Wichendon Machine Shop (restart)

[PRR Modeler]

I agree with Jerry Dave. Are you going to blacken the shafts?

[deemery]

I agree with Jerry Dave. Are you going to blacken the shafts?

I got some steel wire for shafts (arrived late today.)  The mock-ups use some different stuff.  Looking at videos of machine shops, the shafts tend to be lightly weathered steel.   So in short, I probably won't weather/paint/color the steel wire shafts.     From an Iron_Jonsey video:


Since I need to do 12 paddles, I'll think about a jig to cut them to the same size and drill the hole.

dave

[nycjeff]

Hello Dave, it's coming along really nicely and I'm learning quite a bit about steam powered shops. Good job Sir

[deemery]

Hello Dave, it's coming along really nicely and I'm learning quite a bit about steam powered shops. Good job Sir

Yeah, I find this kind of "in depth research into something I knew nothing about" to be my favorite part of the hobby.

dave

[deemery]

I got the main line shaft hangers installed (I did it so the shaft is removable.)  I used thick CA and accelerator.  These will take a bit of stress particularly when I go to install the belts, so I wanted a tight bond. 

The paints I wanted for the pulleys arrived, so I painted them, too.  This is the "Green Stuff World" Steel & Silver metallic set.  Frankly, I was disappointed with those paints, there was a lot of gunk in the bottle even after 2 full 2-minute sessions on the Vortex mixer.  It did spray OK.  The color I wanted has a "tin" sense to it, which is close to the pulley color on the Iron_Joney video pulleys.  Tomorrow, I'll probably test out those pulleys on the main shaft.  Gluing the pulleys into position will have to wait until I get the auxiliary shafts constructed and installed. 

dave

[deemery]

Main drive shaft brackets are installed, and the shaft with its pulleys is test-fitted. 


A mock-up of the shifter on the workbench:


And that mock-up moved to position over a tool:

I have a lot of detail work to do to position the auxiliary shaft and its pulleys precisely over each tool's pulley, but this is moving right along...

(p.s.  the cone pulley has holes on either end, the shaft doesn't go all the way through, so those are 2 pieces of shaft,  Fortunately, that doesn't show...)

dave

[Jerry]

Now that's what I call an excellent job Dave!

Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Outstanding Dave.

[Philip]

  Looking great!

[friscomike]

Howdy Dave, the overhead drive system looks terrific.  It is delicate work done well.  Have fun, mike

[nycjeff]

Hello Dave, the overhead system looks great so far. I'm looking forward to see what you do with all of the drive belts.

[deemery]

The alignment of the tool and of the aux drive shaft are critical.  I need to align the cones, allow space for the idler pulley, figure out where the shifter handle goes, and how the wood that holds the aux drive shaft and shifter is connected to the ceiling joists.  Plus I need to mark the location of the tool once I make that decision, and then remove the tool so I can flip the model upside down and glue the pre-assembled aux shaft & shifter to the ceiling joists.  And I need to do the per-tool weathering/staining on the floor.  Once ALL the aux shafts are located, I can think about gluing the tools into position along with the operator figures.  Once the tools are glued, I won't be able to flip the first floor assembly upside down any more.

So my plan is for each machine tool, determine the approximate location of the aux shaft, cut the two pieces of wood that hold the shaft into position to the correct length, and then mark the location for the pulleys (cone and idler) and shifter arm.  Then I can go back to the workbench and assemble those parts.  I'll go back with the assembly and confirm and mark the tool location on the floor. 

dave

[KentuckySouthern]

Delicate work, looks good.

KS

[swisstrain]

Awesome job, Dave.  You take this to a whole other level!

Urs