Becoming a loco manufacturer

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Busted Bricks
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Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by Busted Bricks » Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:01 am

Hi All

Some years ago I started a thread called "Annual loco sales" - https://gardenrails.org/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=10385 where I talk about my ambition to become a loco manufacturer. The thread title might be a bit misleading and I thought I'd start a fresh thread where the focus is solely on my progress (or lack thereof).

If ever there has been a long term project this is it. It started way back in 2011 when we were living in UK. I somehow got this bee in my head that I wanted to manufacture live steam locomotives. I asked Ernst Glaser if he would permit me to build "Cracker" locomotives and he kindly said I could. I had some gears, wheels and bushings manufactured in China. Then I lost my job which resulted in us moving to Faroe Islands. My wife is from there and she could easily find work.

Fast forward to 2017 where I found myself working in Germany as a freelance IT consultant. I was making some money again and picked up the loco project where I had left off. I brought a lot copper tube for boilers back to Faroe Islands and I had some chassis laser cut. Then things stalled again as we decided to relocate to Denmark where I am from. I moved in January 2018 and my family followed 6 months later. I was offered an apprenticeship as a CNC machinist by a friend of mine who has a CNC turning and milling business. This would be a great opportunity to learn new skills and eventually be able to make loco parts after hours at work. Things didn't quite work out as planned. My wife could only find part time employment and my salary as an apprentice was not that high. Combined with the fact that the workplace was quite far from where we live and i spent £400 a month on diesel it was a bit hard to make ends meet. As a consequence I decided to look for a job closer to home with better pay. In May 2019 I started work as a laser operator on a couple of Trumpf tube cutting lasers. It is night shift with a 4 day working week.

I have my own laser cutting business on the side but with a full time job and a long commute there are only so many hours I can spend on that. The money I make from my own business is invested in new machinery. In January 2019 I was able to put a deposit on a 1kW fiber laser cutter. Being able to cut chassis, motion and body parts myself means the parts are a lot cheaper than if I had to buy them in. I also avoid startup fees on orders so it making prototype parts is affordable. I'm decent at 2D CAD work so from idea to actual part can be achieved in a matter of minutes now.

One problem I have faced this past year is that with a full time job and own business, I have not had any time for hobby and own projects. I have not had a weekend off for over a year. However with the new job and better pay I can reduce the amount of work I do for customers and focus on getting some of my projects back on track.

Of course I no longer have access to CNC lathes and mills but I have more knowledge about the process now and will be buying in some parts. I have a conventional lathe (Raglan 5inch) and mill (A&S model "0") as well as a Schaublin automatic lathe. The latter is good for making parts like fittings. I was also just given a manual Schaublin turret lathe which will come in handy for second operation on parts from the automatic lathe. I should also be getting a small CNC router shortly. It won't be up to doing any heavy milling but should be able to drill holes for valve blocks etc. Tools wise I'm set. Because I have a business I can buy materials at trade prices and I have source for off-cuts at scrap metal prices.

There is still a very long way to go before an actual loco will see the light of day. Even on a simple geared oscillator engined loco the parts count is high. I have yet to use the automatic lathe in anger but they guy I bought it from is coming to give me some training on it before long. Down the road I would like to make more advanced locos but I would have to read up on valve gear design. Designs are likely to be freelance as it seems most full-size locos have been made already and I would struggle to gather sufficient info to build them to scale. I know there is a demand for detailed scale locos but I have to be realistic about my abilities and time available. There is also a limit to how much I can afford to invest in parts. Therefore my efforts are centered around geared oscillators. The engine would be usable in stationary models and boats as well, so will have a slightly larger market. As and when I have a stock of parts they will be available individually to anyone who would like to build locos themselves but might not fancy machining all parts from scratch. I'm under no illusion that I will be selling a lot of locos and making a lot of money but I think there might be a market for simple, affordable live steam locomotives. The market trend towards more detailed (and more expensive) locos must mean that some people are deterred from joining this great hobby.

Michael

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Re: Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by Busted Bricks » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:12 pm

I have had a limited company since I arrived in Denmark and as such am VAT registered. I was also VAT registered in UK and on Faroe Islands. :D I've run part time businesses on and off for over 10 years now.

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Re: Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by idlemarvel » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:41 pm

That's a wonderful story Michael I hope your dreams can come true.
Dave Miller
currently building the 5" gauge Circle Line

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Re: Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by Jbs » Thu Jul 18, 2019 4:12 pm

Very interested to hear how you have got to your present position Michael, and will look forward to hear where you go from here.
For myself, I am not to bothered on adherence to a prototype as long as an engine is proportionate and workmanlike - I also work in 1/12th so will be interested to see if it would be possible to scale up your16mm designs (thinking of frames and bodywork but incorporating standard 16mm working parts). A lot of the detail work, if required, can be added by the modeller.
Regards
John
Regards,

John Smith

Harrogate

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Re: Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by Busted Bricks » Thu Jul 18, 2019 6:26 pm

John, I would actually love to make a 1/12 scale loco. I like the size. If I could start all over again and if suitable track was available I would probably model in 1/12-ish. Once parts are drawn it's not too hard to scale them up. Also steel is cheap so the material cost for chassis and bodywork would not go up by much.

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Re: Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by SeamusOD » Wed Sep 04, 2019 4:26 pm

What thickness steel and alum can you cut on your fibre laser

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Re: Becoming a loco manufacturer

Post by Busted Bricks » Wed Sep 04, 2019 7:36 pm

10mm steel and 2mm alu (probably up to 3mm but I have only tried 2mm so far).

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