Old Bill

Well, you are quite right. Christmas is the time we get on and do things and today has been no exception. However, I am getting an absolute flat refusal from the computer to upload any pictures. I can say that this Christmas, we have been planning to fit the brake drum dust covers followed by the back axle to the chassis and then the rear wheels. Today we have fitted the covers and hung the axle from the chassis. Tomorrow, we will tighten up the bolts and pin the nuts. Then it is onto the brake gear before fitting the wheels. Once the wheels are on, we can roll the chassis under the chain block and fit the gearbox and engine so it is getting very exciting. However, this computer is driving me nuts! I'll post the pictures if ever it comes back to life. Happy Christmas! Steve :computerrage::banghead:

Hear hear! Steve :-)

Yes, a post-war four tonner very closely related to the Subsidy chassis. There were a few tweaks to the engine shortly after the War when the pump drive was made longitudinal instead of transverse. The ten-spoke rear wheels are interesting as I have only ever seen eights before. Nice pic! Steve

Welcome Fer. We manage to talk about all sorts of things here as well as military which is great. Please may we see a picture of your Citroen? Come in and enjoy! Steve :-)

We did our Dennis ones cold in the press. All very nicely controlled and no danger of hurting oneself! Nice job, by the way. There is a lot of effort in making fabrications look like forgings! Steve

That would have been a better way to do it but they are just too big for my facilities. I spun the fuel tank ends for the Dennis which are 16" diameter and 18swg and that was quite successful although I had to make up a bronze tool to do it. They were at the limit of diameter for our Colchester Student lathe though and these covers are 22" diameter so although only 20swg, I couldn't do them that way. I could have imposed on my friends again for use of a larger lathe but am keen not to become a perishing nuisance! I originally planned to solder the brass to the steel but felt that with dissimilar metals their relative expansions would distort the covers. I cleaned them before riveting so I could still do it. Will give it some more thought. Steve

I did think about it, Andy but it would have been a massive piece of steel and I would have struggled to handle it. The fuel tank ends are only flanged by 1/2" so I shall get steel flanging blocks made for them. The corner radii are only 4" for them so they will be harder still to flange.. No doubt we will get there. Steve

The ply started to bend so I needed to support it all round. In rummaging in the workshop, I found this ring which is the piece parted off from the brake drum. Perfect! Off we went again but I was amazed when I reached 25 tonne without quite reaching the full depth. To get the last bit of movement, I inched around the edge with the ram pushing locally. This achieved 9/16" when I was aiming at 5/8". I deemed this acceptable and proceeded to push the second one. The result is quite pleasing but it was at this point that I realised I had reached the end of the stroke, 1/16" short of where I wanted to be! Very embarrassing and a lot of effort for the result. Oh well. At least I know how far the ram goes now! Next task was to open out the bore as I had left it undersize to allow it to stretch. I marked it out with odd-leg calipers and then cut it with a nibbler before cleaning up with a file. The beading around the edge of the hole had originally been formed by folding the steel over. However, I just could not see how to do this so we decided that a brass bead of similar section but riveted on would be acceptable. The challenge then became how to bend it. This was done by drilling a hole through a block of wood and simply leaning on it. It was a bit painstaking but worked well.. It was at this point that my estimate of a 24" length of bead became noticeably too short so I riveted in an extra piece of flat and dressed it to match. After dressing back, the bead was quite presentable. The original remains seem to match anyway. Two covers ready for the Christmas project. Back to painting the Dennis' new home..... Steve

Now that the Dennis has a new home, I can get back to Thornycroft! Some projects just take far too long.... We are at a position where we want to get the back axle and wheels fitted. Then the engine and gearbox can go in and we will be lloking like a lorry at last. This is to be the Christmas project but before we can do that, we need to fit the brake drum dust covers as they cannot be installed once the axle is attached to the springs. The dust covers we had are very poorly so we have to make up some new ones. A close inspection and reference to the photos taken of the Carlton Colville lorry showed them to be 20swg steel discs with a 3/4" flange around the outside and the centre dished inwards with a bead around it. The first task then was to make up a flanging block. This was simply a laser-cut piece of 3mm plate screwed to some 3/4" plywood. Whilst getting this cut, we also had two blanks done at the same time. The blanks were sandwiched between the steel-faced piece of ply and a second piece to back it up. Then the edges were laboriously tapped over a bit at a time until they sat more-or-less flat around the block. As the block was only steel faced I could not get the ripples out as the rather soft timber just deformed inwards. Whilst wondering what to do about this, I remembered that Father had bought me a set of panel beating tools. I have never worked out how to use them but found that one of the dollies had a radius about the same as the flange. I held it up behind the flange by hand and tapped against it with the planishing hammer. This improved things quite a bit but the flanges are still obviously hand beaten by unskilled labour! Two flanged plates resulted. The next part of the job was to work out how to emboss the centre. I have recently acquired a 30tonne hydraulic press and thought that might be the answer so I turned up another steel faced tool, this time in mahogany. The flanged plates are slightly bigger in diameter than the distance between the press legs. However, by tilting them, they would just fit in the middle. As usual, I am using all of my equipment to its capacity!

Judging by the shape of that press, you can tell it is in a student workshop! Only kidding! Lovely job Ben. Cutting the slot first is a brilliant idea. It is perfectly positioned and the tool doesn't need to cut the plate as well so it can be just a bit of mild steel as you have proven. Wish I had thought of that! Steve :-)

I suspect that the linings will wear in pretty quickly. When we first took the Dennis to Brighton, I had to get underneath only about five miles out to tighten up the adjuster as I was already running out of travel! I am sure that the drum will polish up and the top edge of the lining will quickly disappear until it is all in contact. Time will tell! Steve

That looks more like a shepherd's hut than a living van but you are quite right. Very desirable in the right place! Steve

They look super. Finish the job off nicely! Steve

Which Thornycroft engine is that? Steve

Yes, it is nearly full but this one has headroom! Couldn't go any wider as my neighbour is extremely protective of her boundary. Still, the lorry goes in and I can walk down one side which is more than I can say for my car in the car garage! Current project is to make the doors up and make it secure. It is amazing how many hours this project has taken even with professionals doing the building. Never mind. The end is in sight and it will be back to the Thorny soon! Steve

Hi Ben The gudgeons on the Thorny are secured the same way. The rings are actually spring steel and squeeze into the bottom of the groove leaving 1/16" clearance between them and the bore. I don't think you want the rings to try to do two jobs as you may get into trouble. Steve

You can learn something new every day! Steve

Also the Vauxhall Prince Henry and D-Type staff cars from the Vauxhall Heritage Collection! Steve

Thanks for the constructive criticism chaps. It took me a while before I realised that quotes could be edited! Anyway, to bring us back on topic, here is the data plate I had made for the Thorny many years ago: Ours was missing, of course, although we still have the chassis/engine number plate which is separate. It was made by the late Alan Gettings in Somerset from a photo and overall dimensions which I provided. When he retired, he sold his model makers etched plate business to Diane Carney who now resides in the Lake District and who has made quite a few more plates for us since. Unfortunately for us, she has stopped doing this as another job now takes her time. I can provide artwork but my challenge now is to find someone who will do the etching for us, not that I need any at the moment. Sorry we have been so quiet recently but it has all been in a good cause. I have had the builders in putting up a new home for the Dennis. My neighbours keep asking why I need such a huge garage! Little do they know what is going to turn up on this quiet housing estate....... Steve

Well done! Shuttleworth looks like being a good 'do' on Sunday! Steve

Looks like a good 'do'. I don't think I would get far up the banking in the Dennis though! LT Museum are bringing their bus to Old Warden too! It will be great to see you. Cheers! Steve

Lovely pics. It really does look good! Are you coming to Old Warden on 5th July for the Airshow and WW1 day? We are praying for a drier day this year! As well as the same lorries as last time, the Vauxhall D type and Prince Henry are coming and, hopefully, an original Fiat 15TER and the Hendon Crossley. Should be a good do! Cheers! Steve

Thanks Rog. I wondered how they worked. It is nice that you have salvaged something and are making use of it! I have acquired the drawing office planimeter from work which is a lovely thing to behold. Obsolete now computers do the drafting but I still use it very occasionally and take great pleasure in so doing. It was going to be thrown out. Sacrilege! Steve

Thanks Cel. I haven't cut any metal yet, though! A furnace would be nice Andy but I don't think I could justify it at the moment. Blowlamp and bucket of water is my usual approach. This is as sophisticated as I get! Steve

The bolts to hold the drums on are very close to the flange where there is a radius. To get them to sit down properly requires a spot face. I had a look to see if I could get anything suitable but the nearest was £70- and not quite ideal for our purpose so I decided to make one up. Fortunately, I have recently been given a bar of 1" silver steel. As the face needs to be 15/16" diameter it was just right! I had never made such a tool before so I thought a quick read-up would be a good idea. I found, in the Model Engineer Magazine for August 28th 1998 an article entitled 'Making Special Cutters' so I followed that. Step one was to turn the shaft to size and drill four radial holes in the end. These are deliberately not at 90° to each other in order to prevent chatter when using the cutter. I would not have thought of that but it was in the article! The bar was put back in the lathe and faced off to not quite half of the depth on the hole leaving four cutting edges with a top rake of 5° Then back in the mill with the dividing head set over to cut a front rake of 7° on each tooth. Now came the tricky bit, the heat treatment. I have abook about heat treatment written by 'Tubal Cain' and intended for model engineers. He suggests a temperature of 770°-790° held for one hour per inch before quenching in oil. This temperature is between 'blood red' and 'cherry red' so I made a stab at that and held it for twenty minutes as the cutter is only 1/4" thick. I made a brick cave to try to even the temperature out and reduce gas consumption. All a bit 'by guess and by God'! Quenched in engine oil and given a bit of a polish before tempering. The tempering, I did at 225° for twenty minutes in the domestic oven. In spite of having no markings on the oven control (long worn off!) I must have got it about right as it came out a nice yellow colour. Final step was to run an oil stone over the edges to bring them right up. Finally, I made a spindle from mild steel and pinned the cutter to it. All ready to go, the next time I am in Devon. Then it will be the moment of truth. Only 16 holes to do!