Next I had to decide if I wanted to build up frames or whether I wanted to make resin castings. Either way it called for a jig to help hold the frame members during gluing.
The best bet was to mill a jig out of aluminum. A quick cad drawing to show the build up and a second cad drawing showing just the centers of the beams. This was
necessary because the beams are .050" wide and the cutter I had was .056" wide. Using the engraving portion fo the CNC program allowed me to cut the grooves in the jig.
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Cad drawing of the frame beams. |
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Center line drawing of the frame used to program the engrave file for cutting. |
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Once the G code was produced the jig was milled. |
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The finished jig. A couple of improvements are going to be incorporated if I make another jig. |
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Styrene strips all set to be glued together. |
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The finished frame. |
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After printing out a templot of the frame a piece of ceiling tile was cut to a standard size sheet of paper. |
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I used a set of push pins to hold the paper. (not shown) |
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Using regular pins I held the frame in place over the drawing. This holds the frame securely to the drawing. Makes gluing easier. |
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The needle beams and built up truck bolster are glued in place. Note the glue is still wet. |
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Once the liquid glue dried the pins were removed giving a perfectly square frame. Next a set of trucks will be added to set the proper height for the couple above the rail. |