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Member postings for Simon Collier

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

Thread: How do I get this apart?
11/06/2015 11:06:36

I managed to get them apart partly. There were no springs. The diagram in the manual shows springs but no wicks, so they have been modified. The needle screws into the top cap. In one oiler, the needle was so tightly jammed into the brass seat that I needed to use great force to get it out. I can't see the purpose of the (missing) springs except perhaps to hold the cap/needle assembly at the set position. I'll fiddle some more in the morning.oiler bits.jpg

10/06/2015 22:06:30

This is from an ML7 I just bought. The knurled ring turns but then tightens again so I can't get it off. I have not tried with force as I don't know what I am doing. Someone among the army of Myford owners out there must know about these. I first posted in an old, relevant thread but got little response.sight feed oiler.jpg

Thread: Myford ML7 Oilers
10/06/2015 21:58:53

Thanks Ralph. I should have started a new thread and I will.

10/06/2015 10:57:57

This oiler and it's twin are not feeding. I have read the posts but it is not at all clear to me how to get it apart. The top knurled nut can be undone but then tightens again towards the top and won't move. The lock ring is loose. I have not used grips or anything on the top nut but await advice. The wick is dry. I have just got the ML7, more as an historical artifact, and because it was only $300, as I have a very capable lathe. I am not familiar with Myfords but have determined that it is a 1964 model, and it appears to be in excellent condition. No doubt I will have more questions.sight feed oiler.jpg

Thread: ER32 collet use.
26/05/2015 07:20:53

You can hold a short length if you put a length of bar of the same diameter of the workpiece in the collet first. I did exactly that an hour ago.

Simon

Thread: Which spray gun?
23/11/2014 20:16:51

What paint did you use on the Simplex though? I've been doing a bit of research on the net about automotive paints. I gather that acrylic enamel is probably the go, one-pack. It takes ages to harden up, so there would be no cutting back and polishing that. I have sprayed guitars I made with nitrocellulose. You simply build enough coat so it can be cut back flat and level and then polished with grades of polishing compounds. Tedious but easy. I gather lacquer is too soft for locos and not durable. What paint type is Phoenix, but the way? Not that it could be shipped to Australia due to hysterical safety obsession.

Simon

22/11/2014 21:36:23

Thanks for the replies. I'll also ask the member of our club with the best painted engines. I know he uses two-pack. Others use enamels, whatever that means these days.

Simon

22/11/2014 11:09:40

I have a 2.5 HP 24 L tank compressor and I do have Chris' book. He went for an HVLP gun, pretty high end, I think.

22/11/2014 09:11:39

Can anyone suggest what size and type of gun would be suitable to paint a 5" gauge locomotive? I am thinking gravity feed touch up size of gun, and conventional, not HPLV, as my compressor is small, but this is guessing and advice would be appreciated, including nozzle sizes.

Thread: Right place at the right time
13/10/2014 10:23:34

I was unloading my Simplex at the club yesterday when an old chap came into the grounds and wanted to give away some Simplex castings, etc., as he was downsizing and had sold his house. He wanted nothing for them but did not want to throw them out, as he had been advised to do. Naturally I was pleased to take them off his hands, and I loaded a lot of stuff into my car. Only at the end of the day when I got home did I really look at it all: castings for cylinders, steam chests, covers, valve blanks, buffers in cast iron; saddle and pump in bronze. There were frames, cut out with holes drilled, boiler materials including tube, and brass sides, spectacle plate, cab roof, bunker back, tank frames, tops and sides, and wheels. Only the latter had been machined. Also there are various sheets of brass and copper of various thicknesses. Amazing. Oh, I forgot the plans and book that came with it all.

Thread: Darjeeling backhead
03/09/2014 10:47:42

There seem to be two types of backhead: the round top and the square top. I have a GA showing the square type but I want dimensions for the round top. Ray McMahon did a non-prototypical boiler and so did the New Zealand 7-1/4 builder, so are no help. Mine will be 5" gauge. Has anybody uncovered any more works drawings than Ray found in the Glasgow University archives? There is a promising backhead drawing on Google images but without dimensions and too small a file to blow up to useful size.

Thread: Thickness Sander
26/05/2014 10:41:22

Just slightly off target Stevo; I live in Sydney. The plan for the drum sander was on the internet, I seem to remember, so no doubt a few luthiers made them. It is a scary and dangerous thing to operate, pushing the work against the feed of the drum, driven by a 2 h.p. motor, but surprisingly accurate. Any OH&S type who saw it in operation would have a stroke on the spot.

25/05/2014 23:37:09

I made a thickness sander in this way some years back for thicknessing guitar backs, tops and sides. The drum is about 2' wide, 6" diameter. I fasten the sanding roll at each end with strapping tape, which was never really satisfactory but I got the jobs done.

Thread: The Diamond Tool Holder
08/05/2014 23:03:10

I have used one since I started in the hobby in 2006. I rarely use anything else. When they released a left handed one, I bought it immediately. If I do use carbide insert tools for heavy, rapid metal removal, I finish with the Diamond tool. I have ground tool bits with various radii, for, e.g., loco wheel root radii. I can't recommend it highly enough. Apart from the annoying loose washed under the retaining cap screw, I find the sharpening jig fine.

Thread: What Size 4 Jaw Chuck
07/05/2014 22:45:10

The 200 mm chuck will be a lot heavier to lift and fit, if that is an issue for you. I have one but on a 12" swing lathe and have to be careful not to drive the cross slide into the extended jaws. I suggest 160 mm for yours.

Thread: firebox stays silver soldered with propane
06/05/2014 13:10:55

Thanks Julian, that makes more sense, and hence the runs down the rows of stays. Great pictures.

06/05/2014 10:30:35

Today I experimented. I used the lathe, set to screw cut away from the chuck with a 2mm pitch, at 65 rpm. Solder was 1.5 mm Easyflow fed through a bit of wood with a 2 mm hole through it, held in the toolpost. I first tried a 4.5 mm mandrel, with tailstock support, and aimed a Primus burner at the solder between the guide and the mandrel as the lathe ran. I was surprised how little spring back there was, with the resulting rings about 4.7 mm i.d. Too small for 1/4 stays, so I tried a 1/4 mandrel, still using the propane burner. These rings measured 6.7 mm i.d.

Julian, did you solder the inner firebox stays shown above in the orientation shown, i.e., requiring the solder rings to flow up hill to arrive under the rivet heads? I know solder will flow up hill in a capillary gap, but I would have thought that the rings might first soften and lose their spring grip on the stay and slump down before fully melting.

27/04/2014 06:42:28

The boiler is for a Blowfly. I am making it for a very enthusiastic youngster at my club. I am amazed that you could wind 1.5mm around 3mm rod. I have had 245 snap in cool weather winding 1/2" rings. I will experiment and report back. Also, I adopted Allan's method of using bronze screws, not rivets. I make 5 BA screws from 5/32 Colphos hex, and tap the copper with the tap held in a battery pistol drill. That way I can assemble and disassemble any number of times, which at my level of experience, I need to do.

27/04/2014 01:12:15

Timely post Julian, thanks. I am up to just this stage on a very similar boiler. Allan Crossfield used this method in ME 4354 2009, but nobody else that I have come across. I refer to that article regularly. How did you make the small rings for the stays? Making rings for 1/2" tubes is easy, but winding 1.5mm solder for 1/4" stays? I had toyed with the idea of putting a propane flame on the wire as it approached the mandrel in the lathe to soften it and persuade it to form such tight rings. This is my second boiler. The first was for a Springbok and I used oxy-propane locally with general heating using the Sievert 2944 burner, wielded by an assistant (a reluctant wife on one occasion). One problem was seeing which stays were soldered and which were not once everything is hot and fluxy. I missed some at least once, requiring a whole extra cycle of cool/pickle/flux/heat.

Simon

Thread: Simplex double acting water pump
27/03/2014 21:55:54

I have also been studying these lately. I read that the one for Super Simplex was a bit more developed, so that is the one I will (one day) build. It is a matter of staring at the diagrams until it sinks in. For Simplex, when the piston is moving forward, it is delivering water out via the rear clack you mentioned, but also filling the area behind the piston around the piston rod. When the piston is moving back again, it is sucking water into the front chamber via the bottom clack while the suction is closing the top clack; simultaneously, the water around the piston rod in the rear chamber is being delivered out via the back clack. I roughly calculated for the Super Simplex pump that the rear chamber delivers about half the volume of the main chamber. Hope that helps.

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