days as a graphic designer) that is lighter wood, but still has a central pivot for the table.

I have seen this style, too:


Early 1900s General Electric drafting room:


dave

[deemery]

I've been assembling the kit's shelving units, that takes some time to let the glue set up on a partial assembly, before I can finish it.  There are 6 shelve units to build, so by now I've got the process down.  I consulted with my brother the architect on some drafting room layout questions, and then scratch built a blueprint cabinet.  And I started on a set of filing cabinets. 

No pictures, I'll post when I'm done.

add Some pictures, structure on location.  The office furniture (no chairs, they're too fragile for 'quick snappies')


And a larger view:

I should add power for the lights, and mock up the sides in a future photo.

dave

[friscomike]

Dave,

You are doing such excellent work!  What will you put on the bookcases?  Books? 

Have fun,
mike