Metal spinning

I am building a 2"scale Fowler A7 traction engine to drawings by MJ Engineering. The gear guard is in two parts and needs an upper and lower semicircular dish to complete. They need to be made from 18g mild steel and are not easy to form manually. Both pieces are just over 7" diameter, the upper section is 1" deep and the lower is 3/8" deep, ideally, they could be spun and cut in half. It may be that someone out there has already been down this path and has two unwanted semicircular offcuts in their scrap box, if so, I could be a client. Otherwise does anyone know of a metal spinning company who would be willing to make said items? I am resident in Kent, UK.

Granville Askham

It may be a stupid idea, but 7" is a standard diameter for pots and pans. You may be able to find an economically priced pair of frying pans to donate suitably shaped stainless steel at your local branch of The Range or a market.

Maybe worth posting the question on Traction Talk in the model steam engines section link

H

Neil, it is not a stupid idea, I am aware of a modified saucepan being used for a gear guard on a half size Garret 4CD.

Granville, we have two metal spinning companies in the locality, James and Spackman (I think that is the name but spelling may not be correct!) who are located near Sellinge I believe and one on the Isle of Sheppy. A freind has a drawing in with both at present for a quote (full size TE part). The former so far have failed to respond, the latter were helpful with suggesting various options but their price was not cheap! If you want the contact details email me and I will get them for you.

I am not sure on the exact shape you need but on the Ruston I made the parts from 3mm and welded the return on with a fillet on the inside corner then radiused the outside off with a file so it looked like a pressed plate. If it's possible to develop what you need by a similar method I may be able to put you in touch with a man who could TIG weld it so you could use thinner plate.

Last suggestion is turn a wood former and spin it yourself, but in copper, easier to work and as it will be painted no one will know what it's made of unless they run a magnet over it!

Paul.

You can buy them from Alan at MJEng, may be the easier option, it was for me. Though I did spin the cylinder end cover myself.

Not quite saucepan shaped!

Edited By JasonB on 09/02/2018 08:16:27

NIce job Jason, I wish I could do such good work in sheet metal. The 4CD guard in question is a straight sided cylinder with an end in it, it was saucepan shaped, and the use of a saucepan provided a nice radius on the end.

Chris Gunn

Gentlemen, thank you all for your useful and inovative replies. Jason's post supplied the answer to my question and I have been able to source the correct components. Your gear guard looks the business, Jason, congratulations and thanks especially for your help.

Granville A