Old Bill

I have used citric acid before, both to clean aluminium and remove rust. The aluminium cleaning was a bit indifferent but the rust just disappeared in no time. The acid mix does go pretty nasty and things seem to live in it after a while. Losing small pieces in a green sludge is easy to do! It has been suggested to me that I try molasses in water as a de-rusting agent? I have only heard it from one source but he absolutely swears by it. I have not yet tried it but have any of you? What are your experiences? I think the solution is relatively innocuous which is always nice too. Steve

I am very pleased with them although, since Tim has posted a picture of the original mount next to the new casting, I can see a small error. Nothing we can't live with but it isn't perfect! I'll correct the pattern for the next person who does a Dennis water pump! Steve

Ahhhh! The broad gauge! The mighty stride of Finn MacCool!

As Dad says, we never thought much about steering wheels until we realised that we didn't have one! The photographs are of the unrestored post-war subsidy lorry from which we borrowed the water pump to copy. The wheel is exactly what we are after and, as far as I can make out, consists of a cast aluminium hub and spokes with a steel tubular rim. The rim has finger indentations pushed into it and is then covered with what I believe to be celluloid. I have spoken to a steering wheel specialist and there appears to be no problem about recoating the rim with something which looks right. The problem, of course, is how to make the rim. It would take quite a lot of special tooling to bend the tube and indent it so I plan to cast the whole thing in solid aluminium, dress it by hand and then get the rim coated. We have a laser cut profile in 3mm steel which I will dish and then build up as a pattern with MDF again. After a little careful marking out, I think I can put the grips in by using my 'Dremel' with a sanding drum attached. Lots more hours! Steve

Thank you Micha. I must admit that I am concerned about boring everyone with the endless minute detail. Still, you do keep coming back! There are a couple more pieces on order for the clutch to gearbox connection, again in the very tough En24 steel. We hope to get those in a week or so. In the mean time, I am working on the very last water pump pattern, a simple water elbow, and that should be finished this week. That will see the back of the pattern making for a while which will please me greatly. Metal work shops and wood dust really don't mix and I am desperate to give the lathe a good clean and oiling! Steve

Lovely find! This Great War stuff is out there if you really want it! Steve

If you can get me an outline drawing of the tractor! Steve

Nice vehicle! What is it's history? Steve

Does it clank properly?

Your wish is my command! Steve

Are those what they call 'chaplets'? I have heard of them before but never seen any.I guess you must need them for casting muzzle-loading gun-barrels as you could only get a core print at one end. An opportunity for another thread I think! Justification is easy. They make very good paper-weights! Steve

Oh, that's what you call it! Good to have a name. Yes, I have been concerned about the core floating off. I rather hope that the prints in this one will be big enough to secure it but time will tell. Experience is a great educator but there are so many skills needed that I am having great difficulty in acquiring them all! The next one I want to tackle is blacksmithing as the body will have a lot of forged items in it which I will want to make. Best finish the pattern making first though. There are two left to do and I am doing the main pump body now. Hopefully some more pics next week. Steve

Of the Greek pair, one is painted green, named 'Dame Vera Lynn' and operates on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The other was painted Longmoor Military Railway blue to start with and operated on the Watercress line. It was later painted black and operated in various places until finding a permanent home on the North Norfolk Railway where you took this pic! Steve

Gosh. Now there's a challenge. I may have to refer to the manual in a minute but here's a start. The big lever going from the top left to the bottom right with the yellow tape is the regulator which is the main throttle control for steam from the boiler to the cylinders. This is so long in order that the driver can drive from either side of the cab depending on which railway the locomotive was operating on. On the left hand side at waist height is the reverser which sets the direction of travel and varies the cut-off in the cylinders. Clockwise for forwards and vice-versa. Right in the centre is the fire-hole door and below that, the levers for the rocking grate. Part of the grate could be tipped through 90° to allow the remains of the fire to be pushed out and speed disposals at the end of the day. This was very much easier than the normal arrangement where it was expected that the fireman would shovel a good part out through the door so in spite of this being a utility machine, it had some very modern features. In the top right hand corner of the cab is the sight feed for the lubrication system for the cylinders. Just over the fire door are the two water gauge sight glasses and between them, the blower valve. The blower is a jet of steam directed up the chimney which induces a draft through the fire when the engine is stopped. This prevents the flames from coming back through the door into the cab which one really wants to avoid. The extra draft also increases the intensity of the fire and speeds up the steam raising process at the beginning of the day or any other time you might be in trouble. Just above and slightly inboard of the water gauges are the main steam valves for the injectors. These put water back into the boiler to replace that turned into steam. The three gauges up on the left should be, left to right, the steam brake gauge, the air brake gauge and the vacuum brake gauge. It is very unusual to have all three but as these engines could be expected to work anywhere in Europe, they had to be equipped to suit stock from any railway. The vacuum brake handle is just below the rh gauge and the air brake handle below that. I cannot see the main boiler pressure gauge but it should be over on the right next to the lubricator. Finally, the whistle valve is controlled by the shiny lever just to the left of the lubricator. So there you are! Steve

A whole load of railway equipment from Woolwich went to Bicton Gardens in Devon including the 18" gauge Hunslet shown in Alan's picture just below the gun barrel. I was pulled around the circuit by that engine as a lad, many years ago. They had converted the wagons into passenger carrying vehicles which gave a very hard ride, I remember. Pride of place was 'Woolwich' an Avonside 0-4-0 tank engine of 1916 which had been used in the early days of the railway but was always out of service when I went. I believe that it is now at the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey along with a quantity of other Woolwich items. I must go and have a visit. Steve

WD Austerity 2-10-0 designed by Robert Riddles for the Ministry of Supply, built by the North British Locomotive Company and now in the Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht. This particular example was the 1000th locomotive to be sent to Europe. I have a drivers and maintenance manual for the beast! Steve

They look good. It's nice to do them right! Steve

Hi Norman! How did you do the riveting as the chassis frame looks as if you did them hot? How did you back them up? I must admit that we tend to replace loose rivets with bolts as that is an authorised repair procedure. However, it is nice to do them properly. Steve

Yes, I will certainly post pics of the finished items. I will start on this pattern tomorrow and see how it goes. Steve

Hi Steve. More great pics! The first, with the engine and front part of chassis, is a Liberty 'B'. It is probably a series 1 variant as they had the wooden wheels. Steel became standard in the series 2. The best give-aways are that the radiator is mounted well-forward and that the rad filler cover is of a large elliptical pattern rather than the screw-in type found on most early vehicles. The second is an FWD again but the radiator has gone missing (along with a lot of other stuff!). The axle is a bit more puzzling. My first thoughts were FWD as I thought the remains of the prop shaft (pointing upwards) off-centre suggested four wheel drive. The brake band on the right is very similar too. However, the hub-caps are the wrong shape so I'm afraid I don't know. Tim might be able to offer some light. Cheers! Steve

This one is proving to be quite a puzzle but I think I have a plan now. We went to the foundry on Monday where the moulder was extremely helpful. He said that the patterns I had made would be fine and he could do them. They are doing a gunmetal pour within the next month so we should get the first three castings before Christmas. Following on from Johnny’s suggestion, I have found this picture and you can see evidence of the split along the top centre-line which is just where I would split it if it did not have the side flange. I asked the moulder about this elbow and he thinks he can do it if he manually cuts the sand along this line after the first ramming before turning the mould box over to do the other half. I just have to be careful to make sure the draft angles are correct for this line. Now Gordon pointed out that the ‘ears’ on the flange can’t draw sideways. However, the one on the left is just about on the centre line and will almost draw with just a little more metal. The one in the bottom right is the same but you can see that some more metal has been added and it is slightly miss-shapen. There is nothing that I couldn’t sort with a file in a moment or, as they have done here, just left. I think I will have a go at making it like this and see how I get on. Thank you for all of your thoughts and comments. There is nothing like a challenge! Steve

So what are we actually looking at? It looks like film or is it a seismograph trace on paper? Steve

Thanks for all of that. There is lots of food for thought there. We are off to the foundry on Monday so I shall ask their opinion too. Cheers! Steve

Thanks for the suggestion, Johnny. Yes, lost wax would be very good. There are other options too such as making it in polystyrene and pouring the metal onto the top to burn it out or by just making the elbow and simply brazing the flange onto the side afterwards. What is intriguing me at the moment is that somebody made 5000 of these, ninety years ago, using wooden patterns and I can't see how it was done! These old time pattern makers were very clever chaps and I would love to have had the opportunity to work with them. No doubt it will become clear in the end but for the moment it is still a puzzle! Cheers! Steve

Please Gordon, may I have some advice? The question is, how should I split the pattern for the suction elbow? The fly in the ointment is the flange on the side as I just cannot see how to get the pattern out of the sand. Without it, it would be a simple split along the centreline and a single core but with it, I just don't know. It must be possible as they built at least 5000 of the things. Any advice would be most welcome! Cheers! Steve PS The pipe is 1 1/2" diameter to give you some idea of scale.