What a gracious welcome you have extended to me, thank very much ! QuickJ, glad to know that you are part of this forum, I hope to catch up on your projects as well. Yes, I have been making posts on the Smokstak forum since the inception of this build. This web site was brought to my attention again a few weeks ago. So I have decided to do a double posting to reach out to as many model makers as possible. Let me explain, if I may. First, I am 66 years old and have been retired for the past 2.5 years. I have been part of the scientific community all my working career designing and building hardware, instrumentation and mechanical items for research and development purposes. I have been places and done some things that people do not even know that exist. Second, the knowledge, machining techniques, and design capabilities I have developed can not be bought over the inner net or found in books. Third, at my age, it is getting more apparent that the knowledge that I have accumulated will go with me when I leave this world. So I want to share with as many as I can what I have learned and developed while I am here.
When I started to serve my apprenticeship under my father's watchful eyes, he encouraged me to watch the other model makers in their approach to problem solving, machining techniques, machine setups and even the way they sharpened there drills and tool bits. He encouraged me to take what I saw and develop it into what works for me, because no two machinist will accomplish a job in the same manner. The end results will be the same, but different paths will have been followed.
Having said all that, by no means what I may share on this forum is the right way of doing something. They are techniques that have worked for me that I am glad to share with anyone anytime. I love to look at other model maker's projects and see what I can glen from their work.
Do you, fellow model makers, realize that we are a breed set apart ? That we alone can take a piece of paper with lines on it with or without dimensions and make a physical piece out of metal, wood or whatever ? That there are no real apprenticeship programs setup for the world of model making ? Gentlemen and Ladies, "WE" are the last of the "Mahicans".
Steve, thank you for the link. Chuck and I have been sharing some comments over the past few months. He truly has an awesome task on his hands. Great looking workmanship. His approach to the wheels was a little different than mine. I will share my method later.
Pete, the chimney wound up being two pieces. I started the base first and found a lot of blow holes that could not be cleaned up in the top portion. Cole would have replaced the casting, but I had to much time in it to scrap it. So I bought another piece of bronze from "Speedy Metals" for the top section.
Dave, you do what I do, I love to look in the background of a picture to see what I can see. Sometimes the background is more interesting than the subject matter of the picture. Sorry, it is not a B&S. It is a Kearney & Trecker #2 horizontal milling machine. I was able to buy it at surplus with all the attachments and a zillion cutters. It was a great help in building my 1/3 CASE 65 engine.
Bill, I will be glad to post some pictures of the shop at a later date.
Jim, again it was good to hear from you. To you and the others, thank you for your support and interest.
Please excuse me for my ramblings.
