Saddle Construction

Hey everyone,

Saddle template
Saddle template

got some progress and some pictures!
I started constructing the smokebox saddle. Since I own neither a lathe nor a milling machine I’m trying to make virtues out of necessities and hone my manual skills. The first step was to make a gauge for the saddle’s curves, so I could construct two symmetrical and identical parts.

 

 

Portable workbench
Portable workbench

There’s a lot of filing involved, a work that takes time, but doesn’t produce a lot of noise and won’t require much working space. Therefor I took some scrap wood and threw together a portable working bench. This useful little thing easily rests on any table in the living room. I can be with all my loved ones – family and locomotive…

 

 

Saddle brazed
Saddle brazed

With the gauge finished, I sawed and filed the front plate, plus the two parts that will connect it with the back plate, see my post of June 21st. Then came the brazing. Oh my, I so do have to relearn everything on that front…

 

 

 

Saddle cleaned up
Saddle cleaned up

I should have practiced on some scrap metal. However, these connections won’t be visible, so I guess it’s ok. Some (alright – a LOT) of cleaning up later, it looked like this:

 

 

 

Saddle plus wheelsets
Saddle plus wheelsets

But that’s not all. The driver wheelsets finally arrived and I also got the new trailing wheelset:

With these crucial parts on my disposal, I can finally and seriously kick off constructing the frame.

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