Tender Water Tank - Pennsylvania A3 Switcher, Part 21

This episode on Blondihacks, I’m working on the water tank of my A3! Exclusive videos, drawings, models & plans available on Patreon!

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[Blondihacks]

Hey everyone! Some folks are asking why the tender is that shape. This is a switcher, so it spends its life in yards, never far from water. The A3 has a Slope Back tender which sacrifices some water capacity for better rear coupler visibility. A good trade off in a switcher. This was also likely used as a road switcher, meaning it spent short stretches on the mainline shunting between yards and interchanges. That’s why it has a tender at all instead of being a tank engine.

Also, yes I know about jigsaws and I have one. I don’t like them for sheet metal. If they work for you, great. Consider the suggestion made now.

I also know that MDF exists and have shown it used for spoil board many times. I used the oak here because I had to cut the piece anyway for the hammer form, as shown seconds later.

[jeffreyhallam]

“I used a Starrett precision brick, you won’t find this in their catalog” and “I used some Mitutoyo blue painter’s tape. Tip I got from a tool and die maker”. This might only be funny to machinists who know but I know, and I love this channel. Machinist comedy may be niche but it brings me joy.

[robindeputy]

Quinn’s subtle humor is part of what makes these videos so much fun to watch.

[johnapel]

What is this O. A. K. of which you speak?
It kind of reminds me of...Hey, wait... that's wood!
WOOD BUTCHER! YOU'VE BECOME A WOOD BUTCHER!
Oh the humanity.
Next you will be delving into the dark art of electricity and become...a spark-o-teer.
Wow.
Everything turns out so beautiful. A joy to watch.
As always, thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.

[RainShadow-yixr]

'Precision toolmakers brick' had me in stitches! Keep up the good work!

[brianhaygood]

So last week you did the stepladders on the side of the tender, among other things. Now you are making a piece of wood to bend metal around. I have enjoyed both the former and the ladder.

[kjbenner]

The easiest way to get that .270" radius is probably to just make the whole part 7% undersize, use the 1/4" roundover bit, and then just use your transmogrifier to embiggen the part to 1.08 scale.

[beliasphyre]

The only thing worse than a chain dimension is an overall dimension attached to both sides of the chain. I'm a draftsman. I was working on a beautiful drawing of a power substation from the late 70's to update the new equipment in the yard. The designer insisted that this drawing that has been in use for fifty years was wrong because the very last gap between equipment and the fence was missing. It was chain dimensioning off the far side fence, and the fence itself had the overall dimension. The gap was where all the slop and tolerance buildup goes. I tried explaining it, but the designer was dead set it needed a dimension. Sent it to the client, and the client's engineer came back and gave the designer an ear full. The final gap dimension was removed.

[jimsvideos]

"Square virgin material" was my high school nickname. 🥲

[heighRick]

Aww Quinn, 24 bananas are one of our households favourite measurements; the girls were very happy to hear. Thanks, helps a lot.

[AnonOmis]

2:30 I see someone has been watching Cutting Edge Engineering

[kayhaverkort]

I love how you do all that extra effort to get us all up to speed with those fancy new alloys. Thanks!

[gabrielribeiro]

This new O.A.K. material seems pretty nice to work with, amazing what we can do nowadays with material science.

[tailsdblack]

You know its gonna be a good day when blondiehacks drops a video.

[webopi]

Precision Starrett Toolmakers Brick 🤣😂

[JonathanWinterflood]

If you're not all done with large parts, a jigsaw actually works really well on metal, with the appropriate fine-toothed blade; just don't force it and let it cut at it's own pace

[robertwalker]

If you make a handle for a hacksaw blade you can use it like a panel saw in timber and cut any distance you like through thin metal. Bit like a manual jigsaw. Eclipse used to make them I think. Thanks for persevering with this series, my late father made a small loco so this gives me a great insight to what he achieved.

[holton]

@ 5:25 — HAHAHA!!! That brick came straight from our good friends in Athol! Nice. Must have cost a pretty penny, too. ;-)

Great video, and excellent work!

[chuckabell]

So ultimate success was the result of solid woodworking! Blondiroutes

[daveeckblad]

I've found that sometimes climb milling is necessary for wood or some plastics. Some grain orientation requires you to take bites into instead of out of the material or you'll get chip out in wood. In plastic, the progressively increased bite of conventional milling (starting from no interaction to full chip depth, can cause the material to melt which can give you a gnarly built up crusty finish.