Member postings for julian atkins

peter,

simple answer is yes!

cheers,

julian

why would you spent a relatively large sum on a coventry die head to thread some 3/16" brass bar?

(unless youve just won the lottery!)

a tailstock dieholder with a hole drilled through it for the material will do perfectly ok for 3/16" x 40 tpi. i have a lever tailstock on my lathe which assists things a bit, but it would be a few minutes work to thread same as described on most lathes. never had any 'run out' on the thread. ive quite often cut ME threads this way in the lathe in brass and bronze

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 22/01/2014 22:24:17

when one thinks of Cherry Hinds Hill and the late Dr J Bradbury Winter, the 'hobby' perspective of this thread rather speaks for itself!

skill isnt measured in qualifications or experience on the machine shop floor but what is produced in our sheds/workshops, and in the case of most of us how what we make then performs in service whether it be a track or some other arena. as in the above superlative examples, no engineering background is required.

cheers,

julian

hi andrew,

your post was superb and sums up succinctly and thoroughly all the factors in these things. very impressive!

worthy of careful consideration by anyone building a steam loco or any steam engine.

cheers,

julian

hi allan,

i would agree with roy. drill hacksaw and file much quicker and less anxious. in any event i would still remove most of the 'slot' by same before using a slot drill. i did all the eccentric rod forks on my current loco same method finishing the slot with a slot drill/endmill and had an excellent finish. other bits ive made using the same process however have turned out very bad for no apparent reason - so in your case after all the hard work on the rods i would take the safe way of filing the slots to size after drilling and hacksawing.

cheers,

julian

hi dave,

glad to hear that the problem is solved, though not quite sure why!

i didnt state that the passageways must be bigger than the bore of the glass only that the bottom fitting shouldnt be less and the top passageway can be a bit smaller than the bottom.

hope you enjoy lots of successful steam ups from now on!

cheers,

julian

Henry,

no one suggested 1/4" dia pipe.

5/32 dia pipe with 1/8" seats and 5/32" dia balls is more than adequate for this size pump for a small 5"g loco.

cheers,

julian

quite a few posts from Bill Dawes about EMMA VICTORIA and consideration of the construction series in ME leads me to the conclusion that it is nothing like as well designed as Don Youngs's RAILMOTOR in 1968/69!

so much for progress!

cheers,

julian

3/16" dia passageways on a pump for a small 5"g loco seems excessive! the RAILMOTOR passages are 1/8" dia seats for the balls of 5/32" dia. Unions connections are 1/4 x 40 tpi, hence my surprise at the 3/8" x 32 tpi connections.

i never fitted the handpump made in 1983 same time as the axlepump, and the handpump is still in regular use on my boiler test rig. the loco i sold many years ago but the guy i sold it to wont sell it back to me as he regularly runs it and wont part with it!

cheers,

julian

my first loco was a RAILMOTOR started when i was 16, cycling up to don's house in adgestone to inspect his No.1 RAILMOTOR and buy the plans and castings many moons ago. don advised the No.2 chassis with the No.1 boiler, which advice i followed. it proved to be a wonderful loco and would steam on a candle. the EMMA VICTORIA has certain design similarities but over sized cylinder bores. ok if you build the loco badly and drive it badly and potter around on 30 psi, but otherwise the cylinder bore size is excessive for the adhesive weight at working pressure and size of the boiler etc.

just my personal observations on a small 0-4-0T loco in 5"g

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 10/01/2014 23:16:27

Edited By julian atkins on 10/01/2014 23:16:52

bill,

dont forget the diameter of the nipple around the pipe to be silver soldered on.

in the unlikely event of your unions not being standard they arent difficult to make.

3/8" x 32 tpi seems big to me. 5/16" x 32 tpi is standard for 3/16" dia pipe with standard nipples.

cheers,

julian

the 5"g RAILMOTOR cylinder castings are all identical, though differ slightly when machining. incidentally i think the cylinder bore of EMMA VICTORIA to be far too big. 1 1/16" bore would be quite sufficient.

cheers,

julian

silver soldering cast iron is a definite NO NO!

sifbronze brazing is excellent for cast iron. the flux is a stiff red paste, and the sifbronze rod should be easily obtainable (ive got loads if you want some). ideally a muffle furnace is required for the castings to get them up to heat (860 degrees celcius) then a torch. ive brazed up all sorts of old cast iron bits with sifbronze the old fashioned way. seems to be a bit of a lost/forgotten art these days. more modern methods may be far easier, but im old fashioned anyway and i havent TIG gear!

cheers,

julian

hi pete ,

if you pm me with your email address i'll send you the modifications i made to the PANSY valvegear on my own 57XX example, worked out in accordance with don ashton's book and subsequently double checked by don ashton on his simulator.

there are far more errors than as stated by you above.

cheers,

julian

stan,

erm... why will the operating rod bend (i assume you mean valve spindle)?

i think fizzy will have already found the answer to his question by way of fitting cylinder drain cocks.

cheers,

julian

hi dave,

i have an oil can that is very good quality that pumps oil similar to the myford that i use on my locos. i would suggest unscrewing your oil caps and pumping oil in the bearings to flush them out with fresh oil. wont do any harm. oil isnt expensive in the overall scheme of things. old oil can get a bit 'gungy'. i would even take the wicks out totally to see what happens after the above treatment. i often run my lathe very fast for stuff like making injectors, so bearing quality means a lot.

i wouldnt strip the headstock down at all unless there is a problem after the above treatment - though you do need a decent pump oil can to do the above treatment.

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 29/12/2013 23:51:39

hi james,

re 'LEADER'

ME 17th august 1950.

ive a copy if you want pics of same via email - pm me.

cheers,

julian

hi allan,

i think your parallels method was very good. i use old ball race cages and anything else to hand. time spent making fancy jigs and bits is valuable construction time in my book!

cheers,

julian

ive just been re-reading lots of ME's over xmas (as you do!) including john haining's boiler designs for traction engines. if you are a member of a club suggest you have a good look at ME for the 1980's and copy one of john's boilers. he did quite a few 4" dia boilers. i cant imagine why you would not want to consider a proper coal fired boiler! have a look at m-machine metals darlington - ive used them for copper sheet and barrel material and excellent service and very competitive. give them a ring! they have a catalogue online on their website. 13" of 3 3/4" dia 13swg tube cost me £68 a few months ago from them. arrived 2 days after i phoned to make the order.

cheers,

julian

wonderful album photos (which ive carefully studied!) and beautiful work! absolutely lovely! very inspiring!

thanks for posting!

cheers,

julian