American LaFrance Steam Fire Pumper

[steamin]

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 mind on the coal bunker. I promise this is the last time unless something drastic happens to what I now have.

Picture #1 shows what I have wound up with. It is more in tune with the size of pumper that is being modeled and yes it is in accordance with the drawings that came with the model. Silly me! What I was attempting to copy was for a much smaller LaFrance pumper. The last bunker I shared with you was just not in the right portions.

Picture #2 is a close up view of the bunker. I still need to rivet the sheet metal in place that wraps around the boiler. A new draft door needs to be made. The valve you see will be a blow down valve. There will be one on the opposite side. It will be used to attached a compressed air line to the model. Both lines will drop through the floor pan of the bunker and exit to the rear under the bunker and the wooden step (yet to be made).

Picture #3 shows the development of the ash door. It needs to be trimmed to size and latches made.

Thank you for your patience and interest.

God Bless, Larry

 

[steamer]

I was looking at the Amosqeage (spelling?) at the Waltham Museum of industry yesterday....lots of similarities.

Thats coming along nicely Steamin!

Dave

 

[sunworksco]

Great build!

 

[steamin]

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

 

[peatoluser]

very very impressive. It's the attention to the small details that can change a good model to a great one.

really enjoying the build thread

peter

 

[steamer]

Those "little" parts were a LOT of work! Great job!

Dave

 

[steamin]

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 aluminum bar and reamed a 0.128" diameter hole in it on the center line and very close to the end of the bar stock. I set up a 0.030" thick slitting blade on the centerline of the hole and made a plunge cut into the end of the aluminum bar and all the way through to the back side of the hole. Picture #1 & #2 gives a good idea of what I did. Then I took a piece of 1/8" diameter brass rod and fed it into the hole and into the slitting blade. Low and behold out came to pieces of 1/2 round suitable for mounting around the top of the coal bunker. I used one piece to practice bending and shaping. Before I did that I heated the area to be bent to a dull cherry color and let it cool. It made the brass rod a little more plyable for bending.

Picture #3 shows the beginning stages of bending the brass to the contours of the top edge of the bunker.
Picture #4 shows the brass soldered in place and cleaned up. Again, I used Eutectic 157 soft solder for joining the brass rod to the steel bunker. Great stuff !

 

[peatoluser]

Really like your jig for slitting the bar! very inventive. just the sort of thing I like.
how much overhang were you able to slit at one go?
great build thread by the way

yours
peter

 

[steamin]

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 from turning. The blade acted like a keyway. The process was like feeding a piece of wood into a table saw blade.

 

[Groomengineering]

Very nice work Larry! Thm:

Cheers

Jeff

 

[ShedBoy]

:bow: :bow:
Great work! Love the attention to detai. That is a fantastic jig for making half round.
Brock

 

[steamin]

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 not work. So, keep trying something else until you are happy with the results.

Anyway, I added a few more parts to the coal bunker. The struts between the bunker and the rear of the frame and a wooden step. The step is mounted to two steel channels bent out of 0.030" thick sheet stock. They are attached to the floor of the bunker via 1-72 HHCS. The wood step is also fastened to the channels via 1-72 HHCS. A grab rail will be developed to go from the outer edge of the step to the frame.

I do appreciate your interest and support.

 

[sunworksco]

It is a rolling sculpture, a piece of jewelry!
Regards,
Giovanni
P.S.
What are the MSC catalog numbers on your clamps?

 

[steamin]

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 price and so is the quality. The biggest difference is the nose of the clamp. Starrett has a nice slim tapered nose while the others are rather fat. Check out page 1166 in the MSC catalog and you will see all the different sizes available. Happy clamping :big:

 

[Dan Rowe]

Larry,
Nice work.
Is that tiny steel channel holding the running board?
Did you mill that or do you have a source of the stock?

Dan

Edit: Doh ;D I should read the words not just look at the pictures. :big:

 

[sunworksco]

Thanks Larry.
Ordered the proper ones!
I use Starrett calipers so I know the quality is very good.
Regards,
Giovanni

 

[steamin]

Well, I shifted gears a little bit. I started work on the boiler feed water storage tank. This tank sometimes sits under the driver's seat or just behind it. In my case it will sit behind the seat and that leaves room for a neat little wood tool box under the seat.

Anyway, the first picture show some of the components that make up the tank. The tank body is made from a 1-1/4" diameter brass sink drain tail piece that I purchased at Lowes. The ends caps are turned brass pieces that are a very nice snug fit to the ID of the brass tube. The little item to the left of the end cap is a threaded cap for the filler tube on the top of the tank. The brass item on the bottom is for the piping that goes to the feed water pump. These items have been soldered in. The second picture shows what I have so far all assembled. The holes in the side of the brass turned fittings are for the sight glass assembly yet to be fabricated.

 

[steamin]

I tackled the sight glass assembly for the feed water make up supply tank this afternoon. The sight glass itself was made from a piece of plexiglass rod stock. The bore was drilled and reamed at 0.092" dia. The drilling and reaming process was flooded with cutting oil. The chips were not allowed to accumulate in the flutes, so there was no scaring of the bore. The OD was turned to final diameter in stages. I would turn about 3/8" and then pull the stock out of the collet some more and so on. A little bit of Simachrome polish and walla, we have a sight glass tube.

 

[sunworksco]

That is actually acrylic?
I had no idea acrylic could be used for hot water.
What are the pros and cons of glass vs. acrylic?
BTW those Starrett clamps are superb!
Regards,
Giovanni

 

[steamin]

Hello Giovanni, glad you like the Starret clamps. They are handy for sure. The little acrylic tube will only see cold water. The tank in the picture will hold "cold" water to be added to the boiler as needed until the fire engine arrives at the site of the fire. Then the suction hose for the pump can be placed into a water source for pumping water onto the fire. Then water can be drawn off that source for the make up water to the boiler and the little tank will be bypassed. Are you confused yet ??? I am and I am trying to write this :big:

In any case, I have yet to see any sight glass on an original engine. It was just something to add to my engine and I think it is kind of cute ;D