Model Railroading > Fun with the milling machine today

I had this Kato gull-cab Santa Fe Dash-9 shell sitting around for ages, so today, in between home projects I milled an Athearn frame so the Kato shell would fit. I think I'll do a silver and red but maybe a BNSF???

Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/16 06:42 by SPED.

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Show us what you milled .... and show us the machine too.  Where did you get it?  I've always wanted one.

Rick

You replaced a Kato drive with an Athearn?

- Jeff Carlson 

How about photos of the frame you milled; the frame you made the thread to talk about. The suspense...

Here is the Athearn frame, I filed and sanded after the mill was done, I wanted to remove some of the casting leftovers before I paint it.
Please excuse the junk around the mill, its a Sherline vertical mill, made in Vista, CA just north of San Diego. I got the mill and Lathe about 5 years ago, they really come in handy.

Ed

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Everyone who has a Sherline seems to really like it.
I bought a tabletop vertical milling machine at Hazard Fraught (Harbor Freight) about three years ago and have done a lot with it.   Nice solid little machine.  I had a Unimat before and it was just too light and wobbly with it's round bar ways.  This one is all cast iron.  Also bought a Micro-Mark lathe which is a super machine.
I spent my whole working life around machines as a machinist/tool and die maker and can sure get a lot more accurate work done now.

Can you go the other way, that is can you mill a Kato Frame to fit the Athearn shell?  Some of us would love to have those :-)

Gary B.
Waverly, NE

binder001 Wrote:
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> Can you go the other way, that is can you mill a
> Kato Frame to fit the Athearn shell?  Some of us
> would love to have those :-)
>
> Gary B.
> Waverly, NE

Some others on TO may be able to answer that question, I only had the Kato shell and extra Athearn mechanism. I would think it is possible to mill a Kato frame to fit an Athearn body.
It was built once so it can be built again a different way, all it takes is time and money.

Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/16 10:55 by SPED.

Go the Santa Fe way on painting.  

Steve

hartrick24 Wrote:
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> Go the Santa Fe way on painting.  
>
> Steve

I was thinking Sante Fe. I need to match up a Rail Power I did in the last millennium.
Boy, for an Espee guy I am sure doing allot of Sante Fe lately.

Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/16 11:03 by SPED.

hartrick24 Wrote:
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> Go the Santa Fe way on painting.  
>
> Steve

As much as I don't care for SF, I agree. Just too much BNSF orange out there!  Are you going to power it with an Athearn Gen motor or Kato?

70ACE Wrote:
> hartrick24 Wrote:
> > Go the Santa Fe way on painting.  
> > Steve
> As much as I don't care for SF, I agree. Just too
> much BNSF orange out there!  Are you going to
> power it with an Athearn Gen motor or Kato?

I'll either go with an Athearn or NWSL

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
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> You replaced a Kato drive with an Athearn?
>
> - Jeff Carlson 

I was was thinking the same thing.

Dennis

CNW Wrote:
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> bnsfsd70 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You replaced a Kato drive with an Athearn?
> >
> > - Jeff Carlson 
>
> I was was thinking the same thing.
>
> Dennis

I never said I replaced a Kato drive, I said I used a Kato shell on an Athearn drive.

Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/16 23:27 by SPED.

CNW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bnsfsd70 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You replaced a Kato drive with an Athearn?
> >
> > - Jeff Carlson 
>
> I was was thinking the same thing.
>
> Dennis

My understanding is that the Athearn drive has correct truck center axle to center axle spacing. The Kato drive does not when compared to the drawing in the Dec 1994 issue of RMC. That is one reason to do the swap.

Mike N.