Member postings for Simon Collier

Double post

Edited By Simon Collier on 27/07/2018 12:30:12

The album Machine Headstock, by Deep Purple. ("We can mark it out" above by Blowlamp made me laugh).

I had a Phoenix paint chip in a booklet on B1 colours and lining, got paint made and it looked more like BR green, so I dicided not to use it. I'll check the other brand and the other forum, thanks. You are thorough Michael, I knew I had raised it before somewhere. The thing is, now is the time to actually paint. As I probably said before, it is more a matter of interest what is correct, rather than having mine right, which I don't care about as much as having something I like.

Well aware of that, thanks Hopper. I am going on a mental averaging of all the photos and videos I have seen, plus something I heard. Not that I have a clue what the original colour was, and was probably batch dependent anyway. Colours are hard to remember too so an old timer remembering a colour from the 1940s might not be too reliable. It is a fraught subject, especially as it pertains to German WW2 aircraft!

True Neil but there has to be activity to wash a post off the board. Perhaps choo-choo people, as Jason would say, are in the workshop by 4. It has taken me a long time to realise this is really a tooling and workshop forum.

You are right Brian, I won't be seeing Mayflower unless someone gives me a TARDIS. I don't know much about full size locos but many have square ended plugs in that position. Thanks for info on the plugs, Paul. They are a prominent feature whatever they are. Brian's picture prompts me to ask about the colour. Is it considered by enthusiasts to be correct for Doncaster green? It looks a touch darker than I expected.

Thanks Paul and Brian. The plugs in the link have the large square ends. The B1 looks to have pin spanner holes and a small nut in the middle (locknut?). I might mock something up and see what size looks about right compared with photos. There is a close up in the Vine book on painting but no reference to judge size.

Silly of me to ask a model related question on here, I know. I should have asked about songs.

Does anyone know the diameter of B1 washout plugs? From pictures there is the outer raised flange and the inner removable plug. They look quite big, perhaps 5 or 6" over the outer flanged ring. This is not the sort of thing Martin Evans troubled himself with.

I strongly recommend the Royal Institute lectures on particle physics, cosmology, quantum mechanics etc., all interrelated of course. I have been watching them for the last couple of weeks and find them fascinating.

I have Diamond tool holders on all three lathes. The one on the Ml7 is not the size you would buy for it, being 12 mm shank, but it works perfectly well.

The article I referred to above was in ME

https://www.haythornthwaite.com/4341%20Mandrel%20Handle.pdf

Sorry, I don't know how to make the link live

There was a beautiful one with balanced ball handle in probably MEW, 10 or so years back. I just had a quick flick through looking at covers but it might not have been on the cover. The lathe ran smoothly with the handle attached, just for testing and not recommended. Might have been David Piddington ??

I used .8 mm brass. I bought .6 mm and .8 mm and used the latter. It was hard to roll and needed a couple of annealing but it was kept in one piece, not sections. A friend uses 1 mm stainless. Others use quite thin mild steel but it won't take threads and it will eventually rust.

Dave, just search motorcycle fuel tank sealer and the kits will come up. I think the three solutions are 1. Cleaner/ rust remover 2. Etch 3. Sealer. Not sure what polymer the sealer is but I suspect polyurethane. I was talking to a member who is a respected expert loco builder and he uses steel and brass angle for tenders and seals by sloshing around 2 pack polyurethane paint, as used on the outside.

Yes and the AMBSC code allows it but it needs to be used with great caution as it is very easy to melt or damage the copper. I have seen boilers ruined because the builder was too cheap to buy silver solder and tried to use bronze on a little boiler. Your experience with bronze brazing is an important factor. I get extremely nervous when I do it on boiler joints, e.g., barrel to throatplate.

Richard, I just looked it up. It is available, 70/30 body lead. I had no idea about this old method so I have learned something. It is obviously still used.

Thanks for the interesting replies. The use in car manufacture sound fascinating. Buying lead solder is now rather difficult as lead free plumbers solder has taken over, and what you can get in rosin cored mostly. I have been using 50/50 1 mm solid wire. I found on line some bronze impregnated filler in the U.K. for castings but as I only need very shallow skim over hammer dimples around rivets etc., I will use the body filler I have, cleaning and scratching it up first. I bought the well recommended 3 part petrol tank sealer kit to seal the inside seams. I'm glad it is only 5" gauge as I am finding it very heavy to slosh about with some water inside!

i've been filling seams and divots in my brass tender with soft solder but I'm not finding it easy and I'm at the stage of dismissing returns, pulling as much solder out as I'm adding ( borrowed 250W iron). How does body filler go on brass? I'm sure in theory it is unsuitable but how about actual experience?

Where do you live Kaleb? You need to join a club.

Soldering my water outlets caused the base to bend convex from side to side. I eventually solved the problem by clamping it flat and soldering on the baffles which then held it flat. All very stressful and plenty of opportunities for disaster left. It is four steps forward, three steps back type of job.