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Beechnut

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Everything posted by Beechnut

  1. Thanks Scott, and others. I did hear you were otherwise occupied and not able to make the agm. The autumn meeting will be in Tutbury, Staffordshire, 29/09/24. Hope to see you there. And the J67 has had a coat of paint and light weathering, I never know quite how far to go.
  2. A long time since I posted progress on the J67, probably more than six months. Anyway work started again towards the end of January and is now approaching completion. It’s missing the handrail, no short knobs in stock, and it needs a general tidying up and cleaning. Hopefully it will be painted by the agm, well, primer at least. I do have some serious scenic work to do on Emwell along with rolling stock which is always needed. Brendan
  3. It’s not on the ground floor, that’s the cafe. Brendan
  4. Some more upcycled bridge rail, this time at Moreton in Marsh.
  5. Thanks Paul, enjoyable in a perverse sort of way. I’ve got Emwell at a show today and tomorrow, that I didn’t know I was going to till yesterday! Clay Mills Pumping Station if anybody is passing. Brendan
  6. Hi apl The base is a compound curve so tricky to turn so that’s where a selection of needle file comes in. I’m not a museum standard modeller, as long as it somewhat resembles the prototype that’s good enough, for me anyway. Today it was the base for the safety valves, no Ross Pops straight on top of the firebox like the J69 but the original setup a la R24. Again the fly cutter was used but for the boiler diameter this time, files for the compound curve and then part off. Not forgetting pausing the part off to file a radius.
  7. Having got a well running chassis sorted attention turns to the upperworks. The flat bits are easy, the curved bits not quite so easy, and then there’s the turned bits. So after making the smokebox wrapper using the recently acquired GW Models rivet press, the focus turned to the chimney. The first job is to study the drawing (MRJ35 resized to 1:64) and note the dimensions, these aren’t stated so it’s a case of measuring the drawing. The first part of the process, for me anyway, is to fly cut the the smokebox radius on the chimney base, followed by the radius leading into the chimney. For the former the work is held in the toolpost and the chuck for the latter. Then the taper up to the top radius, Turn up a mandrel (forgot to mention I’ve drilled the work 1/8”) and mount the the chimney followed by turning the rim and the top. Then open up the bore to something that looks right! I have photographed these processes if anyone is interested but I’ll just post the finished article.
  8. Motor connected and test run. It does run nicely and negotiates the test track points with no problems.
  9. Jim Thats exactly as I do. The reamer I use has a tapered section about 1/2” before the full 1/8” diameter. I have the tapered section marked in red felt pen so I know where I am when reaming. And like you I aim for the axle to enter the wheel to around half its depth which allows the wheel to be mounted and rotated for correct quartering. Brendan
  10. Scott I fitted the rear drivers first, easy enough to set at 90degree RH lead. The wheels are a press fit on the axles plus I use Loctite 603, so once they’re on they’re on! So when it comes to quartering it’s one shot which has to be correct. Previously I’ve made a fixture for the lathe for quartering, but as I’m a lazy so and so it thought I try and avoid that by using the coupling rods. Amazingly it worked ok! One wheel is already pressed onto the axle and the axles are machined to a length that also sets the correct back to back although I do check with the gauge. So, the method, fit the rear coupling rods, the rods are articulated on the centre crankpin, triple thickness and a nice fit on the pin. Prior to pressing set the rods parallel to the frame, apply Loctite and press. The press tool and anvil are machined just over 1/8” because remember the crankpins are fitted so to keep things square clearance is limited. I’m always trying to think of a home brewed quartering method, the best I’ve come up with is to file a flat on the axle end. The wheel/axle needs to be a good fit but able to rotate. Set the quartering and fill the void with JB Weld, or your favourite epoxy. Brendan
  11. I can report that the quartering method, using the coupling rods worked. I made sure the rods were a nice fit on the crankpins, as little clearance as possible but free to rotate. All the wheels are secured with Loctite 603 as well as being a press fit.
  12. A little bit of progress on the J67 today, the dreaded wheeling and quartering. So far I’ve only assembled the the rearmost drivers. I’m going to quarter the wheels using the coupling rods, a departure for me as I usually use a custom made fixture in the lathe. I’ll still use the lathe, purely as a press.
  13. The 3F has a rolled boiler, my normal method, the turned example is a departure. When rolling I calculate the circumference, cut the NS to size and roll. Don’t get flats using this method. I used turned brass this time to give my drills an easy life. Brendan
  14. This picture appeared on FB and I thought Tony might like it, assuming it’s one he’s not seen before. The date on the caption is 20/05/61, the loco being 60135.
  15. Hi Scott The boiler is .810” diameter with a wall thickness varying between.015” and .020”. It’s drilled to .375” and bored. The smokebox is a bit thicker with a wall thickness around.040”. Soldering won’t be a problem as I’ll probably use CA for things chimney and dome. The smokebox wrapper, and my GW rivet press arrived today, will be soldered but I’ll tin it and use a gas torch. Boiler bands, same method as wrapper. The last loco I built, a tender 3F, I rolled the boiler using .015”, hard to get a perfect circle using rolls. TBH brass would probably be a better material for boilers, and I find it takes paint better. It helps if you have some in stock! Going back to the rivets, the last two locos I built, the J69 and the 3F were mostly scratch built and for the rivet detail I used Archers S scale rivets. I found it hard to make the carrier film disappear hence the purchase of the rivet press. I’ve done some test rivets today and it work’s very well. With my old method the metal always stretched causing problems, hence the decals. I have done some more work on the J67 today, boiler drilled for clacks, frames painted ready for wheels. And talking of wheels, in the past I’ve made fixtures and used the lathe for pressing and quartering but his time I’m going to use the lathe and the coupling rods. It sounds like it’ll work in my head and will save having to make tooling.
  16. And here’s me thinking it’s cutting edge. No progress at all today due to attendance at the Land Rover series one owners club annual rally at Packington Hall celebrating 75 years of the marque.
  17. Even less progress today, just the boiler which started life as an 11/4” diameter valve spindle!
  18. Not a lot of progress today. Cab front and back, bunker and roof, the latter being a pain to make due to the changing radius of the roof profile. Progress will get even slower going forward due to the details that need adding, they take just as long to make as the big bits. Also there’s a line of rivets on the cab front where the roof line was modified, I’m thinking of getting a GW rivet press as I wasn’t that impressed with the examples I made on my J69.
  19. Some progress today, not all in the forward direction. The NS sides which represent the tanks, cab and bunker, and wheels pressed onto axles. The latter operation resulting in the failure of one axle, no bad thing really as it obviously wasn’t sound. You can see the repaired axle in its jig whilst the epoxy cures on the left of the picture. The sides were cut out as 90 x 30.5 rectangles, dimensions taken off the rescaled drawing. The straight external cuts are made using my ancient Burgess bandsaw and chain drilling and filing for the cab entrance. Brendan
  20. Hi Rob I have a friend who does them. His main interest is air braked wagons but given a dimensioned drawing can produce anything. For the ex GER 0-6-0 we used the Iain Rice MRJ piece, and for the bogie tramcar the 1982 MRC Annual supported by the photos in Peter Paye’s The Tollesbury Branch. Despite having etchings for the coach I found it a difficult and time consuming build, everything except the ends, sides and verandahs is scratch built. There’s two etches on the fret representing the two carriages on the branch, there are very slight differences in the panelling. Unfortunately Phil had a computer meltdown during the final design stage which misaligned the drop lights on one side of the unbuilt carriage. It’s hardly noticeable on the etch and if anyone were interested in further etches it would be corrected. I did make a duplicate set of bogies and a few other bits but it will be a few years before I pluck courage to tackle another. A six wheel ex Stoke Ferry brake is next but I’ve not found a drawing so far. The loco chassis, although basic, is dimensionally correct and provides rods and brake gear which makes life a lot easier. There’s no spacers since split frame seems to be the default in S scale. I use 1.6mm double sided PCB 3/4” wide. Brendan
  21. Ex LMS ‘Gannett’ ballast hoppers. Jidenco did a kit and they do crop up occasionally on eBay although I’ve never found one. Brendan
  22. Another loco is needed for Emwell, can you ever have enough? This is a J67/1 which will be used to pull my newly completed W&U bogie tramcar. I can’t lay claim to any 3D printing, just drills and files, and a little bit of etching. Brendan
  23. The code reference is the the height in thousands of an inch, code 75 = .075” and so on. Brendan
  24. They were still very much in business four weeks ago at the time of my last online order. Brendan
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