Author Topic: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)  (Read 242045 times)

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #300 on: March 07, 2016, 10:21:41 PM »
Excellent progress Kim.

re: light fixture...ain't it wonderful having a shop?
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
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Offline Tennessee Whiskey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #301 on: March 07, 2016, 11:36:06 PM »
Kim, I really like the way you look to make a tool or jig to help you insure success.  I was thinking while reading this that our shop teacher back in high school told us,  " 90% setup and 10% machining equals a 100%"  :ThumbsUp:  :ThumbsUp:. Hey,  I have one of those stand mounted illuminated  magnifying lamps that is broken,  do you take commission work  :lolb:

Cletus

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #302 on: March 07, 2016, 11:54:55 PM »
Old machinist I worked with decades ago used to say that if you didn't have a setup you had nothing. Right on.

Pete
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Offline Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #303 on: March 08, 2016, 03:22:23 AM »
Thanks Zee, Eric, and Pete!

Hey,  I have one of those stand mounted illuminated  magnifying lamps that is broken,  do you take commission work  :lolb:
Cletus

You betcha!  Send it on over and we'll get our rework department right on it!  :Lol:
Kim

Offline Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #304 on: March 13, 2016, 10:05:24 PM »
Today, I made some nuts & bolts (and yes, I think they are bolts based on the bolt vs. screw thread). 

I decided to go ahead and move up to #6 bolts to attach the Horn Plates.  I also chose to make hex head bolts instead of read made pan head bolts.  Though I don't really know what is prototypical, a hex head bolt just just seems more in keeping with the steam era than a Phillips head.

With this in mind, during the week, I'd ordered some 303 Stainless Steel hex stock.  And luckily, it came in on Thursday! :cartwheel: So I set out to make my bolts!

It wasn't very hard, but since I hadn't really ever done this before, and I needed several of them, it took me some time.

I took a few progress shots to share with you all.
Here's after bringing it down to size and threading 6-32:


Then cutting off the head to the right thickness.  I used the table on the American Model Engineering Supply site for guidance on dimensions.


After repeating that process many times, I then flipped each bolt around, faced it off and chamfered the head at ~30o.


For the nuts, I drilled, and tapped a length of the hex stock. Then chamfered one end of the nut just like the bolt heads:


And cut it off to length.  I made the nuts a little thicker than the bolt heads (using the sizes indicated in the chart I referenced above).  As I have seen many other people do, I used something to catch them so that I didn't have to go swarf diving.  I used one of those little tubes that come with a can of WD-40 and held it in the tailstock chuck.  It worked great!


After cleaning up the inside edge of the nuts a bit, here's what I had to show at the end of my work time:


While not quite up to the high quality of Dave Otto's nuts for sure, I'm pretty pleased, and think they will look much better on my little steam tractor than commercially available pan head screws!

Thanks for looking,
Kim
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 06:01:38 PM by Kim »

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #305 on: March 13, 2016, 10:32:01 PM »
9 bolts and 11 nuts.
2 extra nuts.

Nice.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
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Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #306 on: March 13, 2016, 10:40:27 PM »
Gremlins prefer nuts...they're smaller. Nice work though Kim!

Bill

Offline Don1966

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #307 on: March 13, 2016, 10:48:56 PM »
'Nice set of nuts Kim"  :lolb:  and I wonder how a rock tumbler filled with glass beads would do to those nuts. Looking good buddy....... :ThumbsUp:

Don

Offline mal webber

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #308 on: March 13, 2016, 10:49:15 PM »
Nice work there Kim coming along very nicely.

Mal.

Offline Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #309 on: March 14, 2016, 01:22:10 AM »
Thanks Zee, Bill, Don, and Mal,

9 bolts and 11 nuts.
2 extra nuts.
Hmm.... One of the bolts is missing there.  I made 10 bolts, and 12 nuts.  One of the bolts apparently was camera shy and sneaked out of the picture, and one of the nuts was accidentally cut too narrow, so was rejected by the QC department :embarassed:

Gremlins prefer nuts...they're smaller.
My thoughts exactly Bill!

I wonder how a rock tumbler filled with glass beads would do to those nuts.
I think I'll give that a try.  Hopefully they'll clean up nicely :)

Just came in from the shop.  I've got a new exciting update. Hopefully I'll get time to post an official update sometime soon! :)
Kim

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #310 on: March 14, 2016, 01:54:06 AM »
Nice Hardware Kim!

There is a lot of satisfaction being able to say yep; I made all of it, including the nuts and bolts.

Nice work!

Dave

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #311 on: March 14, 2016, 02:44:47 AM »
Kim, that's really neat that you've now made the fasteners for your model!! Or some of them anyway. The rest to follow!!

There's not a store-bought fastener in the world that can beat those for satisfaction.

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Offline Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #312 on: March 14, 2016, 03:55:14 AM »
Thanks for the kind comments Dave and Pete.

Here's my exciting update from today's shop time.

With my small pile of fresh new fasteners, I used my (also new) 9/64" mill to re-drill out the holes for the #6 bolts.  I used a mill because the holes weren't necessarily going to be drilled in the center of the old hole, and I didn't want to come out with square or any other odd shapes this time around!  So, I used the center cutting end mill and it worked great.
Here I am re-drilling the first side.  This is the last hole on this side, the others already have bolts in them.


And here I am finishing up the other side.


Now for my big question.  Which looks better, or alternately, looks more prototypical?  The left side, with the hex bolt heads showing?


Or the right side, with the nut showing?


Now, I realize that this steam tractor isn't modeled after any specific engine.  But it is supposed to be reminiscent of a Case steam tractor.  I've spent time looking at pictures of Case tractors on the internet and it seems this engine just doesn't model anything to that level. So, unless you guys have some real guidance, it seems that it's down to an aesthetic choice.  I'd love to hear your thoughts either way.

And lastly, here's what made me so excited!  :cartwheel: I can now put the rear wheels on and see what it might look like someday!  Pretty cool, eh?!  :cartwheel: Well, at least for me it is!


Thanks for following along and helping me out with my many problems and questions.
Kim
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 06:02:07 PM by Kim »

Online Jasonb

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #313 on: March 14, 2016, 10:09:30 AM »
I don't know if you can get them over there but some of our ME suppliers sell what are either called "threaded rivits" or "unslotted roundheads" . These have a rounded head that looks like a rivit but you can fasten them with a nut on the other side that would look most accurate as the sides were rivited.

Another option that won't show when its painted is to use button head cap screws which is what I have used on my larger engine as they will blend in with the other decorative dummy rivits, there are another 5 to go in but this will give you the idea.



The two rings around teh smokebox are all unslotted roundheads




Offline 10KPete

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #314 on: March 14, 2016, 10:26:03 AM »
Nuts to the inside!! No self respecting mechanic would put the nuts on the outside. Too untidy!

In that picture it kinda looks like a long-nosed chariot.

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

 

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