Milling Kato frames

[liengineerbob]

I have about 30 Kato frames of various types that need milling out that awful angle from.

Short of butchering them up with several dozen Dremel cut off wheels and bastard files, is there an easier way of doing this??

Does anyone offer a service like this??

The amount I need done (not all at once unless totally necessary), is very daunting to say the least!!!

Any suggestions or hints??

[stillbre]

Central Valley Model Works offers a frame milling service. Also, if you have a local community college that offers a basic machining class, they may be able to do it for you.

[beentherecnthat]

I recently purchased a Dremel rotary file that is shaped like a drum (for about $10) It cuts on the sides and end. Using a handheld dremel with an Athearn frame in a vise, I was able to cleanly mill the frame to fit a P2K GP 38 shell. It cut a nice, square edge and I didn't have to keep replacing cut-off wheels.

[liengineerbob]

Where can I find one of those dremel rotary files?? I did a search and came up with parts for a Mazda and how to trim toenails on a dog!!

[beentherecnthat]

Being Canaij'n, I bought mine at Canadian Tire, but I know Home Depot and Lowe's carry bits as well. So does Walthers. I believe Dremel calls it a high speed cutter, #115 is what I bought, other size heads are also available.

[dtinut]

It's one thing to remove stuff on a frame that is in the way, and usually hidden from view, but if you are looking to square the frame for frame rails, and you have several to do, you don't want to use a dremel. I'd suspect you'd hang yourself after you finished the first one, looking at the rest, and how much work it takes, not to mention, it won't be real consistent/straight either.
I have the same dremel cutters, and I haven't ever used mine on steel, just wood and plastic.
I want mine to stay razor sharp, so I same the nasty stuff of my workbench mill.


You need someone to mill these for you. I thought I sent you a PM about this, but haven't heard back.

Regards,
Brian

[liengineerbob]

DTInut:

Sorry, I don't have the opportunity to check the board daily....I just sent a reply to your PM. I greatly appreciate the offer.

And, yes, I want to "squareup" the frame to add frame rails, etc. to the underframes, that is what I am looking for.

I tried a portion of one with the dremel, and you're correct, half way through I gave up.

[jbaakko]

If you find a good service let me know, I have two older Atlas SD24 frames I need milled considerably.

[dtinut]

Josh,

What do you want to do to the SD24 frames?
Are these the older Atlas frames (yellow box) or the newer Atlas ones?

Regards,
Brian

[jbaakko]

remove most of the fuel tank, and square off the sill.

[dtinut]

I can remove the fuel tank, but am VERY leary of trying to mchine off anything along the sill on these older frames. They have no cross member at the end of the frame, and can be bent/broken in the blink of an eye. If they were cast steel, it wouldn't be a problem, but they are cast pot metal, and it only bends once, after that, it breaks. Ask me how I know?

I have machined off the fuel tank from the GP frames, because they are incorrect, and it isn't a hard to do.

Brian

[dtinut]

Here is one that I did.



I made it so an Atlas fuel tank from the newer models could be fitted onto the model.
Brian

[Randy Earle]

That geep looks similar to what I did on my SD-35 Brian.

[dtinut]

Randy,

Years ago, before they Atlas released the newer models, I had several of the older Atlas/Roco models (still have them), and I always liked how well they ran compared to Athearns, although I have learned why they ran better, and now I have good running Athearns.

The one thing that really bugged me most, was the shape of the fuel tank. They are oversized and wrong shape. The first one I corrected, by getting a friend with a mill, to shave off enough material to allow me to fit Kato fuel tank pieces onto the frame. I bought several SD40 fuel tanks from Kato in Schaumburg while visiting a friend whi lived there to use for this purpose.
It isn't difficult, and can be done with a 4" hand grinder also. Works better than a drmel cause it has way more power, and a larger wheel to make the work go a lot quicker. The old Atlas sheels are decently detailed, and are accurate dimensionally, so they turn out nice with some work. I like to replace the cab on them to fix the major issues. Subbase is the next thing needing correcting. I always liked this work, so I still have them around to work on if I choose to do so.

Brian

[Randy Earle]

That Roco fuel tank was a nasty representation of what it was supposed to be. I used one of the big cut off wheels in my dremel and cut most of the sides and ends off on my SD-35. I then, just like you cut down a Kato SD40 tank and used it. In the old days we used to fill in the tank slots with duraglass and file the heck out of them. I sold my entire fleet of Atlas/Roco geeps on evil bay this year.

PS...I bought a set of the newer Atlas handrails and they pretty much fit with a little hole filling and re-drilling.

[jbaakko]

Dec 13, 2008 0:30:17 GMT -5 dtinut said:

I can remove the fuel tank, but am VERY leary of trying to mchine off anything along the sill on these older frames. They have no cross member at the end of the frame, and can be bent/broken in the blink of an eye. If they were cast steel, it wouldn't be a problem, but they are cast pot metal, and it only bends once, after that, it breaks. Ask me how I know?

I have machined off the fuel tank from the GP frames, because they are incorrect, and it isn't a hard to do.

Brian

I'm going to test out a new run SD24 for my 2nd slug. Then I'll see what I need milled. I know I'll need at least the one frame milled square.

[dtinut]

Josh,

Let me know when you want to do this.
I am going to have some time off shortly, so turn around shouldl be quick.

Brian