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Railway Modelling Ramblings

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - lathe completed

Work on the lathe continued, I had several more pieces to model up and a couple of changes to some of the first attempts at detail parts. The final CAD drawing looks quite attractive.     To those who think 3D printing is 'cheating' I think I should point out this was more of 'home kit production' as the lathe has almost 30 separate pieces. The parts almost filled the build plate on my Anycubic photon twice over and each print job took about 4 1/2 hours.   I got th
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - Can you form some kind of rudimentary lathe*

I've started making a lathe for my model workshop. Boy does it have a lot of pieces! I've still got the gearing on the drive end to do and the bracket which holds the top set of pulley wheels. I'm not slavishly copying this photograph but trying to make something which looks lathe-like.     The main bed of the lathe worked out to be too big to print on the Anycubic photon in a single piece so, as it was a relatively simple shape and could be sanded easily, I printed it on my
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - Keep warm by the stove and enjoy your vices

A few more printing projects over the last week. I found some nice pictures on the internet of the same sort of tortoise stove I'd seen at Thelkeld. The hardest bit to model up was the 'Celtic rope' design around the top, mind you I'm not sure drawing tortoises is my strong suite. The text around the top is tiny, the letters are .8mm tall and are have .25mm of relief. That they are visible once printed is nothing short of miraculous. I couldn't actually make out the text on the raw print and it
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - Pillar Drill and test wall

As I mentioned in my last blog the next bit of workshop machinery I fancied trying to reproduce was a pillar drill. This proved to be quite a tricky bit of modeling just because there were so many features. I'd taken a photograph of this drill in the shed at Thelkeld.     It looked to me as if the drill was originally belt driven with a 'new' electric motor powering the original drive wheel at the bottom. There then seems to be a belt which takes the drive to the top of the
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - Hammer Time and a load of rubbish

Over the past week I've managed a few more bits of 3D printing, pushing my 3D modeling skills and my Anycubic photon to the limit. The power hammer had lots of odd shapes to model up and my favourite feature, the large spring between the two parts of the hammer mechanism. I was astonished that the foot peddle which engages the clutch mechanism came out, this is only 1mmx.8mm in profile. I printed this in 4 pieces, the main frame casting, the two fly wheels and the main hammer mechanism.  This wa
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - Completed blower and had buckets of fun

I printed out the parts for my forge blower. There was some spare space on the build platform so I printed a few extra tools at the same time. I deliberately put the parts on twice and in a couple of different orientations to see which came out best. Splitting the blower into two halves allowed the bottom sides to be sanded and form the join.   You can just make out the Alcoso No4 text on the parts and, while you can't read the text, the builder's plate has some relief on it which mak
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - Every forge needs a blower

So I got the forge painted, like the original it is very black and difficult to photograph! If it was anything other than a forge I might have been tempted to pick out the lettering in paint but in reality it would never have been.   I did a quick google search for 'vintage belt drive forge blower UK' and found someone selling two on Ebay. I liked the note that said postage was not an option given the weight. Still they helpfully supplied a number of photographs and the key dimen
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - forging a forge

I had modeled the forge up as 8 separate parts to allow me to position them on the Anycubic Photon to get the quickest prints. The resulting jobs filled the print bed twice and at a .04mm layer height it took about 5 hours to print out the parts. The results weren't too bad, there was a bit of warping on the largest part (the main base of the forge) but it was fairly easy to conceal as the worse bits are under the base and not visible.   The top came out very nicely and I don't think
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - plans for a forge

In my previous posting I had found this picture of a rather nice cast forge.     Some more digging on the internet and I found some references to Keith - Blackman Ltd of Farringdon Avenue London, manufacturers of smith's hearths and forge blowers - purveyors  of complete installations for the smithy. I thought I'd try to model up something suitable for my workshop.     I've broken it down into a number of pieces so i can try and print the individual part
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - more workbench details

I made some progress on the workbench today. I 3D printed a range of bolt heads to add to the timber to hold it all together. I just drilled tiny .7mm holes and stuck them in place. Good(ish) weather meant for a nice afternoon walk and I was able to find a bit of twig which I used to make a log on which to mount the anvil.     I've continued to make more tools for the bench, the range of difference size files and tongs is increasing nicely. From my pictures of old forges it
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - a new workbench

Everyone needs a workbench, my real one is generally cluttered with a PC, cutting mat, soldering iron and more tins of adhesive and paint than is good for your health. My 16mm workshop needs a workbench so I purchased some timber from Ely's wonderful City Cycles and went searching on the internet for images of 'vintage workbench UK'   I am quite pleased with the result which looks pretty good to me covered in tools.     I think I'm probably going to 3d p
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm photo-plank - plans progress and tools get made

Thanks for all the comments and ideas on this project both on and off this forum. I'm getting the ideas to jell now, trying to balance all the features I want with practical considerations such as size and construction effort.   I was originally considering something which would give me a couple of options, on the left we had the inside of the shed/workshop and then on the right we had the outside of the building with the gable end. This idea would be about 3' x ~1'6". The Thelkeld she
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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16mm photo-plank

16mm project plans - need advice and inspiration

So I've been thinking about a little 16mm project to keep up my narrow gauge interest while I can't take Fen End Pit out. I don't mean to distract too much from the construction of Clare but just have something extra to work on when I fancy a change.   One of my favourite places to visit is the Thelkeld Quarry Museum and I have long thought that the engine shed is full of modelling potential but I've not been sure how I could use its inspiration.     What I have be
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit in 16mm photo-plank

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