Member postings for Dominic Bramley

I love this.

Hi,

I haven't read the full series on Princess Royal and Goliath so can't comment on whether it is worth tracking them all down, but based on some advice on this forum I did obtain Magazine Vol. 153 Number 3742. This issue details how to join the 2 flywheels together which is the job I'm most unsure about looking at the plans - and something that is unique to the twin so not detailed in the book.

Regards

Dom

If when you get the drawings you find they don't have the dimensions you need, then let me know and I will get my calipers out. I have the full kit in an unmachined state.

Regards

Dom

Even though I have the materials - and have had a trial run on the vertical boiler- I'm still half tempted to buy a commercial boiler now the moment is nearly upon me. The only good reason I have to build one is that If I buy one I will always wonder if I could have done it.

On the other hand It will take me several months to build with no guarantee of success. Also my local ME clubs don't meet at a convenient time for my job (or meet at all at the moment) - so I'm unlikely to get the boiler inspected. The certification is one of the big advantages of a commercial boiler.

My current leaning is to have one go and if it fails buy a commercial one and build the Victoria in the meantime!

I haven't seen many start to finish build threads - but the book is good, and so far I have found plenty of hints and tips on here for the parts I have found to be tricky.

Dom

Thanks Dave - will give that a try next time. It was the smaller pieces I had in mind - my last soldering job was a tiny part and it was quite an amusing exercise trying to keep the bit of solder from wandering off when the water boiled. It was almost like it as deliberately trying to annoy me!

Dom

I would like to try this - Is standard pink Methylated spirits OK for the job?

Regards

Dom

Seems we have similar ambitions! I started the hobby with absolutely no prior experience 2 years ago. My aim was to build a small traction engine and after a couple of months of building an oscillator, gyroscope, hammer etc cracked straight into a 1" Minnie.

I got as far as machining the rear wheel rims / strakes and spokes and attaching the strakes to one rim before deciding to take a pause. Firstly I wanted to increase my skill level and secondly wheel building is a lesson in patience....

My pause lasted for about 14 months and I built the 10V to gain some experience with castings and the ME Vertical Boiler to learn how to silver solder (I'm going to have one go at making the boiler for Minnie). The ME Boiler was also a good education on how a boiler works, what all the fittings are for, and gave me something to run the 10V on.

I returned to Minnie earlier this year and am on the cusp of finishing the wheels now - and deciding whether to start the boiler or take another pause. My father wanted to spend some money on me for my birthday this year - so I got him to contribute towards the cost of a Double Victoria...

In terms of cost - if you go with Minnie and start with the wheels then you only really need the castings for the rims and hubs and some 1/16th steel strip: this will keep you going for quite some time and cost just just north of £100. You will also need the book which seems to average out at £50 - depends on how lucky you are with ebay on a given day. I have also kept my eyes open and picked up the odd part from ebay when they come up - for example I bought a blackgates boiler kit about 12 months back at probably less than the price of the raw materials.

The Double Victoria is pretty steep - and I think would have been beyond me without my dads contribution - but it is a very fine looking engine and comes in a reassuringly heavy box... The ME Boiler was about £180 for a kit from Noggin metals - It is always nice to just have all the bits you need in one box!

Not sure you can make a wrong decision here though - all will keep you happily occupied for months. The key for me when deciding what to make has been choosing items that have detailed build guides available as I don't yet have the experience to be able to look at a big sheet of drawings and easily come up with a cunning plan....

Your 10V is looking good by the way - love the blue!

Dom

I don't have any pictures to hand just now - but here is a video of its first run on steam that gives a pretty good view of the exhaust. I threaded the other end of the tube also to connect to the elbow connector.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCclavQAQjA

Very satisfying when they run for the first time! It has run in since and can run quite slowly now.

The boiler is the ME vertical boiler which was serialised in the magazine last year and was also fun to make!

Regards

Dom

Edited By Dominic Bramley on 30/09/2020 16:04:29

Peter,

If you do decide to make a small boiler to practice - I can recommend the ME vertical Boiler serialised in the magazine last year. The instructions and pictures are very clear and I successfully built it having never held a torch before in my life. I feel much more confident now about tackling my next project which is a small Traction engine boiler.

Dave - Thanks for sharing that link - an excellent source of information - I think I will be studying this a lot over the coming months!

Dom

I finished my 10V earlier this year, and the cladding was the only part I managed to scrap. My mistake was to drill the holes as per the dimensions on the drawing and not having the presence of mind to remember that the (already drilled) exhaust port on the cylinder was not dimensioned. Still - at least it was an easy decision to chuck it in the bin when the holes didn't line up!

Second time I measured from the job and using a 1/8 BMS drilling jig, as per Harold Hall's instructions, produced nice clean holes.

For the drain cocks I spotted the holes and drilled clearance. For the exhaust port I drilled 1/4 and turned the exhaust pipe out of hex stock to produce a tube with a nut part way along it - just a little further up from the end of the thread. The exhaust pipe could then be screwed into the cylinder and tightened up without the nut crushing the cladding. Not sure if this is the "correct" solution - but looks Ok to me.

Dom

I get terribly excited when I see this thread appear in the latest posts - and Mal never disappoints. Fascinating project and amazing work!

Dom

Hi,

Many thanks all for the advice. Seems to have gone OK on the third attempt.

I believe it was a combination of clamping the plates too hard together with the bolt and not getting the hub hot enough.

Dave - tinning the spokes to start with sounds like a great idea and I think i may well take that approach when I do the front wheels. (some time in 2034 judging by my rate of progress thus far!)

The solder paint is certainly merciless and am seeing corrosion already - so am mentally prepared for much cleaning over the coming days. Fortunately building these wheels has already been a masterclass in patience!

Regards

Dom

Hi all,

I have been using our enforced confinement to make some progress on the rear wheels for a Minnie Traction. I have the spokes and strakes on and am at the point of soldering on the hub inner and outer plates to the hubs.

I am using the 60/40 Tin Lead Solder Paint from Cupalloys and a mapp blow torch.

The first wheel seemed to go ok - all be it with a bit of run-off onto the side of the hub which needs cleaning.

However the second wheel the plates are refusing to stick. The solder is running and there is some tinning around the edges but the plates just pop off once the bolt clamping them together is removed. I have had two attempts now with the same result.

Any suggestions as to what could be going wrong?

Would too much heat cause problems? (clearly too little heat could also an issue). Would using an oven be better than a blow torch?

Is cleanliness as important with the paint as it is with silver solder? If so what should i use to clean it. I have some citric acid pickle but would worry this would cause corrosion on the spokes.

Do the surfaces need to be in contact or should there be a small gap as is the case for sliver solder? Currently they are touching when clamped together - but I guess i could use a couple of center pops to create a small gap.

Any suggestions would be appreciated - a ton of work has gone into the wheel thus far and I'm worried that I will make a mess of it if I don't get this right soon.

Cheers

Dom

Quick update: the drilling guide jig worked perfectly and I was able to drill out the plug and re-tap the bush.

Many thanks Bill and Peter for the pointers

Dom

Many thanks for the replies - sounds like drilling is the way to go.

I don't have a pilot hole in the plug - it just has a screw head.

Do you think it would be feasible to turn down a guide for a drill though? One side reamed to fit over the proud portion of the plug and the other to accept a spot drill to make a pilot hole on centre?

Having got the fire tubes soldered OK I'm keen to avoid applying any more heat to that end!

Regards

Dom

Hi all,

As a soldering novice I'm hoping to get a little bit of advice:

I have just completed the first big soldering job on the ME Vertical Boiler - soldering the fire tubes, bushes and stays to the smoke-box end plate.

All the joints seem to be sound with good fillets - but I have a bit of a problem with one of the bushes: solder appears to have found its way down the thread between the bush and the thread protection plug - soldering the plug into the bush.

Any ideas as to the best way is to rectify this?

Regards

Dom

2 * 500KG traction engines.... In the Kitchen. I like your style!

Dom

I had this also - I managed to get it working by selecting Restore Purchases from the settings menu and entering my subscription number.

Dom