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Post by manofkent on Nov 17, 2023 21:06:38 GMT
I must say I have found the new ME forum a bit of a struggle. Pity,it was a good forum,but for the moment I have stopped looking at it. Maybe give it a few weeks and look again?
John
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Post by manofkent on Nov 9, 2023 18:19:05 GMT
Hi
Peter,yes please do pm a copy of your article. I assume the Alum is mixed with hot water?
Steve W - yes this was a HSS tap, from Tracey Tools as I recollect. Your advice is sound and HSS is my default for these tools.
Martyn, I do actually have an industrial spark eroder stored at the back of another garage, but the sheer hassle of getting out from behind loads of other stuff and recomissioning it means it is a very last resort. It is a Charmilles machine, and I had thought if I have to use it I could use distilled water as the electrolyte not great but would be easier on the boiler than the oil based alternatives.
The Alum powder is ordered,and should be used in anger over the weekend.
Thanks to all for your most helpful responses
John
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Post by manofkent on Nov 7, 2023 21:15:58 GMT
Thanks all for your excellent advice.
ALum it is then. I will order it from eBay and hopefully be able to try it on Monday.
I will keep you posted.
John
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Post by manofkent on Nov 7, 2023 8:41:02 GMT
Thanks. What is Alum and where do I buy it please?
John
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Post by manofkent on Nov 7, 2023 7:22:23 GMT
Hello all. Yesterday I was tapping 7BA holes in the dome fitting of my Miss 10 to Eight boiler, and telling myself to be really careful not to break the tap. Of course it broke, really close to the surface.
The material is copper. There is very little width of material to widen the hole.
My only plan at the moment is to 1. Soak in very thin oil 2. Warm it up with a hot air gun 3. Insert two tiny pins in the broken tap flutes 4. See if I can grip the inserted pins with pliers and twist.
Any advice gratefully received
Many thanks
John
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Post by manofkent on Jul 2, 2022 6:59:37 GMT
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Post by manofkent on Jan 20, 2022 21:53:18 GMT
+1 for the Wago connectors. Cheap and you can buy them from Screwfix!
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Post by manofkent on Jan 14, 2022 22:01:41 GMT
So I have cut the brass sheets and tried them on for size. The firebox sheet is 15 thou brass which is a bit hard to bend smoothly round the boiler. The other two sheets are 10 thou brass which is much easier to fit. Phil H. The boiler came off the loco for some repairs. One repair is on the outside, and would look pretty ugly if I just painted it over. In any event I wanted to try painting it as if in its last years - BR post 1954 green. I think the engine will look very good in this darker green. Also we run throughout the year at my club - Tiverton Model Engineers, and our track is in a field high up on the edge of Exmoor. It can get pretty cold for driver and engine sometimes! So I thought some lagging would definitely help. I am attempting a picture of it fixed temporarily. I will probably redo the firebox end in the thinner brass before final fixing. John IMG_20220114_153519 by John Hilton, on Flickr
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Post by manofkent on Jan 12, 2022 22:01:42 GMT
Thanks all for your replies. I am using 15 thou thick brass sheet for the lagging. Just started today, bored the two holes for the safety valves between two blocks of wood, and looking at how to fashion the lagging over the firebox.
I get that the lagging is secured around the boiler with the bands, but how is it held in place on the firebox sides?
I was planning to simply stick the fibre lagging material to the insides of the brass lagging sheet, but Don's helpful picture of spacing/banding inside the lagging has made me wonder if I a missing a trick here?
Any comments gratefully received.
I will try and post a picture in the next few days.
John
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Post by manofkent on Jan 10, 2022 18:26:43 GMT
I am about to add lagging to my Bantam Cock loco.
I have some 8" wide brass sheets to put around the boiler, with brass banding.
Sorry for the daft question, but do I overlap the sheets as they sit along the boiler, or just butt then together with the banding?
Is there a best practice way?
Also would you bother to cover the throat plate, which I anticipate might get tricky to cover.
Many thanks as ever
Joh
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Post by manofkent on Dec 2, 2021 21:47:22 GMT
Hi all. Great comments. I was also wondering about how much paint to use, so that is very helpful. Thanks for the comments to all. Bob (92290). I remember I do actually have some GWR green paint from Precision Paints left over from a different project (non steaming loco), so I will give it a go with that first. I am using Precision Paints etch primer, and their paint thinners to degrease and clean the surfaces. I know Bantam Cock is an LNER loco, but I want to paint it in post 1956 BR green - a darker colour but I hope will suit it well. I am starting on the cab, so that will give me a better idea how it will look.
Thanks
John
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Post by manofkent on Dec 2, 2021 12:37:28 GMT
Hi all.
I am about to start painting the boiler of my 3.1/2 gauge Bantam Cock.
The boiler has a brass cladding with insulation.
I know I need to use some etch primer first.
I then want to use undercoat, before a final paint colour.
Can anyone suggest a suitable etch primer and a suitable undercoat , given the higher temperatures that will be present on the painted surface?
Many thanks John
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Post by manofkent on Nov 25, 2021 20:51:34 GMT
Darren
There is (or was) a superb gresley Pacific, blue with two tenders, running at the Ramsgate track.
It is battery powered in one of the tenders, but is a really lovely loco to see.
So you are not alone...
John
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Post by manofkent on Oct 30, 2021 20:56:57 GMT
On the Kingscale photo what is the purpose of all the "gear" under the front buffer beam? There is nothing like it on the Maxitrack version.
John
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Post by manofkent on Aug 3, 2021 20:43:49 GMT
We have put it down on our events list. We spent some time with friend Tom Parham at the Oxford track, the family are very involved at Maidstone. 51 years since my first visit there. David and Lily. David. Its about 50 years since I last was at Moat Park, Maidstone. I was lucky enough to drive a few laps on a superb Heilien Lassie built by Fred LaRoche. We were visiting as a club from Tonbridge MES. Aanyway, looking at the track on YouTube now there is no tunnel. I was sure there was once a tunnel about half way round - on a curve if I recall correctly. Do you remember there being a tunnel, or was it wishful thinking on my part? John
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Post by manofkent on May 28, 2021 20:53:59 GMT
Thanks David. (Dscott). So much of my loco is made of steel that will rust, it can be painted but the joints probably not. A good tip, I shall get some blue Araldite forthwith.
Johm
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Post by manofkent on May 27, 2021 21:12:05 GMT
Question for David (dscott).
A few posts up you said
"Our visit to B & Q found some £4.00 glue so I am giving it a go between surfaces. This is done on all of my platework and so far no rust has come through. All rivets polished.* And Bolts de oiled. Paintwork"
Can you expand on the use of glue. Do you use it as a sort of coating to keep the metal shiny? What sort of glue?
Many thanks
John (I reckon I was at Plymouth Poly much the same time as you, did business studies though).
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Post by manofkent on Mar 8, 2021 21:51:42 GMT
Malcolm and Delaplume.
Thanks for answering my query.
Most interesting. I will give it a try when time allows. The water level shown in my 3.1/2 gauge locos does bounce around quite a bit .
John
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Post by manofkent on Mar 8, 2021 16:42:14 GMT
Reading this thread reminded me of a "piggy back" water gauge I once read about fitted to a model loco in the USA. IIRC it was like one water gauge, with another fitted in front if it. The claim was that it kept a better level of the water somehow. Did I make this up or does anyone else know about this?
John
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Post by manofkent on Mar 1, 2021 21:57:40 GMT
Hi William.
I am planning my next loco, and have sort of settled on the 5" gauge schools Stowe. A fellow club member has lent me some of the Model Engineer magazines (2007 - 2009) in which the model is described. The measurung on the drawings is a mix of fractions and decimals which takes a bit of getting used to. I think it will be a challenging build, but i might simplify some of the detailed bits (real leaf springs on the driving wheels for example).
Laser cut frames are a definite.
I have an interest - my dad was a Southern steam driver ex Stewarts Lane. He would refer to these locos as a "school". As in "driving up Sole Street with a school, you had to be careful not to empty the firebox".
I hope you decide to build this model as well. I wont be able to start until the Autumn.
Joh
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