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3D Print Tom

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  1. 3D Print Tom
    I have started scratch building a Sharp Stewart Cambrian 440 which will be in EM gauge and hopefully powered by a portescap motor on a split chassis. The choice of material is nickel silver (NS103-half-hard) as I believe this is superior to brass when it comes to scratch building. Tufnol rod will be used to make top hat bearings to isolate the driving axle from the motor and pcb board for the split chassis. 3D printing technology will play a part in the construction of the loco and will be employed in areas that will benefit from it. As I progress with the loco I will post photos of the parts I have made with details of materials, construction methods and tools used. I expect there will be a few errors made along the way and the involvement of some experimentation which I will be happy to share with my readers.
  2. 3D Print Tom

    Axle Box Springs

    By 3D Print Tom,

    As I mentioned in my introduction regarding 3D printing, I decided to produce my own axle boxes as there were none available that resembled the Cambrian one. I was fortunately able to obtain some good photos of the loco and a works drawing which helped me design the axle box. After creating a 3D model it was then saved out as a stl file for 3D printing. I am awaiting delivery from Shapeways where I have sent my stl file for printing using their frosted extreme detail material. The axle boxes will be printed at 16 microns which is .01mm layer thickness. If the prints are satisfactory Dragon Models has asked if they can have a set to cast from. Depending on the quality of the castings I may either use the castings or 3D prints on the loco.
  3. 3D Print Tom

    Tender Chassis

    By 3D Print Tom,

    Having purchased a pantograph machine over a year ago I was eager to put it to good use on my Cambrian project. I decided to have the master laser cut in acrylic sheet at a ratio of 4:1. I could have cut out the shape by hand using another material but why make work for yourself when you can easily draw the artwork on the computer. When the artwork is finished it is simply sent to the laser cutter for cutting. The image I have posted shows three tender chassis sides machined using two different machines. 1 & 2 were machined on the pantograph and 3 was cnc machined on my Roland Camm-2 pnc 2300. The first two were done in 1.6mm NS before I purchased the cnc machine. Having done the artwork for the laser cutter I simply reduced the artwork to 4mm scale and sent it to my cnc machine for comparison. The first two frames are probably too thick for job I am doing and although I would have a nice rigid chassis the thickness on them would spoil the look of the chassis and soldering might be a problem. The last one is .57mm NS with a fold up tab to aid fixing to the tender floor. The chassis was cut out using a 2mm cutter and on the fold line I used a 45 degree angle engraving cutter. Unfortunately the fold line isn't deep enough so I will have machine the side again taking a deeper cut with the engraving tool. I will probably use my pantograph machine for the heavier cuts and the cnc machine were thin material is sufficient.
  4. 3D Print Tom

    Cab and inside detail.

    By 3D Print Tom,

    Here I will discuss how I go about scratch building the cab and adding detail to the inside of the cab. I will deal with the cab first of all and when I am happy with the results I will commence with the backhead. In the attached image A, C, and D were cut out on the pantograph machine and B was cut out on the cnc machine. The rivet holes on D were done by hand and the ones on B were machined on the cnc machine. The rivets will consist of scale rivets from ScaleHardware of America that have a .5mm head and .35mm shank. I am waiting for .35mm large shank drill bits to arrive from America so that I can adapt them to my cnc machine. I have decided not to fabricate the cab but to make it one piece with the sides being folded over. The fold lines will be engraved on the machine to almost the depth of the material so when the sides are folded over the edged will be sharp.
    Here I will discuss how I go about scratch building the cab and adding detail to the inside of the cab. I will deal with the cab first of all and when I am happy with the results I will commence with the backhead. In the attached image A, C, and D were cut out on the pantograph machine and B was cut out on the cnc machine. The rivet holes on D were done by hand and the ones on B were machined on the cnc machine. The rivets will consist of scale rivets from scalehardware of America that have a .5mm head and .35mm shank. I am waiting for .35mm large shank drill bits to arrive from America so that I can adapt them to my cnc machine. I have decided not to fabricate the cab but to make it one piece with the sides being folded over. The fold lines will be engraved on the machine to almost the depth of the material so when the sides are folded over the edged will be sharp.
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