LWS/ Penn-Erie U50 in pewter

[bob turner]

First, should we lobby for a one-click log-in? I have to log in every other day.

Maroon gave me a LocoWorks U50 - a very very long model! I think it is Britannia metal, a high quality form of pewter. It forms easily, which may mean it needs reinforcement over its length to avoid sagging.

I have it straightened over a wood form - photo soon - and basically ready to join. I have zero experience with pewter.

There are special solders and flux for pewter. "they" say to genly heat with a torch, and get out of there when the solder flows to avoid a sudden catastrophic melt down. Awk!

The other (safer) choice is J B Weld. I am not above choosing the safer option.

But open to advice. What do you think?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Lacking any experience with both the low temp solders and techniques, I personally would opt for the safe option, but there are those here (I think...) with experience with both the low temp solders and techniques that might be willing to give you better advise.

[robert.]

I vote for JB weld. Pewter melts around 250 degrees.

[J. S. Bach]

First, should we lobby for a one-click log-in? I have to log in every other day. ...snip...

I have stayed logged-in for several months.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Maybe find someone that does stained glass windows and ask how they solder all the bits together?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

First, should we lobby for a one-click log-in? I have to log in every other day. ...snip...

I have stayed logged-in for several months.

Apparently that's possible, but unlike many other sites my computer logs me out from here every time I shut it down.

How hard is it to log in?

[R.K. Maroon]

I would J.B. Weld, but would add splice plates across the seams on the inside of the shell. I would probably screw those in place. The walls on those white-metal shells are thick enough (I believe) to take a #2 flat-head. Go a skosh deep and then fill in behind. I think that would be less work than grinding down round-head screws. But you have way more experience with this technique than I do.

I would try soldering only if I had a torch with a very small tip, so that heat could be localized. You could experiment on lead, if you had some pieces of appropriate thickness.

Jim

[bob turner]

I took all of your advice. The front is JB Weld and cured. Back half was clamped a couple minutes ago. Considering reinforcements, but maybe only in strategic spots. Front felt really solid.

You will laugh - there are four fans that needed recesses in the wood form. I forgot that the wood form had to slide out from the bottom - spent an hour carefully chiseling wood out of the way.

[bob turner]

Daily log-in complete.

Major structural assembly complete. I made another mistake; forgot to put wax paper around the wood form where the side joints were. Spent a semi-unpleasant hour digging out a tunnel in the wood where the seams leaked. Wound up pounding the wood form out with a hammer. Clear it was not just random glue holding it.

So, structurally, the JB Weld is the optimum solution. Itshows not the slightest hint of failing under abuse. I may still epoxy some glass cloth inside along the seams.

I will get the trucks ready before bothering Shutterfly, and then you, with photos.

[De Bruin]

Bravo Bob!
My experience with the "metalized" JB Weld is if blended and applied well to a seam and allowed to cure-
one has to carefully hammer & chisel it apart afterward if the fit or set-up is screwed up.
The shear car body sprawl of that U50 kit though is humbling but it's inspiring to learn I might not have to sweat (with torch) an LWS segmented BL2 body for example...
I look forward to following your progress.
Pete

[healey36]

Sarge gave me a lesson soldering a couple of pewter Arttista figures, using an iron on a rheostat so one could control its temp (i.e. dial it back to a cooler temp so the risk of melting/damaging the casting is minimal). I’ve done it successfully a couple times since, but to be honest, I’ve ruined a couple as well. It’s a delicate process requiring a steady hand and good eyes.

[bob turner]

This went faster than I could ever have imagined, even with two 24-hr curing periods. I found enough brass truck sideframes to replace the white metal ones (free for postage; there are seven, with brass eyelets - the white metal ones).

The JB Weld was easy to file, and in some places you cannot see the seam. The sides have a gap - the roof lines up. The JB Weld filled the gap so that I suspect with paint you will not be able to see even a trace.

The sideframes had already been drilled - all I did was find suitable bolsters and assemble. They are ever so much larger than the otherwise identical white metal sideframes. The entire thing sits on wood blocks for now. I think powering it will be an engineering feat. I am sure it will involve a drop-down gear tower of some type. It may also need two motors. I was thinking four, but there is no room inside for anything that swings.
Herewith:

[E7]

You might wonder what soldering copper pipe with a torch has to do with any of this, but read on. When you have your joint cleaned and fluxed, and ready to apply the heat, touch the solder to one side of the pipe joint and apply the torch flame 180 degrees opposite. The solder will flow around the joint toward the torch flame. Wipe it down with a rag and you're done. Yeah, we're not soldering pipe, but that example tells you one important thing. Solder will flow in the direction of the heat. I worked in the field side of the telephone industry for 15 years. I replaced more worn out relay contacts than I care to think about. Most of them were connected by 26 gauge wire with plastic insulation. The ends of the contacts were rectangular, and I would crimp the wire onto the end of the contact, touch the solder to one side and the fully heated iron tip to the other side. As soon as the solder flowed across the crimped wire, remove the iron. Never melted the insulation, and never had a cold solder joint. Be sure your iron is fully heated before trying ti solder. The idea is to melt the solder quickly and get the iron away as soon as the solder FLOWS.

Guessing it would be a bit trickier on a big long joint like Bob had, but I think doable.

If I were to go with glue, I think I would try Bondic (not that there is anything wrong with JB weld!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I think powering it will be an engineering feat. I am sure it will involve a drop-down gear tower of some type. It may also need two motors. I was thinking four, but there is no room inside for anything that swings.

Looking forward to seeing this in detail

[E7]

Maybe find someone that does stained glass windows and ask how they solder all the bits together?

The individual pieces of glass are "wrapped" by a metal "channel" that is soldered where the ends meet. I never did stained glass, but I suspect the difficult part is nipping the glass to the wanted shape.