What i've done today

[baldric]

Aug 9, 2024 5:00:02 GMT suctionhose said:

Spot the spring washer:

My eye went straight to it, but if it was my washer I can guarantee I wouldn't have seen it.
Baldric.

[uuu]

So - if you lose one, then just post a picture on here and others will find it for you.

Wilf

[Cro]

Aug 9, 2024 20:00:22 GMT uuu said:

So - if you lose one, then just post a picture on here and others will find it for you.

Wilf

I best go take a photo in the workshop so someone can find yesterday’s taper pin!

[ettingtonliam]

When my uncle was an electrician for the National Coal Board he said that all the underground equipment was painted white, so if a bit dropped on the floor in all the coal dust when they were servicing it, it would be easily spotted. Trouble was that nothing stayed white, underground for very long---

[dhamblin]

Had a great day at Maidstone MES 95th anniversary open day at their Mote Park track. Britannia performed well and was one of 17 visiting locos from clubs across the south east.

Regards,

Dan

[dhamblin]

Had a chance to sample the newest standard gauge steam locomotive today - reproduction LB&SCR H2 Atlantic No. 32424 'Beachy Head'. Having seen it under construction for many years inside Atlantic House at Sheffield Park on the Bluebell Railway, it was launched into service on 23rd August and is currently running on service and dining trains as part of its launch gala.


32424 Beachy Head by Daniel Hamblin, on Flickr

The locomotive is seen here at Sheffield Park station ready to depart with the last service train of the day. Earlier it had hauled us on the Wealden Rambler afternoon tea special.

Regards,

Dan

[davewoo]

I got my Simplex steam test completed today, for the first time since 1999! Had the pressure test a month or two ago and then life overtook me again, It was great to steam the old thing again, my newly made and fitted axle pump (reduced in size from the original design) and hydrostatic lubricator system both worked well. Sobering to think last century was the last time it steamed! Where does the time go? Few laps of the New Romney track and nothing fell off or broke, might have a celebratory pint or two tonight.

[davewoo]

This week I have mostly been, or attempting to make Clupet rings following Chris Vine's excellent Youtube video. Proudly at the front of the picture are five comnpleted rings, the heap of shame at the back are the failures, some where the slitting saw had a mind of its own others where the mental arithmetic went awry and some plain dumb mistakes. Amazingly none broke during the turning inside out process, the only breakage was clumsiness in the finishing cut on the o/d.
Things I learned while making them that may prove useful and save others some grief are.
The very thin .015" slitting saw had a mind of its own until in desperation I rotated the blank in reverse, like climb milling, it would then follow the correct path. also the cut was more accurate if the saw blade was through the wall of the blank only just enough to cut it off.

I bought an Expo razor saw to cut the angled gaps, this was worse than useless, some were done with a piercing saw but it was hard to cut straight, finally a Zona razor saw from Amazon, which is I think what Chris uses in the video did the job perfectly, the blade is only .008" thick and very easy to cut straight, I wish I'd waited until it arrived before cutting some of the rings. However the finished ones seem ok and have around the same springiness as some genuine ones bought for another loco that are a similar size. Big Thank you to Chris for his excellent video, would not have attempted it had I not watched that.

Sorry no picture! my Imgur has not let me post it. Picture now below, I'm even worse with a computer than I am at making piston rings!!

[davewoo]

[JonL]

Those look fantastic! And the only people who have a "heap of shame" are those who have attempted it. I haven't tried so I've got nothing! Amazing work.

[chris vine]

Hi Dave, they look fabulous! Yes the slitting saw was a problem but my solution was to run it round only a few thou into the work. That gave it a track to follow for the real cut.
Just make sure that your piston groove is only a thou or so deeper than the ring depth - otherwise the whole thing is a bogie because the steam gets in one gap, under the ring, and out the other gap! It isn’t obvious that a ring with no direct gap has a leakage path. Well, it wasn’t to me!!
Chris

[davewoo]

Thanks Chris

Very timely advice I was going to make the pistons tomorrow so I will definitely bear that in mind, had not thought about that little pitfall. Didn't think of a shallow cut for the main cut to follow, great thing about this hobby is you never stop learning!

Even though I've now done it several times I find it unbelievable that a thin cast iron ring can be turned "inside out" it's almost like magic.

Dave

[chris vine]

Thinking about the magic of turning them inside out, the old saying springs to mind:
Fortune smiles on the brave!!
Chris

[johan]

Not today but we had our open days this weekend. Ran sever hours carting loads of kids '-8 months to 99) around. All had fun!

[dhamblin]

In between tinkering with the injector on Britannia I have been reading through Eddie Castellan's new biography of LBSC, 'Battle of the Boilers - A life of LBSC'. Lots of fascinating details that brings the story up to date and complements the earlier Brian Hollingworth book.

Regards,

Dan

[JonL]

I agree Dan, I thought that book was a real labour of love, the research in it is fantastic.

[JonL]

Frustrating night last night, went to machine some of the components for my Stuart score only to find the castings are smaller than the finished components on the Stuart drawings. The quality of the other castings seems to have taken a dive as well; the outer surface has such a poor texture that you have to machine for ages before a sensible datum can be reached.

[johan]

Drilled mounting holes in the top of the cross slide of the lathe in preparation for the next project. Still have cramp from squeezing my...

[dhamblin]

CSME BWWMRC 2024 by Daniel Hamblin, on Flickr

Helped plan, set-up and then man the Croydon Society of Model Engineers stand at the Beckenham and West Wickham Model Railway Club's one day rail show today. We had an encouraging number of people across a range of ages come and look at our display, hopefully will inspire some people to think about bigger scale modelling. We expanded the offering this year to include 'have a go' 3D printing using a hand held filament 'hot end' and a template block to lay it on, which seemed pretty popular.

Regards,

Dan

[Jim]

A very eye catching display Dan.

Jim