Índex per Issue 4714 a Model Engineer

Harrogate As you read this it will be four weeks since I attended the new Harrogate exhibition although, as I write this, it is only a week ago. My impression of the show is that it was a great success, despite the weather. Model Engineer and Model Engineers' Workshop had a stand at the show and it was good to meet many of you there. I hope this show will become an annual fixture, giving us two nationwide shows each year (the other being the Midland Exhibition at The Fosse). The show combined a model engineering exhibition with a model railway show which, of course, expanded the 'catchment area' considerably, as model railways are a far bigger hobby than ours. There is the hope that many of the model railway…

By the end of 1984, the Uckfield club's expanded engineering team, doggedly assembling panel-after-panel of triple-gauge track and blissfully unaware of the consequences, had inadvertently disrupted the global screwdriver market and caused unforeseen hardship to speculative tool sellers and Algarvian property developers alike. However, and just when you think you've got the hang of things, that is not where we're starting this episode. So, follow me, patient Reader, as we backpedal the story by a few months to May of 1984 and enter a cloche-windowed workshop in an outlying suburb of Crowborough. Footwear to the rescue With the earthworks at Bentley nearing completion, and the first load of washings soon to be delivered in the wrong place, there was plenty to keep me busy beyond the hours of school and…

Wainwright Dear Martin, I found the series of articles entitled Wainwright's Swansong by Nick Feast very interesting (M.E.4702, October 21 st 2022 ef seq.). The bit that I found most interesting was the specifications that he laid down for the testing of materials used in the locomotives. These were used by Borsig in Germany and I believe it was mentioned that a British builder also followed the same methods when they built a batch of these locomotives at the same time as the German firm did, prior to WW1. This I believe has led to today's requirements for what we now know as non-destructive testing (NDT). This is used a lot in the aviation industry and other industries. Also we find in certain critical parts they are ‘lifed’ i.e. changed…

Three only newsletters reviewed and it is the 14th of February already! (Roses are red, violets are blue, any more newsletters to review?) The Club News Editor is like the captain of a pirate ship, hoisting the flag of news and information for all members to see. They search the seven seas of club events and activities, pillage interesting titbits and craft tales that are both engaging and informative. With a trusty pen as their sword and a keyboard as their pistol, they defend the good name of the club against boring and uninteresting news. They are the scourge of dull articles and the herald of exciting club happenings. So, grab your eyepatch and parrot and join the Club News Editor on their adventure! Debs went off to Merseyside with…

We now come to the bogie frame drawings (figs 55 to 59) so not many photographs this time I am afraid. I have managed to find one photograph which I could blow up enough to give a half decent view of the guard irons. Photograph 109 is actually of a green B1 photographed at Perth and I was very pleased to see it has the proper front bogie on it! It is the type fitted to the ones I have drawn as being from 8301 to 8310 until withdrawal. It is folded at either end to bolt it to the side frames, and it has the double scallop at the top and bottom. That was all the information I could find but I got this information from an 'Isinglass' drawing.…

The usual way to carry out slotting is to use a slotting tool set in the tool post at the right height, fed with the cross slide and driven by the saddle handwheel. Photograph 1 shows the process and the axial forces (along the Z axis) involved. A1 is the axial cutting force and A2 the axial force exerted by the rack on the pinion teeth. As these forces are not in line, a large torque around the X axis is created. Photograph 2 shows the cutting forces (see later) involved when the tool is cutting on the back part of the bore and photo 3 shows the same forces but when the tool is cutting on the front part of the bore. The first situation is far better as…

For this article Mr. and Mrs. Backhouse took their first ever package holiday to see an historic mountain railway, the Zermatt to Gornergrat rack railway which opened in 1898. Using the Abt rack system it was the first electrically powered mountain railway and used three phase electricity. Still flourishing today it offers spectacular views of the Matterhorn and other peaks (photo 1). British tourists discovered Switzerland in the 19th century; they enjoyed the scenery but complained about hotel quality and overcharging. (Swiss hotels are now excellent but tourists still complain about Swiss prices.) Their holidays often involved mountain walking and climbing. Even Queen Victoria ascended the Rigi, but on a pony. As railways and lake steamers developed, more tourists came - Thomas Cook brought his first party to Switzerland in…

GRASSHOPPER Item 41 - Control Valve Body - (fig 59) 2x2x2 inch 6082 Aluminium The first step is carried out on the milling machine. Bringblankto size - 50 x 50 x 42. Use a permanent marker to indicate the orientation of the four faces that require machining. Holdinthe vice with a 50 x 50 control end face uppermost. Centre the spindle to the centre of the blank. Centredrilla reference in the centre of the blank. Centredrilland drill Ø3.3 x 11 deep at the four places as indicated. Tap M4 x 10 four places. Turntheblank 180 degrees keeping the same face against the fixed jaw. Recentre the spindle to the centre of the blank. Repeatreferencecentre and drilling and tapping the four M4 threads on the pipe connection face. Transfer the work…

Today I begin some of the more interesting parts to the motion, I say ‘interesting’ in as far as they take a little more thought in the setup. There aren't many more parts of the motion to make but those that are left bar the union links are shall we say a little more involved. We have the combination lever, radius rod and eccentric rods plus the various bolts/nuts to connect them. There will be a few bits and pieces still to do before we can run on air but nothing too taxing. Combination lever The combination levers could be tackled in a number of ways and I have chosen to make them from solid gauge plate. All of the motion on this model is either HRPO steel or gauge…

Pipework There is not much to say about the pipework other than there is a lot of it and you become well practised at making the fittings. I would say the most difficult parts were the two balancing pipes between the tanks which are quite large in diameter. The cross pipe connecting the two side tanks has to be slightly bent to avoid other elements. It is inserted into the sides of the tank using O-ring fittings. The reason why this is difficult is because you have to install the pipe while fitting the tank to the footplate as you can't do it after the tank is mounted. This means it has to be just the right length to fully engage the O-rings but not bottom and prevent the tank…

April 5 Bradford MES Boating bits and pieces evening Saltaire Methodist Church, 19:30. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999 5 Bristol SMEE The Gresley P2 Locomotive Project, Begbrook Social Club BS16 1HY, 19:30. Contact: secretary@bristolmodelengineers.co.uk 6 Sutton MEC Bits and Pieces evening 20:00. Contact: Paul Harding, 0208 254 9749 7 Rochdale SMEE Just nattering in the Hut, Springfield Park, 19:00. See www.facebook.com/ RochdaleModeLEnaineers 8 Bradford MES Easter bunny event, Northcliffe, 12:30-15:00. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999 9/10 Bristol SMEE Public running at the Ashton Court Railway BS8 3PX, noon17:00. Contact: secretary@bristolmodelengineers.co.uk 9 North Wilts MES Public running at the Coate Water Railway, 11:00-17:00. See www.nwmes.info 9 Sutton MEC Track Day from noon - 16:00. Contact: Paul Harding, 0208 254 9749 9 Taunton Model Engineers Public running at Vivary track, 14:00. See…