P2K Frame milling?

[jbaakko]

Has anyone attempted this? I have to trim a tad bit of the frame from my LL P2K donar GP30, so that the Kato cab base fits (or any if I decide to go with something else). Anyone have suggestions? I allready have a dremel in mind but my Dremel is in MI and I'm in Cali. I'll post pics of the current progress this weekend.

 

[RCH]

Central Valley Model Works offers milling services.

http://www.cvmw.com/custom.htm

 

[jbaakko]

I was hoping mor along the lines of just milling the stock chassis, I just have to remove a tad bit of metal to provide clearance for the cab sub-base.

 

[RCH]

Well, then why not use a hacksaw? The cut may not be the prettiest, but that's what the beautifully detailed and painted shell is for.

 

[jbaakko]

I'll see, this is gonne be interesting...

 

[Railphotog]

I've sliced and diced my share of underframes, mostly Athearn. Several years ago I kitbashed an SD40-2 into a cabless SOO model. The prototype had no cab at all, the dynamic brakes were located where the cab used to be. I had to remove quite a bit of the white metal from the cab area, as there would be no step up any more. I used my trusty old Dremel tool and a bunch of heavy duty cutoff wheels - the thicker ones, as the thin ones don't last at all.

Made a whole lot of white metal filings, and had to stop many times to let the Dremel cool off as it kept getting too hot to handle. The tool finally gave up last year, probably because of previous similar tasks. I got about 20 years out of it anyway!

 

[grande man]

I've had to hack a few LL frames. I'd go with the dremel and a fresh burr. It won't be pretty but it really doesn't matter in this instance. If you don't fully disassemble the loco, be sure to wrap it in a rag and tape everything off to keep the aluminum chips out of the drive. Modeling clay is also useful for filling some areas to keep them out.

 

[CBCNSfan]

Well so far I've only hsd to butcher one frame, an Athearn GP7. Let's see I used a Dremmel, a 4 1/2" Boch grinder, and various files. A lot of metal was removed, ended up with a nice little loco though.

Willis

 

[jbaakko]

So consensus is Dremel with cut off tool or Burr? I think, if it doesn't become to complex, I'm going to disassemble the frame so that I can attack only the weight, that is, depending on how easy it is to attack.

 

[grumpybob]

I have taken down a number of LL frames, due to the fact that the recievers for Dynatrol didn't fit without it. I always stripped the unit down to just the frame, just so i didn't slip and mess up something else. I definitely used a burring tool, as cut off wheels, also called wizz wheels, break easily and can be dangerous. plus the metal screw that holds the cut off wheels on, always seemed to get in the way.

Have fun.

 

[grande man]

So consensus is Dremel with cut off tool or Burr?

Burr only please, carbide wheels get clogged with aluminum.