Author Topic: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)  (Read 242232 times)

Offline crueby

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1065 on: May 29, 2018, 09:43:35 PM »
Thanks George!
I'll have to be careful of that, because I do have to do some additional work on that piece.
Is there any way to harden brass?  Short of work hardening it by bending?  I could unbend and re-bend, but I'm afraid I'd end up where I was before and the brass wouldn't bend to shape and just spring back...

Thanks,
Kim
Work hardening, either bending or hammering/rolling is the only way, brass and copper does not harden with heat treating. Does not take much bending, just flexing it can do the trick.

Offline Steamer5

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1066 on: June 02, 2018, 07:08:39 AM »
Hydro testing... a pain in the   :censored: but ya gotta do it.  Looks like your test is a success, smooth sailing now. :ThumbsUp:

Try hydro testing 9.5 kilometers of subsea pipeline that goes up & down hill!........first attempt didn’t work, why not well you can’t get the gas out of the hi point! After 4 days trying we finally managed to get a soft pig into the pipework offshore........this is on an unmanned platform so daylight only allowed. By the time I get to work to night hopefully the pig should have done its job & pushed the gas out.....

Hi Kim,
 Still following look great!

Cheers Kerrin
Get excited and make something!

Offline Zephyrin

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1067 on: June 02, 2018, 08:40:32 AM »
Very nice work with the boiler, casing and pump, you get out of all the traps easily; a very interesting thread all around...
I didn't see any layer of insulating material inside the casing, do you have room for a 2 to 3 mm layer of ceramic fibre, as we put on small gauge locos ?

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1068 on: June 02, 2018, 05:52:54 PM »
Try hydro testing 9.5 kilometers of subsea pipeline that goes up & down hill!........first attempt didn’t work, why not well you can’t get the gas out of the hi point! After 4 days trying we finally managed to get a soft pig into the pipework offshore........this is on an unmanned platform so daylight only allowed. By the time I get to work to night hopefully the pig should have done its job & pushed the gas out.....
Hope you get it working quickly Kerrin!  Sounds like a royal pain!

Very nice work with the boiler, casing and pump, you get out of all the traps easily; a very interesting thread all around...
I didn't see any layer of insulating material inside the casing, do you have room for a 2 to 3 mm layer of ceramic fibre, as we put on small gauge locos ?
Thanks Zephyrin!
Interesting thought on insulation.  Rudy doesn't seem to us any, and there isn't any room on the top, maybe some around the sides.  But I'm not sure it will see enough running to be worth any insulation.  But I guess you could say that about the rest of it  :naughty:  But I won't!  :Jester:

I'm having a grand time and I think it will work!

Thanks for the comments guys!
Kim

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1069 on: June 03, 2018, 04:43:46 PM »
Well, not a lot of progress on the steam tractor today.  I had several things around the house that I’d been putting off.  One of which was to rebuild our gate.  Its been in bad shape for several years, but this winter some of the boards rotted completely through and were falling off.  Clearly time to do something about it.  So this was my solution:



Like I said, not much on the tractor, but a good bit of work for the day regardless.  And it looks pretty good if I do say so myself!

Kim

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1070 on: June 03, 2018, 05:05:01 PM »
Beautiful Kim!!

Bill

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1071 on: June 04, 2018, 12:52:19 AM »
Thanks Bill! :)


Got some shop time time today, so made a little more progress on the Steam Dome.

I needed to cut an arc into the bottom of the Steam Dome tube that I’d riveted up last time.  So, I used the same dowel that I used for drilling the rivet holes to help the tube keep its form, and clamped it in the vise.  Then used the boring head set to the appropriate diameter and carved a nice arc in the base.  Like so:


It lined up nicely with the saddle, and I made a little jig to hold it together and set it up for silver soldering:


Here’s the after soldering shot.  It worked out pretty well.  I could have used a bit less solder (got a couple of blobs) but it turned out pretty nice.  I used the #000 tip on my OA torch, and maybe I should have used a bigger one – there was a lot of metal here (and my jig added some heat sink too.  But I got it done.


And after some clean up, here’s what it looks like:


Then I had to take a quick peak of it sitting on the top of the boiler, where it will be mounted soon.


Thanks for stopping by!
Kim

Offline crueby

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1072 on: June 04, 2018, 01:09:58 AM »
Nice job on putting the arc in the dome! I would have been afraid of the cutter deforming the far side as it came out, but it looks like there was no problem. Clever!

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1073 on: June 04, 2018, 01:23:19 AM »
Thanks Chris,
The plan (hope?) was that the wood form inside the tube was a good enough fit to keep things from deforming too much.  I didn't take too deep of cuts, which may have helped.
Kim

Offline Tennessee Whiskey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1074 on: June 04, 2018, 01:58:51 AM »
Saweeet  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp::popcorn: and  :DrinkPint: and following.

Cletus

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1075 on: June 04, 2018, 02:23:46 AM »
The wood no doubt kept the cuts less interrupted than they would have been...clever idea there. The final fit looks really nice too Kim.

Bill

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1076 on: June 04, 2018, 04:55:00 AM »
Oregon is a nice state. (All states are.)

I may come visit Oregon.

I know a fella that would put me up.
He probably wouldn't even mind if I stayed a good while.

Hopefully he won't want cookies in return. I can't seem to get them out of you know who.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1077 on: June 04, 2018, 05:46:46 AM »
Thanks Cletus, Bill and Zee,

Hey Zee, if you do find yourself out west here, let me know and maybe we can meet up!
Kim

Offline Don1966

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1078 on: June 08, 2018, 05:00:53 PM »
Kim just catching up on your build and all looking great buddy sorry I am behind been distracted lately.


 :cheers:
Don

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #1079 on: June 08, 2018, 07:22:25 PM »
Thanks Don!
Nice to see you back on the forum! 
You'll have to let us know what you've been up to. Hope they have all been good distractions! :)
Kim

 

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