Brian's 1" Minnie Traction Engine

thanks Jason, thanks Phil,

Have managed to spend a few hours on it tonight( sure the wife thinks I've got another women in the shed)

spent sometime re setting the spokes, then finishing the remainder, not quite finished but is running much better.

thanks again for your help,

Brian

Hello all, happy new year to everyone.

Need to purchase the gears for the minnie I am building, no chance of making these parts myself,

Am I correct in assuming they are machine cut and not water jet or laser cut ?

thanks for any help

Brian

Yep machine cut

Thanks Jason, guessing all the suppliers are as good as each other, should I be asking any questions or just order them.

I think mine came from Blackgates but it was quite a few years ago, they look to be cheaper than Reeves by quite a bit

Thanks Jason,

Hello again, need a bit more help if I may.

About to turn up the brake drum, I have noticed looking at pictures on the net that

some people have inserted a bronze bush, is this needed you think?

Thanks, Brian

Iron on steel makes a good bearing surface. Unless you are going to be doing many miles in the Minnie its not likely to be a problem with wear anyway. If you are using a slice of steel rather than iron to make the drum then yes it would be worth adding a bush

Thanks Jason,

think your right, I am making the drum from steel, a bush is not really needed as it's not going any where but will add it anyway.

one thing I wanted to ask, I am going to make the hub covers next, these need soldering onto the hubs when done,

really worries about doing this, is the solder paste sold by cup alloys the stuff I need?

thanks

Brian

Yep the 60/40 tin lead solder paint is what you want, don't confuse it with silver solder paste.

Make sure you clean the spokes really well afterwards as the flux is quite corrosive.

Thanks Jason for the reply, good job i asked.

The original hubs where made from SAE660, i have found some PB102 which i could use for the covers, any idea if these two materials would solder ok ?

Should not be a problem

Will give it a try, Thankyou

Hello.

Managed to get a little time today to turn up the off side inner plate but think i have a very slight discrepancy between to face which is in contact with the wheel hub and the 7/16 bore.

does anyone know of a material i can use as a 7/16 shaft to align the hub and the plate whilst i solder the two together.

Thanks in advance

Aluminium should not stick to the soft solder

Hello all.

Fast approaching the completion of the rear wheels and so would like to thank everyone for your help so far, without this I would be lost.

I would like to turn my attention to the boiler, can anyone recommend any books that would be helpful for me to read?

Thanks

Brian

Hello all..

About to solder these hubs together, anyone any tips of making sure everything is clean ?

Will rub the parts down with maybe a scotch pad, should i be using any cleaning solution ?

Thanks

Brian

As long as the metal is bright to the eye and not dripping in oil then the flux should do the rest. A bit of meths or thinners never does any harm though.

Thanks Jason.

Quick update on the wheels, all soldered up and progressing well.

Jason did warn me about corrosion but since soldering these I seem to be battling the rust.

Might just be a coincidence.