1/16 scale 1916 Case 65 HP Steam Traction Engine

[raveney]

Building a version of Rudy's Traction Engine. A big shout-out to Kim for his well read post "Steam Tractor-Rudy K" which gave me lots of tips and tricks for the build so far. Some enhancements so far are the grouters, thinner and increased number of wheel spokes, and extra stays and rivets.
Thank you for looking...

[Dave Otto]

That looks great, nice work!

Dave

[crueby]

Very good looking!

[cnr6400]

    Looking great!

[Kim]

Wow! That looks great!  You've gotten a lot done there!
Those rivets really gave me a run, but I got them worked out.  Hopefully you had an easier time of it? These were the first rivets I'd ever done, but most of the problem I had was drilling the boiler shell.

Your extra rivets really look nice!  Well done! 
Kim

[raveney]

Thank you for the comments and encouragement 

The rivets were done using a shopmade c-clamp rivet press. It took a lot of work to make it, but has paid dividends putting these rivets in as it is much much faster and more consistent. I started off with the more traditional rivet "snaps" for the cleats on the wheel rims and got fairly decent results just using 18 gauge copper wire. For the boiler shell I wanted to do better and leave the factory rivet dome on the outside. The rivet press is built upon a suggestion that another builder, Dennis, gave using a deep throated c-clamp.

I had a large piece of 3/4" x 4" steel angle and sawed the side off a short piece. Then it was chain drilled and milled out for a 1" x 8" throat. I machined the upper and lower snaps out of O-1 and hardened them after recessing using an 1/8" ball end mill as is typical.

I then sent away to Goodshall's for some high quality copper rivets. I have used almost 200 on the boiler shell so far. Very pleased with the consistent results. Used slightly larger 2.5 mm ones on the throat plates to simulate the side stays.

[Admiral_dk]

Impressive looking build so far 

Per                   

[raveney]

Thank you Admiral,

A bit of a milestone in the project today as the front axle was completed and the tractor is self supporting.

The axle was made to look like the image below using a narrower swivel pin and a fish-bellied center that was cast on the real version. Let me know if the plan is legible for anyone who may care to replicate this also. Not terribly hard to do for the extra realism.
 Looking at the LHS view it appears I may move the crankshaft forward so the flywheel rim is flush with the leading edge of the horn plates.

[raveney]

getting used to the image posting. Thought it would all fit

[Kim]

Beautiful job!  I really like some of the modifications your making to make it match the real prototype more.  It really does add some nice detail.  Like riveting that vent thing along the bottom front of the firebox, and the more complex hub you made for the rear wheels, just to mention a few that you haven't already named.  It really adds to the overall look.

As for the pictures - I think there is a size limit for one post too, in addition to each picture, but I'm not sure exactly what it is.  You can attach a max of 8 pictures per post, but I don't remember what the max size is.

If you host your images somewhere else, you can embed them in your text if you want. Then there is no limit on how may pictures you can have in one post

Great work, Raveney,
Kim

[Dave Otto]

That looks great, always nice when you can add details to a model that makes it stand out from the crowd. 

Dave

[crueby]

Max total is 10mb, max single is 1mb, 8 images max.

[raveney]

Thank you for the photo hints. I coulda swore I reduced the image size, but it seems I need to double check using properties because they swell up again
Here is an update on the sheet metal work. I built the parts per plan and then changed things around to make it more like the real bunkers using trapezoidal boxes and making them tuck in behind the wheels. Of course I added a ton more rivets, cause the rivet press is so much fun to use.
I needed to change my bandsaw blade to 24 tPI instead of the everyday 8-12 TPI one. It cuts very nice like that in the vertical table position, but hearing protection is a must. That makes the one who must be obeyed happy also.

[RReid]

Nice job on the sheet metal work. That's looking really great!

[crueby]

Looks fantastic!  How did you bend the corners to get the different  radii on them?