Bull Chute Part 2

The plans for the Cattle Ramp come from an article in Railroad Model Craftsman, June 1973.  It is one of the famous One Evening Projects (back when you couldn't take it right out of the box) and was written by Harold Russell.

 You'll need to get a copy of this long out of print article.  I'd suggest you contact the Kalmbach Library, which is where I got my copy.

 You'll need four (not three like pictured here) of HO scale 2 x 8 lumber in 24 inch lengths.  You'll also need about a foot of 8 x 8 lumber.

 For cutting I'll use a razor blade which has a thinner blade that is much sharper than a hobby knife.

 I'll also be using a scale rule, but I don't really need it.

 My favorite assembly tweezers for wood!  Very sharp and precise points.

 You'll also need some weathering stain.  This is india ink and alcohol in a dark mixture along with two dedicated weathering brushes.

 Actually the weathering goop was not dark enough so I added more India ink.

 I brushed a liberal coating of the mixture onto all sides of the boards.

 I let the boards dry thoroughly under a pane of glass to keep them from warping.

 I normally work on a 1/4" glass plate.  It is very easy for cutting and paint/glue won't stick.  This is a very easy to clean surface.

I cut out the drawings from the print and checked them for accuracy.  Mainly I look for copying distortion.  All good!

Normally I work on glass, but in order for the stained wood to show up better, I'm using foam board.

First we'll tape the drawing down to the foam board using regular office tape.  Oops...you can see my first Bull Chute in the background!

Next I cover the drawing in wax paper.  This keeps glue from sticking to the surface.

There!  All taped down and flat.

Our first job is to cut four bases for the model.  I do this by laying the board down and setting the blade on the board, then SLICING...not breaking.

When you make a lot of parts you have to keep them separate.  I name them and put the quantity, then draw a circle around it on my work space.  That way I know what it is.

Some of these cutting shots are bad.  I am a righty, but the camera is a righty, so I cut lefty, and that is not good for me.  Here I'm cutting the 8 upright posts, 2 of each of 4 sizes.

Not much better, this shot.

Here are the uprights, in size order.  Keeping parts sorted is critical to keep from having to cut them again.

There are six ramp supports.  I measure them on the plan and cut them out.

Here they are...all the same size.

The angled supports are very tricky to cut.  First, cut the sharp angle up top, then cut the bottom cut that matches to the base.  There are 2 each of 4 sizes and are tricky to cut uniformly.

In order to match them up I cut them out and then put them here back to back to check the size and the angle of the cut.  You can do this much more precisely but this is a hands on clinic with limited tools so we'll do it this way.

Next we need one diagonal brace.  This piece requires some trimming.

You'll have to use the blade to trim it to the plan.

There are actually 10 side boards (runners), but the model and me are going to use 8, 4 on each side.  These have a tapered cut on each end.

Here you can see the four side boards.

There!  The runners are cut out.  Tune in tomorrow as Scott Perry stars in "30 Minutes of Fun per Day".