andypugh Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Tomo.T said: It will pass muster at a distance and will doofa now. It would be fairly easy to re-shape the body with a spot of hand-turning. ie, with a rest and a hand-held bit of tool steel. (least-favourite wood chisel reground?) https://youtu.be/SpVBjjdEoPA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 Ok then, we went the extra mile ! Unfortunately Mr Colchester does not have a rest, so Stan improvised with a file and some abrasives and very soon we had a much closer representation of the original. I suppose you'll be wanting a bigger handle now ! It is interesting to see how this post Edwardian item has been slimmed down, presumably for economy reasons. ( Tap shown upside down for effect.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 The rather sorry remains of the steering wheel have been dug out and appraised for suitability. Didn't look too promising at first, but the centre is good and after some careful straightening the arms have come back in line. Note the tags which locate into the tubular rim and were then riveted over from the outside before the necessary holes were filled with lead and a covering of celulose applied all over. A 15 1/2" tubular rim, has been ordered (after a bit of a struggle) and will be supplied in two pieces. This will greatly aid the fitting of the centre spigots, which we intend to braze in place. Next problem is how to re create and attach the small finger grips that surround the underside of the wheel, originally these would have been formed with the celulose coating, any suggestions please chip in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rootes75 Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Thats some very tiday work. I often see people simply throw parts away thinking they are too far gone before properly checking them out. When I saw the pics before reading your text I did wonder if the rim would have been made of wood. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Tomo.T said: Next problem is how to re create and attach the small finger grips that surround the underside of the wheel, originally these would have been formed with the celulose coating, any suggestions please chip in. Do you have a plan for covering the rim? If all you need are some bumps to go under the coating, then I think I would 3D print them. Though the probable shape will make that a bit tricky as there will be no flat surfaces to sit against the print bed. If you made a pattern from epoxy putty or similar then you could make a silicone mould and cast them in epoxy. But that would be one-by-one and pretty tedious too. Combining the two ideas, perhaps a 3D-printed mould to form some epoxy putty into a consistent shape, then apply those to the rim. I think cling-film might be the answer to releasing the putty from the mould. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citroman Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 (edited) On my wooden steering wheel i used an drill with one of those sandpaper bushes on. But than you have to use a bit thicker tube. Edited August 31, 2020 by Citroman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 4 hours ago, Tomo.T said: Next problem is how to re create and attach the small finger grips that surround the underside of the wheel, originally these would have been formed with the celulose coating, any suggestions please chip in. Hi Tomo. Have a look at page 43 of our Thornycroft thread. You can see how I made the ribs from brass for the pattern. I glued them onto the timber but you could soft solder them on to a steel tube. Tedious but effective! Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 Thanks for the replies, I will consider my options ! I think I will start with the brass and see how that goes, then possibly use some to create a mould and cast them from resin. I was intending to build up the spokes with filler anyway and apply a couple of coats of satin black to simulate the celulose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 The half round brass extrusion was easily obtained online. It was tightly wound round a one inch tube before annealing to take out the 'spring' Once the method was established, it was just a case of tedious repetition, until the required amount of grips had been produced. We are now awaiting the arrival of the rolled tube to get stuck in to the steering wheel. Elsewhere, missing plates have been made up for the cylinder covers. One of them is a temporary replacement for the water pump base. (Which in our case, we don't have.) These were cut from 8mm plate which was the closest to the original. They were cleaned up, drilled and Mike Lewendon stepped up to mill out the centres. After a coat or two, they look indistinguishable from the originals. The cylinder blocks are almost ready for final assembly. After another 'final' coat of Service Colour of course. Far away in Australia, Dave Rossington ( finder of the engine ) offered to reproduce a relief valve if I could send him a drawing. Nigel Spender happened to have one to hand, so that was fired off to NSW. and Dave has already made the parts ! Here is a pic of his progress. Thanks Dave. Can't wait to see this little number back in it's proper hole. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 The steering wheel has come on leaps and bounds today. The arrival of the rolled tube coincided with Stan being rained off and I prepped all the parts and made two spiggots from a short boiler tube off cut. Mike milled the necessary slots in the tube and I fitted the the ensemble together.....Which took longer than expected! It was now time for Stan to work his brazing magic on my wobbly collection of parts and suddenly we had a good solid steering wheel. After some further file and sanding work the job is now ready for the grips to be applied (with solder) and then some filler and paint. Thanks due to to Mike, Stan and Pipecraft Innovations Ltd. of Lancing, W. Sussex. who did a nice accurate job of the tube ring. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Great teamwork, an excellent job! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypugh Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Tomo.T said: After some further file and sanding work the job is now ready for the grips to be applied (with solder) I think that I would seriously consider epoxy. 1 hour ago, Tomo.T said: Thanks due to to Mike, Stan and Pipecraft Innovations Ltd. of Lancing, W. Sussex. who did a nice accurate job of the tube ring. In fact the ring is so good that I am going to suggest a way to show off 🙂 Get them to make a bigger complete ring. Cut it in half horizontally, then press divots in the bottom half with a specially-made press-tool. Cut slots for the spokes and then cast bakelite round the wheel. I don't think an authentic reproduction is out-of-reach. But I also don't think it is worth the effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rootes75 Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 Absolutely superb. Just goes to show what can be achieved with some thought, planning and teamwork. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 When the chassis was blasted, I was alerted to the presense of small cracks in the diff housing. There were also signs of previous repair. As a result, I put the rear axle on hold, hoping that something would turn up. Well something did ! Thanks to the generosity of team Gosling (and Blaster Mike,) I am now the custodian of a spare diff/ axle casing and an expedition was recently mounted to recover it from deepest Somerset. This is an early cast iron casing in excellent condition with a bonus of two replacement axles with near zero wear. The clean up continues. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrunt & Farthing Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Now they are in nice condition, well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAN_B Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Great news on the diff. Hope a gearbox comes to light soon. Ian 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 (edited) Pushed on with the diff housing and made some interesting discoveries too. Firstly the material is not cast iron as originally thought, but cast steel. Some nice markings are visible The part No. is revealing. In the 1919 parts book this No. has been superseded by 58104. 'Auriga' states that 57935 was updated in 1915 but is not clear what was altered. Thornycroft part No's were updated chronologically and 58XXX series began to appear around Jan, 1915 This dates our new casting as earlier. One thing that is obvious is that the replacement axles are of the later type with 10 TPI. threads instead of the earlier 16 TPI. also noted by 'Auriga' By close of play today all parts that need it have a first coat of Bonda. Edited September 30, 2020 by Tomo.T more info, 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 Always nice to see more Service colour on parade and after all fittings and several severely emaciated nuts and bolts had been removed. It was time to get stuck in wit brush. Although the cast steel had been virtually untouched by Antipodean rust, some of the nuts and bolts had provided a fine dining opportunity . The bolt shown put up a particularly good fight and after all normal channels had been exhausted. It was eventually ousted by a boilermakers air chisel manned by Mike. ( Resistance is futile ! ) Cleaning the inside black goop out revealed evidence of a sealing coat of dark blue grey paint, which once clean enough will be replaced by a coat of Glyptol as per the sump. Further progress on the steering wheel has occured, and after a good clean up I marked out the positions of the dreaded grips. The soldering process was far more fiddley than expected and the little toenails proved extremely skittish once heat was applied and the flux became liquid. The job quickly became a two man effort and I was tasked to hold the little blighters still, with a brazing rod while Stan did the technical soldering bit. This method improved as we went on and we would have finished the task, but for a shortage of three toenails, which will be rectified tomorrow. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 Missing toenails now present and correct, cleaned up, and ready for some filler and etch primer. Shame I was just starting to enjoy that ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bill Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Nice job! Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrunt & Farthing Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 That is very clever. Well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Spent the day feckling the steering wheel forks with several helpings of U-Pol and much rubbing down, to simulate the original celulose coating. Results are quite encouraging and the spokes look much better for it. I rushed a coat of etch primer on, to seal the surface and hope to finish the rest of the prep tomorow. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 We next had to decide on a top coat, something satin, and similar to the original coating would be desirable. I settled on Simoniz 'durable' acrylic which is a new product and certainly gives a nice result. How durable it is remains to be seen, as the steering wheel takes a lot of wear, (or hopefully will one day ! ) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrunt & Farthing Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 I would be rightfully, "proper chuffed" with that. You have put some hours into it and it looks superb. I need to up my game from: "hoping one pops up on ebay" to something more constructive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo.T Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 Thanks for the kind words, this was a surprisingly complex team effort. I think it's fair to say we all learned something from it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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