N700 construction

[Kiha66]

A video of how the cab cars are built.  They go together like a giant kit!  

 

[Kiha66]

And another one of the train in general.  

 

[Kiha66]

And one of the machining and body construction.  I never knew the sides were made out of extruded aluminum, very impressive.

 

[cteno4]

2 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

A video of how the cab cars are built.  They go together like a giant kit!  

 

 

Its like a giant sankei kit! Very satisfying feeling watching that go together. Sorta like the eva wrapping.

 

thanks

 

jeff

[railsquid]

Wonder if they have a giant sheet with the number transfers?

[Kiha66]

11 minutes ago, railsquid said:

Wonder if they have a giant sheet with the number transfers?

 

One of them shows a worker applying the N700 logo, so it looks like JR uses stickers instead of transfers.  Kato is prototypical!  

[kvp]

9 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Its like a giant sankei kit!

So they leave the ribs on the 'sprues' (frames) that hold the whole thing together then once it's assembled, they cut the frame out at the perforated lines. This is a strange (imho very japanese) mix of cnc cutting and hand assembly. These frames remind me of the btrain shorty inner frames. The first part of the assembly process reminds me of the traditional wooden temple construction. Even the hammering movements are the same.

[cteno4]

Seems like it works well, self assembling and aligning with minimal jigs and not huge labor. Trying to hold in place thin strips of aluminum to create the ribbing on all the compound curves would be tough requiring a lot of jigs. This way the rib framing is nice and sturdy to apply the skin to. Very cleaver.

 

Pleasure to watch, it just feels good and right to me, not strange at all. For small number it is probably just simpler to do it this way. Automation is great, but they are not churning out a million of these.

 

jeff

[EF57]

very profound and true comments, kvp!