Member postings for Simon Collier

All the serious and prolific builders I know, and know of, use superheating.

After having my not so cheap Measuremax 8" go haywire, I bought a Mitutoyo 8". I use a 6" clock face type for everyday use.

They use propane a lot in the US. I was told they are not allowed to burn coal in California. Try some US web sites. Personally, I think it utterly defeats the purpose.

When I bought my lathe, I discovered that the 8" D1-4 camlock chuck could not be trued up. It turned out to be that the register on the chuck was a bit too big for the female register on the lathe's spindle. A replacement from the supplier (Hare and Forbes) was the same. In the end they gave me their own 4 jaw off their own workshop lathe, after I was able to prove conclusively the problem with dial indicator, with my chuck, and chucks from their stock, (bad) and their chuck (good).

OK, this is definitely engineering and also, i definitely did it today. After finishing a 5" gauge Blowfly recently, I have gone back to a "on the back burner" project, a gauge 1 Eric, from Brian Wilson's book. I must say I find this very demanding and fiddly. I would rather be making 5" stuff. I am working on the cylinders, and I just machined the front covers. For me, my digital readout on the lathe is essential for this tiny stuff. I just bought a new one, for $A 550, because my old one failed. Naturally, no replacement board was available. After fuming for 2 year, I caved in. During this time the old one worked sometimes, so I only did critical work if it deigned to work that day. Finally it fully packed it in. Eric has slide valves and full Walschaearts gear, and although I have laser cut rods and links, etc., it is going to be like watchmaking trying to get it all together. The cylinders are almost done, with only the back covers to make. I should go back to the workshop now, but it is a hot day and a beer has more appeal. Beer cans are engineering!

The bicycle needs to be in the garage and chained up? My bicycles live on the front verandah, not chained up.

i just finished a locomotive with 1-1/2" bore by 2-1/2" stroke. I fitted it with two 1/4" copper spear point type superheaters in 3/4" flues. The engine clearly wasn't getting sufficient feed of steam upon testing. I removed the elements and connected it up to be saturated. It still didn't run properly, the problem being found to be a very simple one: I had the dry pipe in the dome right up against the dome top! Easy to fix, and the engine ran as it should. The question is, should I put the superheaters back? Are two 1/4" elements enough, with cross sectional area of 2 x 16.26 mm square? The regulator pipe is 3/8, with 46.6 mm2. Four 1/4 elements on my Simplex have total of 65 mm2, which work well. Two 5/16 would give 59mm2, and 8 of the Doug Hewson type 5/32 x 26G tubes give 58 mm2. I am assuming 20G, about 0.9 mm wall thickness for all the others. Does anyone have a clear idea of what is required to feed the cylinders? Obviously resistance from the tube walls is a factor, moreso with thinner tubes. My feeling is that 2 x 5/16 radiant superheaters might be the best approach, eventually. Your thoughts please.

Best of Model Engineer Vol 1, autumn 2009.

I changed the oil on mine once, after about a year, and not since (about 8 years). I used 46 hydraulic oil I think.

Excellent result Stewart. A friend had loco driving wheels laser cut and hand filed the spoke profiles!

The AMBSC allows, and has a specific code for, Duplex boilers.

I just saw the space station pass between Jupiter and Venus in the NW sky in Sydney, 12 minutes ago. Fantastic.

I'll add my voice to those who find the pop ups infuriating.

All screws were removed and the clamp bolt nut. I did use a Hyde hammer except with the wood drift. I am going to measure the fit to see just how much interference there is.

Thanks for your responses. Clearly, I am not alone, so that is somehow comforting. Now that I know, I would strongly endorse Bob's advice not to touch it. John, you do not realise how tight this is. Not only do I need a hammer, but a big one, and hit hard (with wood drift, as I said). No grub screw would move this; a one inch bolt might. Some owners must have milled a bit off the tenon or slot to make it usable. I'll try to get it right (with hammer) and forget about it. Or will I have a go at it? Not sure.

Simon

I am sorting out a newly acquired ML7, 1964 vintage. I wanted to check that the tailstock was accurately on zero set over but it was immediately obvious that the adjustment screws could do nothing. It took a lot of force driving a screwdriver with a hammer between the base tenon and the main casting, after WD-40 overnight. I doubt it has ever been moved since new. Once cleaned up and oiled, again, I had to hammer it back together. It appears to the eye that the tenon and mating slot are slightly dovetailed which wouldn't help reassembly this way. Once back together, the mating parts were still so tight that to get the scale lines approximately to line up, I had to clamp the tailstock base in the vice (Al jaw covers) and use a hardwood drift and large hammer to move the body laterally along the tenon. The idea of using the adjustment screws is laughable. Can anyone shed any light on this?

I find silver soldering steel much harder than copper and it's alloys. You must have a higher temperature flux. If you use Easyflow type flux you have no hope. HT-5 or similar is the go. You still have to get the job up to temperature smartly, and 4 thou is bigger than necessary and likely to cause trouble. I admit I hate it and get stressed every time. I would never attempt a steel assembly 10 inches long!

I read that, thanks Phil. The needle is, in fact, screwed to the cap, 1/8th Whitworth, I worked out. I will track down some correct oil. The previous owner also greased all the oil points too, instead of oiling. A club member gave me a vertical slide for it too a day or so ago, not that I can imagine ever using it seriously, bit it does make it complete for the model making of that era.

Simon

Thanks Jason for the nice diagram; that explains the "spring closed" type. Phil's is like mine for sure, and mine is a 1964 model, K66083, so close in age too. Thanks Phil for the photo. Yours looks like a posh one with a clutch(?). The only question remaining is whether my felt wicks were added by someone. They look as though they belong but how would you know? I will now turn my worry to how the bearings might have suffered from oil starvation. Without pulling it to bits, how would I know if it is in good order or not? The diagram is from a downloaded ML7 manual and is why I thought there should be a spring.

On this type, there was no toggle lever and the spring cannot be acting to close the needle but rather, bears on the needle adjusting cap, tending to push it open, but of course, it is held by the screw threads. I still don't understand the spring's purpose.