Minnie TE Long term project

[Joe d]

Thanks, guys!  It's very enjoyable when you hit one of these "you can stick it together and it looks like something" moments.

Joe

[Stilldrillin]

That's a crackin' milestone to have reached, Joe....... 

Well done! 

David D

[tom osselton]

I really enjoy this build I've always liked traction engines!

[Joe d]

David, Tom, thanks!  Glad you are enjoying it

[Joe d]

Spent a bit of time doing some catching up stuff, made the final hinge pin for the firebox door, ,made the locking pin for the gear selector,
broached some of the gears, made the retaining collars for two of the shafts.... did the hubcaps for the rear wheels...

then got to work on more of the rear axle stuff:  Turned the driving centre,


Then used it as a work holding spigot to turn the winding drum


as I turned both parts from the same bit of steel, I bushed the drum with some bronze, then faced it to size and bored the bushing


here it is from the rear view


put the driving centre on the dividing head to cut the ratchet


a little hacksaw and file work to make the pawl, and here we are:


Now just have to find some steel wire rope to finish it off.

Cheers, Joe

 

[Zadig]

Fine workmanship Joe, not a lot of places to hide from the camera on the smaller models.

[Joe d]

Thanks, Zadig.

Carried on with turning the brake drum, turned one side, then trued it up in the small 4 jaw which was then held in the large 4 jaw,
as the jaws on the larger chuck would have destroyed the rim on the finished side. (My large 4 jaw is Number One on the I want to
replace this list)


Stuck all together on the axle blank just to have a look:


Made up the drive pins, a little turning, filing, and silver soldered together


and then trimmed the shaft to final length, milled some keyways, and assembled it all:

from the rear


From the right


And from the other side:


Only thing left to do with this is to install the wire rope once it arrives.

Time to shift to the front end and pick up where I left off with that end of things...

[mexican jon]

WOW  Excellent Work 

[Stilldrillin]

I've run out of meaningful things to write, Joe....... 

Watching. Appreciating. Admiring. 

David D

[Joe d]

Jon, David:  Thanks

Turned some 12L14 to start the smokebox door ring


once done everything i could do from that side, cut it off, flipped it around and finished the other side


Turned a piece for the door, stepped off to form a curved face, filed and sanded out the machining marks after this photo


drilling the rivet holes, happily a 0-80 screw neatly fits a 1/16" rivet hole to hold everything in place


fitting the door hinge


did all the riveting, then drilled for the hinge pin


cleaned up the hinge, stuck in a temporary hinge pin, and here we are:


Still have to turn the securing screw, and then, since the front axle and wheels are done, it on to the chimney.

Joe

[Zadig]

Looking excellent Joe. Great machining skills, a really enjoyable thread.

[Joe d]

Thanks, Zadig.  My Minnie parts are a bit easier to manhandle compared to your Burrell.

[Zadig]

Yes, but you need stronger specs, so it all evens out.

[Joe d]

Started machining the casting for the smokebox saddle,  fussed around and got it running more or less true to turn the
chucking spigot


set it up in the mill to shape the curved surface with the boring head


put it back in the lathe to bore through, and then drilled a steam passage up from underneath, that meets a hole in from the face
of the web on the side of the casting.  Here you see the nice plug silver soldered into place on the back of that web since I got a little enthusiastic  and drilled right through instead of just meeting the passage up from the bottom.....


made up the various little fittings for the blower (some obnoxious bronze stock here, pain to turn, broke two drill bits, good thing
there's only 3 more inches of it left...) starting with soldering up a tee


into the mill to reduce the arms to length and drill & tap, turned the various bushes & nuts, & the nozzle,


and here it is testing for fit, after a lot of fettling of the casting


So, with this done, I can move on with attaching the smoke box to the boiler.

[Ginger Nut]

I'll pull up a chair and watch this looks a super build.

[Joe d]

Thanks, Ginger.

Got the smokebox temporarily positioned with some 0-80 screws, which let me work out the position of the cut-out for
the chimney


Once that was done, hired the Mrs as a temporary shop assistant to help with riveting, saved me from making a lot of dodgy work holders
if I'd tried to do it on my own,  remains to be seen just how much that is going to cost me 

all riveted up,   put in the blower ass'y


from above:


side view:


Starting to turn the chimney: 


and that's where it's got to so far.

Joe

[Zadig]

Still looking good Joe, your workshop looks very cosy and a nice place to work. I have reservations though, regarding the siting of your toilet, a little bit exposed for my liking. I think being able to rivet whilst taking a dump is taking workshop ergonomics - too far!

Edit: I've just realised it maybe your stool I see (no pun...).

Edit (2): No it's definitely a bog!

[Joe d]

Zadig:  I'm a little concerned with your apparent interest in my plumbing arrangements....

You should have stopped when you were second guessing yourself, it's the piano stool that my two eldest sisters sat on for very many hours doing scales.  The piano's long gone, just as well, I can't carry a tune with a handle... but the stool is handy


finished turning the taper on the outside of the chimney, and drilled in preparation for boring the inside taper


made a former and bashed some copper for the chimney cap


made two pieces for the cap, silver soldered them together, and turned it to final dimension


fussed around getting one side of the chimney tube level in the mill to machine a fake lap joint, and drill for decorative rivets


cleaned it up, bashed in the rivets, pressed the cap into place, and voila:


My friendly postman brought me my order of miniature wire rope today, so now will practice wire splicing for the first time in over 25 years...

Joe

[Zadig]

It was worth getting it wrong just to see the stool, what a beauty, wish it was mine - engine too!

[Joe d]

Thanks, Zadig.  Sorry, but that stool isn't going anywhere.  Already fought off the sister- in- law who covets it.

Shifted into rigger mode for a bit:

bent some rod, filed it in half and then filed a groove in it to make a thimble:


Need a shackle to attach whatever to the cable, so started by drilling a bit of rod


bent a piece of smaller stuff, and silver soldered it into the first piece


opened up and shaped the eye with an awl


after filing off the ends of the eye and cleaning up the ends of the larger bit drilled through tapping size and half way clearance size
for the pin


cut out the centre of the large rod and did some filing to shape


Turned and threaded the pin


This is getting long, so will go to another post....

[Joe d]

Put a serving on the cable


made a couple of tries to splice it in hand, after enough of that frustration made up a miniature rigger's vice and things went much better


finished it off by serving over the splice, and here it is:


now back to some metal bashing, started shaping the sides of the tender


And that's all for now.

Joe

[R.G.Y.]

Just caught up with your build. I see you clamping the "T" together to solder. Obviously it worked, but I use a  different method. I build large scale sailing ships, which need a lot of awkward shaped small parts soldered. I embed the parts in a small lump of fire cement, this sets as soon as heat is applied, and cracks off after. When purchased in a tub put small amounts in polythene bags, put back in the tub with a small amount of water in the bottom. In this way it will keep for years.

[Joe d]

RGY

This sounds interesting.  Please expand on "fire cement", not a term I'm familiar with.

I'm certainly keen on something that would be more secure than the clamps, and
less of a heat-sink.

Thanks, Joe

[vtsteam]

Hey great work Joe -- I just caught up! Love the rigging, shackle and thimble construction, and the stack looks great!

Fire cement here, at least, is bought in a tub, and is a mix of fire clay and waterglass (sodum silicate) used in patching the inside of a fireplace or chimney, and sometimes as a mortar for laying firebrick.

https://www.rutland.com/p/104/refractory-cement

[Joe d]

Thanks Steve.

Now that you've shown me, I recognize what RGY is talking about.  I suspect VERY strongly that this will get
tried out,I can see where it would greatly simplify any number of fabrications.  We even have it
here, so I won't have to head south to Rutland

Cheers, Joe