Except the area code is 303, if the ad says 202 then it is infact a misprint.


Cheers, Jason

Probably a typo. They put those tiny keys too damn close together....and I have to use a pencil eraser end to try to use my Blackberry at work, and still get it wrong.

Is there a 202 area code?

dave

I hope he is also marketing to the steam tractor people as there are lot more of them than there are locomotives. How many need or wish to purchase new dynamos is another matter but the market might exist. I think they tended to be a different voltage. If the volume doesn't justify specific models some might still purchase a 32V model and replace their bulbs. (Or sneak in an electronic regulator.)

Steve

The traction angle is a good idea!!! A locomotive dynamo can easily produce 24v as well, in the 24-32v range voltage is achieved by adjusting RPM.

Cheers, Jason

Bernie's area code IS indeed 303. He is "down the street," so to speak, from the Colorado Railraod Museum, where I volunteer. All the same area code (Denver metro area).

Mike

It is a typo on my part.

Sorry for not catching it myself and thanks to all of those who caught it.

I am editing the original post.

When it comes to simple covers and parts like that the best and cheapest way to go if you don't mind replicas is to either get the original or a very good drawing of one and with a 3D design program make a 3D model and print it out in 3D.

From there you make a rubber mold, shoot the wax and go with lost wax investment casting and or possibly make it a pattern for sand casting. A friend and I have been doing this with Live Steam parts. If you want send me a drawing of the part, and or if you are willing to loan me what ever parts you need replicated I could draw them up and either give you a 3D model that you could get printed and turned into an investment casting, or I could speak with my friend who has been the one who has taken them to the foundry. The cool thing with the 3D modeling programs is that I can design a part in 1:1 scale and then make one in what ever scale someone wants. The only issue with the 3D printing is it can get pricy especially on the bigger patterns. The pricing as far as I can tell usually goes based on the volume of material you are using, the more material the more the cost. On the other hand there are ways to reduce the cost such as shelling out the part so you only print what is needed.

Heck if you or anyone else have any interest in this send me a private message, with your email address. When it comes to historic restoration I won't charge anything to get a 3D model especially if you help me obtain either the original drawings, part, as built drawing or something to work of for a worthy cause I sure wouldn't mind giving it a shot. Once you have the actual 3D model of the part, you can send it to a whole variety of places to get them printed and from that make molds.

For some parts I believe the 3D printers today are actually printing in a meltable material that you can use to make the investment casting off of directly (I.E. a one time use casting). I don't know if any other museums out there have gone this route, but it is an incredible rapid replication technique that is becoming more and more popular in the live steam community.

Adam

There's even one company now that can 3D print stainless steel directly now, in sizes large enough to make significant parts. It's pricy, but doable. http://i.materialise.com/

I have used Pyle National of Golden, CO several times to order parts for our K2 dynamo and never had any problems. We put an order in and had new brushes at our door within 2 days. Most of the time Pyle to seems to have better cheaper prices than Bernie from my experience. Pyle was helpful with trouble shooting on the phone regarding dynamo problems and we'll use them again.

When they take your drawings, or rip-off your money, then say "you should have known better than to let them have access to them", don't you dare come on here whining about being ripped off, because we have already warned you.

Go ahead support the thieves in our small community, you are only hurting everyone!

An email from Bernie:

Spoke with a machinist at Backshop today; Bernie does indeed own a domain but has not yet created a web site for it. He does look for email every couple weeks if things are slow in the shop........so I'd recommend telephone as primary contact unless you are really not in a hurry.

I think there's a lot of opportunity for 3D printing of the smaller fittings for the in-cab switchgear that nobody supports any more. Perhaps somebody familiar with the process knows if there's a print medium that can take the heat and other stresses that can be used in their production.

dave

The technology is changing today so darn fast that just because last year a part wasn't feasible for 3D printing doesn't mean that today it isn't either. If you spend some time on google there are so many new services starting up each offering their own twist to it, so the cost is dropping and quality is rising by the month. If needed any part today replicated I would say your best bet is to get the part made in a 3D computer model usually an STL file. For the small stuff that you can use that to make molds to shoot wax into and investment cast usually you can just have one printed as your master and make some molds from it. Ask to see samples of work. We just did some 1.5" to the foot scale roller bearing caps had one company do them and they were awful another did them and they look great, so samples are a must.

Going back to the original Pyle National parts if I had to guess printing the master may be between $50-$125 and then the individual investment castings you could make from that would depend on the volumes you were having done plus the weight of the material. I know for a while a friend of mine couldn't even buy the bronze as cheap as his foundry could sell him the finished cast parts so those Pyle National covers once you had the mold could be really cheap but the only way to find out would be to try it and start getting things quoted.

On the bigger parts however your best bet is to get the 3D model made of the finished part and use that to shop around to different foundries. The bigger foundries today are all embracing the technology and once you have that first 3D file in a common format even .stp, or .iges have a bunch of them quote them and leave the decision of if it is best to print the part, print the mold, print a part and make a mold off the part up to them on the bigger stuff as there are lots of ways to cut cost with out cutting quality when rapid prototyping. Here's a cool one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8MaVaqNr3U the machine prints out the sand cast molds! No idea what it costs to get them to print you a mold, but that should be a real promising technology for anyone who will need large sand castings in the not too distant future. Also with the 3D model of the finished part you would leave it to the foundry to assure proper gating, coring etc... with in the limits of their machinery. The neat thing about that too is I have a feeling with them printing a mold it will likely change the way one designs his cores etc... when you can just print them from within the mold.

One other thing I would say if you are embarking on a 10 year restoration project of something that will need new large difficult to replicate castings made by all means wait if you can. The technology right now is like when computers first came out, it gets better and cheaper every year. If you watch that video of them printing sand casting molds it is very neat and most likely if you have to pay for such service it will only get cheaper by the year. By the way here's a cool one for someone needing a part to play with. I think we may try it out with some angle cocks for live steam but apparently just by taking some pictures of a part http://www.123dapp.com/catch you are able to get a 3D model which you could then possibly use to rapid prototype a replacement. I am not quite sure how well it will work nor how much manual touch up may be needed but I am looking forward to trying that one out one of these days.

Out of curiosity are there any parts that have a real market for them out there that lots of places where the patterns no longer exist that may make it feasible for someone to start a little side business with stock parts on the shelf? Or for the most part is the market as I suspect going to always be custom and on off to the job at hand? I have a funny feeling if there are parts like that even if the original patterns are gone someone likely has made new ones anyhow. The thing to keep in mind is while the 3D printing can make certain parts easier to replicate doesn't mean you are limited to that route. You still can make up an old fashioned wood pattern and do it that way and in many places that still would be the best way to go.

Yes Bernie does own a domain name, but the reason he doesn't use it is above my pay grade at Backshop.

I'd much rather he spend his time doing high quality rebuild work and let somebody else deal with the web stuff for him. Web guys are dime a dozen....disappearing critical skills not so much.

dave