Author Topic: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)  (Read 327481 times)

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #165 on: January 04, 2019, 12:43:43 AM »
Very nice progress Kim. Looking forward to seeing these come together.

Bill

Offline Steve17

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #166 on: January 04, 2019, 10:54:06 AM »
You are curtainly making good progress. I know what you mean about quitting while you are ahead. This is enjoyment not a job.

Steve.

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #167 on: January 05, 2019, 06:52:07 PM »
Thanks Steve and Bill!
You'll see the first steps of that 'coming together' here :)


Yesterday I got the columns soldered together.  This was an important step in that it proves that I can successfully silver solder 12L14 and the 4130 sheet steel.  I fully expected it to work, based on my extensive research (asking you guys and Googling) but its nice to see it work regardless! :)

Here’s my soldering setup – all prepped and ready:


And after the job.  This happens to be a different “after” shot (i.e. it doesn’t correspond to the before shot above) but the idea is the same (I forgot to take a picture of the first one).


I found that it was best to do each side separately. If I prepped both sides, the flux was all dried out and worthless by the time I got the first end done.  So I just took to prepping one end at a time.  8 solder sessions vs. 4, but it was worth it to have it work!  :Lol:

After soldering and a bit of pickle and a wash, I milled off the heads of the sacrificial screws that helped hold things together for soldering.


Then milled off the overhanging part of the sheet that joins the two columns.  Did this on both sides. (Note, I didn’t mill of the head of THIS screw, since it wasn’t soldered and can be re-used.)


Then there was some serious filing work to clean up the top connecting plate.  Here three of the four columns have been filed to shape, with the bottom right still to go.


Today I’ll drill and tap the final holes in the columns then get going on the bolsters!

Thanks,
Kim

Offline crueby

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #168 on: January 05, 2019, 07:29:21 PM »
Great job. Getting comfortable with the silver soldering opens up all sorts of fabrication.


 :popcorn:

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #169 on: January 06, 2019, 12:38:35 AM »
Thanks Chris!

The Columns aren’t quite finished yet.  I still need to finish cleaning them up, and adding the screw holes.

I wanted to start with this shot:  My new vise :)
This is my first real use of my new vise and it is quite nice! I’ll have to say its much more stable than my old vise and is more than adequate for this job!


The unfortunate thing is that I wanted to make some Aluminum soft jaws for the vise.  I started taking off the stock steel jaws but I couldn’t get them off. They are held on with little Philips head screws and they I found them VERY hard to get out.  I was able to remove a couple of them, but I completely stripped out one of the screws.  Now I can’t get it off at all. I’ll have to drill it out or something.  But, that’s not a job for today.  Instead, I just used double-sided-sticky-tape to hold a couple of pieces of aluminum in place over the steel jaws.

Anyway, here’s one of the columns ready to be filed to shape.


Next, I drilled 4 holes in each of the column assemblies (this is the top of one column):


And then tapped them 3-48 (this is the bottom of the column).


And the final shot of all four completed columns:


And that’s it for those. Thanks for looking in.
Kim

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #170 on: January 06, 2019, 12:43:00 AM »
Chapter 3.4 – Bolsters and Side Bearings
Following the columns are the bolsters.  These consist of upper and lower bolsters.  There will be coil springs between the upper and lower bolsters and the wheels will connect to the lower bolster.  The columns that I just made will keep the upper and lower bolsters aligned.

I cut several 5 1/2" lengths of 1018 steel.  Two for the upper bolsters (5/8”x3/4”) and two for the lower bolsters (5/16” x3/4”).

Since the bolsters (the upper in particular) will have some significant milling, I wanted to stress relieve these before starting.  Again, I did this with my torch, heating them up to a nice dull red.  Then I closed my “oven door” and left them to cool slowly.  You can see my ‘oven’ all closed up here :)


Here’s after the door is open.  You can see the 4 chunks of steel that were cooling all night.


But many of the cuts on the bolster need to be done at 3o.  So, I need to make a jig to allow me to cut easily at 3o.  For this, I used a 6” piece of 1/2" square 1018 that I had in my ‘short pieces’ pile.

To cut a 3o angle, I setup my sine vise, like so:


Here’s after I shaved a little 3o wedge off.


With this done, I cut the bar in half, and the jig is done.  I will be able to support pieces clamped between these two parts in the vise, and it should produce a 3o angle.




That’s where I left off today.

Thanks for taking a look!
Kim

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #171 on: January 06, 2019, 12:47:44 AM »
Nice day in the shop Kim. Gonna hate to see you have to go back to work. Very much enjoying the build.

Bill

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #172 on: January 06, 2019, 12:55:59 AM »
Thanks Bill!
Yeah, me too!  But I'm going to have to start W**k next week. :/  I'm enjoying having a bit of shop time every day. Guess it gives me something to look forward to in my retirement  :D
Kim

Offline crueby

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #173 on: January 06, 2019, 01:04:58 AM »
Thanks Bill!
Yeah, me too!  But I'm going to have to start W**k next week. :/  I'm enjoying having a bit of shop time every day. Guess it gives me something to look forward to in my retirement  :D
Kim


Ick!!  Condolences on the W**k.

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #174 on: January 06, 2019, 01:12:08 AM »
Kim, I really like your solution to the 3* problem! Very clever..

 :popcorn: :popcorn:

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

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #175 on: January 06, 2019, 05:28:36 AM »
Thanks Pete!
Unfortunately, the only credit I can take here is maybe how I made it.  This is the 3o fixture that Kozo shows in his book.  But I made it a different way than he shows, so I'll take credit for that.  (or for copying someone else and not realizing it, so not attributing it to them, which is highly likely  :embarassed:).

Appreciate you following along Pete! :)
Kim

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #176 on: January 06, 2019, 08:57:38 AM »
 :ThumbsUp:

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

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #177 on: January 06, 2019, 09:33:23 AM »
Hello Kim,

Still following along and enjoying the build.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline Firebird

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #178 on: January 06, 2019, 09:52:19 AM »
 :popcorn:

Cheers

Rich

Offline kvom

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #179 on: January 06, 2019, 12:31:31 PM »
For temporary soft jaws for your vise, just mill some aluminum in the form of "angle iron" that sits on top of the steel jaws.

 

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