Barrel train Car

[elkriverfab]

OK everybody,

Here is what they look like when finished.
I know the photos I posted the other day looked like a water tank on a trailer

But they look nice when finished.
I decided to wrap the opening in the barrel with a small round bar rather than the edge gasket.

Just bend to fit the shape of the opening and weld on.
This way no body will cut them self when handling the cars.

I just have to finish the last coats of paint on the cars and paint the seats.

Thanks.

[plasmajoe]

Very nicely done Shawn,

Reminds me of my youth when my grandfather made these for us kids, allthough he made them with skis instead of wheels, we used to hitch them behind our horses and ride for hours on the country roads... Hmmm makes me feel old now...

My daughter loves the color and she wants one now just like that,

Plasma Joe

[Mountain Home]

nice work, as always

[BrianMick]

Hey Shawn, how did you get the bead or whatever that is around the cutout of the barrel, so they dont cut themselves on the edges?
Brian

[rkgraphics]

It looks like it was just folded over

[elkriverfab]

Brian,

I took cut lengths of small round bar and tack welded it directly to the sharp edge.

As I ran down the lip I kept welding it in place.
I used a set of locking pliers to bend the bar around the barrel shapes.
It's easy when the bar is hot from tack welding, it bends fast if you do it while it's hot.

I also pre bent the solid bar around the barrel to get the curve needed for the front and back.

I figured it would be better than running a rubber or plastic gasket.

This way it will never fall off and it covers the sharp edge very well with a smooth round edge.

Hope that helps.

[WSS]

Very cool. The bar makes sense, it will still be there in a few years, the gasket might crack or get lost. I usaully notice the missing art after the damage is done! I may have missed it, but how many did you/are you going to make?

WSS

[BrianMick]

Thanks for the Info Shawn, I,ve never thought of doing that..........You will make a lot of girlys very happy with that pimped out ride........
Brian

[elkriverfab]

Thanks everybody.

I thought about it for a little while and figured it was better to run the round bar on the cut edge.

I look at it as if I was going to be using it. If it has any risk of hurting a kid just wanting to have a little fun than it's worth the extra effort to protect them.

In a perfect world you hope the parents have the common sense to keep an eye on it but that never happens.

You know how things go, that gasket falls off over time and that sharp edge will always be there.
I didn't want to use plastic barrels and have the paint flake off from flexing.
So I had to figure out a solution for that sharp edge.

I think it would have taken the same amount of time trying to glue an edge gasket on and the round bar is much lower in cost. So it works out better.

Took about 15 minutes per car to do including cutting the bar with bolt cutters, pretty fast.