I see some Steam Enthusiasts on here!

[bigwood]

Nice looking collet set. I have been tempted to buy some collets for my inherited mini lathe or the mill but I am very wary about how accurate they would be fitted on a cheaper made lathe. I have heard a lot of people struggle with inaccurate collets.

 

[andy63]

I think I might turn up a small chuck to mount straight onto the Myford spindle so it will have a through hole and minimal overhang. Got a short piece of 2" dia EN8 that will oil harden ok, watch this space !

if I remember correctly when I got a set of er32 collets I got one holder with a mt3 taper for the mill and then just machined up a holder for the lathe.. the closing rings can be bought separately so its just the holder you have to make..
Andy

 

[andy63]

The holder on the left in the photo was machined to fit the myford lathe spindle and take the er32 collets..
As i said above I bought the closing ring as machining that wasn't just so straight fwd..
Andy

 

[John Barrett]

Not everyone on here will get this...

 

[bigwood]

I remember the very last of those at Newton Heath sheds Manchester. There were a few tenders there that were converted to weed spraying.
When they lifted the tracks on the line behind my grandparents house they used a crane towed by a Black Five . The wagons were behind a 7000 class.
In the late sixties I managed to visit Barry Island. Even then it was sad to see so meany locos being hacked to death.

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[Ditcha]

If anybody is short of any tooling I have a load for sale all quality brands, finished machining now so have a wide range of gear, measuring, bore gauges mics etc just a few pics of stuff for sale just pm me and I will let you know if I have it.
Was intending to put it on ebay but never getting round to it.

 

[John Barrett]

If anybody is short of any tooling I have a load for sale all quality brands, finished machining now so have a wide range of gear, measuring, bore gauges mics etc just a few pics of stuff for sale just pm me and I will let you know if I have it.
Was intending to put it on ebay but never getting round to it.

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What a fantastic collection. I'd love a rummage, but unfortunately I couldn't be further away from you!
This sales/wanted site is well used by us model engineers and is free.
Broken Link Removed

 

[Ditcha]

What a fantastic collection. I'd love a rummage, but unfortunately I couldn't be further away from you!
This sales/wanted site is well used by us model engineers and is free.
Broken Link Removed

Thanks for that John I will take a look

 

[PeteH]

We had a Weir pump in the boilerhouse at work, must have stood 8 feet tall !

"Blast from the Past" time!. We had them on the old triple expansion steam ships, and Early 4 cylinder Doxford Ships. ("Hybrid", vessels 2 stroke oposed piston Diesel Engine main propulsion with 2 "Scotch" Boilers). One of which could be steamed by diverting the Exhaust Gas` through the furnace`s. The Weir`s where used as G-P and feed pumps, and needed a lot of "attention" to get to work properly but once set up would run as long as they had steam! and a regular squirt of oil. We used to machine the "bucket" rings in the ships engine room workshop from "Ebonite".

 

[bigwood]

After a bit of thinking and checking prices I have ordered the tubes and other materials to carry on with my boiler. I was tempted to collect the bits myself to save postage and give the van a run but it was cheaper to have them sent via a courier.
It must be my day because I found an empty gas bottle for a tenner in Hull. Its a bigger bottle than I need but it will save a bit of money not having to buy the bottle outright. I will get it swapped for the same size, 6 kg, as the ones in the van to use as a spare as well as in the workshop.
A few more bits to get and hopefully I can get this boiler built at last.

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[PeteH]

I remember the very last of those at Newton Heath sheds Manchester. There were a few tenders there that were converted to weed spraying.
When they lifted the tracks on the line behind my grandparents house they used a crane towed by a Black Five . The wagons were behind a 7000 class.
In the late sixties I managed to visit Barry Island. Even then it was sad to see so meany locos being hacked to death.

When I got married, our first house was in a Terrace opposite Drapers Scrap Yard, (Hull) Old man Draper had dozens of old Steamers lined up. I think one, possibly the Black Five?, (44806?) on the NYMR came from there. The story was that he gave them one and as much "Spares" as they needed.

 

[Kiwi Brit]

My husband John is a very keen model engineer, in Kiwi land. In the 1970's there was an article in British Model Engineer magazine on the Simplex he built, having won the NZ steam trials and the Locomotive was constructed using stainless steel for the plate work. He is now constructing a 3 1/2 inch NZR Ja. Which will be 4ft 6inches when finished. Incidentally we lived in the UK on a narrowboat for over eight years before selling , then bought a motorhome which we finally brought back to NZ. A wonderful UK experience . We will be back when the borders are open.

 

[bigwood]

Regarding the Black Five from hull. When I first started working in this area I worked in Hull as needed. Some were near Dairycoates there was a cement works with sidings next to Clive Sulivan Way. There was a steam loco in those sidings for a while.
Due to a change of work areas the next timeI went to Hull the sidings had gone along with the loco. Could that have been the Black Five you mentioned Pete.

 

[John Barrett]

Starting to look like the real thing. Just needs some transfers and guard irons on the front bumper!
I damaged the paintwork on the cab, so it has been resprayed but not yet lined. The front plates need nailing down, but it is just about finished.
I just sit there, with a beer in my hand, looking at the thing ...

John

 

[The Dotties]

For workmanship to that standard, you deserve a second pint!
Very nice indeed.

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[63720]

Absolutely stunning, well done!

 

[bigwood]

Things are. moving forward slowly with my boiler. I got the gas bottle changed on Monday and tried a silver soldering job to see what the nozzles are like for my torch. I managed to make the front towing eye from steel plate rather than buying the casting. Holding the five parts together without them moving when they were hot was interesting.
Considering it is quite a lump when together it wasn’t too bad. I wouldn’t have had the heat with the small propane torch I had been using before. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come when I tackle the boiler.
The 3/8 tube and the square bar for my foundation ring arrived today. I have only cut one batch of tubes so far. The cutting jig works well but I am aching a bit today, it’s a combination of heavy rain and sleeping too heavy after yesterday’s walking. Some days I can’t win but there’s no rush so more tomorrow hopefully.

 

[John Barrett]

Things are. moving forward slowly with my boiler.
SNIP

Excellent! As you say, there is no rush.

I've been working on the guard irons and now the vacuum pipe, which is made of heatshrink tubing on a specially wound spring core. . It's amazing how much pleasure one can get from such a little thing...

 

[bigwood]

Making the towing eye wasn’t anything special but it was a nice challenge. The simple bit, the pin for it, was a simple turning job but made it look finished with a split pin to secure it.
I have seen scale buckets that I can hang on it.

 

[PeteH]

Regarding the Black Five from hull. When I first started working in this area I worked in Hull as needed. Some were near Dairycoates there was a cement works with sidings next to Clive Sulivan Way. There was a steam loco in those sidings for a while.
Due to a change of work areas the next timeI went to Hull the sidings had gone along with the loco. Could that have been the Black Five you mentioned Pete.

It is unlikely, The Draper Yard, is still there on the Eastern Side of the river Hull. Near to the Docks. Most of the Housing in the area was Torn down in the late 60`s.

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[John Barrett]

Anyone into jewellery making? I've felt like that today with this hook and chain!

It goes 'ere and I have to make another one tomorrow!

 

[John Barrett]

I'll need something to do when I finish the Stirling, and this came my way today via an executor's sale. It's a Stuart Major Beam Engine, and the 14" flywheel makes it the Big Daddy of them all. It is also the most expensive one, as the castings alone will cost you £1250! A well made one sold recently for over £3k. However, I didn't pay that as I'm just a poor old pensioner and the seller took pity on me...
John

 

[bigwood]

I thought you were having a holiday after the Stirling.
Keith Appleton on YouTube has a series of videos about restoring a Beam Engine, the smaller one I think. His videos are interesting and very informative.
My boiler build is a bit of a challenge with a few problems thrown in that are not down to me. Lesson being dont buy a part built boiler and trust the drillings to be in the right place. Not helped by a list of domestic fixing that seem to need doing as soon as I get to the workshop door.

 

[John Barrett]

I thought you were having a holiday after the Stirling.
Keith Appleton on YouTube has a series of videos about restoring a Beam Engine, the smaller one I think. His videos are interesting and very informative.
My boiler build is a bit of a challenge with a few problems thrown in that are not down to me. Lesson being dont buy a part built boiler and trust the drillings to be in the right place. Not helped by a list of domestic fixing that seem to need doing as soon as I get to the workshop door.

You have to be lucky with boilers!
I correspond with Keith. He's done a Stuart Major as well. Here:

 

[bigwood]

There may be only two flanged plates and 35 tubes but but the little bits to go with it make it a bit of a challenge for a first build.
The main problem so far is the tube holes in the two plates are slightly out of line. I have resolved that but it was a bad day when I found that out.
Day out tomorrow so it will give me a bit of thinking time to decide what to do next. I might leave things for a couple of days.

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[bigwood]

The Clayton boiler is slowly moving on. I need to make sure the firebox ends of the tubes and the flagged plate are soldered as good as I can make them. It will be difficult to cure any leaks in there after the boiler is built.
When Dad built the boiler for his Alchin a leak from the tube plate flange in the top corner of the fire box was a pain to re solder because the torch wouldnt burn in the firebox.
I found the firebox fits in the shade for my work light. So if I turn the lights off I can see any pin pricks I have missed. Crude but so far it has worked. Luckily the only missed joints were on the flange and a couple of the tube ends on the outside of the nest of tubes. I have a ring of solder round every tube end the and round the underside of the flange so I will be unlucky if there’s a problem under pressure.
Whilst looking at Cup Alloys web site I see you can get a nozzle that burns inside enclosed spaces like fire boxes. If comes to curing leaks I can always resort to one of those so that’s a bit easier.
Everything is having a long soak in the pickle bath tonight so I can have a final check before moving on to the next bit.

 

[TheBig1]

wrong thread

 

[John Barrett]

You have to like miniature sheet metal work to make cab steps like these. The flat steps are 26G titanium, lovely stuff.
John

Here's the real thing.

 

[bigwood]

More nice work John. I wouldn’t think of using titanium it’s not a common metal for model engineering. Is it easy to source and at what cost.
The Clayton boiler has ground to a halt at moment. With the biggest nozzle I have I can’t get enough heat for the smoke box top plate flange to the boiler barrel joint. In an ideal world I should have a second burner to provide background heat. I have ordered the biggest nozzle sievert make. I had the use of oxy gear were I worked but that is long gone now.
A few days being away this weekend will make things look better. I can re start things with a clear head. I have learnt a lot so far. Building any steam boiler of this size takes time and careful planning.

 

[bigwood]

The new nozzle was here when we got home. If this doesn’t get things warm I will be surprised. I will have shares in Calor with the amount of gas it will consume. I have a bit of a tidy up in the van to do tomorrow then I will see about getting started again.

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