Member postings for clivel

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Clive

Edited By clivel on 08/08/2014 19:28:15

I am pleased to say that Reeves responded.

The first note should be: This stretcher fouls lubricator drive. Suggest omit as frames well stayed without this stay.

The second note should be: Easier to fit s/box if this dimension reduced to 1/4".

Ady, Thanks for the very useful references. I think that another visit to the library is called for.

Julian, Thanks for the valuable information, I recall you mentioning the size of the cylinder bore in another thread, as a result of which I had already made a note to this effect on my own copies of the drawings.

Thanks,
Clive

Hi Julian,

Thanks for the response and the heads-up on the axle pump stretcher. Do you have any suggestions as to how best to handle the cylinder/stretcher bolts?

Over the weekend I popped into a local library which holds a collection of ME going back to 1928. I browsed through the Don Young articles published subsequent to the Railmotor series and found a comment in the "Elaine" series, 17 July 1970, page 694, where he writes in reference to Railmotor 1:

"Then my first drawing error came to light. The frame stay immediately behind the cylinders would have fouled the lubricator drive ...... "

He then describes how he inverted the stay and slightly altered the lubricator drive. From the cryptic note on the Reeves drawings it would seem that they recommend leaving out the stay entirely. I did contact Reeves to see if they could shed some light regarding the notes on the drawings supplied by them, unfortunately I have yet to receive any sort of reply,

Thanks,

Clive

Ady,

Thanks for the links to the threads and the online ME index, unfortunately it seems as if the drawing changes were made some time after the articles were published in ME.

I just noticed that Sheet 6 which details the oil pump drive linkage has a handwritten note: "See sheet 1 Note 1", which makes me wonder if the stretcher doesn't perhaps foul the oil pump drive?

Clive

Edited By clivel on 10/07/2014 22:59:00

I have been building a Don Young #1 Railmotor for some time now, unfortunately space limitations and a little Unimat lathe have very much restricted me to working on smaller items: lubricators, smoke box door handles, etc.

However, the recent purchase of a 10" Logan lathe, followed by a house move that will give me half a double garage, just as soon as I have the pile of boxes still stored there unpacked, means that these restrictions will no longer apply.

So in the meantime I have been accumulating the necessary material to make a start on the frames, which is when I noticed two handwritten amendments to the mainframe on sheet 1 of the drawings. Unfortunately these changes are more or less illegible.

1. The first change concerns the horizontal stretcher drawn just behind the cylinder. It is annotated with "Note 1", and underneath the frame drawing is the handwritten text: "NOTE 1 THIS ........ DRIVE SUGGESTS OMIT AS FRAMES ........ THIS STAY".
2. The second note relates to the cylinder mounting holes annotated with what appears to be a "P" just above the cylinder mounting holes, accompanied by the handwritten text above the frame: "P E ........ ..... ...."

If anyone could shed some light on these changes, it would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Clive

Gray and Bogs,

Speaking as one of the (relatively in my case) silent majority, I can honestly say that you have each in your own way had an enormous influence in the various forums that you have contributed to. I personally have learnt a tremendous amount from both of you.

So I am sure that the majority, like myself, are saddened to see people of your calibre throw in the towel as result of personality clashes with a minority of the forum members, especially as these clashes are more often an indictment of online forums as an imperfect communications media, rather than from any actual malice.

So Gray (if your health issues allows) please keep up the good work and unique solutions, and Bogs, please go back to posting your tutorials that have been so invaluable.

Clive

Edited By clivel on 13/05/2014 18:12:17

If your interests run to model building, then as a novice I think that you would be far better off following Stewart Hart's "Lads and Dads Mill Engine" than anything found in the "Best of Vol 1".

The Lads and Dads build series was published in Model Engineer starting with issue 4460 (July 2013) and completed recently. Back issues may still be available from MyHobbyStore or alternatively you could take out a digital subscription which I believe includes a back issue archive. To whet your appetite, here is the Lads and Dads Mill Engine forum thread.

Alternatively if your interests are more workshop equipment, there have been many excellent articles in Model Engineers Workshop that would be worth looking at. e.g Harold Hall's "Lathe projects for beginners" or "Milling projects for beginners". Again a digital subscription to MEW would give you access to the back issues but I have no idea how far back it goes.

Even though said tongue in cheek, I think you may have hit the proverbial nail on the head.

As a beginner I feel that I gained far more from the Stepperhead series having read almost every word, than I did from either of the two long running beginner's series - "Engineering for beginners" and "Everyday engineering for absolute beginners" neither of which I managed to finish reading a whole article and for the most part barely skimmed the articles at all.

The big difference is that the Stepperhead produced a practical product which even if one has no intention of building it, made interesting reading in seeing how the writer achieved his goals. Whereas the two beginners' series read more like text books, it didn't help of course that two such similar series were published almost concurrently.

I think that it is also why Harold Hall's beginners' series have been so successful. Because the focus is on producing a practical product.

So an extended build series for MEW yes, but instead of a loco, a series describing a compelling bit of workshop kit with enough detail to enable a beginner to achieve success. As for the project, unfortunately I have no suggestion, but definitely not another tool and cutter grinder!

Clive

Edited By clivel on 12/03/2014 21:57:24

Martin,

After reading the "shed series" aka "The Beginners' Guide to Home Metalworking" in issue 213 it didn't come as a complete shock to find shortly thereafter that MEW is getting a new editor. Undoubtedly this space filler contains more fluff than most Playboy centre spreads.

A casual reader coming across the magazine for the first time most likely would dismiss MEW out of hand on the strength of this particular series.

I somehow suspect, that the new editor's new red pen is going to put a very thick red line through the series.

Clive

Edited By clivel on 09/03/2014 01:35:38

Edited By clivel on 09/03/2014 01:36:28

I recall reading about a Tich owner who used a thin sheet of Aerogel insulation to lag his boiler with.

His comment was that it made an enormous improvement to the little loco's performance.

Clive

Hi Gray,

After reading the original EIM article I had added your knurling tool to my to-do list, I always find your designs so well thought out.

I do have one question though, the original article specifically refers to it as being for diamond knurls, is there any reason that it would be unsuitable for use with straight knurls as well?

Thanks, Clive

Pity about the being killed bit because some of us, well me specifically, do need to be told how to use the handwheel.

Having recently graduated from a Unimat with a lead-screw dial graduated in 0.05mm divisions and the topslide only actually fitted for taper turning, to a 10" swing Logan (which will happen just as soon as I have managed to clear enough space in the garage to get it erected) I am wondering how accurate horizontal positioning is best accomplished on the bigger lathe.

Because not only is the apron handwheel not graduated, but it also runs against a relatively coarse rack. So I would assume that the top slide is the correct method for horizontal tool movement. But so many photos show the top-slide set to what would appear to be some random angle making the graduations pointless that it would seem that there is another way. So I was wondering without a lead screw handwheel, what is the recommended method of horizontal positioning?

Thanks,
Clive

Neil, congratulations. I very much enjoyed reading the Norden series in ME as well as your thoughtful postings in this forum.

And of course we all need to offer an enormous thank you to DC who for many years had the difficult task of keeping both magazines afloat.

Regards,

Clive

As a beginner I was completely intimidated at the thought of sharpening lathe tools. So much so that I was determined to only use carbide insert tools, but the results were very disappointing - probably due to my inexperience.

So in an act of despair, although it seemed like a huge extravagance, I decided to order a diamond toolholder, and am now very pleased that I did. Using the provided jig it took me literally minutes to sharpen my first tool, and for the first time I was achieving acceptable results from my lathe.

This gentle introduction to sharpening also gave me the confidence to experiment with other tools and before long I was grinding up little boring bars etc.

Now, although a little more experienced but still very much a beginner (for various reasons I have not been able to spend much time in the workshop during the past year or so), I still find that the diamond toolholder is inevitably the first tool I reach for when turning.

Clive

Hi Julian,

Thanks, I will give it a bash over the weekend,

Clive

Hi,

Having completed the mechanisms for the lubricators specified for a 5" gauge Railmotor, I now need to make up the tanks. These are 1 3/4" x 1 1/4" x 1" tall and as they are quite visible on the running boards, I would like to ensure a neat job.

I have managed to obtain sufficient 1/32" brass sheet described as "half hard" which I hope is suitable, but I am now at a loss as to how to proceed to actually fold up and solder the tank.

Any advice would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Clive

Hi JC,

25x25x3.142 x 150 is 294562.5 mm3 not 2904562.5 somehow an extra zero crept in there.

1 litre=1000000 mm3

so your boiler should be 0.2945625 litres

Clive

Was the purchase being made in the same currency as the balance in your PayPal account?

Being in Canada, I have noticed that when making purchases from UK dealers in £ with more than sufficient $CDN funds in my PayPal account, the payment was still being taken out of my regular bank account.

However, if prior to completing the sale, I first login to my PayPal account to transfer sufficient funds from my $CDN balance to a £ balance, then the payment is processed correctly by PayPal.

Interestingly enough, this doesn't happen for regular eBay auction payments where the foreign exchange conversion seems to happen automatically.

When subscribing last week, I was given the choice of which issue to start the subscription with, the earliest being issue 211, Jan 2014. To be posted mid December.

As a 'foreigner' who has taken a number of British magazines over the years I have always looked wistfully at the subscription gifts that many magazines offer as an enticement to subscribe or almost as often at the empty space on front covers with the explanation: "we apologise to our overseas readers, this gift is only available to residents of the British Isles".

So on behalf of myself and the other erstwhile second class citizens, a big thanks to DC! I look forward to renewing my subscription as soon as the code is published.

Clive