Author Topic: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher  (Read 11230 times)

Offline Pogo_proptie

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #60 on: August 01, 2024, 01:23:22 PM »
All right time for a big update

If the chapters of kozo's book had had a titles; chapter 5 would be named :
sketchy setups for miles and miles

Last update i was done with the walls  now I'm done with the tank. Here's is the report
The store was out of quarter inch so i had to get flat bar wider et saw it open banana split style and mill the cut which went well. Then the very stress full bend went ok but not great


I seem to be missing the coal bunker wall pics but i have the little collar on top. Best was was hands down to cad the part and print it to scale and file to the line


Mostly on the belt sander. The little border was done the same way. (I think quinn misread the plan saying there was no dimensions on the plan. You actually have some numbers to had to the basic expanded diagram to make the second piece which were super easy to do in sketchup and reprint)

Here is the fast version on the coal bunker


now the sketchy setup part started for all the screws to put before soldering



then it was soft soldered in place. it went ok, i did have to squeeze a couple scrap to close some of the gaps in the back curve that will be forever hidden..



next i made the rivet puncher which was fun to quench

was quite happy with my test piece


not long after i had the tank coming along




then more sketch press drilling for yet fixturing screws



final fitting i did have to shave a bit of the back on the sander to really hug the curve


i was resourceful and had to use the RT as an angle plate to fixture the last ones. came out great

lol just saw this detail of the youngest always keeping me company

 
ready for flux and go time


this was my plan to make sure the holes would fit again after the heating.. i replicated the hole on 2 scraps where the flex was already quite real so the final piece would still fit.



and BOY did it work. only 1 hole at the back is a bit hard after. might massage it further or enlarge it ever so but it's a very good success. it is kinda watertight but not perfect at the top, but as i understand, water will never come higher than the square hole for the hatch anyway and some sealant will take care of the rest.




while stressful it was quite easy heating

As promised it was a big update. almost done with chapter 5. the lamp support and coal stopper are done but not pictured.

Still having tons of fun but i kinda want to move on to more choochoo part as this detailing is not my favorite part at all. i don't have the material for the rail so this will be on the to do pile. 

fun epilogue, i did go see the Colorado railway museum and saw a loco of the same era, check out the shape of the tender, stairs and rail design, kozo was REALLY accurate when you look at it. 



Hope you like it, don't look at the mess to much see ya next time

Pogo

Offline Kim

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #61 on: August 01, 2024, 06:20:59 PM »
Great update, Pogo!  :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn:

There's a LOT of work in the tank and you tackled it quite well.  I too remember some sketchy setups to try and hold that large tank for drilling the fixturing screws.  I seem to recall doing some of the drilling with a hand drill!  But you got it all to work and soldered it together well.  It looks great!

Are you planning to paint?  Or leave the metal finish?

Kim

Offline Pogo_proptie

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #62 on: August 02, 2024, 02:15:43 AM »
I will paint but absolutely no eta for it. Nothing can rust so I'm  in no rush lol

Offline Pogo_proptie

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #63 on: September 14, 2024, 04:29:57 PM »
hello modelers

another update of the past month's progress

with the tank sound, i did the side panels.. they are very banana shaped but a bit of hamering on the curve made them better and should screw flat later



next was the hatch components. that was a lot of work


and this was the easy part


i improvised to make the man hole fit in the plate instead of trusting my filing like kozo suggests.. what i did is remember some highschool math and bored the same diameter as the tube but at the final angle like this

i dubbed that sketchy setup the ''vice in a vice next to another vice''


the result was quite nice



ready to use to much solder as is tradition


only the hole and fixturing remaining but it's pretty good


this was done the kozo way and easier than i initially thought.


a weird timing issue made me try the pump soldering quite late and after i killed the torch i took this picture to amuse the kids


very fun part to make the pump (apart from the stainless piston and handle, for me it was like cutting diamond. it was the first time on this train that I was actually HATING  every  second of my shop time. FARK you 304 SS   :mischief: :censored:
I was having such a bad time that I don't have picture (its to mangled to show you anyway)

BUT i made it



and after amazon delivered the tiny ORING i could test it and it was PERFECT. to pump of air and little jets after.. I was all smiles and so proud. then.. i put my thumb on the output and  :facepalm2: :facepalm2: :facepalm2: :facepalm2: :ThumbsDown: :ThumbsDown:

it's getting out on the piston size..

so after a bit of cool down i'm pretty sure that my last facing cut on the bronze retainer took out a couple thou more than necessary and the Oring is not sqwiched in the shoulder. so this is my next step. the fell and action of the pump feels really good so no panic yet, just some more learning.

while i was waiting for the Oring i did bend the hand rails but they are not done yet..

So that it for now hope you like. will update when i have a pump, and you you need a couple milliliters of water to move, just call me

POGO


Offline Kim

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #64 on: September 14, 2024, 10:44:56 PM »
Nice work on the sides, manhole hatch, and the hand pump, Pogo!  :ThumbsUp: :popcorn:

Yeah, I had a lot of difficulty with the hand pump too.  That O-ring retaining mechanism is kinda iffy.  If you tighten the set screw on the O-ring retainer tight enough to hold things in place, it squishes down on the plunger.  What I did to finally get it all working was to put a divot in the top of the o-ring retainer for the set screw - my thinking here is that I wouldn't have to tighten it down as much to keep it in place if it had something for the set screw to hold on to.  I also had to make the plunger hole in the O-ring retainer larger to make up for the fact that it was pushed off-center by the set screw.  This seemed OK since the water tightness property comes from the O-ring, not the close fit of the plunger through the O-ring retainer.  I also ended up putting TWO O-rings in front of the retainer, but this was probably because I got the O-ring ledge a little too deep in the pump housing.  But it allowed it all to work, which is nice.

I believe Quinn (Blondihacks) had a similar issue when she made her hand pump too.

Good luck getting the pump working.
Kim

Offline Pogo_proptie

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #65 on: September 15, 2024, 09:26:29 PM »
all right my new bushing seems tight. now the only leak I have is from the little screw in the front but i haven't put the proper locktite in there yet (what kind should i use for leak proof locktite)

next task is the railing and after the piping museum will commence.

POGO

Offline crueby

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Re: a newbie's take on the A3 switcher
« Reply #66 on: September 15, 2024, 09:34:55 PM »
If that screw ever needs to be removed, the low strength 'blue' loctite is perfect. Be sure to shake the bottle or tube, that version has a tendency to  separate  when sitting for a long time. If there is any chance the liquid could run into moving parts, the other easy option is to tightly wrap the screw with teflon pipe tape sold in the plumbing section. Seals great, no chance of it getting into moving parts, and can be taken apart easy. I use it a lot.

 

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