Thank you. I set the roof angles on the breaker at 22-1/2°, or half of 45° and have carried this on in the conveyor structure as well. I don't know why I chose this, other than it looked right. In retrospect, I should have chosen an easy whole number! When my brothers and I distributed our late father's tools amongst us, I got his Bridge City protractor, a highly precise tool designed for woodworking. But I find its consistency is perfect for projects like my breaker too.
BCTW used to make really fine, basic tools, beautifully executed in wood & metal. I have a Sliding T Bevel and an 8" Try Square I bought directly from them, almost 30 years ago at a woodworking show. Beautiful brass, wood and stainless steel, exceptionally executed. Now BC's tools just seem gimmicky and "cold." It doesn't look like BCTW makes your protractor tool anymore, but there are similar ones available elsewhere that work well. I like some of the very nice Veritas tools from Lee Valley. I use their dual marking gauge, and absolutely love it. Very well designed and executed. LV offers a similar protractor-style angle measuring tool by Shinwa, made in Japan, for a reasonable price. For large projects, I have a Shinwa 60 cm Aluminum Sliding Bevel (not a Sliding T-bevel) that is very accurate. It has replaced my framing square for most jobs needing a large square, and is far more versatile. Plus, it folds (& locks) into to a ~3 x 65 cm (~25") straight bar when closed, which also protects the graduations. The only drawback is that the length is only graduated in metric (mm w/cm's enumerated), not imperial, and only on one leg. I do most of my woodworking in metric. Note, the Shinwa sliding bevel is made in 30 & 45 cm lengths too.
You have some nice tools at hand. Sad that Bridge City's current offerings aren't like they once were. I used to get Lee Valley's catalog, all of excellent quality. I also have my Dad's Bridge City 732 Try Square. At only 3", it's the perfect size for scratchbuilt structures and such.
Wow, that's a perfect example of the exquisite combination of craftsmanship, functionality, and beauty for which BCTW was known. And it fits neatly in your pocket, so it's always at hand! There are all-metal machinist squares available in that handy size, but non-graduated, and not nearly as beautiful!
(Aw shucks) Actually I'm using an AI photo editor to make everything appear far better than it actually is.
My goodness, the eight little surplus windows I found in my stash are SO small. 0.40" x .25" to be exact. Cutting the small holes in the 0.040" conveyor structure walls is proving to be quite the challenge; half are done. Next I'll need to add a door and maybe some slightly larger windows depending on what I can find.
That's a 4 over 4, can be a pretty big window in real scale. Try that in Z scale! The coal breaker is coming along nicely BTW! Scott
I got all eight tiny windows installed in the angled conveyor walls and they lined up pretty well. Next step is to put some windows and doors in the other pieces seen here. The tall thin pieces are a sort of tower where the angled pieces will join and make a 90° turn and the other pieces will be at the base where the mine cars will enter to be dumped into the conveyor. I have some 35 year old surplus windows and doors for this as well.
Thanks y'all. I wanted to maintain the same window spacing on the long and short walls so as to maintain a consistent, balanced look. I suppose I should have added a third window to each section, but I didn't have four more surplus windows of that size and I think I'd have gone crazy if I'd have had to cut any more of those tiny holes.
Your conveyor walls don't look to be as long as those in the pictures so IMHO just 2 per wall looks right. Your mock up is only 3 stories tall...not 10-15 like the pictures.
