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Post by ericcee on Jul 4, 2006 22:36:22 GMT
Andy,
Thanks for setting up this new section. I've been away for a couple of weeks, out of internet contact - and not doing any work on the Bagnall, so I missed your June 27th post.
I'll be getting back into the workshop tomorrow and I should be able to post some notes on progress so far by tomorrow evening.
Eric C.
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Post by ericcee on Jul 7, 2006 23:10:06 GMT
The best laid plans ....
It is annoying when the outside world encroaches on valuable workshop time, isn't it?
Anyway, I've finally been able to get back to the shed for some more work on the Bagnall. The overall stiffness that I've referred to elsewhere on the forum is still there but has improved after I removed the RH cylinder to check that it was not the cause. The PTFE piston rod glands are, I believe, the primary cause of this stiffness. After a bit of fiddling about with the RH con rod / crosshead bearing which I could not get to line up properly, I re-attached the cylinder with the con rod fixed to the crosshead. Wherever the misalignment is, this approach seemed to avoid it, because there was a significant improvement. The chassis (is that the right word?) will still not roll without a lot of downward pressure being applied, but I am certain that there are no tight spots. So, for the moment, I'm putting it down to those glands and hope that things will improve with "running in". To be fair to MW, the instructions do say that things will be stiff until the PTFE deforms to match the piston rods.
Apart from this, the only real problem I've encountered is that the con rods hit the bottom of the motion brackets (the bits that hold the outer ends of the slide bars) when the axlebox springs are about half-way depressed. I've filed quite a bit of metal off these to effect a partial cure, but there's a limit to what can be done here. When I work out how to get some photos up on the forum, you'll see what I mean.
I have to admit to one stupid mistake so far - I'd just loctited and keyed the second wheel onto the leading axle when I realised that I had not put the axleboxes on the axle!! The air was blue while I used a soft hammer to knock one of the wheels off before the loctite set (phew!!).
This afternoon, I spent about two hours assembling the reverser quadrant - the various components needed a helluva lot of fettling. And the latch spring is missing - it's mentioned in the instructions but does not appear on the packing list, so I'll have to contact MW about that.
Over the weekend (with a bit of luck) I hope to complete the valve gear and get some photos taken. That will bring me up to the end of kit 4.
Watch this space!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2006 20:14:59 GMT
Eric,
The PTFE glands on the piston rods and valve piston rods of my Britannia are also rather stiff, even without any pressure from tightening down the brass covers. Does anyone know whether they will improve with running, or whether there is any way of freeing them a little?
Regards, John
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Post by baggo on Jul 9, 2006 16:53:15 GMT
Hi John,
In theory the bores of the PTFE glands should expand when the cylinders get hot but the amount they will expand will depend on whether the glands are a tight fit in the outer bores of the end covers. Obviously if they are a very tight fit then the amount they can expand will be very limited as the PTFE will be compressed.
As PTFE is a very low friction material they must be quite a tight fit on the rods at the moment. Also, because of the low friction properties, the rate of wear should also be very low so I would imagine it will take a long time for them to free up. Perhaps polishing the piston and valve rods to a mirror finish with Brasso may help reduce the friction? Alternatively you could try reaming the glands with a very sharp reamer just to take a very slight skim off the bores.
John
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Post by ericcee on Jul 9, 2006 19:53:29 GMT
Thanks for this - both Johns!
To JJ - I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this problem!
To baggo - you have confirmed my suspicions. By definition, PTFE will not readily "wear in" and I've read about its expansive properties elsewher on this forum, but your reaming suggestion seems a bit drastic for someone of my limited skills. One suggestion made to me was to use some silicon grease - any thoughts on this?
In any event, I'll be trying to contact MW tomorrow to discuss the snags so far and to order the next kit.
Eric C.
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Post by ericcee on Jul 10, 2006 9:40:00 GMT
This is a bit of an experiment to see I can get a photo displayed.
If it works, you should be able to see the condition of the cylinder port faces when I received the castings (referred to in another thread). I should have taken a photo after I had spent half an hour "lapping" the faces on fine wet & dry on a surface plate.
Eric C.
PS - I have modified this post to get rid of the duff URL. One of these days I'll come back to delete it.
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Post by ericcee on Jul 10, 2006 9:40:51 GMT
Nope - it didn't work! Now what have I done wrong? When I click on the "image" icon. the string " ![]() [/img" is inserted in the message, but where do I put the URL of the photo? I am attempting to use the Yahoo Photos facility - will this work in this context? Thanks for any help on this. Eric C. |
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Post by baggo on Jul 10, 2006 12:40:59 GMT
Hi Eric,
the URL goes inbetween the two sets of brackets i.e.
(img]URL[/img)
Took me a while to work it out!
John
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Post by ericcee on Jul 10, 2006 12:47:17 GMT
John,
That's what I've done (the big gap in the message is where it's hidden!).
Perhaps it's the Yahoo Photos bit that's causing the problem - can you recommend an alternative site to record my photos?
Thanks,
Eric C.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2006 14:36:03 GMT
Eric, Perhaps pictures are not allowed on this section of the board and so the ![]() tags are being ignored? I see that there's a separate section for images at the end of the Modelworks section - perhaps your Yahoo URL will work if you post it there? Regards, John |
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Post by ericcee on Jul 10, 2006 16:16:21 GMT
Thanks for this suggestion, JJ.
I've just tried it and it still doesn't work, so I immediately deleted the post.
Eric C.
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Post by baggo on Jul 10, 2006 16:42:27 GMT
 That works ok. It could well be something to do with where you are hosting your pics Eric. I've got my own website so I just store any pics I want to post on there. Can you give me the URL of one of your photos and I'll give it a try? John |
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Post by ericcee on Jul 10, 2006 16:57:49 GMT
John,
I've just modified my original message to make the URL visible. I reckon it must be down to the Yahoo hosting technology - I made sure that the photos are available for all to see.
Eric C.
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Post by baggo on Jul 10, 2006 17:20:15 GMT
Hi Eric,
I've stored one of my photos on a Yahoo album and I can't get mine or yours to work! Must be something to do with Yahoo. I think a lot of people use Photobucket or similar sites for their photos. Hopefully someone will suggest a storage site that will work for you,
John
PS I can go straight to your photos by clicking on the URL in your original message
Further thought - the URL takes you to a web page instead of the jpeg which is embedded in the page rather than being a seperate entity. Perhaps that's the problem?
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Post by baggo on Jul 10, 2006 20:36:32 GMT
Hi Eric, Just tried using Fotopic.net and that has the same problem i.e. you can't access the actual jpeg directly, it's hidden away in some directory somewhere. Suggest you use Photobucket - quite a few of the photos on this forum are stored there. photobucket.com/John |
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Post by ericcee on Jul 10, 2006 22:18:05 GMT
John,
Thanks for this info - I'll look at this tomorrow. It's been a heavy evening - I've been to a ballroom dancing class, would you believe?! The things we have to do to keep the other half happy for all the time we spend in the shed!
Anyway, I've spoken to Debbie at MW today and I'll report on that in the Getting On With it thread tomorrow.
I reckon you are right about the URL being a web page rather than the JPEG, so I'll certainly explore the Photobucket option.
Thanks for your (and everyone else's) help.
Eric C.
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Post by baggo on Jul 11, 2006 0:19:51 GMT
Hi Eric, Just tried Photobucket - no problem at all   John |
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Post by ericcee on Jul 11, 2006 13:08:30 GMT
Thanks again, John.
You've beaten me to it! I have a hedge to trim this afternoon and then I'll be able to concentrate on getting into Photobucket.
In the meantime, I'm sure everyone can now see the machining marks I had to get rid of!
Eric C.
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Post by ericcee on Jul 11, 2006 15:58:35 GMT
OK - the hedge has been trimmed and I've put a few photos into the Photobucket! Let's see if this works.  This image shows a simple modification to the wheels as supplied (on the right). I turned a shallow groove at the diameter of the rim to "dilineate" it from the balance weight - and make the wheel centre easier to paint. Note that I'm not yet very good on the lathe, so the groove on this example does not line up exactly with the rim! Eric C. PS - Now that I seem to have the technology sorted out, I'll continue this saga in the "Getting On With It" thread. |
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Post by baggo on Jul 11, 2006 16:33:06 GMT
Brilliant Eric, you've cracked it!  Look forward to following your progress. John |
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