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Giovanni you are to kind and I do thank you. The clamps you see in the picture are called "Toolmaker Parallel Clamps". They are made by Starrett tool company. MSC catalog number is 86405966. It has a 1-1/4" capacity. They are kind of pricey. There are some import ones available at a much lower...

Way to go Allen ;D I am sure Ms. Kim will look real cool riding it around.

Jeff, I like your saying at the bottom of your reply about going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. I have seen so many young folks give up after trying something only once. I always told my kids and now my grand kids that if your first attempt fails, then you know what will...

Thanks Pete, I had a piece of 1/8" rod about 32" long that I started with. I pushed through what I thought was enough and then a little more. I wound up with a piece of 1/2 round about 18" long. The hole kept the rod centered in relation to the slitting blade and the slitting blade kept the rod...

Gentlemen, thank you for your kind comments. They are appreciated. I jumped another hurdle tonight with the coal bunker; the half round brass piece that goes around the top edge. I have not been able to find any 0.125" half round brass stock, so I made a piece. I took a piece of 1/2" square...

I second Jim's comments. The natural beauty of wood grain is a gift from God. The engine is truly a little "gem". A job well down for sure and thank you for sharing. I wouldn't mind building one of those myself one day.

Well, the ash door is cut to size and the latches are finished. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Pete, really look'in great. Will you be able to post some video when you fire her up ?

Brian, when I saw what you had built, it brought the biggest smile to my face. It just goes to show that there is always a little kid hiding in all of us. Great job and I am sure your grand daughter gets a lot of pleasure out of it. Thanks for sharing. :big:

Hi Shedboy, Looking real good for your first engine. I am guessing you are taking this on by yourself without any mentor around. If so, you are doing a fine job and you have come to the right place to share and get some advice and help. Let me pass a couple of machining tips on to you. 1]...

Awesome undertaking, pattern making and pouring castings is one phase of model making I have not ventured in too. So I will be following your process with great interest. Thanks for wanting to share.

Good Evening, The rear hub castings and keepers are fairly straightforward machining operations. I did run into a dimensional problem. The outer recess that the keepers go into was cast a little to deep. So by the time I machined a good flat bottom for the keeper to ride against and machined...

Excellent job my man :bow: You sure have gotten a lot accomplished in 6 weeks. Your attention to detail is a great benchmark for a true model maker. I echo all the rest, please keep posting. We do learn so much from each other.

Not much else to add to all the ++++++ comments, except an excellent job on the details and overall finish. I consider model building an art form and you have a beautiful piece of art work. Congratulations, Larry

Greetings, First I want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who served in our armed forces and are still doing so. You and your family sacrifices are greatly appreciated, otherwise I and my family could not have the quality of life as we have. The LaFrance; well, I did it again; I changed my...

Looking great ! Your detail to surface finishing is awesome. Just a note on future tapping holes. Most drill charts we refer to suggest a drill that gives 75% thread contact. It holds true for small taps as well as large taps. I have always gone 1 to 2 sizes larger on the tap drill to eliminate...

Giovanni, the MSC catalog page is 1163. They list from 1" to 12" capacity. The ones you have seen in my posts have been the 1" and 2" capacity. The 1" capacity is catalog #08087017 and the 2" capacity is catalog #08087033. It is very easy to set up an account to order on line. Once you do, you...

Greetings, well I have a new beginning on the coal bunker. The attached pictures sort of tell the story. Picture #1 shows the new sheet metal clamped in a bending fixture. The fixture is a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate. There are 2 fixed 3/4" diameter posts and a fixed 3/8" x 1-1/2" aluminum bar...

Geoff, awesome looking engine. I really like it. Your build was very well executed. Be careful with the stain. If it is to dark, it will hid the grain in the wood and/or hid the detail that you have machined in the wood. I like to use semi-gloss spar varnish. I use Scotch-brite in between coats...

Stew, thanks for sharing, I do appreciate it. It is amazing how many of these LaFance engines are out there. Wouldn't be neat to have all of them gathered in one place for show and tell. then have a good old fashion competition like in the old days to see how fair and how high one could shoot a...