| Author |
 Topic  |
|
LVRALPH
Fireman
5429 Posts |
 Posted - 10/20/2005 : 7:57:31 PM
|
OK guys. I warned you a couple of weeks ago. I have been bitten by the steel bug and just have to have a blast furnace. I made the mistake of joining the Yahoo steel group and ordering Jeff Borne's Walther's blast furnace detailing video's.
I figure if I am ever going to complete this it will have to be in front of a crowd so that I can't cut and run. You poor guys are the unwilling victims.
Seriously, this will give me a reason to push my modeling envelope. There will be new techniques to learn and master. There will be a lot of problem solving going on, of which I hope you guys will be able to come to my rescue. There will be times when I will feel I have bitten off more than I can chew. I will need your support. My motto is why aim low. You can always hit a low target. So here is my challenge.
Now this whole project would be easier if I had a Walthers HO blast furnace. But, I don't. I missed a few on e bay. If anyone knows of one that is for sale at a reasonable price please let me know.
I will be also learning to get better photo's so bear with me on that. |
|
|
LVRALPH
Fireman
5429 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2005 : 8:12:12 PM
|
OK. lets get it started. All of my specialty tools and aids have arrived. These include the Waldron circle punch set, a leather punch, a circle template from Office Max, a ton of Evergreen styrene and Mike Rabbitt's HO blast furnace plans from the 40's. I am still waiting for my 60's plans to show up. It also took me only 5 minutes to really hurt myself with the leather punch.[:-censored]
Unfortunatly my Plastruct order with all the specialty shapes has not arrived.[:-banghead][:-banghead]
Well, I have a rainy weekend ahead. No better time to model than a cold damp weekend. So I decided do see what I could get started on. I picked a goggle valve.
Here is the finished product as built by Jeff Borne in his video. This is the gold standard that I am trying to attain.
The first problem with heavy industry modeling is how to cut circles of various sizes. The goggle valve requires a lot of large circles. I solved this problem with a solution from a member of the Yahoo steel group. He suggested the circle template from an office supply place. Duh, why did I not think of that!
What you see above is how I cut circles out. I tape the template to the styrene and with a scribing tool I bought years ago, just keep scribing and scribing until I can snap out the disk.
However, per Jeff's instructions the first part to making a goggle valve is to cut 2 disks of .080 styrene! Cutting straight lines out of .080 styrene is a bear, forget making a circle. What I did is using the template, I scribed and scribed until it was pretty deep. I then carefully used my xacto knife to deepen the cuts until I felt I could snap out the disks. It worked.
These 2 .080 disks need to be glued together and then angled on the sides. Forget filing this by hand. I fired up my Jarmac precision sander and filed an angle to the 2 disks that had been glued together. I then finished this off with a hand file. See below.
I next cut out the front pieces of the goggle valve. I can't do the rear because i need my Plastruct pieces. Here are the rest of the pieces as laid out in order of assembly. The size of the disks were taken from Mike Rabbitt's plans.
|
Edited by - LVRALPH on 10/22/2005 07:27:59 AM |
 |
|
|
jatravia
Fireman
USA
2517 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 09:13:28 AM
|
Ralph, looks like your off and running. Your doing a good job with the photos.
What is the piece you are building used for and why did you start with it? Also, where on your layout are you putting the finished structure?
Joe <>< |
|
|
|
Eddie Landreth
Fireman
USA
2714 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 09:19:55 AM
|
Wow, Ralph, that's an impressive start already. I have the Walther's Blast Furnace that I got off eBay several years ago. The only additional detailing I've done so far is to detail out the top of the furnace with more walkways (pic below). Will be following your progress on here, looking forward to it.
 |
|
|
|
pastor_t
Crew Chief
United Kingdom
504 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 09:45:47 AM
|
Hi guys,
Nice modelling you got going there [:-thumbu][:-thumbu]
A tool that you might not know about for cutting circles is the Olfa compass cutter. It cuts circles from 1 to 6cm radius (that's 0.4 to 2.4 inches in old money [:-shades]).
Tony |
|
|
|
LVRALPH
Fireman
5429 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 09:57:26 AM
|
Joe, the furnace, stoves, precipitator and dust catcher will go near my workbench. I also have an alternate location but I am pondering that still. The valve is called a goggle valve and it is designed to restrict/permit gas flows. Steel mills, and I think refineries have them as well as other heavy industry.
I started with this because I had the most material. I will try some gas blowers next for the same reason. This not having my plastruct is killing me. |
Edited by - LVRALPH on 10/21/2005 11:22:52 AM |
|
|
|
MikeC
Administrator
USA
21584 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 10:03:13 AM
|
This is some serious scratchbuilding! You're off to a good start, Ralph.[:-thumbu]
|
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a busy man. I have a railroad to run.
Visit the Central Missouri & Southern
|
|
|
|
Archbar Jesse
New Hire
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 10:17:21 AM
|
| Ralph, I've had good luck cutting circles in styrene using a pair of drafting dividers. Migh try the circle template for assemblies that can't have a hole in the center. |
"In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it's the other way around." |
|
|
|
jatravia
Fireman
USA
2517 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 10:20:06 AM
|
Good stuff Ralph. Keep us up to date and invite me over me when you get a little further along  .
Eddie, looks good.
Joe <>< |
|
|
|
teejay
Fireman
Canada
5832 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 11:09:32 AM
|
Wecome to the world of steel , Ralph . It is fascinating to say the least . Some comments :
1. You can make larger circles in styrene by obtaining a drawing compass and using an Xacto 9B blade . You don't want to cut very deeply into the styrene as it can throw your compass off center ....scribe and snap !
2.The goggle valve is used in conjunction with the downcomer piping . It is situated near the landings of the stairway system so as to allow workers to easily access the control valves ( little black wheels in the picture )
3.The Steel Modelers have an annual get together ...2004 was in Philly , 2005 was in Medina OH ( near Akron ) and 2006 will be back East in September ...probably Philly again . It is VERY INFORMATIVE and good bang for the buck . You won't be disappointed . I saw Jeff Borne at both meets as well as Mike Rabbit , Dean Freytag , John Glaab and a host of other top knotch 'steelies'.
4. The Walthers Blast Furnace kit , while satisfactory , is undersized by about 40% . There are conversion plans for this available . The problem of this undersizing ( it's perfect for N scale ) will become evident if you really get into steel . The size of the DOZENS of necessary related structures , if done to scale , can reduce the eye appeal of the Walthers Blast Furnace if it is left unchanged .You can do much of your own furnace construction using ABS piping and styrene sheet along with Plastruct shapes . Plastruct can be very expensive ( trust me ) , so finding alternative shapes for free is imperative . There is much to be found out there .....your wife's mousse can is the perfect shape for a furnace oven , for instance . One of the guys on Yahoo Steel , Shelby Corbin , makes EVERYTHING from throw aways . He is a genius .
5. Do a lot of reading on steel mills ...too bad Dean Freytag's book is out of print ...it goes for huge bucks now ...and become a bit familiar with some of the processes that goes on within the industry . There is so much that can be modelled you could literally have 75 running feet of steel mill layout in HO ! Selective compression is a must .
Terry |
Edited by - teejay on 10/21/2005 11:13:50 AM |
|
|
|
LVRALPH
Fireman
5429 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 11:19:10 AM
|
| Joe, anytime you want to come over an look around you are welcome. Just give a shout. I can then devote more time to answering your questions and such than I could at the open house. |
|
|
|
LVRALPH
Fireman
5429 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 11:55:17 AM
|
| TJ thanks for the comments. |
|
|
|
jatravia
Fireman
USA
2517 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 12:16:47 PM
|
Terry, great insight. I thought I remember when the Walthers kit first came out reading a review stating that it was better suited for N. Maybe one day I'll have enough room ... and desire.
Thanks for the open invite Ralph. I am going to take you up on that at some point. I thought things were slowing down for me but ... I need to paint the walls I am hanging my shelf layout on ... which means painting the whole house and replacing floors and ... well you get the idea.
Joe <>< |
|
|
|
LVRALPH
Fireman
5429 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 2:19:00 PM
|
Well I am bummed. My Plastruct order won't be in until next Wed. I could kill my dealers supplier. They said they had everything in stock. I tried to overnight some stuff from another dealer, but he could not do it today. Oh well.
I am just so frustrated that i had 2 days off with no house chores and a cold rainy weekend. That ment no fall baseball and time to model. Well, if my second set of Mike Rabbitt drawings show up today or tomorrow, I could work on the hot blast valves. They have no tubes. I will keep hoping.
I managed to work on the two motors that the goggle valve requires. Here are the parts laid out. They consist of 1/4 inch tube 3/16 inch long. The big disks were cut out of .020 with a standard hole punch. The smaller disks were done with a leather punch. I also did not maim myself this time. But boy does that thumb hurt!
The square pieces are .030 square. Jeff, calls for .020 square, but I did not have any so I went with this. I will use .020 square next time. That will be easier to wrap around the motor.
Here are the finished motors and the tools used.
Eddie, I like the color you used to paint the furnace. What did you use?
|
Edited by - LVRALPH on 11/10/2005 06:30:22 AM |
|
|
|
teejay
Fireman
Canada
5832 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 10:09:17 PM
|
This is Jeff Borne's Blast Furnace and cast house ...scratch built .
If you look carefully , you can see some of his goggle valves .
Terry |
Edited by - teejay on 10/21/2005 10:10:40 PM |
|
|
|
Eddie Landreth
Fireman
USA
2714 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2005 : 10:14:09 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by LVRALPH
Eddie, I like the color you used to paint the furnace. What did you use?
If I recall correctly, it was simply gray primer from a spray can, with a little flat black misted over it. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Building a blast furnace
