I'm in the process of running new 3/4" black iron pipe (schedule 80) for the conductor's valves on our Lehigh Valley caboose, #95100. The pipe anchor on one end of the caboose was heavily rusted and completely seized together. I removed the anchor and cleaned it up the best I could. (Pictured before and after below.) The anchor has lost a lot of mass, and won't be a very effective anchor anymore. Moreover, the anchor on the other end of the caboose is long gone. Does anyone know if these are "common" off the shelf parts? If so, what would be the best source? I can provide more details if necessary. Many thanks in advance!

I didn't find anything exactly the same as your rusted pipe anchors, but slightly different styles are available from Comet Industries (a distributor), Kansas City, MO (816)-245-9400
Toll Free - (888) 700-4214 http://www.cometind.com/Website/Downloads/Rail_Car_Parts_Catalog_2008_Revision_I.pdf.

A manufacturer is Ireco, maker of Wright brand railroad pipe anchors http://www.ireco.com/products/-wright-pipe-anchors
IRECO, LLC
805 Golf Lane
Bensenville, IL 60106
Phone: 630-741-0155
Fax: 630-595-0646
EMail IRECO at: sales@ireco.com

Good luck! - Doug Debs

It appears that it was designed so that the keeper (not sure of the right term) was driven into place and then held in position with a pin? Also, it looks like it was designed to allow the pipe move a little as it expanded and contracted.

This looks like a perfect product to make with 3D printing. Have you looked into sources?

dave

Can you make something that strong with 3D printing, or would it be a two step process, create the model and then use it for a mold?

I understand the 3D printing end. In very simplified terms: You do a 3D scan which you clean up in this case or you create a CAD file from scratch, and then the printer creates the object.

However, what I'm not familiar with is a 3D printing process that can create a metal material as strong as cast iron, which is what I'm presuming this is. Is that capability available now?

Thank you for the links, Doug!

I hadn't thought about 3D printing. I have the capability of creating 3D CAD files, so that wouldn't be an issue.

I admit I'm not familiar with how far the technology has come. I imagine any "printed" metal parts would be somehow sintered. The original part is indeed cast and has held up to an amazing amount of abuse. I'd be a little skeptical about raw printed parts. Making a master and having anchors cast is certainly an option, though. The master would need to be slightly oversized to account for the shrinkage rate, whatever that might be.

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If you can print it in something that melts - with, say, a 5% oversize - then you can cast it in ductile or aluminum. I have been told you can now print in some grade of stainless.

dave

I used to have a small iron foundry where I could cast small parts such as this from original parts. These wouldn't be too hard to remake but would take a bit of time to make the molds. I don't know anyone who does small custom iron casting work nowadays.

There is a place in Amish country called Cattail Foundry that will do one-offs and use existing parts as patterns. This looks like the perfect job for them. I haven't used them, but the name keeps coming up. Google "Cattail Foundry".

If you want a ballpark in the costs of printing direct to metal shapeways.com would give you a good idea. From what I understand the systems that work for printing metal parts directly require both a powered metal base as well as a stack of money sitting along side to fuse into the finished part! The technology is changing so fast though so it could have come down in cost. Usually it is best to either print your pattern, or mold out of something non metal, print it as a hollow shelled part, and go from there.

The other question is have you gone to mcmaster.com and done a good search on everything hanger yet? I tried a basic one but gave up after seeing a few hundred different ones. If McMaster doesn't have it I would say you have done your due diligence and the likelihood of finding it available elsewhere is probably low enough to justify having one custom made. In all honesty if it were me and I wanted that exact type of hanger and I only needed one, I think I would fab one. If I am looking at it correctly it looks like your base part is ok, but it is the top piece that covers the part that is bad? Depending on your fabrication skills and tools avialable it doesn't look like it would be too terrible to make. If it were me, between a welder and a milling machine I think I could have something that worked and looked good in 1-4hrs.

My McMaster paper catalog (#114) doesn't show any pipe or conduit hangers of this type, or even close to it.

Of course for some shops hot-riveting such a hanger to the car body might also be a problem.

You are not going to find anything that matches the originals, anywhere, because no one rivets anymore, and hasn't for about the last five decades. That's why the solid heavy duty clamps have evolved into a weld on design, which was suggested in the second post to this discussion. I'm sure they would be perfectly adequate for the task, the problem is, they won't be CORRECT. It's kind of the same issue as using vinyl stickers in place of gold leaf lettering.

SLS, Selective Laser Sintering, can make solid metal parts, but not cheaply. The main thrust of the development of that process is mold cavities, which, pound for pound, are some of the most expensive metal parts on earth. As to the other rapid prototyping processes, they are certainly adequate for making foundry patterns, and some materials are usable for "burn out" as investment masters. The main considerations here are cost of the RP masters vs. the savings of not pulling reusable patterns from the sand molds; complex patterns or parts that require multiple cores may well be better done by investment casting.

Rapid Prototyping of a relatively coarse surface finish that is still perfectly adequate as patterns for full size cast iron parts has become a commodity item in recent years, with solid models submitted via the web and automatically quoted at the time of submission. See: http://www.shapeways.com

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Thanks, everyone! With a little bit of work I think I can reuse the old anchor. I did a little test yesterday and it looks like it will still hold the pipe. The tapered locking piece will need some repair... it is supposed to have a closed loop on top so that it can be locked in with a cotter pin. Otherwise, it seems to be doing what it's supposed to do.

With that said, I will still need an anchor for the other end. (Again, it was ripped off the car years ago.) I'll look into having a new one cast from the original. McMaster has a newer style weld-on anchor, but I don't think it would look correct.

Thanks again!