Another Jessie

[uuu]

I thought I'd post pictures now and again of the progress on my Jessie. I see there's another picture thread on the same loco design. This is not a speed competition. If it was I'd definitely lose, because this one has been on the go since the last millennium.

Julian may remember the chassis, which was cut out and bolted up so many years ago!

I'm working on the cylinders at the moment. They've been bored and I'm now cutting the mounting face flat and drilling/milling the various holes:

[chiptim]

I don't mind if you do overtake me 'cause then I can see how its done ;D

Seriously though it looks like you're going to make a good job of those cylinders. I look forwards to the pictures and must post some more myself soon.

Regards Tim

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Here's another picture, from today. I've carried on with the setup in the mill, and I've tapped the 2BA and 4BA holes. Although the drawing says to mark off the holes from the frames, I've gone ahead and made them using co-ordinates in the mill. If I hadn't checked, this would have been silly, as the frames were marked out with a height guage perched on a pile of baked beans (in tins - I'd recommend Heinz brand, as I've found their cans to be a very consistent height). So I drilled a aluminium plate to the coordinates and it lined up with the frames OK.

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[uuu]

And here's a picture from last week. It's just the front buffer beam. Having cut it out years ago, I've not been happy that it was slightly curved. So off to a friend where I bashed it flat in a fly-press.

I'm impressed with your progress Tim, and with your set-ups in the smaller Myford. I've a way to go to get a rolling chassis. I have the frames, I've made the horns and spring-beams, and have the axleboxes started. These are in cast-iron rather than bronze, although I'll fit bronze bushes in them. Axles have been cut to length, but journals and wheels seat not yet turned. I have the wheels just about finished, and crank pins ready to fit in.

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[uuu]

Blundered last night when I drilled five holes in the second cylinder to clearance size, rather than tapping. I had to think a bit to work out the best fix. I've just drilled them deeper, the right size, and will use longer fixings. No one will ever know.

[jma1009]

hi wilf,
welcome to the forum! nice to see some progress with JESSIE.
cheers,
julian

[uuu]

Here are brake components. It was a thread from Julian that reminded me I'd done these. The blocks and hangers were made earlier this year (I think). The frame fittings are from long ago.

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These are rejected horns. I just didn't seem to be able to get a consistent bend on them. I'm sure they would have worked just fine, but I wasn't happy. Also shown are some prototypes of the next design.

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These are the better horns, Made from two parts brazed together, rather than the bending method. Also shown are the hardened guage plate faces.

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These are the spring beams and springs. I was pleased with how these came out without any mishaps.

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And this is work in progress. Coupling hooks front and rear. Because it said on the drawing "mild or stainless", the masochist in me came out, and I'm using stainless. I couldn't find any 303 bar of the right thickness, so these blanks have been hacked out and milled down from a thicker bit.

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[jma1009]

hi wilf,
excellent work and great pics, which reminds me ive still got a length of 3/4" dia stainless to return to you at some time!
cheers,
julian

[Shawki Shlemon]

Nice job , every bit one makes its a progress , eventually one puts these parts together and a shape start emerging , then adding parts on as time goes on . I am sure you will get there sooner than you think .

[uuu]

Here's todays instalment. I've been machining the ports in the cylinders. First one was last weekend, this one otday. This is the first bit - profiling the sides of the valve chest.

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Next, milling the port face.

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The ports have now been done - this is cutting the inlet passage.

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And this is it all done, for this set up.

I'm a bit disappointed with the castings. The iron is lovely and I've not hit any hard spots or inclusions, so I suppose I ought to be grateful for that. But they're not generous on any dimension. I've had to take extra off several faces, to clean them up, and most of them have some rough surface left. You can see a little rough patch round one of the screw holes for the inlet on top - even though this is 1.35mm below the as-drawn level. And the upstands of the valve chest are way below the right thickness.

I now need to borrow an adjustable angle plate, so I can mill off the mounting face for the valve chest cover, and drill the passages from each end of the bore to the ports .

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Julian, you've reminded me what I did with the 3/4" stainless before I lent it to you! Here's the handrake standard, but now with it's top bearing.

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[uuu]

I've hit a snag, and need some advice, please. Having said how lovely the iron was on the cylinders, I've now got a poor bit on one of the covers. I hope you can see it on the photo. Where most of the machined surface is a grey colour, part of the rim is really shiny. I think I may have a hard bit, is this called chilled?

It seems to be too deep to cut out. Does this mean the casting is scrap, or is there a way to heat treat it to anneal it out?

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[durhambuilder]

If you have a wood burner or coal file toss it in there overnight to anneal the hard spots, I had to do that with a couple of my horn castings.