Member postings for Chris Gunn

KB, go to the local tip, ours has a container full of duff dysons, you may be able to get a spare there.

CG

GS, just had a play with my phone and can confirm that when in camera mode, all external buttons will trigger the shutter, I did not try the home button though.

Chris Gunn

GS, Ega is right, I can use the volume control button to trip the camera shutter, and sometimes I too have the problem you describe, but it seems at random.sometimes the shutter will click as I am giving up and move the camera away so I get a nice picture of my feet or somesuch.

Chris Gunn

Here is my vintage Mike, it is an Elliott, and is dual reading, the thimble can slide and be set to "English" or "French" divisions.

It also has a ratchet for the right feel, way ahead of its time. I believe it could be pre 1850.

Chris Gunn

Michael, a lot of folk have mentioned tool spring, it must be a thin boring bar you are using, so susceptible to springing. When I get near to the size I want, at the penultimate cut, I go through and then reverse the feed and let the boring bar cut on the way back too, then measure, then set the final cut. Then I go through again, and withdraw the tool with the lathe stopped, and without changing the setting, and measure again. it should be on the money, maybe on the tight side. if it is, I advance the tool through the work with it stationary, and then start it up and let it feed back out again, and it will probably take a touch out again, and then you should be pretty close, all other things being equal. Patience is a virtue, and I take it slow, especially if it is an expensive casting.

Chris Gunn

Ian, if the cylinder is still set up, I would put a centre in your drill chuck and use this to locate the tap wrench to hold the tap straight, and then tap by hand.

Chris Gunn

Mark, plus one for a steel boiler, there are folk out there that are making these to a proven design, and these will take the rough and tumble of the rally field.

Chris Gunn

Les, go for it, if it keeps your brain working and amused for 10 years money well spent. Just entered your 3rd bracket.

Chris Gunn

Ian, you should worry that your wife will sell all your stuff for what you said you paid for it.

Chris Gunn

Grind, it looks to me that the gear has been bushed down, it looks as if there is a line showing the o/d of the bush and the pin is drilled half and half to stop the bush spinning. It could even be a screw with the head cut off.

Chris Gunn

Stuart, as some have said already, for accuracy step 1 is to drill, step 2 is bore to just under finished size, and then ream. This is how I made thousands of gear blanks years ago with a tolerance in the bore of 1/4 of a thou.

If you are a beginner I would suggest it is easier to get an accurate hole first time with a reamer. As a beginner It is easy to make a small error if you bore only. It is also easy for experienced modelers to make errors when relying on boring. If you already have some round bar for the job, and you bore your casting oversize then you will have to correct things somehow.

If you join a local ME group maybe you could borrow one from a fellow member. It is not so easy at the moment, but keep your eyes peeled for job lots of used reamers, and build up a collection.

Chris Gunn

Isaac, you could try Stuart turner, they sell pre-machined kits of various engines, but without knowing your budget, I cannot say if they fall within it.

Chris Gunn

Jason, thanks for the info on the Musgrave, I will have a look later, I have done a couple of his engines as a fill in, they are fast to do, and cheap too, as mainly built from bar stock. I started with the aluminium, and after 85 hours got the almost finished engine.

I am using Julius de Waal's drawings, so only a representation of the original, but something i could start quickly as of course no castings are needed, apart from the flywheel which was my choice to use a Stuart casting. I downloaded the drawings FOC, and modifying bits here and there. When I have a minute I will put some pictures up.

Chris Gunn

Jason, that looks good, I have yet to make the 2 rocking valves in the Musgrave M1, I hope mine runs first time out.

Chris Gunn

Jason, thanks for that, I feel it was one of your engines where I saw it done before. I never thought of doing it that way, it will make working around all the holes in the base much easier.

Thanks for your comment on the undertype, I was lucky to find a set of part machined castings on Ebay a few years back, and even luckier that whoever did the machining was a real pro, they were not butchered. Once I finished the engine itself, it looked really good, so had to make the boiler.

I always wanted an undertype, but when they were listed back in the seventies they were too dear for me. A set of engine castings cost a tad under £60 in 1972, equivalent to £800 or thereabouts today.

I am also making a Musgrave right now, but the M1 non dead centre engine.

Chris Gunn

I have recently finished my Stuart Turner undertype engine, and have built a base with handrails for it. As we are still locked down, I feel it is time to paint it and set off the base with some black and white tiles. Can anyone recommend some black and white tiles in 1/12th scale? I know I have seen some on a model in the recent past, maybe one of Jason's models?

Chris Gunn

Phil, the product I use it is a black sticky paste, the flakes you inherited may well be gland packing.

Chris Gunn

Jason, I just bought some Citric acid to give it a try, and everything came out pink, just as your picture. I was picking my clacks and injector prior to the annual steam test, and it removed the lime scale really fast, but left the pink colour.

Chris Gunn

Old M, those jaws look similar to the ones that fit on Alfred Herbert chucks I used back in the day, on a Ward capstan lathe. We used them to hold gear blanks during machining, and these had to be very true.

Chris Gunn