Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)

[crueby]

Hi gals & guys,

This is my first post, so please excuse me if this is the wrong place to ask this question.

I am very interested in building the A3 Switcher using Kozo’s book and of course the excellent information on Model Engine Maker and this post. I’m in the process of collecting information for this wonderful adventure. Unfortunately, I have immediately hit a major roadblock, I can’t find a copy of Kozo’s book, The Pennsylvania A3 Switcher.

Do any of you fine folk know where to source a copy, new or used.

Thank you for any suggestions or leads,
Tim

The publisher (Village Press) has run out of copies, and are in the process of a new print run on several of Kozo's books (I guess Kim's thread has created a lot of demand!) I don't know when it will be back in stock again, hopefully soon. Next best bet in the meantime is haunt the used book dealers and auctions for a copy. 

[Buggs]

Thank you for the speedy reply and the encouraging news. I’ll keep looking and collecting information on the project. I would like to have enough info to feel confident I can complete the build. Having Kozo’s book looks like a good bedside read at the very least.

I see you are near Rochester, I live in Williamsville near Buffalo. Hope the weather is a little nicer than here. At any rate, I guess it’s good weather to be in the shop making chips.

Tim

[crueby]

Thank you for the speedy reply and the encouraging news. I’ll keep looking and collecting information on the project. I would like to have enough info to feel confident I can complete the build. Having Kozo’s book looks like a good bedside read at the very least.

I see you are near Rochester, I live in Williamsville near Buffalo. Hope the weather is a little nicer than here. At any rate, I guess it’s good weather to be in the shop making chips.

Tim

I think its just as cold and cloudy here today as it is in Williamsville! I'm on the west side of Rochester.
Kozo's books are well worth the search, I hope they are done printing soon, though it may be later in the year or early next, I don't know. I'm told they have several to reprint, plus Kozo's latest volume, nbr 2 on the K27 locomotive. Keep checking on the smaller shops and used book dealers. Many of the used dealers will take requests for books, so they will look for you.

[Kim]

Hey Tim,
Yeah, Kozo's A3 book is really hard to come by right now.  I looked around too and even all the used places are out of stock.  I'm sure one pops up every once in a while, so stay vigilant!

It is a great book!  All of Kozo's books are really good. You couldn't go wrong getting one to read and learn from.  I chose the Pennsy Switcher for my project because I wanted a good starter engine project with that traditional looking valve gear on it! Don't get me wrong, I love the geared engines too, like the Shays and such, but I really wanted the traditional side valve gear.  So iconic, you know?  Anyway, I'm very pleased with my choice. And I'm getting close(ish) to completing this build.  It's been a long project for me, I started in 2018.  But I've enjoyed every minute of it!  Well, MOSTLY every minute. There were a few times I felt ready to throw it all in. But a good night's sleep set me straight again.  I've learned so much from doing this project.  You will love it, I'm certain.

Hopefully, Village Press will get their new reprints of the books in soon.  I'm waiting for a few of them too.  I want a copy of the New Shay, and that isn't available now either.  Soon though!

Best of luck, Tim! You should post your build here so we can follow along.
Kim

[Buggs]

WOW, thanks crueby and Kim!

I’m really impressed that you two took the time to offer your help. I think the first thing to do is read this post in its entirety, hahahaha, that should be enlightening. I’ve already watched all of Quinn Dunki’s videos and there is information all over the net. That should keep me busy while waiting for Kozo’s book to become available.

Kim, I will certainly post to this fine site my progress whenever the project gets launched.

Have a great day,
Tim

[Kim]

I started the day by remaking the vent valves that I’d removed last time.  But this time, I got the correct sized hole in them! Yay!  Then I silver soldered the parts in place and now we’re back to where I thought I was last week:


With that mishap firmly behind me, I then set out to make the ball seats in the check valves.   I did this on the lathe, holding the 1/4" threads in a collet chuck. To make sure the part was held nice and square, I used a center to hold it in place while I was tightening the collet.  This worked quite well.


I drilled the hole for the ball bearing close to depth with a #17 drill, then switched to the 0.180” seat cutter D-Bit.  This widens the hole slightly and cuts a nice 15^o bevel for the ball seat.


Then I drilled a shallow hole for the sealing surface and tapped 12-32 for the plug.


I had to clean up the hole under the ball seat.  The D-bit turned up quite a burr.  Here’s what it looks like after removing the burr.


Then I used the Kozo recommended method of a nice sharp rap on ball bearing to create the finished ball seat.  You can kinda see it in this picture here.


It’s not a great picture because I’m trying to do a closeup without a macro lens. My macro lens broke a couple of years ago when some wind knocked my welding screen over onto the tripod and sent the camera crashing to the ground.  The camera came out OK, but the lens, not so much.  Anyway, I try to take closeups by getting as far away as I can, then using zooming in on the part as much as possible while still allowing the lens to focus.  It works OK, but I really miss my macro lens. 

Now I can move on to the vent valves and plugs for the check valve.
Kim

[crueby]

Some fine detail work in those! 

[cnr6400]

  Very nice Kim! You'll be shooting water out of  those in no time. 

[RReid]

Even though they don't always go right, I personally enjoy doing small, multi-piece, multi-op parts like that. Yours came out great in the end!

[Kim]

Thanks Chris, Jeff, and Ron! 

Yes, I agree.  These little fabrications are really quite satisfying!  And there are a LOT of them in this build!

Kim

[Kim]

The check valve plugs were made from 1/4" hex brass. Fairly simple turning job, with 12-32 threads.


Next, the vent valve stems were made from the same 1/4" hex brass bar.  These were threaded 4-40.


While these were easy, I ended up snapping off the valve stem on one of them while cutting the threads.  I must have turned the die half a turn too far or something because the next thing I know, the die is disconnected from the part and the part has no stem!  Oops.  Making a new part wasn't that bad; the biggest bother was getting the bit of threaded brass out of the die so I could use it again. I ended up taking a jeweler's saw to it. That worked, with a little bit of effort.

Regardless of the excitement, it wasn’t really that hard and I got all the little pieces made.  I had some springs of the correct size that I’d made some other spring-making time, so I just used those.  Here are all the new little parts for the check valves:


Then I assembled them, and here they are, ready to be used!


Next up is the bypass valve.
Kim

[cnr6400]

 

[Admiral_dk]

A quick glance at the finished part on the whole assembly (locomotive) will not make the audience think how loong it takes to make these small parts ....

Nice result 

Per         

[Kim]

Thanks Jeff and Per! 

A quick glance at the finished part on the whole assembly (locomotive) will not make the audience think how loong it takes to make these small parts ....

Boy, ain't that the truth! 

Kim

[repkid]

It's been a hot minute since I checked this forum, that cab is looking pretty sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's been painted. Regarding the cost of the high-temperature silicone wire mentioned a few pages back: I buy mine on Aliexpress, the stuff from there is good enough and the low price makes the long-ish shipping time a worthwhile trade-off.