Member postings for julian atkins

Hi pgk pgk,

I am sorry things went badly wrong with the throatplate to barrel and outer wrapper with Silverflo 24.

It is not the stuff for beginners. The C4 used in the old original description is of course no longer available.

If you had decided the barrel and throatplate were beyond hope, I wouldnt have been so destructive on valuable copper, that could be re-used!

Next time, when you have got over the shock on the bank balance, do all the bits in Silverflo 55.

Jason is lucky to have plenty of Easyflo left. I have a bit left for boiler fittings but not enough for another boiler.

If I could make a 5"g loco boiler when aged 18 in 1985 I reckon anyone ought to be able to. That loco with same unaltered boiler is still running, although I sold the loco many years ago.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi David W,

I was going to email you on this, but a 3/8" flange beyond the radius is quite ok. the overall dimension of 1/2" on Super Simplex is prefectly ok allowing for the 1/8" on the smokebox tubeplate material and backhead same. I would use the same for the inner firebox flanged plates.

If the flanges ended up as 5/16" I wouldnt worry, but some of Martin Evans' earlier designs are a bit mean.

Cheers,

Julian

Neil's post of the animation is the most interesting and most useful, and am surprised no one has so far commented on the lack of slight recoil on the animation.

I think some of you are making things far too complicated and technical, and going way off topic.

The essential basics when designing a clock/choosing what design are the parameters of timekeeping you are expecting.

There is a great deal of satisfaction every weekly wind not having to alter the hands, though if this is required if the clock is slow it takes a few seconds, and if fast perhaps a bit longer. If this alteration doesnt bother you then some of the discussion here is somewhat barmy.

I have had 30 odd years experience of dealing with tower/turret Church/public clocks. Some of these were 'modern' Victorian flat bed clocks, and some were far more rudimentary and earlier. The most problematic clock is that fitted in the 1960s to St Johns Church Cardiff made by Gillett and Johnston with Grimthorpe double beat escapement and automatic winding. It regularly stops for no apparent reason whatsoever. I have a view on the cause of the stoppages, though this is somewhat 'off topic' as per perhaps some posts above!

Cheers,

Julian

Hi David,

It is great to see you on here again.

I think many of us will refer you to Jack Austen-Walton's 5"g 'Twin Sisters' original boiler design, which had no flanges to the plates although to be silver soldered, and was regarded as 'dangerous'.

The Australian boiler code does throw up a number of differences, which have been discussed at some length on another forum particularly with regard to one LBSC boiler design ('Doris' and the changes required to get it to suit the Aussie Code for a 'home made' boiler, yet they will accept a UK made commercial boiler made to the original design, albeit with proper bushes etc lacking on the original design. A commercial Uk boiler is accepted with girder crown stays and LBSC stay spacing, but a home made build requires rod stays for the crown, and larger flue tube spacing, and allows a wider spacing of firebox stays!

None of this is relevant to David's query!

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Brian,

Firstly there is no need to make the piston rod out of silver steel, so you are making things far more difficult for yourself.

My guess is that the die is not lying flat in the die holder. A proper tailstock die holder is a better method, again making sure the die is inserted correctly.

The die may also now be blunt.

If the material is accurately dead central in the chuck or collet, then you can turn down the first section to 'core' diameter with a chamfer between core and OD.

Get some decent tapping compound. I use Rocol, usual disclaimer.

The correct closure of the die in holder can be tested by inserting a screw of known standard/size and same thread as the die into the die to check.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Roy,

That is a truly beautiful clock and dial and case! Wonderful work!

How did the dial surround/rim change from 'silver' to brass?

Will you add a brass sleeve to the pendulum bob?

What wood did you use for the case?

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Dennis,

I am afraid you will have to take the saddle tank off, poke about from outside at the dodgy bits, then my solution would be to pour in some white enamel so it goes where wanted then blow through the tank lid with other outlets blanked off. You should see a bit of a paint emerge from the dodgy bits on the outside. I thinned the paint slightly first. Obviously any colour paint would do in theory!

This worked on a saddle tank somone else built that I had through the workshop. I tried lots of other methods before the above without success.

Cheers,

Julian

Edited By julian atkins on 27/04/2016 23:28:50

Hi pgk pgk,

I dont know whether this is the answer, but in the set up you tried, I would always put a thermalite block over the smokebox end otherwise the barrel if left open and upright merely acts like a chimney and much heat is wasted.

As i have previously stated Silverflo 24 is not easy to use especially for a beginner.

Put the Silverflo 24 to one side, and do all the joints with Silverflo 55, and the backhead and foundation ring last piece with Easyflo 2 if you have any.

There is no point making things more difficult for yourself than need be by using Silverflo 24.

Just my personal opinion of course.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Simon,

Clock oil and clock grease is available via specialist horological suppliers in the UK.

I seem to have rather a lot of both.

For cleaning there are lots of descriptions in books. You can buy 'special' horological clock cleaner, but it isnt really much better than dunking in a bucket of petrol. Everything then needs to be be taken apart and 'pegged', and individual parts re-cleaned especially the pivots. The plates need seperating and all bearing holes cleaned, pegged and checked.

It is quite a time consuming process, and of course putting everything together again after cleaning is a fiddly job. If you have a chiming mechanism it is even more fiddly, and a slight miss-match upsets most chiming mechanisms.

Cheers,

Julian

Edited By julian atkins on 25/04/2016 23:10:17

This is a bit of an aside but partly links into Duncan's post above.

The most common leak on the inner dome IMHO experience is around the bolt head rather than the flange. I have a view that this is due to the greatly reduced flange mating surface where the bolts are located, which in 'scale' miniature locos is always rather less than optimum.

Fitted bolts with a plain unthreaded length to match the inner dome flange reduce this problem considerably.

I only ever use stainless on boiler fittings for bolts etc.

They are a pain to make, but well worth the extra effort.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi James,

Lots of older clocks do have a 'thread' on the barrel, but I personally cant see any engineering point to this, let alone an horological point. If there is a reason that I am not aware of, I am sure the experts will post a reply!

Cheers,

Julian

Make up proper fitted stainless bolts out of stainless hex.

Do not use brass screws, due to lack of strength.

Cheers,

Julian

Edited By julian atkins on 24/04/2016 21:58:30

Hi pgk pgk,

As a rule of thumb the silver solder will be just over the cost of the copper. I am far too generous with the silver solder, but I think that is a better fault than being too mean with the silver solder.

I buy silver solder every now and when so I have enough in stock in advance to do a boiler without having to splash out on a large very expensive purchase.

Do get some Silverflo 55. I buy this from Joe at Mac Models as I do most of my copper for the last 2 boilers, usual disclaimer.

Cheers,

Julian

I am currently making a tank to go inside a 5"g LBSCR wagon to go behind my current build - all made out of an immersion heater cut up and flattened out. It is give or take a thou 1/32" thick.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Ron,

Dont worry at the moment.

I will do a search online re your water quality for your area. I am quite sure you wont have the problems in parts of the south of england with hard water, which I was used to for many years.

Cheers,

Julian

Can we please drop the remontoire stuff.

It has no place on the subject of basic clock design, and does not help James at all.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi David,

I assume this is for your Simplex? Martin Evans usually showed quite a tight radius for the flanged plates. A gentler more generous radius wont create any problems and IMHO is advantageous. You can bash annealed copper to whatever radius you want. With hardwood formers that I use I get a 3/32" radius on the inside. With steel or cast formers you can get it tighter.

Martin Evans also has a flange length shorter than I use, plus greater spacing of the firebox stays. We can perhaps discuss these details and a few other matters re the boiler via PM.

Cheers,

Julian

Hi Rod,

You have a nice chassis there.

I can only assume the original builder decided to fit a larger coal bunker plus additional water underneath.

There is no fullsize prototype that accords with this variation.

When you get to the Rob Roy boiler PM me as have a few suggestions for improvements etc.

Cheers,

Julian

I would like to add my congratulations to Ron, as I have followed Ron's projects with close interest over the last few years.

Ron, you now have to learn how to fire and drive these things, which is no mean feat in itself, but I am sure your club members will be up to the task of showing you how!

Cheers,

Julian

Apologies Michael,

But I dont think the above book fits in with 'basic clock design', and many chapters of that book especially relating to bells have been shown to be rubbish! I was in charge of a Church clock with the Grimthorpe escapement for many years and very well it performed, though it is hardly what I would regard as a beginner's type for clock design!

Although Claude Reeve described some rather complicated clocks in ME many years ago, his easy descriptions are worthy of study and are applicable to much simpler clocks and cannot be bettered IMHO, plus his descriptions of the fundamentals. I much prefer them to John Wilding.

Cheers,

Julian