24/7/17 - Britannia

The rear frame extension needed to be removed to make some more clearance for the ashpan hopper sliding door. This was done and set up in the mill for a cleanup cut. At this time I noticed the rear buffing plate was bent due to some protruding rivet heads and the length of the frames and drag box and corner angles causing it to bend when bolts tightened. All the bits were measured,  milled and filed to clean up. Also there were some heavy burrs on the parts which were filed off.

There was an extra clip added to the bowden cable tube to hold it snug against the frame. 

Some copper strips were cut and made to rivet top and bottom of the boiler to hold the smokebox square. The smokebox/boiler assembly will probably have to be removed in one piece as I can't see how to install the barrel cladding when the boiler is on. No room for fingers and tools to tighten the straps. A trial removal of the boiler served to bend the regulator rod so it was straightened and these strips devised. Hopefully that will be the end of that.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

20/7/17 - Britannia

The smokebox ring was extended to attach the boiler via some curved brass blocks. Some M4 countersunk screws attach the boiler. This is to ensure thermal growth goes as per usual into the cab. The original drawings show it extends into the smokebox but we don't have a universal joint on the regulator spindle.

The boiler pads at the back were slotted out to allow the boiler to move.

The stretcher that joins the rear frame extension to mainframes was slotted to allow the bowden cable for draincocks to fit. The bowden cable fits snugly between the ashpan and the frame...as I've heard and seen the original design of pull rods running through the ashpan isn't a great idea. The bowden cable operates smoothly and doesn't need to be removed to remove the axles. The lever in the cab will be a later addition once we work out a good spot.

Due to the firebox not sitting square the ashpan doesn't sit centred on the frames and so a discovery was made when the whole lot was assembled that there was no room for the cable and tube on the Drivers side and the whole system had to be moved over to the Firemans side to get it to fit. The Every mm makes a difference under there. It was all swapped around and stretchers removed to accommodate and mount it on the other side.

Happy steaming

Nigel

Progress update

This week's work has been on a few different jobs such as V499's smokebox design drafting, machining up Princess Marina pony truck axleboxes and axle, a brief job to mill a steam engine baseplate casting, and the ongoing Britannia construction work to secure the boiler to the smokebox by extending the smokebox engaging ring.

On another note we are looking for an able-bodied model engineer to assist me with some steam projects in the shed. Must be able to use machinery and diagnose an engine, and in an ideal case  understand 2D CAD and be able to draw something up. If you're interested to discuss it with me further then send an email through.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

V class progress

If you've not seen the new build Victorian Railways 2-8-0 V class steam locomotive V499 then check out their website and Facebook page. The cab is almost finished fabrication, the design was completed late last year, and the smokebox design is now underway.

Check out www.vicsteam.com and www.facebook.com/vicsteam

I am glad to be of assistance to the project team.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

3/7/17 - Brass numbers

A couple of orders for brass loco numbers and a Foden logo for a steam truck. The Foden logo is 4" scale and the brass numbers 1-1/16" scale.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

4/7/17 - Britannia

Amongst other things today the cylinders were reinstalled back on the loco. In all the bits I managed to find 4BA screws with the same size heads and so they were shortened (various lengths) for the cylinder bolting flanges.

The gudgeon pins (cap head shoulder screws) had some end float and beside the obvious problem of being loose in the crosshead they required some collar washers machined up so the head doesn't foul the counterweight with the side play of the wheels.

The drain cock bowden cable clevis is underway and will be finished off early tomorrow.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

26 & 27/6/17 - Britannia

Ongoing work to the Britt was to rivet the engaging ring into the back of the smokebox and file/grind the rivets flush to clear the boiler and the cladding. Also a review of the drawings shows the boiler expansion pushes into the smokebox which we don't like as it will cause a misalignment with the regulator drive spindle and movement of the cladding. No thanks. The rear boiler support screw holes will be slotted to allow for expansion that way and M5 studs and nuts fitted instead of the socket head capscrews.

Also another job on the list was to decipher a way to operate the drain cocks. I ordered a bicycle bowden cable from China and have run it up a 1/8" copper tube. Also a union joint was required above the rear driving axle to be able to get it out after it was bent to shape. A few clips here and there and a clevis is required at either end.

The drawings I have, showed the lever and pull rod were to run along under the keeps, which at the front end causes an issue with clearing the leading bogie and also damage in the case of a derailment. Bowden cable seems a much better arrangement where a few twists and turns are required without needing bell cranks.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

21-23/6/17 - Britannia

A tool was made to check the alignment of blast pipe with chimney, squaring off the chimney bore. Made from a piece of steel bar and a 1/4" silver steel rod.  This revealed the blast pipe was 1/8" off centre and also the hole through the bottom of the smokebox wasn't central with the chimney either.

After some playing around the cylinders were removed to get access to the exhaust tee which measured 1/16" off centre. This was turned 180 degrees and improved the alignment. Also the saddle bolt holes were not central so the saddle was also turned 180 degrees. The combination of errors actually worked in our favour and a little bit of filing out the holes allowed sufficient clearance to set the smokebox up properly. Previous mention in last blog was the saddle radius is larger than the smokebox radius and no extra material available to fly cut it to match.

So the saddle was drilled 5/32" in four places for some dowel pins and all the bits set up square in the frames and bolts done up tight. Then smokebox was removed and drilled through the saddle into the smokebox for the dowels. Sits perfectly in the frame now in the exact position.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

20/6/17 - Britannia

Recommencing work today on the Britt the regulator access cover was turned 180 degrees and shortened up 8mm on the milling machine to make room for the whistle steam supply. This will become more apparent as the whistle steam supply gets fitted up to the smokebox.

The smokebox skates around on the saddle (I don't think the radii are the same) and needs to be more securely pinned so it doesn't move. There's plenty of clearance in the bolt holes and blast pipe hole and it's worth rechecking the alignment of the blast pipe. The rotation of the smokebox means the chimney may or may not be in alignment depending on where it's bolted down. It will need a plug and aligning rod machined to fit the chimney and see where the blast pipe is aligned off this axis.

Will check that out tomorrow.

Happy steaming

Nigel

19/6/17 - Princess Marina

Today's job involved finishing off machining the hornblock castings and drilling some crankpin holes in the driving wheels.

A simple jig was made from flatbar and 7/16" brass bar for drilling the crankpin holes at a consistent radius from centre.

Britt tomorrow!

Happy steaming!

Nigel

15/6/17 - Princess Marina

One of the things made up today was a little jig for setting up hornblocks in the mill.  This allows the hornblock to be set up on the flange for milling the face against the frame. The horns are a little distorted so one of the adjusting screws was tweaked for "soft foot". It's nice to see the top of the hornblock with a uniform thickness bolting flange!

Soft foot - A strange name from my real work days aligning turbines and motors at the power stations. First job was to put some feeler gauges under the feet of the machine to work out the first shims as usually one of the feet had a gap under it! Very common to have soft foot especially on large machinery. Trying to align a machine when soft foot was not shimmed first was a complete waste of time, as tightening down the bolts produced all sorts of readings on the dial indicators, not to mention the twist and distortion of the machinery!

Happy steaming!

Nigel

14/6/17 - Princess Marina

More happening on the Princess Marina. A big laser cutring order has been sent off for quote and work is progressing with some castings. Wheels cleaned up with the dremel and a sand blast, and the hornblocks are on the milling machine.

The hornblocks were linished on the inside face and the top of the was flange skimmed in the mill to give some reference faces.  A piece of ply was used on the rough side of the hornblock to push the reference face up against the fixed jaw in the vise. The rough side is not exactly parallel with the reference face, I used a piece of round bar to begin with,  but then found the ply to be much more forgiving without any chatter.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

8/6/17 - Princess Marina

After some more time on the layout designs of Princess Marina, I'm almost ready to send off the file for laser cutting.  Every hour on CAD is worth several hours in the workshop.  I thought the smokebox door parts I had been given were OK, but a little big on the diameter.  After silver solding a boss on the smokebox door and putting it in the lathe, the casting had buckled and was too warped to clean up fully at the new diameter.  I will have to machine a new one out of steel, which will have water cut door straps and a laser cut drilling template for all the holes.  Time saved right there.  I have a set of laser cut frames here which I won't be using as the horn blocks I was given are too big and will waste too much time milling out the frames rather than getting new ones with all the holes in.  More time saved.  The running boards and cab parts will also be laser cut with all holes in.  Brake hangers, brake shoe ring, etc.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

1/6/17 - Princess Marina

It's been a little while since the last update, but things have been busy.  A new loco in the shed (5" gauge Speedy) with a few problems in the chassis to sort out, a new axlebox was required amongst a string of other jobs.

Here we see a bit of progress on a 3-1/2" gauge Princess Marina (LBSC design) and I have been handed a bunch of parts to build the engine with.  The boiler has been constructed by me earlier, and I thought the rest of the loco was a rolling chassis!

Going through the drawings, I thought to assess the axle boxes and horn castings, what we have is bigger than the cutouts in the laser cut frames.  This revealed a few other questions, and I thought to lay out the frames in CAD to see what the running height of the loco was to be.  This is a critical dimenison for those who are not aware, as the loco cylinders are laid out off this.

The drawings and "words and music" are a great help to get going, but sometimes a few things get overlooked...something I can understand in the rush to spit out a design for a magazine going to press.  Not to be critical by any means.  But I found the running height using the dimensions as supplied meant the axlebox was almost at the top of the horns and some funny business with the dimensions of the motion bracket and placement of the cylinder.

Long story short I have been developing some views and dimensioned parts which differ slightly to the drawings but definitely lay out a working arrangement on CAD.  I have moved the axle 5/32" up in the axlebox, and it looks much better.  The lubricator drive was a mystery, and have since found buried in the writings to include another eccentric on the front axle...just in case the builders were up that far using the drawings and wondered how they were going to drive it!

I'm in the throws (see what I did there...) of driving the lubricator off a long rod on the axle pump gudgeon pin.  The running boards are not shown in plan view and a few long hard looks at photos reveals the cylinder protrudes a ways past the running boards, as also the swing of the expansion link fouls the running board valance and must be relived to clear this...an odd practice, looks like something the Victorian Railways did on the K classes!

Several cross sections have been done on the motion brackets and cylinders & crossheads to make sure it all lines up.  Have found some oddities & unhappy clearances with side rods and knuckle pins, can be a pest trying to find room in the bushes if there's not enough to prevent the knuckle pin dragging over the crank boss or hitting a 10 thou protruding axle.  By the end of this little exercise I hope to have a set of working dimensions to check this loco off against in it's construction, plus a good sized laser cutting order to speed it all up immensely.

The supplied driving wheels have been machined to size, but the spokes un-fettled.  I bluntened two files having a go, and resorted to a 1.5mm carbide cnc router bit in the dremel to get the hard bits off.  They look nice now.

Below are some screenshots of the CAD work on this engine, a couple of days going through drawings and reshashing things.  Almost ready to make a start....

Happy steaming!

Nigel

5/5/17 - Pansy

Today's work was to silver solder the backhead on the boiler and the get the bushes soldered in. It has come up well.

There is a 1/4" dry pipe bronze brazed to the backhead to supply steam for the turret.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

28/4/17 - Pansy

The regulator flange, stuffing box, and steam supply for the manifold was designed in such a way for function and resembling the full size counterpart.

The outer wrapper finishes at the cab front wall and there's no room on top for a bush, and so a design was thought of to screw the manifold into the top of the flange...the GWR Pannier tanks have a design where the manifold and the backhead flange is all one piece, but leaves us with fewer options so we've opted for what you see here.  It was machined from LG2 round bar.  A 1/4"  copper dry pipe bronze brazed to the backhead will feed the manifold and locates in the top hole and the flange is to be silver soldered to the boiler.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

26/4/17 - Tram

Well hello again...been a big break for us over Easter, and getting some needed rest.  However the rest was shortlived as I have managed to complete the Toby tram for my mum in that time. It has plenty of power and regenerative braking.

See below pictures

Happy steaming!

Nigel

7/4/17 - NSW 6 wheel bogies

Yesterday the milling of the remaining 124 spring chairs was completed, the quantity in total being 240 plus a couple of spares.

Hunter Valley steamfest at Maitland is on this weekend, and next weekend is the AALS Easter convention at Lake Macquarie Live Steamers so plenty to see in the next 2 weeks!

Happy steaming!

Nigel

Repairs to digital readout

The digital readout on the mill decided to pack it in this morning, although powered up it was skipping numbers and not giving accurate readings. The usual beep when it starts up had become a feeble squeak and the LED display was pulsating. Discovery found the build date was 1998.

In the last couple of weeks it was becoming noticably sluggish to turn on but would come good after a while.

The unit was pulled off the mill and box opened up to see what's inside...the suspicion was an electolytic capacitor may have had its day, and best to change them out now incase they are all crook.

The circuit boards were pulled out and a necessary trip to Jaycar was made to get some replacements. There were 16 to replace plus the onboard battery. 

After some mucking around replacing all the capacitors, the battery was removed from the board and was seen to be breaking down releasing some powdery substance. This was replaced and also the keypad was given some repairs being glued back onto the front of the box.

Some of the original capacitors looked suspect and deformed, not sure whether it was a rough install to begin with or signs of damage.

All went to plan and the unit was re powered up and now remembers the position after being turned off and back on again...something it didn't do before.

Happy steaming!

Nigel

31 - 4/4/17 - NSW carriage bogies

Over the last few days some progress has been happening on the NSW carriage bogie "spring chairs".  This is a repetative milling job previously described on this blog, milling part of it away to fit rivets and to clear the leaf springs...another 60 done of the 120 to go!

Happy steaming!

Nigel