Bobber Caboose

[jbodenmann]

And here is the skeleton key. At this point it is extra long to make thing easier at the foundry. Later I will show you some little tricks that I have picked up over the years on how to make raised panel doors and sash windows that can be opened on a hot day to let the breezes in. Stay tuned...more to come.
Jack

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[Prowe]

I am in awe of all your skills, its not model egineering as I know it. I can only gasp in admiration.

Phil

[jbodenmann]

Hello my friends
Here are a few shots of what I have been up to. The caboose will have some doors and windows like the one shown here.

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[jbodenmann]

Hello My Friends
I have been very busy with a number of things so I haven't had much time to post, but here Are a few things you may find useful. The little caboose has operating doors and windows made of birch. Here are some photos and descriptions of some little tricks on how to make them. The first photo here is a cutter for the router that is used to cut the tongues on the ends of the door and window rails. The rails are the horizontal bits of the doors and windows. The cutter is comprised of two commercially available carbide tipped cutters fitted to a home made mandrel. There is a spacer between the cutters that controls the thickness of the tongues. Also visible in the photo is one of the door rails.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is a photo of the cutter that will be used to cut the grooves that the tongues of the rails and the glass will fit into. Once again a commercially available carbide tipped router bit and a home made mandrel. Both mandrels are made to fit into a half inch router.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is a close up of some of the window parts.

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[jbodenmann]

Now the trick with making these tiny door and window parts is in the holding of them while machining. This is done with a cam operated holding device shown here. Nothing sophisticated, just some bits of wood. The dark colored piece sticking up at an angle is the cam. The cam is just made of pine and rotates on a wood screw. As the cam rotates it presses down on three thin strips of wood that press the little door part down onto a piece of sandpaper glued to the fixture. The sandpaper keeps the part from sliding around. The fixture has a strip of wood glued to the underside that slides in a slot on the router table.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is the fixture with the cam rotated down to hold the part.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is the fixture in action on the router table.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is the set up for milling the slot for the tongues and glass to fit into. Tiny parts, tiny push sticks.

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[jbodenmann]

These early door and window parts all have stop chamfers. Here is how to safely cut the stop chamfers while protecting your precious fingers. The cutter barely projects through the sacrificial fence between the pencil marks. There are also stops clamped to the fence with spring clamps.

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[jbodenmann]

In this photo the door part is against the stop and is prepared to engage the cutter.

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[jbodenmann]

Here the part is pressed against the fence engaging the cutter.

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[jbodenmann]

Here the part has been advanced to the second stop, cutting the stop chamfer.

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[jbodenmann]

And here is a close up of the stop chamfer. Even though this is a tiny detail, to me it is very important as it gives the part a finished appearance.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is a close up of one of the door mullions showing the tongues, grooves, and stop chamfers.

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[jbodenmann]

Here is one of the windows with it's 1/16" glass panes.

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[jbodenmann]

And finally a gaggle of doors and windows. No shortage of thing to do!
Jack

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[jbodenmann]

Here are a few more shots of the caboose. This first set up is for drilling the holes for the tiny nails that basically hold the siding in place while the glue dries. The nails are .026" diameter.

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[jbodenmann]

Siding

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