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Post by ejparrott on Feb 22, 2015 16:26:25 GMT
At the best part of 3" thick? Nah, I'll flange and roll the brass and silver solder together
Happy Birthday by the way
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Post by vulcanbomber on Feb 22, 2015 17:22:16 GMT
At the best part of 3" thick? Nah, I'll flange and roll the brass and silver solder together Happy Birthday by the wayonly 1 day late.......
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Post by ejparrott on Mar 4, 2015 11:41:02 GMT
Very slow progress at the minute. It's the time of year where a lot of CAD work gets done and not a lot of cutting metal. I've just completed the design for the firebox expansion brackets, I'm going to get the chassis parts made up so I can fit them on. They are only an L shaped section of steel to which I'm going to add a brass slipper, mostly because the boiler part will probably be steel too and I don't want to risk the two rusting together. I was going to get some bronze, but the amount of waste to make them rendered it pretty damn expensive! I've got some black bar in stock that will machine up nicely, and some scraps of brass plate to silver solder to the top.
Bit of a forum theme going on at the moment, I'm also working on oilboxes. Mine won't be as visible as Julian's and will be in steel not brass. The current pair are for the weighshaft bearings which the prototype doesn't have. I'll be fitting them inside the frames with the lids just poking above the footplate, and they'll be painted black, so you'll barely even notice them. It'll make preparations a lot easier than trying to find the bearings themselves.
The weighshaft bearings are also going on the CAD, I'm utilising a steel bracket, but then putting in a thin walled cast iron bush as the bearing surface. If it should wear, it'll then be very easy to replace the bush rather than a whole bracket, and we'll be back to great valve gear settings again in short order.
Finally, in the mill at the moment is a piece of material that I'm roughing out to make up part of the internal motion bracket assembly fabrication. There's a lot of metal to come out to make it it's U shape, so I'll rough it and stress relieve it, before finishing part of the machining which has to be done before fabrication.
I'm sure they'll be some photo's again soon!
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Post by ejparrott on Mar 17, 2015 22:17:14 GMT
I've been doing a bit of work to the cab platework, few bits I need to tidy up so I thought I might as well get on and get them done.... Temporarily bolting together the framework so I can measure up for said bits, case of drill a hole, bolt it, drill a hole, bolt it... Also, the main reason for my going down to the Large Scale Model Rail exhibition, pick up some more laser cutting from Malcolm, specifically the long skinny valance angles that I was worried about going through the delivery network.... If I'd bought myself a TIG welder already I'd have been putting them together Sunday night! As it is, I've only got the welders certificate at the moment....
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Post by Jim on Mar 18, 2015 2:56:32 GMT
Looking t the cab sitting on your B&D workbench certainly gives a clear idea of the size of your model when complete Ed. It will be a very impressive engine to see on the tracks. Jim
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Post by vulcanbomber on Mar 18, 2015 9:02:39 GMT
Looking t the cab sitting on your B&D workbench certainly gives a clear idea of the size of your model when complete Ed. It will be a very impressive engine to see on the tracks. Jim I do keep telling Ed to tweak it so she can be sat in to drive!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2015 9:19:36 GMT
looking good Ed.... it's good to see the long valances as I plan to get Malcolm to do mine too.... I have a big shopping list for him..... Pete
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Post by ejparrott on Mar 18, 2015 9:21:52 GMT
Talking to Malcolm on Sunday, he's currently thinking that the October MMEE in 2015 will be the last one he does - cost of the stand to high to justify. Deith is apparently looking at ways to reduce the cost, but I'm doubtful. If I don't go to Harrogate in May, then I'll be getting the last of my long bits delivered in October!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2015 9:32:58 GMT
Talking to Malcolm on Sunday, he's currently thinking that the October MMEE in 2015 will be the last one he does - cost of the stand to high to justify. Deith is apparently looking at ways to reduce the cost, but I'm doubtful. If I don't go to Harrogate in May, then I'll be getting the last of my long bits delivered in October! that would be a great shame but I can see his reasoning....trade stand costs at these shows have for some time been a bone of contention....Malcolm has a well established name which perhaps doesn't need the shows the same as it would in it's early days and after all it's supposed to be a retirement project not the full time job that it's become. Add costs of travel and perhaps accommodation to the stand cost and things get expensive.......being a little selfish I just hope that he stays around long enough for me to get my parts... and others on this forum of course.... Pete
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Post by joanlluch on Mar 19, 2015 13:19:21 GMT
Hi Ed,
Please, can you post a link on Malcolm's Internet site and offerings? I do not seem to find anything by googling it.
Thanks.
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Post by vulcanbomber on Mar 19, 2015 13:23:13 GMT
Hi Ed, Please, can you post a link on Malcolm's Internet site and offerings? I do not seem to find anything by googling it. Thanks. Google Model Engineers Laser. Comes up at the top of the list.
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Post by timjenkins31 on Mar 19, 2015 13:36:25 GMT
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Post by joanlluch on Mar 19, 2015 13:39:11 GMT
Hi Ed, Please, can you post a link on Malcolm's Internet site and offerings? I do not seem to find anything by googling it. Thanks. Google Model Engineers Laser. Comes up at the top of the list. Ah, thanks. Someone pointed me to them some time ago, but didn't know Ed referred to the same, so thanks again.
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Post by jordanleeds on Mar 21, 2015 20:06:23 GMT
Looking well mate! Hope to get to see it this year!
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Post by ejparrott on Mar 28, 2015 17:30:53 GMT
A catchup update, last Sunday I went down to work and fetched the band-saw down from upstairs so it could be used, then used it to cut up the brass sheet to make the vertical inner pieces of the splashers, and the pads for the expansion brackets. This afternoon I managed to get in to work. As well as a template for a diamond crossing we're making at the club, I've also made the flanging block and backing pad for the vertical faces of the splashers, and started on the oil reservoirs in the top of the axleboxes. While I was at it the brass was in the oven cooking. 750 degrees seems to have done the trick, left it to cool for a while with the door open but still too hot to bring home so I've shut the door again and left it for the night. I'll start flanging them over this week.
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Post by ejparrott on Mar 29, 2015 19:27:52 GMT
Had a very productive day today, not as happy as I could be, but still all good progress. This post may take me a while to construct, bear with me, I'm having issues with Mozilla crashing...got a bug in it somewhere and it really doesn't like having 2 windows open! So, first job this morning was to flange over the splasher inner faces, or start to at least. They had nicely cooled down overnight, the insulation on the oven being so good you could still feel a bit of heat in them. First up is to clamp the material between the steel flanging block and the aluminium backing pad.... Start to flange it over. I only use quite a small hammer when I'm flanging, and I don't hold it rigid. Old Panel beaters trick to hold it in such a way that it bounces in your hand, difficult to explain. Doing it like that means you don't force the work over, and you'll see it go hard before you do it any harm... Got it over part way and the clamp is now in the way and serving no purpose, so off it goes and we carry on... At this point the material wasn't folding over easily, so we call it quits and back into the oven. 750 Celsius, let sit for 10 minutes, then turn off and leave to cool slowly in the oven... While that was happening I finished off machining the oil resevoirs in the top of the axleboxes. Following on from yesterday, here are the stages. Having machine to a depth of 3/8" I then wrote a second program that cut the island 1/8" larger all round, and took that down to a depth of 1/2" I then set up a 6mm ball nose tool to go in and chance that to a full rad to strengthen the island, though I strongly suspect it wasn't required and in fact isn't adding anything! Looks better though. I had wanted to put one around the outside too, but I struggled to find tooling so just set it on the inside. I set both the ball nose and a 6mm slot drill in ER32 holders, and set them to be the same length so I didn't have to keep changing the DRO, within 10 thou so close enough. I realised too late that I'd forgotten about the corners, so 3 of them have a little peak of metal...never mind, it'll not be seen once it's full of oil! With all 4 of those finished, I started on eccentric straps, and realised I'd dropped a bit of a booboo....The valvegear's been through several redesigns, the last by Don so I know it's right now!! (Cheers Don ) Unfortunately.....what I somehow failed to do somewhere along the line was enlarge the valve eccentric straps to match the new larger eccentrics with the correct throw....doh! Luckily the pump is still the same, so instead of making 4 valve eccentric straps I've made one pump strap! The material is 250 grade Cast Iron...somewhat smaller than I needed and consequently rather on the long side! Started off roughing out the bore and the profile with a 16mm cutter to get the material away. To get in all the corners I was only going to be using a 6mm slot drill and that could have got clogged up all too easily. Much easier to work with now. I then went round the cap first with one program concentrating on one piece at a time, before moving on to the main part, the program for which gave me a few problems, but we cracked it in the end. Quick squiz round at just 4 thou deep to check it Then we went for it. So there we have it, good few hours work, all in the right direction. I'll have another session with the flanging in the morning, I think they'll need another annealing before they're done, I prefer to do it more often any way, rather than try and get the last bit and then split it. I need to get the pins made and fitted for the axle box keeps, turn the chassis over, and get ready for finishing the width of the boxes and getting them ready for going in the frames.
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Post by ejparrott on Apr 1, 2015 21:16:10 GMT
Another session on the flanged plates this morning saw them almost completed. I've cut off some excess material to take the flanges almost to width, and they've been in the oven for a last annealing tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I'll complete the flanging, then I need to set them up on the mill table to take the flange to the correct width to complete them. The backing plate I made just happens to be the right thickness, so I'll use that to clamp them down and machine down flush to it.
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Post by ejparrott on Apr 10, 2015 13:16:22 GMT
Time for an update again for you folks......I've had an absolutely manic week, and while I've had time to get stuff done I haven't had time to sit down and write up details for you! Holly's gone away to Mexico for a fortnight so I've got a chance to get done what I can. Save the dog being on her own for 12 or 13 hours, I decide to take the Thursday off and not work the Friday, and take advantage of the bank holiday weekend and a four day stretch not at work, then only work normal hours on Wednesday and Thursday and again not work the Friday - good choice as it happened! This meant I had good chances to get out in the workshop and luck was on my side and left me the XYZ mill free at work...couldn't have been better! There's not many photo's I'm afraid as I was pushing hard and it wasn't high on my priority list. Right back to April first, and I was annealing and flanging the splasher inner faces. I finished that on the second, and then set them up flat on the mill table and machined them to the 1/2" thickness required…. Still some tidying up to do, and they'll need a good dose in an acid bath. Taking advantage of the mill being free, on the Sunday I actually went in and made some of the bits I needed for mounting and covering encoders for my mill, so I even got progress made on that too! Then it was on to engine bits. I started out by rough milling another flanging block which I'll need for the splashers again, to fold up the rolled section to create the flange where it bolts to the frames. I'm going to use some thick plastic to back up the steel flanging plate, so that it's at the right height and should therefore get the rolled bits in the right place for flanging, then when they are flanged, the idea is to use the same piece to hold them while I quickly skim the face flat, and then put in all the bolt holes and the slot where the spring pushrod passes through. Axleboxes was next, the most important one. Measured up all the guide ways, then tailored each box to fit a certain place. One of the boxes had a slight accident while I was roughing it out, but luckily it all came good when finishing. It's slots are slightly off centre to the outside, but it doesn't matter. I set each one up in the vice, on the first one I machined a parallel slot and used it to set the tool offset correct so that it was cutting the correct size. This cutter then stayed in the spindle until I got to the last and awkward one, and so it should all be right. The slots are cut to a 3500mm radius or thereabouts, I'm interested to see how they behave one the axle is in and they're fitted. With the three good boxes, I set each one to a depth from the top face as required to get the correct opening, then laid them on their side, centred them, and machined in a 30mm diameter pocket in the right place for the axle hole. This I will then clock in the 4-jaw in the lathe and then drill and bore. With the odd one, I couldn't do that, and I just couldn't get my head round how to shift the machine zero to get it right....then a brainwave....put parallel's in the slots and clock off them...so that's what I did... Hopefully I've got it right! The 4 boxes then as they are now, along with the lids for the oil reservoirs. These are just laser cut, straight from Malcolm, and I've done nothing with them yet. All I need to do is go round and take all the sharp corners off so the paint sticks. These literally just sit on top of the boxes, and are trapped by the horns and the spring pushrods, nothing more complicated than that. My only problem will be lifting them for filling, so I think a magnet on a stick will need to go in the toolbox! The half eccentrics for the valve gear have to be honest been a bit of a pain…I just cannot get a spanner in to tighten up the nuts properly, not without thinning one down so much it's got no strength left. I think I'll have to make some M6 nuts out of material for making M5 nuts. Save me fighting with the same problem on the pump eccentric, I've decided to leave it solid, as I profiled it, and just drill and tap for 2 caphead screws to hold it together. Most people will never even see it, the original isn't there any more for anyone to tell me it's wrong, and I'll only start loosing patience with it, bearing in mind I've got to put it together for turning, then take it apart and reassemble it around the axle. I then went on to get some progress made on the big fabrication that goes on the middle stretcher, and has the pump hanging off the bottom of it, and two cast iron guides which are the start of the valve rods, and also support the die blocks in position. On the fullsize this is an enormous iron casting, and it's inaccessible for measuring, there's no drawing for the part, and deciphering the GA drawing is nigh on impossible. I've had to put all the key features in the right place, and then fill in the gaps with something that looks right. I started milling the bottom plate some time ago, you've already seen it but here it is again… I still need to wipe the bottom off and take it to thickness, but there's been no rush for it yet. I roughed out a piece of En8 and stress relieved this a few weeks ago, but here it now is all milled out and sat on the bottom plate… The curve in the top edge is to clear the boiler barrel support angle which is riveted to the stretcher. I still need to mill the bottom off at an angle to match the cylinder inclination, and finish off the bottom plate, then this is another part sat in the pile waiting for silver soldering. It's getting to be quite a pile now, I'm going to have to get stuff ready and spend a day doing it now. The weathers turned for the better so now's a good time….he says…raindrops starting to fall on the conservatory roof as he types….!! Yesterday I then went back to doing cab bits and set up the door pillars for thinning down. I profiled these from 30mm plate, as it's all we had in. They finish at 23.51 so there's a bit to come off. The plate also wasn't very true, so I dropped it on the surface grinder just to get it parallel and straight, then all I'm doing is hanging it over the back of the mill table, and using the side of a cutter to run it down. I 'borrow' used cutters from work for this kind of thing. Our millers are very good and destroying the end of a cutter and yet the flutes are still good and sharp….I liberate them from the scrap carbide box to do jobs like this, then when the edge has gone off them I put them back in the scrap carbide box….Eventually the scrappy comes round and pays us for them, then we get a night out on the town on the money…great stuff! That I think brings us up to date. I've got two more pillars to do, then I think I'll put the vice back on and do the angle on the bottom of the pump bracket, I need to tap the holes in the pump eccentric so I can bolt it together, then that's ready for turning….there's no shortage of work to be done!! I've got 2 steam tests to do Sunday, a day putting David's Land Rover right....well as right as I can until he let's me put proper springs on it...then Holly's back home Sunday and it's back to the normal working week....
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Post by Roger on Apr 11, 2015 6:44:53 GMT
You certainly got a lot done Ed, and very nice too. I like the idea of the radius in the axlebox being machined at that stage rather than have to go back and add clearance by hand. It seems logical to machine what you really want from the start.
I want to ask you about what looks like an electronic edge finder in one of the pictures. Doe that compensate if it's not running true or does it rely on there being no runout? I use a wobbler type because that's insensitive to runout but I'd prefer something more sophisticated really.
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Post by ejparrott on Apr 11, 2015 7:53:12 GMT
Hi Roger, it's a static edge finder, this one is mine but we use them at work too. It works on completing an electrical circuit on contact. I have a brand new 20mm R8 collet that I use only for this edge finder, and last time I checked the runout there wasn't any. We use similar ones at work, we never bother about it. You could if you were worried about it find the edge, then roatate the spindle 180 degrees and find it again
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