Messages

1

Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: March 08, 2023, 08:35:33 PM »

Today was a milestone day- Eric applied the first stain to the inside oak. After months of discussion, many test patches of stain, analysis by a professional paint company selections have been made and today we stained the lower part of  one side.

This starts a whole new phase of work. The woodwork is essentially done, from here on its stain, varnish, paint and untold hours of  hand sanding. Dust control will become our biggest problem. We will be blocking the door between Bay 3 and Bay 4 and restricting entry to Bay 4 as we get into the varnish phase. We know everyone will want to see the coach as it gets its finish, but we really want the best job we can get and dust particles in the varnish will not make for a good job.

We will allow access as much as we can but for a couple days after each coat is applied we must lock it off. Please understand what we are trying to do, we will all like the final result.

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Volunteers / Re: January 2023 Work Reports

« on: January 09, 2023, 07:28:02 PM »

There will not be any coach 9 work this week. Eric and I are off on a road trip. The main event is the Cabin Fever model engineering expo in Lebanon, PA, but since we are going in that direction we have rented a U-Haul truck and will be hauling to Cat tail foundry some patterns for the Engine 11 project, and bringing back some finished castings, among them parts for the vacuum brakes.

Nothing better than a road trip that involves a foundry tour and a show with model engines, boats and trains.

We will be back to coach 9 and starting the paint and varnish prep. Cleaning bay 4 to a level to support the paint and varnish finish we intend to apply is going to be fun.

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Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: November 06, 2022, 05:29:29 PM »

The latches are now complete. Again, since I only needed two I decided to make them from brass bar stock instead of making castings. It takes a lot of time to cut and mill all the features of the parts, but I guess its the  only way. Here is a photo of the two new parts, with the old part removed from coach 3.



There area couple features I could not reproduce, at least in any reasonable time, but since no one will ever again see these parts side by side I dont think it will be noticed.

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Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: October 25, 2022, 05:48:23 PM »

I need to figure out how to re-size my photos- I am posting them direct from my Google photos folder.

The transom doors only need 4 hinges, so I decided to carve them out of solid brass instead of making castings. We got one of them mounted today, Eric may have actually finished hanging the door- I had to leave early for a dentist visit.


The top one is an original from coach 3, the bottom 4 are my carved parts. I am about half way through the latch.

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Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: October 24, 2022, 04:24:01 PM »

Not at Cattail. They do sand cast iron, these parts are investment cast brass. Investment cast is more of a jewelry process, leading to much finer detail in the parts.

6

Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: October 24, 2022, 12:29:57 PM »

Coach 9 will need a lot of hardware that is no longer available, so  I have been working on making the needed parts. They will be made by  the investment casting, also called lost wax, process. I have made the wax parts in my home shop, but I will be taking the wax to a professional foundry to be cast.

First I removed one of each item we need from coach 3. This includes a handle to lift the window, a latch to hold the window, a finger pull to open the clerestory screens. I took the parts to my home shop and cleaned them up of the old varnish and crud.

I then made silicone rubber molds of each item.


Then the rubber molds are injected with molten wax from a small pressurized wax pot. We need about 32 of each item, but I am making enough to also restore coach 3, and some spares. Altogether I made about 50 waxes of each part.



I will be taking these to the foundry later this week. When I get them back I will have to do the finish machining on each part.

7

Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: August 14, 2022, 09:59:27 AM »

Eric and I have talked about the ceiling a bit and have a basic plan. We will remove the white painted masonite from coach 3 and see whats under there. We suspect the old decoration is there, based on some peeking Eric did a couple years ago. If its there we will probably do good photos, import that into some CAD program and try to reconstruct the image. From that we will likely create cut files and cut mylar masks on my CNC router (or use Alans if the images are to big for mine). We should then be able to stencil the layouts onto the oak veneer we will use for the ceiling panels.

Like all the tricky parts of this project Eric and I start to discuss them as we approach that work. By the time we get to it we seem to always get a plan ready and are able to move on. That is what has made this project so much fun, at least for me.

8

Volunteers / Re: PHONE LEFT AT PERCIVAL HOUSE - 8/6/22

« on: August 07, 2022, 11:41:40 AM »

Yes, it is mine. I did not even realize I had dropped it until I  saw the mail this morning.  I retrieved it this morning.

Thanks to all that helped get this back to me.

ron ginger

9

Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: July 27, 2022, 09:23:43 PM »

Eric and I are both boatbuilders, so we are not worried about bending panels. We talked about it some today and have a couple ideas for form bending some thin ply, then veneering it with oak as in the original. We are not artists, so the decoration may be difficult, but we have a couple ides for that as well. Currently coach 3 has Masonite bent over the original ceiling, and painted white. That is probably to  cover up a dark and deteriorating ceiling.

Today we put the second to last oak strip all around the car. Three molding strips to go and the interior oak is done up to the ceiling.

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Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: July 25, 2022, 08:13:32 AM »

What is not very obvious in these photos  is the most recent work. The strip  of molding  above the windows is now finished and in place- not screwed down, but held in place by its close fit. This was probably the hardest  part we have made. It required about a dozen passes through the shaper and 6 or 7 passes over the table saw at an angle to make the relief curve on the backside for the window shade.

Eric and I had 8 foot long strips of the molding finished and Lou cut them to length. Tomorrow, when Eric remembers to bring back his pin nailer, we will glue the two pieces together.

It is interesting to me that all through this project we have faced complicated tasks. As we work toward them Eric and I talk them over while we are doing simpler jobs. By the time we get to the hard part we pretty well have it figured out and it goes well. The next tough job, at least to me, are the ceiling panels. These are thin veneer sheets, curved into the roof curve, and painted with  scroll work. I am confident by the time we get there we will have figured this out as well.

11

Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: May 22, 2022, 10:43:44 AM »

Eric hand carved all those blocks. They were the first pieces of the coach to be built, well before we started the frame. He was still making drawings while carving them

We next need a piece of molding to  go along the top edge of these. So far we have not found the right cutter, but Eric took a shot of regrinding one to the right shape. I have found a couple router bit that may work, so the job next Tuesday will be making the molding.

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Volunteers / Re: May 2022 Work Reports

« on: May 04, 2022, 06:36:40 PM »

A crew went to Mass. To pick up a new shop machine, no… I don’t know what it is.
                   (Jonathan, Brendan)

I was along on that trip, in fact it was to pick up a new Hurco SM1 milling machine which I obtained through a friend in MA for FREE. This is a major step up from our old Bridgeport we have in the shop now. There is discussion ongoing as to replacing the Bridgeport with this or keeping both. There are uses for both.

Today I reassembled the machine and started a full cleaning.

13

Volunteers / Re: March 2022 Work Reports

« on: March 27, 2022, 04:28:36 PM »

*  Coach #9 assembly continues, looks like interior work done.  (Eric, Ron)

The interior is not nearly done. We do have the oak up to the bottom of the window sill, but now it gets a lot more complicated. Almost every piece that goes in now will have some kind of molded edge.

We are also looking into the interior hardware. I have made a few RTV molds and cast a few wax parts, and Tuesday Eric and I visited a foundry in Brownfield ME to check them out for making our interior hardware. It looks like they will be able to do all we need in the various brass latches, hinges, knobs, etc. I have a lot of mold making to do, in my home shop.

Eric is also looking for parts to make the hanging lamps we need. That will be a rather long project.

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Museum Discussion / Re: Movie about #9: "The Nine Lives of #9"

« on: October 02, 2021, 09:22:20 AM »

Indeed, that is an excellent video.

Since I did not know about this place in Harrys time I enjoyed seeing that part, and Jasons connections. Now I understand Jasons wish to make the train more than just a ride.

I was a bit lost in the timing of Alices interaction with the damn project. Am I right that they were building the dam in the 30's and eventually agreed to let her stay on the farm the rest of her life. That must mean the farm was in the area reserved for overflow, but obviously not in the part that got flooded. She must have been at some risk that she might be flooded out in the event of a major storm.

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Work and Events / Re: Coach 9 - Official Work Thread

« on: August 16, 2021, 09:32:19 AM »

I don't think Brendans photos show it, but Lou got the last pieces of trim on the 4 corners last Tuesday. I think the entire outside of the coach is now finished, except for the platforms. Lou also got some of the plugs into the truss planks inside, so the work on the inside has started.

We will have a lot of detail sanding and filling to prep the outside for paint.

We are taking a bit of time off now, Eric has another course to teach at the Woodenboat school, and I am catching up on some CNC work on a lathe for Maine Locomotive and Machine Works.

When we return we have a big pile of rough sawn oak waiting for us to start milling for the inside work.