News Etched Brass Fanatic's... Miller Engineering is considering!

rray Jan 14, 2020

  1. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    OK, I remember seeing the Twin Whistle models somewhere, just not the kits or company name. I like the White Tower's tiny footprint and basic yet art deco lines! As far as White Castle, they sell mini hamburgers in the freezer section at Walmart. It's served on a dinner roll instead of a full size hamburger bun. Harold and Kumar highly indorse them.
    HKGTWC.JPG
     
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  2. bostonjim

    bostonjim TrainBoard Member

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    Harold and Kumar put them back on the cultural map!!!Jim
     
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  3. rvn2001

    rvn2001 TrainBoard Member

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    White Castles were the original sliders ...... or belly-bombers as they're known in the St. Louis area.

    You can still find Twin Whistle kits on the net.
     
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  4. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    You guys are making me hungry with all this White Castle talk ;)
    Some are still kind of old fashioned but one I know of in Columbus near the University is thoroughly modern and offers lots of new menu choices.
     
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  5. bostonjim

    bostonjim TrainBoard Member

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  6. shamoo737

    shamoo737 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Jim, your work is so much better. Maybe I should have you build all my kits. lol
     
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  7. bostonjim

    bostonjim TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, John. The feeling is mutual. Jim
     
  8. cjm413

    cjm413 TrainBoard Member

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    White Castle has a decent number of locations in the Chicago area, but most are relatively new construction and located in strip malls

    Sent from my LM-X410(FG) using Tapatalk
     
  9. bostonjim

    bostonjim TrainBoard Member

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    I think it is called Re-branding. In any case it is all good. They are an iconic name. Nice to see there are more than one manufacturer of them. Every city corner should have one. Jim
     
  10. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Gosh, I remember as a kid in the 70's we'd go visit my Grandparents in Michigan, and the first place we'd go was White Castle for a bag of those, delicious!

    Be about 15 of them for $2.00!!
    The frozen ones today just aren't the same.....
     
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  11. kimvellore

    kimvellore TrainBoard Member

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    Rob,
    You should try making some Brass structures. It is similar effort as making wood kits but you get someone else to make the brass parts. You can even test it on paper with the laser to make sure the end result is a perfect fit. You can make some nice multimedia kit with wood parts, decals, resin and brass. In doing one set you get a bunch of kits free for yourself when you sell the others. Or you can get a fiber laser which has become quite cheap now and cut your own brass parts.
    I hope someone post here when the miller engineering kits are available, i would be interested in getting a few.
    If you folks have any other brass/metal kits from mom-pop creators please post pictures, I would love to see the unique metal Z things. I had collected some from bartering many years back, its in a box some where, if I find it I will post pics too.

    Kim
     
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  12. bostonjim

    bostonjim TrainBoard Member

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    That's what I remember about the local-ish one we used to go to: the bags of hamburgers. I think it was 6 or 8 for a dollar. Cheese was an additional 5cents (Why don't keyboards have cent symbols!?) When I am out and about I will take photos of the 2 I know of. They are still distinctive looking. They have a Route 66 vibe about them. Jim
     
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  13. z.scale.hobo

    z.scale.hobo TrainBoard Member

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    I think Miller is siding with caution in this production run ... We z scalers make a lot of noise, but when something becomes available, it sits ... the Victorians were available for years - his last run was 2009 and they finally ran out of stock in like 2015.

    Not just us on this thread, but the entire Z community needs to respond to Miller's toe in the water. I hope the response is good enough to make him consider coming back permanently and this is not just a "one more for old time's sake" production run.

    Kim: The kits are slated for June 2020 release - announcements will come at that time.
     
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  14. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    Hi Kim, I have been looking at fiber lasers over the past year. I didn't want to be the guy who actually tests the water, I was hoping someone else would have purchased a 50W fiber for etching brass and stainless, and posts the positives and negatives about his system. It's all about the software drivers.

    I know a 50W fiber can do the job with a 160mm x 160mm galvo lens. What I do not know is which system will let me use Corel Draw and directly print without having to do EXcad file conversions.

    In other words I am waiting till I find a Fiber laser that has windows drivers allowing me to print directly from any windows program. Also it needs to have a decent laser, like the JPT or IPG. No Max, Raycus, or other limited frequency wide beam lasers.
     
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  15. kimvellore

    kimvellore TrainBoard Member

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    Rob,
    I have been watching the progress and price drop for the fiber laser but if you want one with a windows driver, it will have to be 6X the cost as only the big manufacturers have them. In any case you can do all your drawings in Corel and import it in the other program to send to the laser, there will be a learning curve. As for cutting brass I am still looking to see a video or a thin part that was cut in brass. All the ones I have seen are thicker material not the thin sheets. I have a feeling they might warp with heat or have slag residue if a thin material is used. There is a NBM laser show here in a week, maybe I should take some sheet metal and ask the Trotec or Epilog to cut with fiber and see how it comes out.

    Kim
     
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  16. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    Yes, that's my other concern is of slag, but I figure it can be mitigated by having sacrificial material under the sheet I am cutting, and just continuing to ablate away into the sacrificial sheet. Alternately, a quick dip in FeCl and rinse should help.

    I also am wondering about warpage, does thin .003" stainless warp?
     
  17. kimvellore

    kimvellore TrainBoard Member

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    Rob,
    Went to the laser show and cut some .12mm brass with 20W fiber. it looks promising. the slag is like black powder that comes of with little wiping. I am sure acetone will easily take it off. I used a wet wipe and you can see the one I wiped among the three circular pieces that was cut. the speed for this circle is about 1.5 seconds so it cuts quite fast. I did not see it warp but did see it move a with heat. The Trotec guys said SS would cut even better. Their machine was 28K. Wish I could post a video directly. Anyways it looks quite promising. Also most of these machines come with their own SW so you will have to either import into it from Corel or learn how to draw in it.
    Kim
     
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  18. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

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    Frank,

    Any updates on the release of the Miller’s kits?

    John
     
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  19. z.scale.hobo

    z.scale.hobo TrainBoard Member

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    Hi John

    I sent an email to Miller earlier this afternoon ... Will update when I hear back.

    Frank Daniels
     
  20. z.scale.hobo

    z.scale.hobo TrainBoard Member

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    UPDATE: Miller is shooting for December 2020 now for the re-release of his brass kits.
     
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