Lima Builder Plate's

[Anonymous]

I am currently searching for patterns for Lima builder plate's. I am a volunteer in a steam powered sawmill in Brooks, Oregon on the grounds of Antique Powerland Museums Association. The mill is run by a 1906 Lima Shay Locomotive boiler, with no plates known to exist, so I have been appointed to find patterns for a boiler plate that we could make to kind of "seal the deal" Thank You for your help! you may see some pictures of the mill at www.antiquepowerland.com , also if you would like to look up the locomotive by the serial number it is 1627. Anything will help at this point. Thank you for looking.
Nate Degerstedt

[PBenham]

Well Nate, you will likely need to get into sand casting. There are a number of art and craft applications that would be of value to you as you learn how to make a template out of wood (or whatever) and a sand box of suitable size to hold the molten iron (or other material, say, Zinc). Aluminum might not stand up to heat well, but you could "run off" castings and raise funds through their sale. One old standby you'll avoid is lead! Good luck.[;)]