I also made the blower to fit tightly on the blast nozzle. Just for a change I thought I'd make a proper one rather than the usual bent copper pipe blocked off and with a couple of holes. So I drew it out and used the CNC to mill a circular slot in a piece of brass, this I capped and drilled in two 1mm holes. It looks much better. I have seen engines with proper jets which are screwed in, but I couldn't see any value in this.

One of the problems when driving is the amount of rubbish which seems to come out of the chimney; usually very hot! We all have to have spark arrestors, but even these let quite a lot through. I've given this a bit of thought and come up with what's in the photo. The gauze is pushed up tight to the roof of the smokebox. What I haven't thought of is how I can fit the blast nozzle and allow the arrestor to be slid down for cleaning the nozzle, without making a slot in the gauze and thereby losing the seal. Working with stainless steel gauze is not a pleasant job. The full size apparently has a double layer filter right across the smokebox just about blast nozzle height. I felt that this might prove difficult to remove when cleaning, especially since there has to be an allowance for the wet header pipes and I wanted to create a seal round the arrestor. However, I might still consider it.

Just another quick job was the toolbox lid. I haven't actually made a toolbox, preferring to be able to get to things inside. It would not be difficult to fit a bottom if one were required. I cheated by using commercial brass hinges which scaled perfectly. No handle is shown on the GA, probably just a finger hole slot which would make it difficult to open when scaled. One photo I have shows one engine with a handle fitted like the one I've made. I'm afraid the photo shows rather a lot of dust!

The problem of returning the brakes to the off position is partially solved. The lever is made from silver steel as the part going through the shaft is only 4mm diameter and I wanted to be sure no bending occurred. It is only partially solved because I haven't got a strong enough spring, either that or the lever needs to be lengthened. Everything is still very stiff. There was just room under the buffer spring to fit a pin into the stretcher for the return spring.

Since the boiler maker has said it will be yet another month, I've made a start on the side tanks. The one shown has taken me ten days to make. I used 16swg brass which is not easy to work. These side tanks have rounded corners with a radius of about 1 inch. It requires heat to form and very careful application too, as the brass warps very easily. What was even more difficult was that at the cab end the tank is swaged to make room for the reverser. Getting all these bends and getting the correct length of brass, needed careful work. The hardest part I found, was fitting the floor and making it watertight.
I bought some solder paint on Ebay as I couldn't find a local supplier. It seems hard to find. The listing did say that it was past its sell by date, but then solder is solder; isn't it? On the jar it said stir before use. I had a job getting a screwdriver in. However, I mixed it with some plumber's paste flux and that worked a treat. I then applied a coating to the brass angle and screwed the plates together. Seemed to work well enough, although I did add more solder as I went along with the gas torch. It took several goes to finally get a seal.

I have arraged with the boiler-maker to visit whilst he's making the boiler so that I can take some pictures. This is his first bellpaire boiler I believe and the insurance inspector wants to see him actually join the front firebox tube plate. He's quite happy with my design fortunately. It's just a case of waiting for a phone call. Meanwhile, I'll start the other side tank.

29 June 2007

I finished the other side tank as a mirror copy of the first, although I can't make out from photos or drawings as to whether the left side is swaged like the right. I'm a little disappointed in the lids for the fillers. The drawings shows them as tureen but I couldn't come up with a way of dishing the top and had to be content with a flat top. I might have managed it had the filler been round, but there was no chance with flat sided ellipses. I fixed the tanks to the footplates and made a start on the bunker tank.

This is much more complex. I want a water tank in the bottom part and two sand boxes above, as per full size, and a coal bunker at the back. At the same time, I have to leave enough space to be able to reach through to drive the engine. As a result, it's full of little panels all of which are screwed together. On completion, I soft soldered everything together, removed any screw which had not been soldered in and filled the hole. All other screw heads I ground off. Another complication is that going through the sides are the upright angles which form the cab supports. I've reduced the centre height between the sand boxes and here I'll be able to fit a filler cap and a by-pass tap for the axle pumps. This tank is at a lower level than the side tanks so they cannot be connected. I'll pipe up so that the side tanks use an injector and the bunker tank the pumps. It's always useful to be able to see the by-pass working, so when the filler cap is lifted, the return pipe is visible.

I want the sand boxes to work so another complication is that the pipe will have to pass through the water tank. I would have liked a larger space in the middle but I've had to have the width shown as on the left hand side, the brake handle is fixed to the sand box front via a bracket. The full size is finished off round the edge with 'T' section. I can't find anything suitable at the moment, so I'll worry about that at a later date.

The main problem when soft soldering the tanks is that there is always some warping as the panels expand more than the angle. Screws and clamps help, but the tank is usually not water tight. The way I get round this is to mix up some liquid resin and pour on to the seams, tipping to keep it on the joint. Several goes to cover all joints does a good job. The sides are normally not a problem as the number of rivets stops any warping. There is now the job of making filler caps and making all the necessary holes in the bottom and in the floor pan for piping up. Meanwhile I still wait for the boiler; hopefully, since he's in the Gloucester area, that he has not been flooded.

28 July 2007

MORE ODD JOBS

Two filters like this; one for the bunker tank and one for a side tank. Nothing special; just a fiddle to make. This enables me to remove the filter at any time for cleaning if necessary.
I rang the boiler maker to get a progress report and yes, he was flooded. His workshop was under 5 feet of water and he was waiting on the insurance so that he could replace his TIG welder. I suppose that means another long wait for me.

Not much done this month as I've been on holiday, but having waited four weeks and not heard about my boiler, I rang him to find that today (28 Aug) the insurance company will pay out in another three weeks time. As he's held up he's going on holiday for two of them. The good news is that he has finished the kit of parts. Meanwhile I'll carry on with the tank work.

The picture is my simple method for making an equalizing pipe for the side tanks. Total cost of the elbow and 'T' piece was £2.96. The cross pipe is held with 'O' rings instead of olives. A short piece of 15mm copper soft soldered into the bottom of each side tank makes the connection. The outside nut of the 'T' piece is sealed with a piece of brass and this acts as the drainage cap. Looks good from the side as the plumbing bits are well hidden with just the cap being visible.

28 August 2007

Piping up is always time consuming. Holes to be cut in the floor pan to let pipes through from the tanks and getting the pipework exactly to length, can be quite a challenge. This photo shows a view down into the bunker tank with the filter in the bottom and the bypass tap at the top. An 8mm commercial ball valve makes an ideal tap. I've soft soldered all the joints; it makes life easier and it's perfectly adequate. The pipework for the bunker tank from the pumps shows the problem. The connection to the boiler via a clack will have to pass through the frame.

Another job was the upper bracket for the handbrake support. I've tried to copy full size but I haven't got all the info. It proved to be quite a difficult shape to make. I made the side pieces in two halves. Holding all the parts together while soldering is the tricky bit. The solder lines do show, but this wont matter as it will be painted. This picture also shows the handle which operates the tap for the sand trap. It's just a rod with a flat plate on the end which covers the tube which passes through the water tank. No doubt it will work if the sand is fine and dry enough. I'm not happy with the handles though; so I'll probably change them.

I 've managed to get the blower to fit over the spark arrestor. Fortunately, the full size entry into the smokebox is high up, so by a circuitous loop in the pipe and with a right angled connector, I've hopefully done it. I will be able to drop the shield to get at the blower and nozzle. I may make a better fitting gauze later.

There's not much to write about, but the pictures show how my time has been spent. These two clacks are for the hydrostatic lubricator and fit on the side of the smokebox where the original massive lubricators were fitted. These were 'Roscoes' and had three taps and two copper pipes feeding. I have made these clacks bigger than necessary but nothing like full size. Making part dummy and part working would have been too time consuming although it might be something to consider in the future.

25 September 2007

Most of this month has been spent on finishing off the tanks and now they are ready for painting. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the boiler, so I'm hesitant as to whether to risk it and spray. I may have to make some changes. I did go to see the boiler man and he has now made a start. I think he kept putting off starting as this is the first Belpaire he's made and it was giving him all kinds of problems. The pieces he had looked so small, as I was talking to him standing next to three boilers standing on end and all over six foot in length and one with a firebox 2 feet by 3 feet!

I've made a start on the cab sides. These are edged with a brass strip 1/8 x 1/2; fine on the straight bits but there are four curved bits to make, which I'll have to cut from sheet. I should make the whole piece as one from a sheet, but that creates a lot of waste and is very expensive. I'll try to make the joints as close as possible.

The handle in the photo is connected to a ball valve in the bottom of the sidetank to supply water to the injector. It's an 8mm unit which has a hole through the ball the same diameter as the bore of the 1/4" pipe to the injector as required.

Another thing I've spent a lot of time on this month has been with a grandson who's building a Gauge 1 loco. If anybody is considering beginning model making with this size, I'd say think again. He bought the Gauge 1 society's project book. I'm not impressed. The main problem so far is that the axles cannot be dropped from the frame. Once the wheels are on that's it. Needless to say they need to be able to come off at least four times to make sure everything works. Then there are the wheels. Quote for the 6 engine and 6 tender wheels was £189 + VAT!!! I managed to make them on my cnc rig using cast iron bar. I did not wish to discourage him, but there has to be a better choice than this engine for a beginner. Making the tiny con rod etc. is far easier in a bigger gauge. I wish now I'd tried to persuade him to a 3.5 gauge, where we have a track to run it on. I now have to remake the crank for the third time as the axle isn't straight which means taking off four of the wheels which have been loctited.

Maybe one more month will see me with a boiler. The running season is now over and there is quite a lot to do on the Romulant as well. Not much time left for fishing with another grandson.

27 October 2007

A real disaster this month which has taken weeks to put right. I was doing the drawing for the spectacle plate and I couldn't fit it into the GA front view. My first scale calculations of the buffer beams was wrong and this affected the width of the engine. The main frames were OK so the only real problem was the width of the bunker tank; no wonder I had trouble with the width of the sandboxes. Had it been a small amount I could have got away with it as narrow gauge engines don't seem to follow standard gauge rules. Unfortunately, it was 40mm. So, nothing for it but to strip the bunker tank, cut off 20mm each side and reassemble. I managed to keep the two side pieces but the main problem was sealing the water tank after assembly. I have managed it but I had to make two new tops for the sand tanks. The buffer beams also had to be altered which is a pity because they were laser cut and getting the curves to match was not easy. The other thing to alter is the motion plate which will give me some more problems.

I have also made the cab sides. Making the strip round the doorway out of pieces looked terrible, so I removed them and then cut complete pieces from a sheet. Not as wasteful as I thought as the centre part can be used for the window rings. This picture shows how I bent the steel angle for the roof support. I made cuts every 25mm, bent the angle to match a line drawn on the bench, then tack welded the ends. After checking the curve and adjusting, I completed the welds and ground off.

Still waiting for the boiler!

26 November 2007

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