30/1/18 - V499

As you may be aware I've been involved over the last couple of years with drafting for the new build Victorian Railways V class 2-8-0 steam locomotive, assisting the Victorian Steam Locomotive Company.

Some more time was spent today drafting on the smokebox design. All the drawings are being done from scratch. We have the general arrangement and some Baldwin reference drawings, but all the detail drawings were destroyed many years ago.

The crowdfunding campaign is open for the smokebox project. Go to the website www.vicsteam.com for more information and where to donate for the construction of the smokebox barrel. The campaign is for $3000 and there's only $550 to go!

Happy steaming!

Nigel

29/1/18 - VR number plates

Some 1/4 size Victorian Railways loco number plates were made on the router. If you'd like some as well drop us an email!

Looking at a fundraising product for a Victorian Railways locomotive restoration.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

27/1/18 - Pansy

The lubricator was stripped for a clean and inspection. First job was to cut more thread on the crank end of the main shaft to reduce the axial play. The ratchet and pawl were only half engaging so that rectified the problem. The piston and cylinder were stripped and cleaned and reassembled.

It was noticed the 4x mounting screws were a bad arragnement being only screwed directly into the tank and would be continuously leaking oil past the threads. They also had some 1/8" packers which were difficult to fit between the tank and buffer beam. So some blind  bushes were made and silver soldered into the tank to fix all these things at the same time. The lid was repaired at this time also.

The axle pump was dismantled and inspected and de-scaled in the check valves. The o-ring on the spindle was replaced with some graphite packing. The suction valve was noticed to lift up and partially block the suction port so the 4x grooves were filed deeper to allow more past the ball.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

25-26/1/18 - Pansy

The brake crank bosses were made and silver soldered on to the cranks and the excess machined and filed off.

The brake shaft was machined as well to suit the cranks. The arms that hold the handbrake nut were filed and drilled out to size to suit the new brake shaft and silver soldered on. The end result is a very free and smooth operation completely unlike how it was.

All that remains of the brake shaft job is to pin the cranks to the shaft with some cross pins.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

24/1/18 - Pansy

Something's up with my Blogger app on my phone so yesterday's blog below has been transferred to the PC, will see how it goes after reinstallation.

I've managed to free up the brake stand. The first mission was to dismantle it, I thought it had a tapered pin holding the bottom collar on and learned it couldn't be punched out with a pin punch. So the collar was turned off in the lathe. And the remaining "pin" drilled out in the mill which so happened to unwind...a 7BA screw!

The culprit was the handbrake stand has been drilled from both ends and the holes are slightly misaligned making the handle stiff. So the middle of the handbrake screw was relieved to only bear on the ends. Turns very freely now.

A new collar was made and a 7BA screw reinstated. Also the angle needed to be milled to remove the root radius to clear the nut. The nut was chamfered also.

The brake shaft bearings were shortened to not side load the handbrake screw with the lever and nut. These were set up in the 4 jaw chuck using a 5/16" arbor in the tailstock..a technique which I find very handy to square up and quickly centralise small parts like these.

New cranks are being made up from 3mm steel plate and round bar and will be completed tomorrow. Along with the new brake shaft.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

23/1/18 - Pansy

Working on the brake gear today. The bits and pieces although made previously were tight, jamming, out of square, and not pulling up properly and require "fitting".
  
Some of the hanger pins were found to be bent and I made up a mandrel to hold them and straighten them in the lathe. I taped a permanent marker to the lathe tool to mark the high spot, makes it a bit easier. While at it the hexes on the pins were chamfered and cleaned up.

The brake gear was assembled several times and chamfers applied and swapping of parts around to get best fit, which is all time consuming. The brake gear is not adjustable.

There was some twist in the brake hangers also so they were gripping on one side first. That was rectified.
The spreader beams were still wrong...the front one was found to be bent. The threaded ends were redone to take out some lateral play.

The cranks need to be remade...you'll see why. The brake shaft has silver soldered ends...deciding whether to cut them off and splice more ends on or make a new brake shaft....which I think I may do.


The hand brake column is stiff when the engaging the nut. It could be the nut is cockeyed to the thread.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

22/1/18 - Pansy

Today the brake gear was under repairs and assembly checks have revealed some issues to rectify. The side rods were catching on the brake block pins, and the hanger pins were close to the side rods also. These were all shortened up so they don't foul. While at it the brake hangers were dress filed to remove the burrs and sharp edges so the paint has something to stick to. The brake blocks themselves had a square edge against the flange root radius so the blocks were filed to suit.

A new brake cross beam was made to replace the bent silver soldered one.

The brake shaft bearings were renewed as the old ones were damaged probably by a derailment. Still needs some more work done to replace the brake shaft and cranks as the cranks and cross holes are loose and not on centre.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

17-19/1/18 - Pansy

Pansy's cab plates won't be reused as they have too many holes in the wrong positions, so a new cab has been drafted up for laser cutting.  The removable roof and back wall section have been changed from previous to make for a better appearance.  The bunker can be reused, as it is quite a nice item.

The brake shaft, mounts and crank are all very rough items, and don't fit together well at all, so some new parts are in maufacture.

Will be uploading some pictures soon.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

16/1/18 - Pansy

Some stainless 6BA cheesehead screws were made and the holes drilled in the firebox to mount the ashpan. Also the ashpan was sand blasted to remove the old paint and surface rust and some high temp black applied.

Trial fitted in the loco just fine.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

15/1/18 - Pansy

The grate was modified to fit the new boiler. Some small changes involved milling away the corners of the outer bars to give some clearance on the firebox flanged plates. To do this the grate was dismantled and all the bits given a quick clean up for reassembly after the milling was done. While at it the mild steel pins were replaced with stainless steel ones and rivetted over.

Some brass tags were made to mount the ashpan and grate assembly off the boiler.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

11/1/18 - Pansy & some railway signage

Yesterday I had the call to assist moving a lathe so not much happened on the work front!

The firedoor mods were finished today and they work well and open evenly. Some shouldered pins were made from stainless and hammered over on the back side.

Made some studs and fitted nuts to the regulator flange. They are 8BA brass nuts...they look a bit big but the next size nut down would have to be custom made...if anyone reading has a reputable source of finescale (1 size smaller) BA nuts that would be GREAT! Years ago I bought some really nice 8BA steel nuts with 1/8" across flats...can't seem to locate where I bought them from and the guys I've tried use larger bar (I'm told the nuts have a possibility of collapsing or screwing up on the lathe with the tapping size close to the AF size).

We had an order for some more MDF signage which was also completed today for a local 10 class enthusiast...SMR Pty Ltd #22.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

9/1/18 - Pansy

Enjoying a cooler day today. Have been  sorting out the firedoor assembly today and made up an oil feeder for the tea can tray as well.

The mounting blocks on the bottom door track were de-soldered and affixed again on the opposite sides.

The firedoor assembly wouldn't open equally after it was swapped around. So the connecting link was shortened with some heat and squeezing in the vise. Will finish that tomorrow. Need to make some more pins for the mechanism.

I managed to be able to drill out the solder in the kettle spout so it looks more authentic!

Happy steaming!

Nigel

8/1/18 - Pansy

Man the weather was so hot today, but I am grateful for air conditioning!

Finished off making the tea can tray today with a kettle to go on the top. The kettle was made from brass bits and to be secured to the tray with an 8BA screw. All the soldering was done with silver solder ground down on the linisher to give some sort of control to how much was going on. The kettle spout still ended up being filled with solder! I think the shape of it caused a capillary flow! It was made from some squeezed square brass cut on an angle...looked very nice while it had the hole in it!

Looks like the firedoor handle will have to be put on the LHS as per prototype. It's too close to the regulator and I think some quick action on the door will cause a fuss with the regulator handle!

Happy steaming!

Nigel