Table of contents for Issue 4706 in Model Engineer

Martin Evans can be contacted on the mobile number or email below and would be delighted to receive your contributions, in the form of items of correspondence, comment or articles. 07710-192953 MEeditor@mortons.co.uk Merry Christmas Yvette, Diane and I, and everyone at Mortons Media, would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, so far as the rather straitened situation we currently find ourselves in allows. Young and Junior Engineer Awards 2022 The Northern Association of Model Engineers invites nominations from member clubs for this year's Young and Junior Engineer Awards, for young engineers aged between 8 and 26. Note that there is nothing to stop a previous entry that did not win from being entered again - some of the entries last time were just simply ‘pipped at the post'…

Being the first exhibition for two and half years, there was quite a nervous wait for the opening of the 2022 show but after the first ten minutes everyone knew it was going to be a successful event. The queue was back to the car park and soon after opening, the halls were filled with the familiar sounds of an exhibition in full swing. The layout was roughly the same as in previous years and provided a good mix of society displays and traders. The competition entries are always popular and, along with the club displays, are what the exhibition is all about. The competition has already been covered, so this report is about the clubs, the displays and the whole exhibition atmosphere. From the societies' point of view there…

All dimensions are in mm Tolerance for all parts in the article - unless otherwise stated: Non-functional (i.e parts that do not fit all match) ±0.1mm Functional (i.e parts having to match) ±0.02mm Item 16 - Cylinder Block (fig 27) 3 × 3 × 3 inch 6082 aluminium There are many ways in which to tackle this item depending on your experience and capacity of equipment available. The following is a suggestion that has been proven to work for those operating with only the basic of both commodities. Machining bore and end faces * Mark out the centre on one end as accurately as your equipment will allow and centre punch. * Set to run true using the wobbly centre method, in a four-jaw independent chuck. Use smooth pads between…

Discussion Was it worth the effort for the final result? In a financial way - possibly, as the cost of the wire, electrical insulating paper, varnish, steel mesh and the terminal strip and box was less than that of a new three-phase 240 volt delta connected motor and a variable speed drive. I made the dynamometer from items that I already had in 'The Stores' so that did not cost anything. As regards time probably it wasn't worth it at all as it took up many hours in the workshop as well as the time taken undertaking literature searches and understanding how single-phase motors work. This rewind has taken around two years on and off from start to finish, with the motor languishing under the bench at times. I didn't…

Bassett-Lowke Stationery The Making of an Identity By Christine Sanderson Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke was the co-owner of the famous Northampton based Bassett-Lowke company that he started with his friend and business partner Harry Folder Franklin in the 1890s. The company was famous not only for its locomotives, model ships, stationary engines and architectural models but also for Bassett-Lowke's interest in art and design. When Bassett-Lowke and Franklin set up their fledgling model engineering company, they could not have known how art and design would also play such a large part in the company's future, as good design was a key word and was used not only in their catalogues, brochures and advertisements, but also in everyday office stationery. How much of the artwork designs were the artists' ideas and how…

For more info: www.planetarium-friesland.nl www.wikipedia.org www.interestingengineering.com Since I was a young boy I have always been impressed by the sky at night; a dark sky lit up by the moon and stars. I think many of us, when looking at this, will ask themselves, how was it made, what is its origin, what is its past and what will be its future? My approach will be to start to consider several scenarios and ideas about how all this could have developed and why it is there. For centuries these unanswered questions inspired people all over the world to explore the universe. In ancient Mesopotamia, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, astronomers were already practising calculations relating to the movement of stars. The Greeks and the Egyptians also played their part…

The designer of this engine was keen to follow full size practice in as much of the design as possible, so it was no surprise that all the axleboxes were split type, allowing future replacement to be made without pulling the wheels off the axles. This is pretty unusual in 3½ inch gauge. Photograph 30 shows the springing components of the driving coupled axle, with coil springs fitted as on the prototype. The pin retaining the spring rods is held captive when the axlebox assembly is fitted to the hornguides. Photograph 31 shows the trailing axlebox arrangement. The leaf springs on the locomotive are dummies and a single coil spring is concealed within the leaf spring casting. Photograph 32 is a view of the right-hand side of the frames from…

Hotspur may be contacted on 01600-713913 or hotspurengines@gmail.com Making the fire hole frame and door This task can be started by making the simple curved cover plate for the fire hole opening and mounting it on the four 6BA tapped bushes. This may be all that is needed for those that will be adding a gas fired arrangement and I have some ideas for a plate for the firebox with some pan type gas burners (which will be described later, all being well). Now, then, the proper opening for the door itself is required with a hinged and latched door. My drawing (fig 17) shows the design I have used for the door frame but of course builders can adopt alternatives if they wish. Start by cutting out the piece…

Arriving at the track just before lunchtime I found the members were busy arranging locomotives on the steaming bays and generally preparing their work tasks for the afternoon. Before getting into the different tasks of the day, I think a little about the club itself would be appropriate. This society was formed in 1932 after a couple of short-lived attempts at starting a club in Rochdale in 1922 and again in 1927, so they have been in existence for a long time. The present society, which, according to my reckoning, is now 90 years old was, as I said, founded in 1932 when a workshop was set up at Lea Hall in Smith Street. It appears, from the records, to have been well financed at the time which is always…

Continued from p.743 M.E. 4705, 2 December 2022 Mechanics Gearing is important and Molesworth offers formulae to enable an engineer or millwright to calculate the horsepower that may be transmitted with different velocities and pitches of gear teeth made of cast iron. There are rules for pitches and diameters with dimensions for chain gearing. Should you require such information there are details of the form of epicycloidic teeth. If not gearing then there's advice on using pulleys and their estimated velocity. The merits of leather and high-speed belting, or perhaps hemp rope gearing, are discussed. Shafting goes with gears and pulleys and Molesworth is ready to help determine the strength of wrought iron shafts. Oddly, steel shafting is not treated as the main material though surely it had taken over…

Some time ago, good friend Peter Gale mentioned an observation that when he lagged the 5/32 inch outside diameter copper pipe that connected a boiler to a small modelmarine engine, instead of the hoped for decrease in heat loss there actually seemed to be an increase. This assertion surprised me but Peter has a knack of generally being correct in technical matters so later I searched the Internet for relevant information. Websites such as engineering toolbox (ref 1) provide tables of heat loss data for pipes of various diameters and various thicknesses of insulation but these give a limited range of data and only for pipes ½ inch diameter and larger. However, the search also led to a very helpful and concise article (ref 2). This gave an example where…

Atmospheric Railway Dear Martin, Please can I add some further detail to Roger Backhouse's article on Brunei's Atmospheric Caper in issue 4702 as, living in Torquay, I have the advantage of local knowledge. Roger listed the locations of the surviving pumping stations but he omitted Totnes from the list. In fact, the building there still survives but it is shorn of its chimney which disappeared many years ago. That it survives is due to a campaign as recent as 2008 to have it given listed building status when it was threatened with demolition by its then owner, a dairy company. The relevant authorities were successfully lobbied by a local campaign group and it appears to be safe now as it has been granted grade II listed status. Both of the…

CLUB NEWS Another one for the pot! Recently, after our attendance at the Newark radio rally, we headed for the air museum. It is co-sited, but via another entrance. On arrival, we were greeted with an apology and it was closed. The gremlins hadn't finished their dastardly work. The museum had to close because the water supply failed. Water supply? This was the Air Force, not the blooming Navy! However, this meant no tea, so everything came to a shuddering halt. I bought an air band radio receiver and plugged it in at the hotel and it worked. A couple of hours later it stopped and tests revealed no volts. With a menacing mien, screwdriver in hand, I began to check the components around the power inlet. Eventually it dawned…