Custom machined train cars

For my 3D laser printer I use Rhino5 and am now using Rhino6 to make the models. A lot of tutorials available.

I used to be an ME then SE and now I'm an Esq.  

That's very cool! I've heard Rhino6 is very powerful. It's more free-form mesh style editing right? I've never tried it.

Flatcar is ready, I just want to test it a bit more.

These look great...congrats on a well thought idea and carrying it through!  I applaud you!

On the aspects of painting...have you thought about powder coating?  I have powder coated many things and it is fairly easy to do yourself also and you can do many at the same time depending on the size of the curing oven, etc.  

Thanks Andy! I'll feel a bit more accomplished when I get a schnabel prototype done. That's really my primary goal since no company makes them (aside from the little mth one). Yeah powder coating actually did cross my mind but I kind of thought you cant do that to wood? I could definitely be wrong though! I've been experimenting with all kinds of paint recently...  I came across an extra flat paint on our paint shelf that actually kind of looks good

You can powder coat MDF now, but not wood because of the porosity and temps used to cure the PC.  I thought you were going to ultimately make them out of aluminum...which would be perfect for PC.

You're right PC would look great over aluminum! And yeah I'll probably make an aluminum one for myself at some point but the cost of manufacture for a solid milled aluminum schnabel would be at least 30%higher then wood. I'm thinking nobody would want to pay that... Aluminum blocks large enough to make the pieces for the schnabel are quite expensive, 6061 with with no pedigree is more than double the price of white maple. It also takes more then double the amount of time to mill. Part of the milling time increase could be my proficiency as a machinist though. I'm still learning through experimentation. I was disappointed to learn that there's no solid rule book to use every time when machining, only sort of general guidelines

Depending on cost, I would be interested in a flat car or 3 out of aluminum.  I could PC and letter it myself.  Having a unique one off piece would appeal to a lot of people I think.

Yeah, I understand the cost aspect.  There is always a learning curve and finding the material in bulk cheaper if you had pre-orders. That is key...buying 1-5 pieces are cost prohibitive, but buying 100 would be cheaper cost per unit, but obviously more cash outlay. So that is where pre-orders come into play and making sure there are realistic delivery times setup so no one is annoyed and bothering you.   Having customers prepay half up front of the cost of a freight car should cover the cost of materials...Sorry got on a new business thought process...been there done that a few times.  I love starting new businesses and watching them grow.

I used to own a 10'x8' 3 axis CNC back when I owned a different business...we cut acrylic..so the whole 360 degree milling CNCs I know nothing about... but I remember it was fun to see the finished product and even more fun selling the product.   I miss that CNC...I should have kept it when I sold the business, but where do I put that large of a CNC? haha

roll_the_dice posted:

Having a unique one off piece would appeal to a lot of people I think.

I will be glad to have mine in unpainted wood and doll it up myself.

Thanks! Yeah the uniqueness of my stuff is it's coolest factor for sure... I've actually been thinking the same thing, I may have to take pre-orders to justify the ordering of materials. I'm not so worried about upfront cost, I just don't want to end up with $2000 worth of Lionel trucks laying around. The aluminum I've been buying is actually pretty cheap as far as aluminum goes because of the lack of pedigree. It's still a lot more then wood though. I'm more concerned with the machining of it. I've done a few parts out of it, and they all come out perfect as far as shape goes, but I can't get a really pretty finish on all surfaces, only some. And I'm not sure why. I really need a few hours with an experienced machinist to adsorb some knowledge.

Wow 10'x8'! That's a huge CNC! Yeah we definitely wouldn't have room for that either! haha

As far as price goes I've been adding and changing a lot lately. Right now the wood flatcar is right on par with Lionel's new scale rolling stock. I've tried my best to keep the price down but the cost to make them is just so dang high I can't justify them for less

Don't worry Big Jim, the more parts and cars I make the more I see every car is going to be completely custom. So I be able to make whatever you want!

Whenever you are ready, if you want to send me a car out of aluminum or a scrap piece out of aluminum...I can drop some matte black (or other color) PC on it and send it back to you...then you can see what it would look like and compare the finish with what you are getting.  Email me if interested...email is in profile.  Here is an example of PC on my brakes I did last year.  The finish usually looks astounding.

Neat project - when you are ready for pre-orders, let me know!

David

  I haven't done powder coat in near a decade, but it might be worth noting the product is(was) thicker than paint. Some tolerances may have to be changed depending on the fit.

@Adriatic  You are right it is a little thicker than paint.  If I remember right PC is about 4 times thicker than paint.  A good paint job is less than 1 mil thick or a mil is one one-thousands of an inch or .001 thick.  Now if you do multiple coats of powder then it could be 8 times thicker, but should still be within tolerance on most items...but worth noting!

It's thick enough to stop a water pump from fitting right to an engine block 

And sanding it off isn't a walk in the park  ..Go figure..  

Adriatic posted:

It's thick enough to stop a water pump from fitting right to an engine block 

And sanding it off isn't a walk in the park  ..Go figure..  

I hear that...I am restoring a 1965 Chevy C10 as we speak and I am being very careful what to mask when I PC everything...

Wow that PC looks amazing! Was the surface of that brake cover smooth and finished before you started with it? Once I get around to aluminum I'll definitely take you up on that offer Andy! I don't even have any decent test pieces left over at the moment, I ruined the few I milled with sanding that was too aggressive... oops! lol I've got raw bar stock laying around but the surface of that is pretty different then the mirror finish I'm looking for off the mill.

I didn't know PC was that thick! I bet it would cover right over the milling imperfections. They're actually pretty insignificant. You can't feel them at all, only see them. I'm just being fussy about finish, but I know what I'm looking for is possible. I'm just not sure how to do it yet.

Another car I've been thinking about and finally got around to making! A scale 89' flatcar! Trucks are too close to the ends of the car but I can't find Lionel's long coupler trucks for sale in bulk anywhere

This is what the calipers looked like before PC...a friend of mine media blasted them...the material on calipers is a little rough, but the pc did smooth it out.

nice detail on the underside of the 89' car! are you setup to flip mill these pieces or are you just milling with the bottom side up? If you are flip milling it could be cool to add some texture to the top deck, a lot of flat cars i see have wood planks or other type of panelized elements on the top. not sure how small of bits you're using but I recently got an Amana 1/16" end mill and it cuts maple like butter and they make even tinier ones.

and for the trucks I wonder if you could use a truck from a passenger car with a longer drawbar? Where have you bought the trucks you currently use?

really enjoying the progress on these!

Andy- Wow those were really rough before the PC! The surface finish I'm going for is near mirror. PC would look great even over my overly sanded aluminum parts.

Atanz- Thanks! Yeah I flip mill nearly everything. I've actually been trying to do the surfacing thing all along, but with a 3/8" endmill using different stepovers and an alternation between climb and conventional milling. It's hard to see in the pictures... I was thinking about trying it with a smaller endmill, we actually have a couple 1/8" HSS ones laying around. What kind of feed rate and RPM would you expect from a 1/16" endmill doing a slot cut at 1/8" depth? I'd be afraid I would just break one that small!

To be honest I haven't looked that hard for the trucks yet! haha   I can get the lionel 100 ton roller bearing trucks with the medium length coupler from legacy station by the case. I should just call them tomorrow and see if they sell the other ones.