Author Topic: Stephenson's Rocket  (Read 28555 times)

Offline stevehuckss396

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #195 on: June 27, 2020, 03:58:42 PM »
This may have already been talked about but I cannot remember. Is this engine scaled so it can run on some commercial size track like the garden railway guys use?

Do not be like the cat who wanted a fish but was afraid to get his paws wet.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #196 on: June 27, 2020, 05:49:19 PM »
No, it isn't. Although everything is scaled "proportionally", it isn't sized to suit any specific track size.

Offline Art K

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #197 on: June 28, 2020, 02:01:03 AM »
Brian,
The rocket looks great, ready for takeoff. You can use whatever track size you want, with an appropriate length air hose. I must admit, I half expected to see the door open with the threaded rod sticking out.
Art
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you" B.B. King

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #198 on: June 28, 2020, 02:37:10 AM »
Art--I'm setting here with everything assembled, trying to decide what to do next. There is an assembly of flat-bars that run parallel to the boiler and out in front of the engine from the rear of the driver platform. I have the material so I probably will build them next. I'm also thinking about how I am going to anchor the stay rods that act as braces on the smokestack and drivers platform. I would like to make them from 1/8" diameter aluminum round rods, but that creates a problem at the ends where they transition from round to flat. I might make them from 1/8" diameter steel cold rolled, which would let me silver solder a very small flat bar to each end. I checked to see what size socket head capscrew would work to attach them, but the only size that has a head diameter less than 1/8" is a number "0". That is almost smaller than I can comfortably work with.

Online Jasonb

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #199 on: June 28, 2020, 01:34:00 PM »
hammer the ends out flat so they become wider and then you can drill a larger hole.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #200 on: June 28, 2020, 02:01:14 PM »
Jason--I did think of that, but will have to buy a piece and try it to see if it will work. I would really like to stay with aluminum for the stay rods, but I don't know how well it "flattens".

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #201 on: June 28, 2020, 07:54:56 PM »
I've started taking applications for "Train Driver". This guy showed up last night just after dark!!!--I also have a five year old grandson visiting for a couple of days. He should have a card like Paledin---"Have Toys--Will Travel".

Offline crueby

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #202 on: June 28, 2020, 08:05:09 PM »
Looks like a dark ride!   :Lol:

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #203 on: June 28, 2020, 11:20:10 PM »
I'm coming right down to the wire on this thing. All I have left to build before tackling the wheels are the bands which go around the boiler (Which will probably be cut from some aluminum tubing) and the piping below the boiler, and the fire-box door. Since the piping below the boiler is only for show and not for go, I think I can bend it up from round bar. I will make up a welding jig as shown in red, then heat the rod until it is cherry red and bend it around the posts in the jig.


Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #204 on: June 29, 2020, 05:20:31 PM »
This is the piping that runs below the boiler in it's first stage of development. A simple jig was made from scrap 1/2" plate and four 1/4" dowels mounted in it in the correct position. The "pipe" is designed with 1/8" inside radius at the bends, and the easiest way to achieve that is to bends the "pipe" around the 1/4" dowels. Of course the "pipe" is really 5/16" diameter cold rolled steel solid. It is going to require some more "finessing" before it is installed in place. It was heated to bright red in the bend areas with my oxy-acetylene torch and bent by hand.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #205 on: June 29, 2020, 09:51:00 PM »
Hah!!!--even the old and ugly get lucky sometimes. I had to go by my metal supplier today, and he had a cut-off of aluminum tube just about exactly the side I needed for the rings on the outside of my boiler. A little boring on the inside, and a clean up pass on the outside, and I have a lovely set of rings for the outside of my boiler. They will eventually be loctited in position, and the one ring that sets between the engines is going to have to be cut, but I'm so much happier making the rings this way than trying to form them out of aluminum strips bent around a form.


Offline crueby

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #206 on: June 29, 2020, 10:00:03 PM »
Really adds to the appearance, great!

Offline Art K

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #207 on: June 29, 2020, 11:25:12 PM »
Brian,
Looks great with the rings on it. The Rocket is really coming along well.
Art
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you" B.B. King

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #208 on: June 30, 2020, 01:00:07 AM »
Thanks Art---Now, jumping back onto the project I started much earlier today. The piece has been removed from the jig, ends sawed off to correspond with the fire-box width, and a vertical section silver soldered on. The vertical piece has a hole drilled and counterbored thru the center, and a #4 shcs will go thru it and screw into threads in the bottom of a hole in the boiler. Although I have never shown it in the solid models, I want the sawed off ends to have a flange where it meets the sides of the fire-box. I'll do that tomorrow morning.

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: Stephenson's Rocket
« Reply #209 on: June 30, 2020, 08:00:39 PM »
Today I added the "flanges" to the piping which sets below the boiler, and I built what passes for a fire-box door. What a crazy lathe set-up to turn the tapered face on that "door". The only way I could make it work was to reach across center with the cutting tool and run the lathe in reverse. It worked fine, but was a really strange set-up.

 

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