Merryweather Fire King

Hi (also Bob)

I used Hammerite smooth gloss (not the old hammer finish). On the tin it said that primer was not required. So that is what I did. I did rub it down after four coats and then treat it with car polish. I'm quite happy with the result, but we shall see what it's like in the long term. Unfortunately, I'm no expert in these matters, so it is very much a matter of learning from experience!

Bob

Who said model engineering was interesting and challenging ? Got to make fifty six of theses little blighters to locate the wheel spokes !

And then there's the little matter of fifty six spokes.

Bob

Edited By Bob Wild on 11/02/2022 22:42:13

Good progress with the wheels. I thought I'd show some of my machining operations as I was using a faceplate for the first time. Any comments from the experts would be post appreciated. My idea was to build the whole assembly on a disc of aluminium which could be moved between the faceplate and the mill rotary table without moving any parts. This way I would (hopefully) maintain concentricity.

The outer rim was made from four strips of brass pinned and glued together:

Mounted on the faceplate I machined the outer diameter:

Then the inner diameter:

Because of the size of the rim I couldn't figure out how to machine the tyre groove on the OD, so I transferred to the rotary table and slowly milled the groove:

I also drilled the holed for the axles with the same setup. Then on the bench I could assemble the axles and the hub:

I was disappointed to realise that when I machined the tyre groove most of the pins I had put in to hold it all together had been nearly machined away and the whole assembly looked a bit flimsy. So I decided to add a brass tyre at the bottom of the groove and screw that in place. That seemed to work well, but it did reduce the depth of the groove from 8mm to 6 mm. Fortunately I already had the neoprene square section for the tyres and with a bit if experimenting found I could mill 2mm off the thickness - disaster averted. So here is one of the finished wheels. Not sure how to bond the neoprene tyre to the rim though. Any suggestions?

Bob

Hi Bob,

I use on my small fire engine ,a little bit bigger than yours, wooden wheels. The rubber was a band 20 mm wide and 5 mm thick . The rubber Band was glued together with second glue cyan acrilate. The rubber ring was a liitle bit smaller in diameter. So i have to use two screwdriver to pull it on. As adhesive i used contact glue.

This fire engine is radio controlled and have a weight of 20 kg. After a few days of driving one tire came off in a curve during steering. I sanded the glue away and made the surface rough and glue it again. After that it was no problem.

On my Merrywheather Fire King i have a few time the problem that the glue came off the steel tire. I read in the traction talk forum that some use polyurethan glue from a british trader. With this tip i found in ebay from UHU and Pattex polyurethan glue for craftsmen workers. With this i made several test trys and this glue is much more elastic and i made measurements and found that the factory data are correct. It worked perfect for glueing metal to rubber ,for shoe repair and many other difficult things where i was not able to glue before. My problem on the fireking was that the epoxy glue is to hard and was destroyed after driving of compound cuble stones. They hit permanent against the rubber metal surface and so the connection to the metal surface was destroyed.

I hope you get some additional practice informations.

keep up the good work

Werner

Hi Werner,

I haven't seen your radio controlled fire engine. Are there any posts about it? You certainly seem to have had fun with your tyres. That's a good idea about UHU. I was thinking of using some similar type of contact adhesive. Maybe the kind used to bond car windscreen rubber in place or an impact adhesive like Evo-stick.. I'll do a few experiments.

Bob

Finally got the wheels finished, including some gold striping. Quite pleased with the results. The lines could have been wider, but that was the maximum my pen would open.

Added minor details to be more like the real thing. The rear wheels have an extra (strengthening?) ring. The chain wheel was solid when I got it, so I machined some spokes for authenticity. Also each hub has a funny fitting in the centre. Not sure what they are; grease boxes perhaps ?

And finally it is starting to look like a fire engine:

Your engine is very impressive Bob. Well done.

Thicker lines can be painted with a Beugler pinstriping tool. Rollers are available in different widths.

A major milestone today!

Cut the gears, which was a new experience for me. Not too many problems once I got the hang of the dividing head. Since I moved the valve eccentrics ages ago I couldn't use the engagement lever as Julius designed it. So I had to resort to what is probably an unorthodox but effect design of my own. The gear slides in a clevis which is moved in and out with a square shaft. A pin is used to lock the clevis in either the engaged or disengaged position. Here are the parts of the assembly (the chain wheels are proprietary items) :

And this is the complete assembly:

And here installed in the engine:

And finally I have drive to the wheels. Fitting the chains was a nightmare. To start with I made the chains such that they just fitted with a minimum of play. But the links kept jamming. So I tried making them a bit longer. But you can't get a bit longer because you have to increase by one whole link. The end result means that the chain flaps around terribly. So I'm going to try inserting some sort of tensioner. Anyway the engine does drive the wheels which to me is a major achievement. I was quite pleased that the control valve does indeed control the speed. Pity the wheels are a bit wobbly, so I'll have to have a look at that!

Hi Bob,

it look nice running. To the length of the chain you have to think when the fireking is on its wheels yo have a length change by compressing the axle springs. I do not know how much it is on your small engine , but it is not negligible. In addition normally there are bars to adjust the tension of the chains.

Werner

It all looks terrific Bob, a work of art.

Paint is a real nag, I am building a booth in my workshop as I never want to paint when there is good weather. It takes up a lot of space but should help my sanity.

Does you chain manufacturer do "half links"? that might halve your problem. A tensioner is a good idea although to allow axle movement I think the bars that Werner refers to are better, not sure how they fit in this design.

Hi Bob,

in this original picture I marked the tension bar . It is connected to the rear axle and to the drive axle. This shifts the springs in the radius of the tension bar, but it have to be adjusted when the fire king is on the wheels. It is adjustable with right and left hand thread.

Werner

Thanks Werner and Roger. Yes, I am going to put a tensioner on the chain. I tried it with a hand held support which did indeed help. The method used on the Hungerford machine looks too complicated for me. The springs are very stiff and don't deflect very much at all. My only problem will be fitting one in the space available - ti is getting very crowded in that area!

Incidentally, I have been thinking about a good way to make an authentic looking fire hose, Any ideas? I habe posted a general question in this thread:

Fire Hose like Cherry Hill

Bob

I made my suction hose from a standard plastic suction hose. This had a good function but it looked terrible.

Then I had the idea to wrap a gauze bandage around it and fix it with black paint . This look is very realistic from my opinion.

In your size it is more difficult to find something, but I think a small yarn made from natural fibres can do the job.

I am interested to see which tipps came in.

good luck

Werner

A major milestone today. Got the drive chains mounted and finally managed to get the FK moving. The video is a bit short cos it careered off under my car. Then I realised that the front wheels were not actually bolted on.

The end is in sight - just got the hoses and water stuff to do. Then a bit of cleaning and touch up the paint

Edited By Bob Wild on 03/10/2022 22:57:09

Edited By Bob Wild on 03/10/2022 23:02:34

Edited By Bob Wild on 03/10/2022 23:04:53

The last part of this build is the hose assembly. After a load of constructive suggestions from other members I finally settled on Shoe Laces ! It is actually Tubular Cotton Braid Undyed, and I'm quite pleased with it's appearance.

These are all the components to assemble it to the pump:

Here it is mounted round the front. The hose is connected to the pump and wraps around the sides and front. Astonishingly it does actually pump water with a jet about six feet into the air. Video to follow shortly. Added a few more details on the front, like what Cherry Hill did. Spot lights, a Bell and two nozzles

Now all that remains is to completely strip it down, clean up all the gunge and repaint as required.

Bob

Edited By Bob Wild on 29/11/2022 16:40:36

Fire King is finished:

Done the final details . Added pin striping on the side panels. A bit shaky, but I'm not too displeased with my first attempt. Then I added the etchings. I relied on a tutorial from another member on this forum to copy from a photo print onto a piece of brass. I found this was a bit hit and miss. After several attempts to iron on the text I manged to get most of the letters on. Again, not perfect but passable. If it ever stops raining I will post some videos of it working.

Made a bit of a mistake with the driver. I didn't realise I had ordered a headless model and I have failed miserably in trying to get one of the female members of the family to make him some clothes. The brass helmet will be a bit of a challenge!

It has been quite a marathon project. It has taken me two years and at a conservative estimate I reckon about 1500 hours. Possibly nearer two thousand. I'm not sure I would have started it if I had known how long it was going to take!

Anyway, it has been good fun, and I will certainly enjoy Hogmanay tonight, then I can start on my next project - "Stephenson's Rocket"

Thanks to all those who have helped and a Happy New Year to all.

Bob

Edited By Bob Wild on 31/12/2022 16:03:48

Edited By Bob Wild on 31/12/2022 16:11:31

TOTALLY AWESOME!

Its a very interesting and pretty model. I see why you got it done in only two years. I expect it will grace pride of place for many years.

Thanks chaps for all your comments and encouragement, but wait till you see it moving and pumping!

Bob