Was hoping to get a good source for a custom order of bronze Baldwin builders plates and possibly superheater badges.

I'm also looking for a few good brands for shop tooling. I need general tools like pipe/union wrenches, crescents, hammers, and wrench sets good for larger sizes used on steam locomotives. Our local hardware does not carry shop grade tooling, but it can possibly be ordered. Trying to stay away from junk. Thanks!

I would be very interested to hear what you find out. I have been curious about how to create (have created) a repro builder's plate....in this case, a repro of a bridge builder's plate (although this company, Virginia Bridge and Iron, also built railroad cars at one point or another, IIRC). One friend suggested a casting. Problem is-the original plate is still attached to the bridge!

Is this within the realm of 3-D printing?

You can 3D print a pattern in plastic and use it to make a mold for the casting of the plate.....or you can make a mold directly on the original plate using some form of resin or plaster, then make a pattern inside of it,and then use that pattern for casting in the usual methods. 3DP is not yet cheap, but for making many copies the cost of the pattern is almost always a substantial part of the whole project cost.

Craftsman makes professional grade tools, but you won't find them in your home Sears catalog. I've been pleased with pro grade Craftsman. Wear overalls with very deep pockets.

dave

I too have a builders plate that needs to be reproduced for a museum. Who can you get to do that sort of work?

Any mom and pop foundry that works with brass should be able to make copies. Friends of mine have cast builders plates and number plates in brass and I think steel. they also cast small aluminum plates as well.

Of course if you are going to go through the expense of having things copied, might as well make some extra to sell to fans to recoup the costs.

The bridge builders plate could be done by taking a plaster cast of the plate and using that to make a master.

RTV rubber might also work, but you would need a ton and I don't know how well it would work on a vertical surface which I assume the bridge builders plate is.

Please remember to carve "REPO" or "COPY" deeply into the backside of the new builders plate.

-Hudson

Wayne James in Gettysburg, PA. He does a lot of reproduction plates and has the patterns made up.

Alan Maples

If you have a dealer locally, I would suggest Snap-On by far. For air tools, the 1980s to early 90s era Ingersoll Rand impacts cannot be beat. If budget won't a 600-800 air tool then Blue Point will do just fine. Other than their black plastic 16oz dead blows I've had no trouble with my Snap-On stuff up to 1inch drive rachets. As for your run of the mill pipe wrench I might suggest Rigid from Home Depot (in the plumbing section, still American made) or buying a very antique one from a flea market. I have one from 1915 and it the best darn one I've ever used! Best of luck in your quest!

To start on a builders plate project, you need to find a drawing for the plate you want to replicate, or one that is close to it. Even with that, you might still need a photo or two to make sure you get it right.

Can you measure the plate that you need to replicate? Thats half the battle, with the basic measurements, you can then get your hands on a Baldwin plate drawing that is close to yours, and it will tell you what fonts, sizes and locations (spacing etc..) of the features. With that you can get it perfect.

I only have the 1942 "barn" shaped Baldwin plate drawing, and I might have the boiler psi plate, and a few others.

The other round plate drawings are available at PN State and Degolyer. They take a little time and about $10 to get.

I do know of one person that has one of the round plate Baldwin original drawings that might be willing to sell you copy. PM me if you want more info.

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We had two sets of builders plates and Number plate made for 6069.A small town not far from us has a very old foundry that still manufactures parts using sand casting. they made a mold of one of each of the plates and then cast new ones for us. The replicas are so good, they even have perfect paint runs that were transferred from the originals and engraved 6069 numbers on the back like the original. Once the builders plates were painted, you cannot tell that they are not brass.

Wayne James is simply the best at creating reproduction plates. I've had him create several in bronze (brass) and aluminum. The brass plates are stunning. He can even reproduce the occasional errors that would appear on some plates. They are museum quality in every way. He can even bend them to a given boiler diameter for mounting pruposes.

His prices are very reasonable, and he will offer a lot of options besides plate materials (painting/polishing/bending, etc.).

If you can get some good photos and dimensions, Wayne will give you an exact replica.

One thing to keep in mind when making a casting using a casting for the pattern is that the replica will be smaller due to shrinkage of the metal as it solidifies. IIRC, pattern allowance for aluminum is 3/16" per foot, bronze is 1/8" per foot. It doesn't sound like much, but it can bite you if the mounting holes are close to other design features.

IRM has some NORTH SHORE LINE plates cast for silverliner 251 a number of years ago (I don't recall where they were cast) and since the plates are about 32" long, it grossly changed the location of the mounting screws. Not wanting to add new holes to the car side, the countersinks for the flat head screws almost broke out of the border that was supposed to contain them.

That's surprising as the mounting holes lined up perfectly..?