The Craftmans Shop > Model Engineering

Assembled Cylinders

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Yorkshireman:
Hallo Stew
The sealant is Loctite 5920, what is also used to fix oldtimer cars.
There is a possible drawback: After years, I may need to change pistonrings. When I unscrew the nuts on one side, the cover on the other end may come loose when there is no more tension on the studs. Then the reassembly of the cylinder on the locoframes, under the runningboard, will be a little difficult.
Yorkie

sbwhart:
Hi Yorkie

Thanks for the reply its amazing what you can fabricate if you try, I'm with Bogs when he says you get bad castings in the UK had one or two problems with them myself and I'm determined to avoid their use with the rest of my loco build.

Cheers

Stew

Yorkshireman:
Stew

You mean cylinder castings from the 'established suppliers', do you?
Friend of mine made his own wood patterns for cylinders of a fairly common loco, took the patterns to a foundry in Huddersfield and had them cast. The people there accepted the job as a non-urged way to use left-over material in their regular operations. The price was a tiny fraction compared to those at the 'established suppliers' and the quality was better.
On my cylinders here, the steam channels, covers, valve guides on the piston valve were made by a bronce foundry in the Midlands. Again, the price was right. We delt with the foundy directly!

Bottom line is, the 'established suppliers' have to survive too, but they are like an oligopoly, where the market is dominated by just a small number of sellers.

Yorkie

bogstandard:
Yorkie,


--- Quote ---Bottom line is, the 'established suppliers' have to survive too
--- End quote ---

I totally agree with you on that point, but it has now got to the stage that the customer is paying good money for a product that isn't up to the mark.

Imagine having put a lot of hours into machining a casting, then you hit an insurmountable problem of say a large inclusion or blowhole.

All you get from the suppliers is, send it back and we will send you a new one. Postal costs back to them and your wasted time are never reimbursed in any way. No gestures of goodwill, nothing.

If they had the castings made by a reputable foundry, rather that the cheapest one they can find, then this sort of thing would be a rare occurance.

It seems at times, if the castings look to be about the right shape, they class it as 'that'll do' and pass it off onto the unsuspecting customer.

There is a fine line between a good supplier and a rip off merchant, and the larger suppliers are usually the worst, as they seem to have the attitude that because they are the only supplier, they can charge whatever they like, even for very substandard goods, in the knowledge that they have already made a load of cash on the initial sale, and it will cost them very little to replace a defective part.

In other words, 'I'm Ok Jack', and 'the customer will always keep coming back, because he has to'.


Bogs

Darren:
I wonder how many kits are machined up, instead they stay sat in their packaging for a year or longer.

By then the customer thinks it's too late to make a complaint if they ever actually get to start the machining process.



The "satisfied" customer No' could be quite high

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