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Another Pennsylvania A3 Switcher

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JCvdW:
After paging through Kozo's excellent book for more than a year now, and inspired by Kim https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,8552.0.html and Blondihacks on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY67-4BrEae-xhrvZX33gPk4Q87S1ttae, I finally decided to take the plunge. Who knows, if I can get past the boiler, I may just finish this project one day.

I will try to follow the build sequence suggested by Kozo, and will buy materials as needed along the way. Specific materials and sizes are not always readily available, so I will have to adapt and improvise as I go along. For instance, brass will be replaced by mild steel where possible.

I do not intend to post every step of the way, but will try to make notes where I think it may perhaps benefit others (and/or myself) in future.

Every journey begins with the fist step - in this case cutting the first mild steel disk for a tender wheel:



A few days later - eight tender wheels ready to be painted:



Notes:

1. The 30 deg pointed cutting tool used to machine the wheel plate, must have sufficient side rake to clear the rim of the wheel.

2. Turn the mandrel in the sequence suggested by Kozo. First cut the thread before turning it to final size.

crueby:
Great  start!  Will be watching along...   :popcorn: :popcorn:

Kim:
Eight beautiful tender wheels!  What better start to the A3 Switcher project could you ask for?  :cheers: :popcorn:

Good luck on this extended project.  I wish you all the enjoyment that I have had in tackling this project.  Have fun!  ;D

Looking forward to reading as many updates as you care to post!
Kim

JCvdW:
Chris and Kim, thanks for the encouragement! I may be finished before the switcher! Let's see.

Axles, bearings and journal boxes complete.





I found the use of a go/no-go plug gauge for the holes in the journal boxes, as suggested by Kozo, very helpful. Also the use of a mandrel to turn the outside of the bearing, as suggested by Blondihacks.

The journal boxes saw my first use of a 10mm carbide end-mill on mild steel on my RF-45 clone. So far I have only used HSS cutters. The higher feeds and speeds of carbide resulted in much less vibration, and hence better surface finish, compared to HSS. Not to mention the much faster progress, and hopefully significantly longer tool life. Very happy with the result.

Next in line the truck columns. This will be my first venture into the world of silver soldering...

Admiral_dk:
Those look ready for assembly on the chassis  ;)   :ThumbsUp:

Per            :cheers:

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