Author Topic: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)  (Read 327964 times)

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1770 on: August 05, 2022, 01:14:24 AM »
Amazing amount of work represented there!
Looks great!

Dave

Online crueby

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1771 on: August 05, 2022, 01:38:01 AM »
You say it doesn't look like enough for the time, but those are a lot of parts, all the right shapes, all that fit, and they work!!

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1772 on: August 05, 2022, 04:10:42 AM »
Very nice job Kim.

…. Plus, I can feel the air whizzing out of the drain cocks when they are open :)

Wait till the boiler is under pressure and there is a slug of hot water in the cylinder; stand at the wrong place when you open the throttle, and you get ‘peed on’ with hot boiler water!

(Ask me how I know)
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Online Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1773 on: August 05, 2022, 05:26:37 AM »
Thanks Dave, Chris, and Craig!  :cheers:

Wait till the boiler is under pressure and there is a slug of hot water in the cylinder; stand at the wrong place when you open the throttle, and you get ‘peed on’ with hot boiler water!

(Ask me how I know)

So, how do you know?   >:D

Sounds painful!

Kim

Offline samc88

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1774 on: August 05, 2022, 08:29:42 AM »
Looks great, its almost a shame to paint it

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1775 on: August 05, 2022, 08:36:41 AM »
Thanks Dave, Chris, and Craig!  :cheers:

Wait till the boiler is under pressure and there is a slug of hot water in the cylinder; stand at the wrong place when you open the throttle, and you get ‘peed on’ with hot boiler water!

(Ask me how I know)

So, how do you know?   >:D

Sounds painful!

Kim

Especially so, when the locomotive is on the elevated track in the steaming bay, the drain cocks are at waist level, or head level if you happen to be bending over.  :facepalm2:

Nothing quite makes your day like a squirt of boiler water in the ear.
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Online Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1776 on: August 05, 2022, 05:49:04 PM »
Wait till the boiler is under pressure and there is a slug of hot water in the cylinder; stand at the wrong place when you open the throttle, and you get ‘peed on’ with hot boiler water!

(Ask me how I know)

So, how do you know?   >:D

Sounds painful!

Kim

Especially so, when the locomotive is on the elevated track in the steaming bay, the drain cocks are at waist level, or head level if you happen to be bending over.  :facepalm2:

Nothing quite makes your day like a squirt of boiler water in the ear.

YOUCH!

Online Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1777 on: August 05, 2022, 05:50:33 PM »
Looks great, its almost a shame to paint it

Thanks Sam,
Yes, almost... But I decided long ago that I was going to paint.  And the tender is already painted.  And I think it would look silly to have the tender painted but the engine left in bare metal!  :Lol:

But I agree.  It was a hard decision!
Kim

Offline PJPickard

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1778 on: August 06, 2022, 12:23:03 PM »
Kim,

I don't agree about it not looking like a lot of work. I'm building an 0-4-0 camelback in 1.5" scale and frequently have discussions with a live steam friend about how it takes a certain kind of person to keep working on these until they are complete. The collection of parts represent a LOT of work. I'm just at the stage of taking apart my running chassis to paint it and put back together. For the last time I hope, just like you said! I enjoy following along!
« Last Edit: August 06, 2022, 12:27:09 PM by PJPickard »

Online Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1779 on: August 06, 2022, 03:42:40 PM »
Thanks PJ!
Hope your painting and re-assembly goes well! :)

Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1780 on: August 09, 2022, 12:07:33 AM »
I’d spent the last few days masking and cleaning all the parts, so today was painting day!

Here’s the first batch of parts just after they’ve been powder coated.  The crinkly shiny stuff along the top is aluminum foil.  I’ve found that if cover the rack with foil I can hang the parts on the rack and powder them there.  Then I just have to move the rack into the oven.  Before I was hanging them in a box for powder coating, then moving the part to the rack, and THEN putting the rack in the oven.  This just makes one less step and I have less problem banging the parts together and knocking the powder off.  And the aluminum foil keeps the rack itself from getting powder coated!  I thought it was pretty ingenious :)


Here’s a tray of cookies baking in the oven.  They’re almost done – the timer is about to go off!


And here are the first two trays out of the oven, after they’ve cooled enough that I could take them off the racks.  But you can still see masking and some of the hanging wires.


And finally, a day’s work baking.  All the parts have been painted and we’re ready for re-assembly.


Well, I have to take that back. One part was still in the oven – I’d dinged up the steam-T when taking a rack out of the oven and I wanted to re-coat and bake that part before I finished for the day.  It still had some baking time left when I took this picture.  So if you noticed the steam-T missing, you were right!

It’s done now though.

It never ceases to surprise me how fun and easy this whole powder coating process is. And what amazing results it provides!  I really like powder coating.  It is one of my favorite finishing methods now.  I’m not a lover of painting ever, but this, I can do!

Next shop time will be re-assembly.  Not tomorrow though. I’m going over to my Mom’s house to help her tomorrow.  So, maybe Wednesday?

Thanks for following along!
Kim

Offline RReid

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1781 on: August 09, 2022, 12:27:15 AM »
Beautiful results. How does that oven differ from a standard toaster oven?
Regards,
Ron

Online Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1782 on: August 09, 2022, 12:38:58 AM »
Beautiful results. How does that oven differ from a standard toaster oven?

Uh... The label?

I believe it's just a toaster oven that they put their name on.   The reason I got this one specifically is that I was sure this one would get hot enough to do the job, it has a fairly large volume, and it has a large glass door so you can see through it well.   And it was in the same price range as a larger toaster oven.  Plus, I was buying the powder coating gun from Eastwood at the same time so I got a deal on it too :)

I did look at other toaster ovens but they all had problems - things like the door was smaller than the inside so it would be hard to maneuver parts in and out that were toward the large end of its envelope, or they would only go up to 400F (you need 450F), or it didn't say you high it would go (this was quite common), or they had very poor visibility into the oven, or they were just very small.

So I'm quite pleased with this oven and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.  But if you've got a toaster oven that would work, by all means, use it!   Just don't cook food in it anymore after you've used it to cure paint!  :Lol:

Kim

Offline kvom

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1783 on: August 09, 2022, 12:37:04 PM »
I bought a double wall oven from a guy doing a house renovation for $100, and use it for powder.  Another $50 for a 220V cord and plug.   I can do larger parts than in the toaster oven size.  I keep the oven on a roller platform so I can move it out of the way easily when not in use. 

400F works fine in my experience.

Covering the rack with foil keeps it clean, but I haven't done that, so mine are multi-color as I also spray parts hanging.

Online Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #1784 on: August 09, 2022, 05:39:03 PM »
I bought a double wall oven from a guy doing a house renovation for $100, and use it for powder.  Another $50 for a 220V cord and plug.   I can do larger parts than in the toaster oven size.  I keep the oven on a roller platform so I can move it out of the way easily when not in use. 
That's a great idea!  If you have the space, at least.  And it surely would allow you to do larger parts!  I saw one guy on line that extended his oven using foil-covered foam insulation so that he could fit a larger part in the oven.  Seemed to work OK for him...

400F works fine in my experience.
Glad to hear that works! :)
I've always done the 450 to get the paint to flow, then 400 for 20 min to bake.  That's what the directions say.  Guess some pains they recommend lower temperatures (like the clear) or it yellows.

Covering the rack with foil keeps it clean, but I haven't done that, so mine are multi-color as I also spray parts hanging.
The problem I would have is that I depend on the rack for my grounding connection to the parts. Once something gets coated in paint, it doesn't conduct very well.  So the foil helps keep the racks clean(ish).

Kim

 

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