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Member postings for Eddie Price 1

Here is a list of all the postings Eddie Price 1 has made in our forums. Click on a thread name to jump to the thread.

Thread: Butane gas adapter
18/07/2010 08:34:15
Thanks Norman. I am getting spoilt for choice. I haven't seen their catalogue before. All sorts of nice things. (I don't know what spell checker they use on this site, but it keeps finding errors)
 
Eddie
17/07/2010 19:37:47
Thanks Andy. That looks to be exactly what I need. I haven't come across that site before. The ceramic burners look interesting.
 
Eddie
17/07/2010 11:36:18
Hi
 
Does anyone know of a UK supplier of a butane gas lighter filler adapter. The gas tank on my 16 mm loco is a Ronson type valve, and I have been using the yellow Swan universal gas lighter refill cartridges to fill the tank. I realize that this is probably an expensive way of buying gas. I found this adapter on a US site.
 

 
The adapter fits onto conventional self sealing cans with a screw fitting. Is there anything like this in the UK? (by the way ignore the 'click to enlarge' this is simply part of the image that I copied from the web site)
 
Eddie Price
 
 

 

Thread: Radiant Heaters
16/07/2010 13:18:34
I have recently completed the 16mm gauge loco 'Eric' from Brian Wilson's book "Steam Trains in Your Garden", but have had problems with the gas burner. The burner is a 9.5 mm diameter brass tube with 0.5 mm slits cut in it, and it fits into a 3/4-in diameter firetube in the single flue boiler. I had great difficulty in controlling the burn. Too little gas and it went out, too much and the flame came out of the chimney. When it managed to stay alight it took a long time to reach working pressure and then when the throttle was opened the pressure fell away. No amount of fiddling with the gas supply or the position of the burner in the firetube had any effect. So I did some searching on the web for some ideas and came across an entry for Radiant Poker Burners at Southern Steam Trains for Gauge 1 Astor locomotives. I thought I would give it a try.

The radiant burner is formed by wrapping two separate layers of stainless steel mesh around the poker burner tube. I obtained some pieces of stainless steel mesh and chose a #60 mesh. I think this refers to the number of openings per inch. The first layer was wrapped around the firetube and held in place with 0.2 mm stainless wire. I think this layer is intended to act as a sort of diffuser and this is a photo of the flame.


The next step is to attach a second layer of mesh, but in a loop above the burner so that there is a space of 3 or 4 mm above the first layer. This proved to be quite difficult, but I eventually managed it with lengths of stainless wire holding it in place. The result of lighting the gas is quite startling. The gas starts to burn with a blue flame as before, but then quite suddenly the gauze glows red and you have a radiant heater. This is what it looks like.

 


This was with a No. 5 jet. As you can see it is glowing brightly - too brightly. So I put in a No. 3 jet and this is the result.


I think this would be more acceptable. It is not so intense a glow and is probably using less gas. However, these images are for burns in the open. When placed in a fire tube the results were not so encouraging. With the No. 5 jet the whole poker tube started to glow red. As it is only thin-wall brass I quickly turned it off. With the No. 3 jet the results were a little inconclusive. Certainly the poker tube did not glow red, but neither did the gauze. I suspect the problem lies with the limited diameter of the firetube. Perhaps Gauge 1 Astors have a larger diameter firetube. So not entirely successful, but I had noted that there was far greater control of the flame with the single layer of mesh than without it, so I decided to use this in the boiler. The results were excellent. It was far easier to light the gas in the first place, and there was a greater degree of control with the gas regulator valve, from a low flame to a high flame. Working pressure was reached in about 4-5 mins, and there was no loss of pressure when the throttle was opened. This was with the No. 5 jet.

So I haven't managed to produce a proper working radiant heater, but I have managed to improve the control of the burner by wrapping one layer of ss mesh around the burner. The Southern Steam Train writer produced a number of different burners with one and two pokers per burner and achieved greatly improved gas duration. Some more research is obviously required for the smaller diameter firetubes.

Eddie Price
Thread: Entering photos into a thread
16/07/2010 12:40:27
Hi Hansrudolf.
 
 Not quite sure what you mean by the "'to-be' FAQ thread", but as to placing a photo in the 'Post a reply' box, along the top of the box are a number of icons to adjust text and add Smiley faces, etc. and also the last but one on the right-hand side is 'Insert Image', either from your album or the URL for an image stored elsewhere. Click on this icon and insert your image. Simple. I had been puzzling over how to do this for ages.
 
Eddie
16/07/2010 10:28:00
Silly me I have just seen how to do it. Like this
 
 
Great
 
Eddie

 
16/07/2010 10:26:15
When creating a thread or responding to a thread how do you either attach a photo or reference a photo in an album.
 
I have a number of photos in an album and would like to refer to them in a thread to be created, but I can't see how to do this.
 
Eddie Price
Thread: Beginners 31/2" loco
16/07/2010 10:13:05
Thanks David.
 
Obviously some people are happy with Tich. I hope to be able to have a chat with some of the Hereford club members and see if I can get some first hand experience and views.
 
Eddie
15/07/2010 09:17:42
Hi Nigel
 
Thanks for your comments. It confirms what I had picked up from comments on forums over the years that Tich is quite difficult for the beginner  I hadn't heard of Blackgate. I had a look at their web site and they have some interesting plans.
 
My nearest SME Club is Hereford so I may pay them a visit at one of their open-days and see if any of their members are into 3 1/2". I think the boiler would be the biggest challenge. I managed it for the 16mm, but they are tiny. It would be nice to have someone on hand (like a club member) who could offer advice and help.
 
Will do some more research
 
Eddie
14/07/2010 16:09:28
I have built a couple of 16mm locos and would now like to try something a bit bigger. I am not a skilled machinist, but I get by with a mini lathe and mini mill. I looked through the Reeves catalogue of 31/2" locos and found Juliet and Tich. The Juliet plans are £30 and the Tich plans are £65. Does this mean that Juliet may be more difficult to build with fewer sheets?
 
Any thoughts on a beginners engine? and also a supplier of castings, laser cut parts? Reeves tend to be a bit pricy.
 
Eddie Price
Thread: Narrow Gauge Loco "Eric" by Brian Wilson
14/07/2010 09:02:43
Hi Donald
 
If you have joined the Yahoo 16mm group you will find in the files section a list of corrections to the book. Look for Steam Trains in Your Garden - Everything you need to know. Then look for ericcorrection.pdf for a list of corrections. Basically you are correct in saying you can drill 3mm and then make the outer radius of the con rod 3mm.
 
Yes I have got a part finished Minnie, plus various marine engines in various stages of completion.
 
Good luck with Eric.
 
Eddie
13/07/2010 20:26:53
Hi all.
 
I have placed a photo of my Eric in the album. I am not sure how to direct you directly to it from here, so you will have to search for it.
 
 
 
Eddie Price
13/07/2010 19:48:23
Hi Donald and Peter.
 
I have just completed an Eric, but I am having a problem with the burner and am currently planning to experiment with a radiant heater type burner. I will let you know how I get on.
 
The Steammodelloco16mm group should certainly be able to help.
 
Eddie Price
Thread: Stainless steel mesh
13/07/2010 19:41:32
Hi Anthony
 
Funny that. I also Googled but could not access the site that was listed. But I have just tried again with the address you gave and found a site which I can't access because it is only suitable for Internet Explorer and I am using Mozilla Firefox.
 
However I did get a telephone number from a Model Engineer Index, and I rang them Monday and ordered some mesh. So I should end up with a selection of different meshes, which will enable me to experiment. J A Crew has been bought up by some else - I didn't catch his name, but he builds 71/4 gauge locos.
 
Thanks again. Eddie
10/07/2010 11:05:40
Thanks Anthony and Roger. Couldn't find J A Crew on the web, so ordered some mesh and stainless wire from wires.co.uk.
 
Eddie Price
09/07/2010 19:49:14
Thanks Jason. I had a look and found it.
 
I am having a problem with a gas poker type burner for a single flue type boiler in a 16mm steam train. I found a reference in an American steam train forum which suggested wrapping some ss mesh around the poker to create a radiant heater rather than the simple blue gas flame. It was much more efficient at  raising steam. I would like to try it.
 
Eddie Price
09/07/2010 19:11:13
I am looking for small quantities of stainless steel mesh, say 150mm x 150mm. I found a company on the internet that makes mesh but sells it in huge rolls o 100m or more. I am looking for a plain woven mesh listed on this companies web site as #20 and #40, which I think represents the number of threads per inch. Any ideas?
 
Eddie Price
Thread: Globe valve castings
12/06/2009 15:26:28
Thanks Jason. I think I might give MJ Engineering a try, but as you say it should be possible to machine from the solid, particularly for the scale that I have chosen. The parts are not very big.
 
Eddie
11/06/2009 20:43:35
Hi. I am also interested in some one-off small castings for a small 'Minnie' traction engine that I am making - 3/4" to the ft. I have made the patterns for sand casting for the chimney saddle and the cylinder. Are their any companies that do one-off castings?
 
I tried my local High School and would you believe it they have the complete kit, furnace, crucibles, sand, tongs, the lot, but the are not allowed to use it because of a Health and Safety edict from the local authority. So I am looking for some other source.
 
Eddie Price
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