Author Topic: Shay Locomotive S/N 2800  (Read 83735 times)

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Shay Locomotive S/N 2800
« on: July 22, 2012, 03:31:03 AM »
I have spent a few years researching the drawing records of the Lima Locomotive Works and I have drawn 5 Shay locomotives and a really nifty geared 4 wheel critter with side rods all from original Lima records. The bulk of this work appeared in "Steam in the Garden" a small mom and pop magazine that was edited by the late Ron Brown a steamup buddy of mine and a real friend to the G1 live steam community,

The series of articles I wrote was titled The Nuts and Bolts of Shays and they are about the engineering of Shay locomotives. The series concluded with several articles that included all the drawings I could locate for Shop number 2800. This was a small 2' gauge 10 ton Shay with 2-6"x10" cylinders that ran at the Mapleton Tramway in Queensland Australia.

Issue #100 was the start of the Mapleton section Ron gave me a double fold out so the full up drawing was printed in the build scale of 7/8" to the foot. Both sides and the front and back of the locomotive are drawn full model size.

Here is the photo of Shop number 2800 posted with permission of the Allen County Historical Society Lima Ohio.


The frame seamed like the logical place to start so I had to think about milling scale I beam to get a good looking model. I have tried several ways that did not give satisfactory results so this time I used a 100 tapered ball end mill after the 1/2" square 12L14 stock was roughed to size. Here is the set up for the mill.


I found out right off that I had to make the same cut on both sides of the frame stock to prevent warping. Here is the photo of the first attempt that proved that concept.


Here is the finished I beams and some channel stock for final inspection.


Next up is a bit of rivet practice, the tools are modified versions of what is in the Harris boiler book fitted to a heavy duty Starrett automatic center punch.


The small section of brass stock is a guide that is 1.5 times thicker than the body of the rivet so i can use the flush cutter to leave the proper amount to from a rivet head the bucker for the vise is also shown.

Here is an early practice run the numbers more or less match what is in the boiler book but I reduced the operation to two dies for the center punch.


Here is a couple of  master patterns. The truss pads are right and left handed so I made a single master that the angle can be adjusted for either way. The left and right core are also shown. The little truss post guide was tricky to machine, I am really glad that I only have to make one of those. The grid is 1/4" square.


Here are the parts for a test fit. The frame is 19.25" long.


More to come to catch up to date.

Dan
« Last Edit: November 28, 2021, 04:17:22 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Offline sbwhart

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 745
  • Live Long and Prosper
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2012, 07:06:13 AM »
 Dad that will be a very interesting Loco Model what are scale are you building it to ?.

Some interesting stuff.

Stew
A little bit of clearance never got in the way

Offline ref1ection

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 49
  • Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2012, 01:21:30 PM »
Hi Dan, I'm very curious about the jig you used to mill the I-beam and wondered if you made that or parts are available?

Ray
Indecision... the key to flexibility!

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2012, 01:45:13 PM »
Hi Stew,
The scale is 13.7:1 or 7/8" to the foot and it will run on G1 track which is 1.75" wide.
Edit: fixed the first post to mention scale.

Hi Ray,
The jig was made using Mitee-Bite uniforce stock. It comes in 20" lengths and it can be cut to make custom clamps. I used the full length as my finished beam is 19.25" long. I had to use another set of mill clamps to force the stock back into the jig after machining one side. The process was fairly tedious but the final results were worth the effort.

Dan
« Last Edit: July 22, 2012, 07:22:13 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Offline ref1ection

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 49
  • Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2012, 03:30:02 PM »
Thanks for the info on the clamps and I'll be watching this unfold. I've always had a soft spot for shay's and yours is looking great so far.

Ray
Indecision... the key to flexibility!

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2012, 06:21:14 PM »
The Lima drawings that survived include some of the tools so I had to make some of the jacks that would have been included in the tool box for this Shay.

Here is the drawing of the smallest of the Lima jacks I have even seen a photo of one of these in use.


I used a 10-32 hex head socket screw to make a set of 4 jacks in 7/8" scale. The big one is one of the projects I made in shop class in college.


The channel section was cut and drilled for the angle brackets. The ends are filed to fit the I beam profile.


I am making both the Shays that went to the Mapleton Tramway. They were mainly the same built to the same plan but with some slight changes to the frame and a few other accessories like the boiler. The frame center plates proved very difficult to cast and as they are a fairly simple part that is easy to machine from solid I made the second set from solid.

I had a handy chunk of brass hex so the first step was to use the lathe for a center hole then over to the mill and the 5C indexer is used to rough out the shape.


Back to the lathe for the round sections and parting off.



Now to drill the cross holes.


Here is more scale stock made from hot rolled stock. I carefully kept the mill scale finish where it will show.


Here is a clamp and jig to drill the corner brackets.


Now both sets of cross members assembled.


Dan
« Last Edit: July 22, 2012, 10:53:58 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2012, 11:40:31 PM »
Now time to drill the I beams for the frame spreader assembly.

Here is the first side with the drill jig clamped. The distance is set by the scale. The brass bar clamp is a third hand to make it easy to set the C clamp.




Now the set up for clamping the other side with the same setting on the square.


I knocked off for the day and drilled the holes the first thing the next day only to find out that now the assembly did not match the drawing. This was not the first goof and most likely not the last one so I needed a new way to plug the bad holes.

I was using my Knipex pliers to smash tiny sections of rivets in the bad holes but I had to use blocks of steel to get past the beam flanges. This was a balancing act and a lot of the tiny rivet pieces fell out never to be seen again.
 
My solution was to add tool steel mashing blocks to the pliers which are simple to operate with one hand.



This photo shows mashed rivet on the top and the same section repaired on the lower beam.


Now the frame is taking shape.


Dan
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 05:21:39 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Offline arnoldb

  • Administrator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1341
  • Windhoek, Namibia
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2012, 10:47:05 AM »
The frame's coming along well Dan  :ThumbsUp:

I like the way you repaired the "bad" holes too!

Kind regards, Arnold
Building an engine takes Patience, Planning, Preparation and Machining.
Procrastination is nearly the same, but it precludes machining.
Thus, an engine will only be built once the procrastination stops and the machining begins!

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2012, 05:39:23 PM »
Thanks for stopping by Arnold. Things are going up so fast here it is really hard to keep up with all the great builds being posted.

I have a lost wax casting setup to make the parts I need for this project here is the casting bench.


The blue box is the kiln and the orange box is the programmable controller. In the back the black box is the vacuum pump. The short blue box in the foreground is the vacuum table setup with a gasket for casting.

I mostly do small pours so I use a hand held crucible that I use the rosebud tip on my OA rig for the heat source. The stainless steel tubes are flasks for the investment.

I have an electric crucible but I have not really done many pours that need that much metal. The SS things are production flasks and at some time I will upgrade my operation to use them.


Here is the rubber vulcanizer and the wax pot.


Now to show how I make use of the equipment I will show the steps to make the drawheads.

First for a complicated part I start with wax and make a model 5% larger than the scale print. The drawhead used for S/N 2800 was unusual and I think it was a special case for the Mapleton Tramway. The drawhead on the left was the one used for the Gilpin #1 Shay and it is a lot more typical for small early Shays. I noticed the similarity so I made both at the same time.




The wax is cast to make a metal pattern for a rubber mold. This is the master and the core. The other core with the square edges was used to help make the wax pattern.


Here is the whole assembly in a rubber mold frame ready for the rubber to be added.


The rubber mold is shown cut open with the cores in place. The blue wax is ready for cleanup and investment.


The finished drawhead is placed on a scale drawing for comparison.


Dan
 
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 05:42:22 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Online steamer

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12697
  • Central Massachusetts, USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2012, 06:47:30 PM »
Sweet set up Dan!

I'd forgotten about this build....I hadn't seen it in a while!

Dave

"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline Alan Haisley

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 693
  • Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2012, 08:35:14 PM »
Dan,

This is great. Shays are really fascinating engines and following this build is bound to be an education.

Alan

Offline ref1ection

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 49
  • Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2012, 04:19:16 AM »
Dan, thanks for showing how you do lost wax casting. Very interesting to see what's used and how.

Ray
Indecision... the key to flexibility!

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2012, 01:35:44 PM »
Dave, Alan, and Ray thanks for the support. I was still writing the articles the last time I posted a new thread on this work. I thought that I could write and build at the same time boy was I wrong. :Jester:

In the process of documenting this work my wife Alicia who is usually the photographer found an early set of casting photos with her brother John helping with the oven.

I mostly use a hand held crucible as I mentioned and that takes all my hands one for the torch and one for the crucible...okey I see that I am holding both items in one hand and looking over my shoulder but the metal is not hot yet.


Pouring the bronze after John took the flask out of the oven and placed it on the vacuum table and turned on the vacuum.


Molten bronze on vacuum table.


John inspecting the part just out of the investment.


Here is the piece just cast with a few other early Shay castings and a Stock Drive Products bevel gear.


Dan
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 07:15:07 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2012, 07:18:45 PM »
Back to the frame here are the drill blocks for the frame. The reason there are 2 in the photo is the top one is like the drawing. I used thicker channel then the drawing so I had to make a new block to match my stock.


I made the I beam the true overall cross section size with a thicker web. On second thought I should have matched the flange dimensions and made a wider beam. That would have given the correct flange depth to rivet to not a slightly narrower flange. I need all the room I can get to rivet to the flange.


This is the drill guide to drill the frame angles attached to the ends of the I beams.


Here is the full set of running board brackets for Shay Plan 1553. The short ones are on the left or the fireman's side and the long ones are on the engine side with the engineer.


This is the bending and drilling tool. The top screw acts as a stop and a clamp for drilling.


 

The setup to bend the odd short bracket.


Both styles of left side brackets with a slice of I beam stock.


Dan
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 06:07:38 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

Offline Dan Rowe

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1170
  • Dripping Springs TX USA
Re: Shay Locomotive
« Reply #14 on: August 04, 2012, 03:59:01 PM »
The holes for riveting the running board brackets to the I beam were drilled in both parts with a single setup. Here is the drill guide.


And here is the setup in the drill vise.


I made two small blocks that just fit in the I beam flange.


I used the drill guide to spot the holes then used a ball end mill to make the pocket for the rivet head. I goofed with the first attempt so I did a second try.


This is the setup to rivet the running board bracket.


I made another jig for the grab irons. 14 gauge fence wire is nearly exactly the size required but simply smashing it would not make tabs large enough so a fabrication seamed the simple way.



Here is the silver solder operation and a finished bracket.




Here is the frame still missing the grab irons and a bunch of other parts.


I have several more frame parts in progress and I will add them when they are complete.

Dan
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 06:50:40 PM by Dan Rowe »
ShaylocoDan

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal