I'm an industrial air compressor tech in Texas. We joke that most days are like an episode of How its Made. The variety of customers we have is amazing. Everything from a Yoga studio, to machine shops, to power plants. Last year I went to a shop in Waskom, TX that makes the wheels and axles for trains. The process was similar to yours, but on a much larger scale. I enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the good work.
I love this project. I’m a 34 year retired railroad employee and just wanted to add, regarding wheel flanges. The rounded edge is there to prevent the wheel from picking a switch. The term for describing a flange That has lost the proper roundness is called a “sharp flange” and is responsible for many a derailed car at a switch point.
@@sonkeschluter3654 I worked for a passenger railroad. Cars and wheels are inspected daily. Daily inspections are mostly visual, periodic maintenance, every 120 days, the wheel profile is measured with a gauge.
Hey, Quinn! FYI, Knipex makes soft jaws for those pliers. They've made my life easier when I have to work in a non-mar constraint. Cheers! (I purposefully waited to binge the heck out of this series-- I love it!)
Fun fact: I used to build and rebuild bearings for trains. They were all roller bearings. Every surface had to be meticulously prepared and tolerances were very tight. They were also huge... 7.5 inch, 9.5 inch and 12 inch inner diameters. The rollers were chrome plated. Fully assembled, 2 roller bearing assemblies, 2 end caps, a bearing cup, a spacer and pumped full of grease... They ended up being over a foot long and quite heavy.
Another great video. I liked that you told us how long it actually took. Maybe that’s something you could do from now on? Helpful for someone who wants to make whatever it is you are making.
I would like to thank you for all the time you have taken to produce all these video's, the amount of time and editing must be longer than making the items, I am a retired engineer and due to disability I'm no longer able to work, but there are people far worse than me and thankful for what I do have, I'm looking forward to seeing future video's
While I do enjoy and learn a lot from your videos, Your sense of humor is what makes it that bit more fun. I especially like some of the stickers I see in the background. (Caution: Spinny Thing Go Fast, for instance). Keep up the good work, good education and most importantly the good humor.
Also you’d be surprised how easily heavy metals get around. Diffusion, evaporation, reaction- always wash your hands carefully after handling leaded solder, ammo, machining blanks, or what have you. Your nervous system will thank you!
I’m glad you mentioned the bearing clearance as a factor in railroad wheel tracking. This is a big factor for locomotive wheels. I’ve actually done the bearing shim adjustments on a diesel locomotive to stop its tendency to walk from side to side. The axle travel is limited by rubber cushions at each end. Spacer shims are added as necessary to maintain the specified free clearance between the axle and the cushion. Too much clearance and the locomotive will rock violently side to side, possibly even derailing! It’s hard to believe a few thousands of an inch of shims can have that much effect on a 425,000 lb locomotive.
One of my favorite podcasts is hosted by a huge train nerd, and he often cites "walking oscillation" as a giant problem in developing high-speed rail locos and cars.
The shop that I used to work in would grease machined surfaces before painting (with epoxy paint). After the paint is dry you can wipe away the grease and paint. Be sure to use enough grease. Much faster than masking.
If you want to get perfectly cut tape around any kind of relatively sharp edge, you can tape over the whole surface, then tap a rubber mallet around the edges. Those edges will end up cutting the tape perfectly around the entire shape. It’s a quick and easy way to get very sharp edges on the paint job, and saves a fair amount of finishing work later. It’s something that a lot of people seem to use when taping off automotive engines for paint.
In my opinion, The real problem with making these wheels is the X8. After the 3rd or 4th one, boredom would set in and mistakes might get made. Great work Quinn!!!
The first time I really understood how trains center and roll through curves was a video where Richard Feynman explained it. Especially the part that it would NOT work if you had a differential, or freely rotating wheels on each side.
I worked for a company for several hears that made "high rail" stuff. Some of it was designed to run 80 ton cranes directly on rail. Big rollers picked the rubber tires up and placed rail wheels down onto the tracks. The rubber wheels drove the steel wheels. Some Railroads apparently used stuff like front end loaders set up this way and controlled by remote control for switching maybe. Anyway many of these setups the axles were fixed and each steel wheel had it's own individual bearings. Some wheels we used a plastic sleeve in the wheels so that the machine had the ability to NOT activate signal devices, or you could flip a switch and it allowed the electrical connection between the two rails that activated the signals. The cranes of course probably did not navigate switches at high speeds so maybe the individual wheel bearings worked OK then ?
I like the imperfections in the paint. Gives it the look of heavy machinery, which is what you're trying to replicate in scale. Nice job overall. Fascinating to see how it's done, and a very informative piece on how train wheels really work.
Whatba fantastic job on the wheels and axle assembly. Back in the 1970's, inworked dor a company named Brenco Bearings in Petersburg, Virginia. We machined train bearings and caps. They had to be spot on and polished when we removed them from the lathe. It was actually fun to machine the. Thank you for sharing your awesome project progress. Stay safe, happy and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia
When you're masking off area's for painting you were correct in using one big piece of tape but instead of cutting the tape away you can instead use the edge of the blade and scrape it along the corner down to metal there by giving you a perfect edge. In some cases you can even use a file. Works like a charm.
@@vicbartsch351 Yep, when I paint lathes, mills, etc I usually use a file to cut the tape then paint it, then hit the chamfer with the file again. Razor sharp edge.
I've never done a railroad project of any sort. But hearing you talk about the coning and "differential" action and float in the axles made me realize that it's not just the need to ride the wheels up on the cones but also to permit that same coning to occur when the "straight" frame of the engine. is going around a bend. the mid frame engine axles are going to be shifted to the outside and the more front end rear "end" axles to the inside by how the frame sits with respect to the curved track. You're right, those old timey railroad engineers knew a thing or three! ! ! ! Axle float isn't just a cop out, It's 100% a requirement.
Quinn .. again you do a fantastic job of explaining. That info at the 3 minute mark floored me. The ingenuity of some engineer to come up with that tapering and oppositional placement allowing for the going around a curve... WOW. Thanks.
While I do not have an interest in model engineering, your workflow and techniques are 100% transferable to what I do. Once again, very informative. . . Thanks!
Fun thing about train wheels, is they actually also have a "S" curved crossection, to make the wheel somewhat springy in diameter. This is instead of spokes making the wheeldisc springy, the way it was done on early trainwheels. Of course only really ambitious model train wheelsets also model this crossectional feature. Personally I love the beatiful early types of spoked wheels. There is a lot of technology going into real trainwheels! Among the most problematic things in the 19th century, was trainwheels failing, breaking or loosing their steel tyres. This was a very serious safety problem, but a German Physicist Helmholtz finally came up with a clever statistical concept of "mean time between failiures", which drastically reduced these accidents. A concept many of us recognize in relation to computer harddisk drives, where the number of hours "MTBF" gives you an idea of expected servicelife. This way of turning the wheeldisk tapers is very good! Some people resort to ground form turning tools, but that isn't a great idea on many small hobby lathes.
Learned a lot about train wheel engineering from my skateboarding days. The trucks on a skateboard and train car are very similar mechanically, and are both susceptible to harmonic oscillation (or speed wobbles). I love all the springs and suspension on trains to prevent that from happening. On a skateboard, I was all the spring and suspension.
I did some machining classes back in high school. Some 5* something years ago. And enjoyed it. Im really enjoying watching this project thanks for sharing.
Once upond a time; I worked in a little CNC factory; I made HO Scale train wheels. If I"m not mistaken, they were for LIfe-LIke trains. We also made parts for Chevy ABS brakes.
Company I worked for had multiple contracts with the RR to make the tools and tool Holders that were used to cut the train wheels. We did every operation from forge to final sharpening. We made custom tool and cutters also.
In my years as a railfan and part-time employee as a switchman I never thought about the tapered wheel shift actually varying the diameters of the inside and outside wheels on curved track. Although if the radius of the curve is tighter than this feature allows you’ll still hear that crunching sound of wheel slippage and flange squealing. Another smart science lesson learned from Blondihacks.
Ohh Quinn, you were just itching to get your Phalanges on those flanges, weren’t you? 😂 I bet you’re feeling pretty Chuffed about it too! Sorry if I’ve derailed your train of thought, hope I haven’t gotten you too steamed up about my comments 😅 but it’s certainly nice to see lathe back in service. Love from Germany. ❤
I was flipping through some old LIVE STEAM magazines yesterday, (Calliope articles.) and seeing some of the much larger train engines, boilers, I have new and better-informed admiration for their work thanks to you and yours! Thank you!
I build model rockets. As for "perfectionist paint jobs", An experienced rocketeer once told me, "If it looks good from 5 feet away, that's good enough." (Unless it's a Scale Rocket where perfection is expected). Your paint job is good enough. Model rockets get beat up after a few launches so, he had a good point. Build quality is paramount, pretty is secondary. Good explanation re: the angles of the wheels. I never knew that! Nice work Quinn.
5:00 Excuse me, we do have Hockey here in the states.. Granted, its not as popular as football or baseball, but us in Massachusetts do love it. Aside from that, its more like one whole baseball just squished flat.. Those hockey pucks are heavy as the dickens.. I have loved this series so far as my friend and i made a steam locomotive for senior project in High School Machine shop class. We made bronze wheels but so far its been pretty much the same work.
That was quite pleasing to watch, and the finished colour is spot on. I think with model steam engines it is very difficult to get a colour that doesn’t look over done but those wheels look amazing. Kudos to you Quinn for your ability but especially your patience when completing a task. Machining several parts which are similar do indeed require patience.
Love the Simpsons paddlin' reference. 😆 Anytime I'm using a spray can for paint, I soak the spray can in a bowl of warm water (100-ishº F). The warm paint sprays much smoother than room temp paint. Don't heat it to much though. I've used too-hot tap water and had the bottom of the paint can bulge due to the pressure increase!
Had an honest to gosh mind blown episode when you described how train wheels stay on the track due to the tread angle, and not due to the wheel flange. Which instantly made so much sense, once I tried imagining that measly flange keeping a multi-thousand ton train from hopping off the rails. 😳
If you need durability powder coating is a low cost option. If you live near any manufacturing areas, there is most likely a powder coating company in the area. If not you can buy your own gun and powder and use an oven to cure the parts.
The railway museum in York, UK, had an exhibit where kids could roll different wheel sets down a curved track. The wheel sets had different shape tyre profiles on. The cone shape is the only one that made it around the corner without flying off. A great way to learn how the wheels work 👍
Something I found useful making the tender journal bearings (if you haven't finished those already!): after turning one end and cutting it off, use a collet pot chuck to hold 'em to face and chamfer the other end. Worked great for me.
When I have painted my locos I have used satin and gloss. Satin on the frames and gloss on anything that needs cleaning as it's much easier to clean. And the shine fades after a while. I also use the VHT heat proof paint on the smokebox as it's the only good heat based paint I've used that dries a proper black. Many of them go a bit grey. Really enjoying this build. Keeps me thinking I need to get out and do more work on mine.
Owning several weird spinny disk machines that have much rougher grit sandpaper on (and I have never seen paper for mine that fine), your method with the fine grit on the lathe worked better and was more convenient than I could have managed. very cool :)
A buddy of mine did his engine cases on a vintage motorcycle with engine enamel and backed it at around 150F to 180F for about two hours. It withstood motorcycle boots for quite a few years. Let it dry for a few days then bake it and you'll have no issues for many years. I believe he used the same brand you showed.
I use the same paint booth and sometimes for rough cutting my steel so sparks don't burn the shop down. Its great on cooler months and not so much right now. 👍
On not having a horizontal bandsaw, here in the UK at least model engineering suppliers will happily supply you as many cuts as you like, sometimes for a nominal cut fee.
Never had the time or space to do anything similar but I'm always impressed by the work and progress you're making. Your video's are always a highlight of my weekend.
I've had great results using this procedure with spray engine paints: - Clean the part with brake cleaner. - Wipe it down with a lint-free cloth. - Spray the part. One light coat, wait 10 minutes, then final coat. - After 10 minutes, put the part in the oven at 200F for 30 minutes. - Let cool. I use VHT paint over Duplicolor, but this procedure makes a very durable coating that can even take a splash of brake cleaner later (but if it's gloss, the cleaner will make it flat.) Been following you since the Veronica project. Thanks for your content! :)
My copies of the ASTM standards are at work, so I'm commenting from memory. For paint adhesion cut or scribe lines about 3mm apart to create a checkerboard pattern, then press 3m scotch tape on the area and peel it up. If any squares of paint are removed that a failure. For durability use different grades of pencil lead, most paints shouldn't be marred by a 6h lead. And for the equipment you don't have, a gravelometer test could be done which basically fires a bean can of specific gravel from a calibrated pitching machine at the painted surface. I don't think the standard distinguished between fancy or French cut beans as the source of the can to measure the gravel though.
Very Nice Quinn. I really liked your expiration of why & how the wheels are shaped. Railroad engineers were very smart and practical people it seems in the steam age. Worthy of admiration that's for sure. Cheers
Interesting about the geometry. My father had a belt driven lathe and the belt was flat. The motor had a crude clutch that worked by moving the belt sideways off the driving pulley onto an idler pulley. This meant the pulleys didnt have flanges and relied on the pulley having a slight camber to keep the belt in the right place.
If you're not sure about black paint... may I suggest a semi-gloss / satin black? The reason I suggest this is I painted a test piece for my loco about a month back... I looked at the reference photos and it was clear that gloss black would just be too much, so I got a flat black... and I HAVE REGRETS!!! So I will be getting a spray satin black in the near future once I'm ready to re-do that part. You are of course welcome to disregard this, it's your loco, and it looks FANTASTIC thus far 😊❤
Satin is definitely the way to go. The satin I got was a bit flat - they vary a great deal. But gloss makes it look like a toy. People around here seem to like Caterpillar semi-gloss.
When drilling stainless steel I'll always rely on Rocol RTD liquid, it prevents workhardening and keeps the tools sharp. I don't know if it's available in Canada, but it works realy great, even for cutting threads on the lathe. It might not be the healtiest option, but it sure works. Keep up with your great videos, I'm always looking forward for the next one.
can't wait for 20 years from now when blondihacks singlehandedly revitalizes the american rail industry by building a whole ass 300 ton steam locomotive
Very cute! The finish is really great with that polish, and honestly the paint job looks just fine sitting back from my screen, so I'm sure it's also fine in person if you're not up close.
Hi Quinn, Just another great job well done, with the Dupli-Color you must cure that in the oven to improve the durability and chemical resistants, the correct temperature and time in the oven is on the can.
The “coning” on train wheels serves a similar purpose (I think) to a fusee chain cone in a watch…equalising tension in the let-down is about adjusting diameter in-train (pardon the pun) so, it’s a similar ball-park as in, how do you have infinite adjustment in a thing that doesnt adjust…? As you say : kinda brilliant😮
I've been catching up on your videos after being out of machining for a while. For the paint I can strongly vouch for cerakote ceramic paint. It takes a little more equipment than something like VHT but it's durable, heat proof and chemical proof. When I first got a sample bottle I sprayed some old rusty tools (wrench and chisel) with Armor Black 2-part and it was impervious to everything I threw at it (steel and brass wire brush, gasoline, alcohol, acetone, xylene, brake cleaner, engine degreaser, brake fluid, etc.). I am working on another kind of model engine (4-cylinder OHV gasoline engine) and planning to use the black cerakote on the exhaust system and a few other parts. I am applying it with a $40 HVLP gun from Amazon and an old toaster oven with excellent results.
Have you ever tried 1144 steel? Often referred to as “stress proof”. It’s also free matching. Not as buttery as 12L14, but a bonus is it can be heat treated.
Looks like for outdoor shooting in sunny weather (when you run out of aperture, shutter speed and ISO options) you need some ND filters. Fortunately they're common and cheap.
I'm an industrial air compressor tech in Texas. We joke that most days are like an episode of How its Made. The variety of customers we have is amazing. Everything from a Yoga studio, to machine shops, to power plants. Last year I went to a shop in Waskom, TX that makes the wheels and axles for trains. The process was similar to yours, but on a much larger scale. I enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the good work.
Loved the puck / baseball equivalence!
I love this project. I’m a 34 year retired railroad employee and just wanted to add, regarding wheel flanges. The rounded edge is there to prevent the wheel from picking a switch. The term for describing a flange That has lost the proper roundness is called a “sharp flange” and is responsible for many a derailed car at a switch point.
do you know at what intervalls the wheels are checked? by time or by miles / kms ?
@@sonkeschluter3654 I worked for a passenger railroad. Cars and wheels are inspected daily. Daily inspections are mostly visual, periodic maintenance, every 120 days, the wheel profile is measured with a gauge.
@@danbarone7643 thanks
One of the most weirdly satisfying things to watch, is a wheelset being rolled on a set of rails around a curve. It's like engineering sorcery.
This channel is an absolute paradise for detail-obsessed nerds like me. Thanks for sharing your passions!
Hey, Quinn!
FYI, Knipex makes soft jaws for those pliers. They've made my life easier when I have to work in a non-mar constraint.
Cheers! (I purposefully waited to binge the heck out of this series-- I love it!)
Fun fact: I used to build and rebuild bearings for trains. They were all roller bearings. Every surface had to be meticulously prepared and tolerances were very tight. They were also huge... 7.5 inch, 9.5 inch and 12 inch inner diameters. The rollers were chrome plated. Fully assembled, 2 roller bearing assemblies, 2 end caps, a bearing cup, a spacer and pumped full of grease... They ended up being over a foot long and quite heavy.
I grok how big the boiler is but seeing the wheels really gives a sense of scale for the whole thing.
Another great video. I liked that you told us how long it actually took. Maybe that’s something you could do from now on? Helpful for someone who wants to make whatever it is you are making.
It averages out to about one hour of shop time per minute of video. Over the years I’ve noticed that’s about the pattern
@@Blondihacks wow! Is much of that because of having to film?
I would like to thank you for all the time you have taken to produce all these video's, the amount of time and editing must be longer than making the items, I am a retired engineer and due to disability I'm no longer able to work, but there are people far worse than me and thankful for what I do have, I'm looking forward to seeing future video's
While I do enjoy and learn a lot from your videos, Your sense of humor is what makes it that bit more fun. I especially like some of the stickers I see in the background. (Caution: Spinny Thing Go Fast, for instance). Keep up the good work, good education and most importantly the good humor.
Happy Canada Day Quinn!
🇨🇦
The pucks rolling across the table-top looked happier than almost anything I've ever seen. Gleeful little pucks of ferrous joy.
Bob, is that you?
Nope, @@Nemozoli - Chuck Testa!
Another tip for masking - put a big piece over, and gently run a stone/fine emery around it, it leaves a nice clean mask
Also, you can hammer over the tape with a rubber mallet. It tears the tape pretty clean at the edges
@@19855342 Ive not heard of that, might have to give that a go
Those wheels look great. It's going to be a sweet ride. A real going to town rig.
Good thing you got the lead free steel. You just NEVER know when the urge to lick your wheels might kick in - safer this way.
Also you’d be surprised how easily heavy metals get around. Diffusion, evaporation, reaction- always wash your hands carefully after handling leaded solder, ammo, machining blanks, or what have you. Your nervous system will thank you!
@@bridgetshepherd5202My dad was a gun crank all his life, and I really do wonder what all that exposure to lead did to him.
Paranoia about toxic metals has led to a lot of misunderstandings.
I’m glad you mentioned the bearing clearance as a factor in railroad wheel tracking. This is a big factor for locomotive wheels. I’ve actually done the bearing shim adjustments on a diesel locomotive to stop its tendency to walk from side to side. The axle travel is limited by rubber cushions at each end. Spacer shims are added as necessary to maintain the specified free clearance between the axle and the cushion. Too much clearance and the locomotive will rock violently side to side, possibly even derailing!
It’s hard to believe a few thousands of an inch of shims can have that much effect on a 425,000 lb locomotive.
One of my favorite podcasts is hosted by a huge train nerd, and he often cites "walking oscillation" as a giant problem in developing high-speed rail locos and cars.
Can't wait to see you at Iron Horse Park. Really enjoy your channel
The shop that I used to work in would grease machined surfaces before painting (with epoxy paint). After the paint is dry you can wipe away the grease and paint. Be sure to use enough grease. Much faster than masking.
My neighbor's kid stole some grease and paint and defaced a few cars. Luckily he greased the cars first so it just wiped right off.
That’s clever!
Happy Canada Day!
🇨🇦
I absolutely am loving this series. It’s genuinely getting me more excited to start my progress to something like this.
If you want to get perfectly cut tape around any kind of relatively sharp edge, you can tape over the whole surface, then tap a rubber mallet around the edges. Those edges will end up cutting the tape perfectly around the entire shape. It’s a quick and easy way to get very sharp edges on the paint job, and saves a fair amount of finishing work later.
It’s something that a lot of people seem to use when taping off automotive engines for paint.
Love the jump cuts
Show the details on one and then jump cut for for the rest of them.
Fantastic.
In my opinion, The real problem with making these wheels is the X8. After the 3rd or 4th one, boredom would set in and mistakes might get made. Great work Quinn!!!
The first time I really understood how trains center and roll through curves was a video where Richard Feynman explained it. Especially the part that it would NOT work if you had a differential, or freely rotating wheels on each side.
Feynman is amazing. Love his talks. 😄
@@Blondihacks Very true.
A guy in our club tried that, and no, it didn't work. Who knew Feynman was right?
@@davidtaylor6124ell... Feynman, for one
I worked for a company for several hears that made "high rail" stuff. Some of it was designed to run 80 ton cranes directly on rail. Big rollers picked the rubber tires up and placed rail wheels down onto the tracks. The rubber wheels drove the steel wheels. Some Railroads apparently used stuff like front end loaders set up this way and controlled by remote control for switching maybe. Anyway many of these setups the axles were fixed and each steel wheel had it's own individual bearings. Some wheels we used a plastic sleeve in the wheels so that the machine had the ability to NOT activate signal devices, or you could flip a switch and it allowed the electrical connection between the two rails that activated the signals. The cranes of course probably did not navigate switches at high speeds so maybe the individual wheel bearings worked OK then ?
I like the imperfections in the paint. Gives it the look of heavy machinery, which is what you're trying to replicate in scale. Nice job overall. Fascinating to see how it's done, and a very informative piece on how train wheels really work.
Those are some snazzy looking wheels. I love the attention to detail and order of operations.
painting machining projects is so satisfying to watch
Whatba fantastic job on the wheels and axle assembly. Back in the 1970's, inworked dor a company named Brenco Bearings in Petersburg, Virginia. We machined train bearings and caps. They had to be spot on and polished when we removed them from the lathe. It was actually fun to machine the. Thank you for sharing your awesome project progress. Stay safe, happy and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia
I have a whole new appreciation for train wheels now. Awesome watching you work.
In response to being able to paint on both sides because the surfaces are both recessed…that horseshoe is working some magic for ya!
When you're masking off area's for painting you were correct in using one big piece of tape but instead of cutting the tape away you can instead use the edge of the blade and scrape it along the corner down to metal there by giving you a perfect edge. In some cases you can even use a file. Works like a charm.
Leaving the edges sharp allows this technique to work even better. Then cut the chamfers after painting.
@@vicbartsch351 Yep, when I paint lathes, mills, etc I usually use a file to cut the tape then paint it, then hit the chamfer with the file again. Razor sharp edge.
Beautiful work. The wheel sets look wonderful!!
I've never done a railroad project of any sort. But hearing you talk about the coning and "differential" action and float in the axles made me realize that it's not just the need to ride the wheels up on the cones but also to permit that same coning to occur when the "straight" frame of the engine. is going around a bend. the mid frame engine axles are going to be shifted to the outside and the more front end rear "end" axles to the inside by how the frame sits with respect to the curved track. You're right, those old timey railroad engineers knew a thing or three! ! ! ! Axle float isn't just a cop out, It's 100% a requirement.
Quinn .. again you do a fantastic job of explaining. That info at the 3 minute mark floored me. The ingenuity of some engineer to come up with that tapering and oppositional placement allowing for the going around a curve... WOW. Thanks.
Excellent set of wheels, 1215 material is a new one to me.
Thanks for sharing
While I do not have an interest in model engineering, your workflow and techniques are 100% transferable to what I do. Once again, very informative. . .
Thanks!
Fun thing about train wheels, is they actually also have a "S" curved crossection, to make the wheel somewhat springy in diameter. This is instead of spokes making the wheeldisc springy, the way it was done on early trainwheels. Of course only really ambitious model train wheelsets also model this crossectional feature. Personally I love the beatiful early types of spoked wheels.
There is a lot of technology going into real trainwheels!
Among the most problematic things in the 19th century, was trainwheels failing, breaking or loosing their steel tyres. This was a very serious safety problem, but a German Physicist Helmholtz finally came up with a clever statistical concept of "mean time between failiures", which drastically reduced these accidents. A concept many of us recognize in relation to computer harddisk drives, where the number of hours "MTBF" gives you an idea of expected servicelife.
This way of turning the wheeldisk tapers is very good! Some people resort to ground form turning tools, but that isn't a great idea on many small hobby lathes.
Puck to baseball conversion ... much love!!!
Learned a lot about train wheel engineering from my skateboarding days. The trucks on a skateboard and train car are very similar mechanically, and are both susceptible to harmonic oscillation (or speed wobbles). I love all the springs and suspension on trains to prevent that from happening. On a skateboard, I was all the spring and suspension.
I did some machining classes back in high school. Some 5* something years ago. And enjoyed it. Im really enjoying watching this project thanks for sharing.
They came out looking really good!
Love the editing on the repeating operations
Once upond a time; I worked in a little CNC factory;
I made HO Scale train wheels.
If I"m not mistaken, they were for LIfe-LIke trains.
We also made parts for Chevy ABS brakes.
Company I worked for had multiple contracts with the RR to make the tools and tool Holders that were used to cut the train wheels. We did every operation from forge to final sharpening. We made custom tool and cutters also.
In my years as a railfan and part-time employee as a switchman I never thought about the tapered wheel shift actually varying the diameters of the inside and outside wheels on curved track. Although if the radius of the curve is tighter than this feature allows you’ll still hear that crunching sound of wheel slippage and flange squealing. Another smart science lesson learned from Blondihacks.
Ohh Quinn, you were just itching to get your Phalanges on those flanges, weren’t you? 😂 I bet you’re feeling pretty Chuffed about it too! Sorry if I’ve derailed your train of thought, hope I haven’t gotten you too steamed up about my comments 😅 but it’s certainly nice to see lathe back in service. Love from Germany. ❤
I was flipping through some old LIVE STEAM magazines yesterday, (Calliope articles.) and seeing some of the much larger train engines, boilers, I have new and better-informed admiration for their work thanks to you and yours! Thank you!
Quinn, i hope that You are having a wonderful Canada Day. Best Wishes.
🇨🇦
Wow! The boiler build was fascinating, but these are that .... AND pretty!
Using a Simpsons reference that I also use constantly? You better believe that's a paddlin'... :)
I build model rockets. As for "perfectionist paint jobs", An experienced rocketeer once told me, "If it looks good from 5 feet away, that's good enough." (Unless it's a Scale Rocket where perfection is expected). Your paint job is good enough. Model rockets get beat up after a few launches so, he had a good point. Build quality is paramount, pretty is secondary.
Good explanation re: the angles of the wheels. I never knew that! Nice work Quinn.
5:00 Excuse me, we do have Hockey here in the states.. Granted, its not as popular as football or baseball, but us in Massachusetts do love it. Aside from that, its more like one whole baseball just squished flat.. Those hockey pucks are heavy as the dickens..
I have loved this series so far as my friend and i made a steam locomotive for senior project in High School Machine shop class. We made bronze wheels but so far its been pretty much the same work.
That was quite pleasing to watch, and the finished colour is spot on. I think with model steam engines it is very difficult to get a colour that doesn’t look over done but those wheels look amazing. Kudos to you Quinn for your ability but especially your patience when completing a task. Machining several parts which are similar do indeed require patience.
Love the Simpsons paddlin' reference. 😆
Anytime I'm using a spray can for paint, I soak the spray can in a bowl of warm water (100-ishº F). The warm paint sprays much smoother than room temp paint. Don't heat it to much though. I've used too-hot tap water and had the bottom of the paint can bulge due to the pressure increase!
Glad to see tou are rolling along on the A3.
Had an honest to gosh mind blown episode when you described how train wheels stay on the track due to the tread angle, and not due to the wheel flange. Which instantly made so much sense, once I tried imagining that measly flange keeping a multi-thousand ton train from hopping off the rails. 😳
Looking forward to seeing you operate the engine 👍
If you need durability powder coating is a low cost option. If you live near any manufacturing areas, there is most likely a powder coating company in the area. If not you can buy your own gun and powder and use an oven to cure the parts.
The axle bearings are gonna be two-piece with little bolts? Really fun.
The railway museum in York, UK, had an exhibit where kids could roll different wheel sets down a curved track. The wheel sets had different shape tyre profiles on. The cone shape is the only one that made it around the corner without flying off. A great way to learn how the wheels work 👍
ah that was relaxing ... excellent
Something I found useful making the tender journal bearings (if you haven't finished those already!): after turning one end and cutting it off, use a collet pot chuck to hold 'em to face and chamfer the other end. Worked great for me.
When I have painted my locos I have used satin and gloss. Satin on the frames and gloss on anything that needs cleaning as it's much easier to clean. And the shine fades after a while. I also use the VHT heat proof paint on the smokebox as it's the only good heat based paint I've used that dries a proper black. Many of them go a bit grey.
Really enjoying this build. Keeps me thinking I need to get out and do more work on mine.
Accurate and they look great too. Quinn shoots and scores. :)
Owning several weird spinny disk machines that have much rougher grit sandpaper on (and I have never seen paper for mine that fine), your method with the fine grit on the lathe worked better and was more convenient than I could have managed. very cool :)
A buddy of mine did his engine cases on a vintage motorcycle with engine enamel and backed it at around 150F to 180F for about two hours. It withstood motorcycle boots for quite a few years. Let it dry for a few days then bake it and you'll have no issues for many years. I believe he used the same brand you showed.
I use the same paint booth and sometimes for rough cutting my steel so sparks don't burn the shop down. Its great on cooler months and not so much right now. 👍
Great set of wheels. At 78 years of age I am just now starting to trust loctite. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
I need more horseshoes like yours. Mine are defective! 😁
On not having a horizontal bandsaw, here in the UK at least model engineering suppliers will happily supply you as many cuts as you like, sometimes for a nominal cut fee.
Lovely turning Quinn,looking good.👍👍
I see this going on the river with the school canoe. Great video, the wheels sets look great, and now I know so much more about locomotive wheels.
Never had the time or space to do anything similar but I'm always impressed by the work and progress you're making. Your video's are always a highlight of my weekend.
It's a mantra: drill for material removal; bore for concentricity; ream for fit and finish.
Ain't no ISO low enough, ain't no F-stop high enough, ain't no aperture small enough...
I don’t have a bandsaw, I just hold the stock backwards in the Chuck and part off bits like this 👍
I've had great results using this procedure with spray engine paints:
- Clean the part with brake cleaner.
- Wipe it down with a lint-free cloth.
- Spray the part. One light coat, wait 10 minutes, then final coat.
- After 10 minutes, put the part in the oven at 200F for 30 minutes.
- Let cool.
I use VHT paint over Duplicolor, but this procedure makes a very durable coating that can even take a splash of brake cleaner later (but if it's gloss, the cleaner will make it flat.)
Been following you since the Veronica project. Thanks for your content! :)
My copies of the ASTM standards are at work, so I'm commenting from memory. For paint adhesion cut or scribe lines about 3mm apart to create a checkerboard pattern, then press 3m scotch tape on the area and peel it up. If any squares of paint are removed that a failure. For durability use different grades of pencil lead, most paints shouldn't be marred by a 6h lead. And for the equipment you don't have, a gravelometer test could be done which basically fires a bean can of specific gravel from a calibrated pitching machine at the painted surface. I don't think the standard distinguished between fancy or French cut beans as the source of the can to measure the gravel though.
Very Nice Quinn. I really liked your expiration of why & how the wheels are shaped. Railroad engineers were very smart and practical people it seems in the steam age. Worthy of admiration that's for sure. Cheers
Interesting about the geometry. My father had a belt driven lathe and the belt was flat. The motor had a crude clutch that worked by moving the belt sideways off the driving pulley onto an idler pulley. This meant the pulleys didnt have flanges and relied on the pulley having a slight camber to keep the belt in the right place.
Super elevation, one rail higher than the other, also helps to keep the wheels on track.
Stavros
If you're not sure about black paint... may I suggest a semi-gloss / satin black?
The reason I suggest this is I painted a test piece for my loco about a month back... I looked at the reference photos and it was clear that gloss black would just be too much, so I got a flat black... and I HAVE REGRETS!!!
So I will be getting a spray satin black in the near future once I'm ready to re-do that part.
You are of course welcome to disregard this, it's your loco, and it looks FANTASTIC thus far 😊❤
Good to know, thanks! I’m still waffling between the two
@@Blondihacks You could get flat and if too flat, varnish it.
@@Blondihacks Have you considered powder-coating? It seems like it might be ideal here.
Satin is definitely the way to go. The satin I got was a bit flat - they vary a great deal. But gloss makes it look like a toy. People around here seem to like Caterpillar semi-gloss.
@@Blondihacks If you're dithering between flat & gloss... then they are both the wrong answer.
Try a satin, I am sure you will find one you love ❤
When drilling stainless steel I'll always rely on Rocol RTD liquid, it prevents workhardening and keeps the tools sharp. I don't know if it's available in Canada, but it works realy great, even for cutting threads on the lathe. It might not be the healtiest option, but it sure works.
Keep up with your great videos, I'm always looking forward for the next one.
can't wait for 20 years from now when blondihacks singlehandedly revitalizes the american rail industry by building a whole ass 300 ton steam locomotive
There's a guy in South Australia building his own full size steam loco. Hell of a project.
Thank you for tendering your time and skill to this project. 😅
Those wheels turned out very pretty. The finished engine is going to look amazing.
Very cute! The finish is really great with that polish, and honestly the paint job looks just fine sitting back from my screen, so I'm sure it's also fine in person if you're not up close.
Hi Quinn, Just another great job well done, with the Dupli-Color you must cure that in the oven to improve the durability and chemical resistants, the correct temperature and time in the oven is on the can.
Ooh...shiny metal parts.
Nice!
Thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.
Those are some great looking parts! I really like the color of that red paint. ^.^
The “coning” on train wheels serves a similar purpose (I think) to a fusee chain cone in a watch…equalising tension in the let-down is about adjusting diameter in-train (pardon the pun) so, it’s a similar ball-park as in, how do you have infinite adjustment in a thing that doesnt adjust…? As you say : kinda brilliant😮
I've been catching up on your videos after being out of machining for a while. For the paint I can strongly vouch for cerakote ceramic paint. It takes a little more equipment than something like VHT but it's durable, heat proof and chemical proof. When I first got a sample bottle I sprayed some old rusty tools (wrench and chisel) with Armor Black 2-part and it was impervious to everything I threw at it (steel and brass wire brush, gasoline, alcohol, acetone, xylene, brake cleaner, engine degreaser, brake fluid, etc.). I am working on another kind of model engine (4-cylinder OHV gasoline engine) and planning to use the black cerakote on the exhaust system and a few other parts.
I am applying it with a $40 HVLP gun from Amazon and an old toaster oven with excellent results.
Have you ever tried 1144 steel? Often referred to as “stress proof”. It’s also free matching. Not as buttery as 12L14, but a bonus is it can be heat treated.
Thanks for sharing your journey, the cone size is mostly for snow,rain and ice forming on the rails I suppose
Beautiful work. I didv enjoyed watching you turning the wheels. Nice job!
Beautiful wheels and fully functional.
Beautiful work Quinn!!!
A cheap ND filter (neutral density) would fix the high sunlight issue.
Lovely work, as always 👍
Looks like for outdoor shooting in sunny weather (when you run out of aperture, shutter speed and ISO options) you need some ND filters. Fortunately they're common and cheap.