Minnie TE Long term project

[R.G.Y.]

That's it.

[Joe d]

Thanks to you too, RGY.  I'll let you know how I get on when I try it!

a little progress, got the water pocket done

some drilling, filing, and bending


These two bits were then soldered together, and filed to finish dimension.

The plans call for drilling the back plate and the cover with a No 65 drill for a hinge pin, since I've no drills smaller that No 60
I soldered a bit of 1/16" OD tube on each to act as the hinge barrel, worked out OK
here it is temporarily bolted to the tender side


Joe

[Joe d]

getting a little further along:

put a piece of flat brass on the mill to start making some tread plate: handily, have a 5 flute countersink
that was just right to use as a cutter


shifted the piece 60 degrees and cut the other direction:


cutout the pieces needed, and soldered on some flat stock as a bracket:  bedded the parts in a little clump of modelling clay
as a work holder for soldering, worked just fine


some filing, drilled the rivet holes, and bolted in place to have a look:


some straightforward hacksawing, drilling, and filing to make up the drawstraps and re-enforcing straps


and where they live:


now back to painting some waterproofing onto the back deck of the house....


 

[RobWilson]

    dam fine job Joe 


Rob

[vtsteam]

Tread plate step is so cool! 

[R.G.Y.]

Jo, Glad you found my holding method useful.

[Joe d]

Thanks guys.

RGY:  that one goes to very near the top of the "why the hell didn't I think of that a long time ago" list.  Many thanks!

Joe

[Will_D]

Re Tread Plate:

Seem to remeber this tip:

Anneal some thin brass shim

Get a nice coarse file and place the shim on top. Squeeze in vice jaws, hydraulic press or fly press.

If not steel plate on top and one goodly whack with a lump hammer!

Anyone else aware of this?

[Joe d]

I've been making some progress, but been neglecting to post it...

making some bolts for the cable fairlead, using the filing rest to create the hex head:


straightforward filing and drilling to make the angles, simple turning to make the rollers, and looks like this:


Ground a tool to make the ring fitting for the water-feed banjo


test for fit after riveting in the floor plate


partway through riveting the outer shell


 adding the drawstraps, and the water fitting is soldered on the bottom


fairlead installed


all around cleanup, and a good coat of self-etching primer and lots of re-assembly:






And that's going to be it for quite a while,  I've got 2 weeks left before I leave town for work until September...
I'm pretty happy with this winter's progress!

Joe

[vtsteam]

Joe it's looking fantastic!!

[tom osselton]

Thanks for sharing, hope it's not too long!

[Joe d]

Steve, Tom, Thanks!  This is the 5th year in a row that I'll be working away for the summer, usually get home
every second week-end.  By the time I catch up on the honey-do list and several naps, don't have time
left to get anything useful done in the shop....

[Lykle]

Joe, what kind of work do you do if you don't mind me asking?

[RobWilson]

Cracking  Joe , your doing a first rate jobs mate   

Rob

[Joe d]

Lykle:  All winter I work for UPS, the package breaking people   I am also a lonnggggg service Lieutenant with the Sea Cadets, which here in Canada means I have  a Commission as an  Officer in the reserves. So, in the summer I take leave of absence from UPS and go off to be a staff
Officer at a Summer Training Camp, oddly enough with the Army.  This year again, I will be at Connaught Ranges, Canada's equivalent to Bisley.

It's all fun, and even better, pensionable time!

Rob:  Thanks Mate!  See above, I'll be seeing some of your ACF kids again this year, we get a dozen or so on exchange each year, as well as a shorter visit by the Athlings, the ACF Rifle team.  Sorry to tell you that last year Canada won the matches....

[Joe d]

Well, took a month longer than anticipated, but I'm now back at it!

Starting what will be a lot of operations on the cylinder block casting, a quick run over in the mill to create
one flat face to build from for all the various ops:


That done, into the lathe to bore the hole for the cylinder liner:


Using the bore to locate the casting, machined the valve face almost to finished dimension, leaving a little meat for last minute adjustments


That gave me a reference face for the vise so I could cut the curved surface that sits on the barrel of the boiler.  I used a freshly sharpened HSS tool
in a fly cutter, this casting machines like a dream!  Had an off-cut of the boiler material to use to check for fit...


Lots more to go on this bit.

[vtsteam]

Joe, was that a casting to start with, or did you fabricate the curved saddle onto the cylinder, or cut it out from solid? Looking great! 

[krv3000]

 Brill work   

[Joe d]

Thanks Kev.  Steve:  A casting, and a very nice to machine casting indeed.  Something in the bronze family,  and heaps of machining allowance all around.

Joe

PS Steve, Don't forget to come up to Windsor next week-end!

[Stilldrillin]

Joe.
It's nice to see you back among us. And, making progress...... 

David D

[Joe d]

Thanks David, it's good to be back

[vtsteam]

Thanks Kev.  Steve:  A casting, and a very nice to machine casting indeed.  Something in the bronze family,  and heaps of machining allowance all around.

Joe

PS Steve, Don't forget to come up to Windsor next week-end!

Oh it's been heavily circled on the calendar for weeks, Joe. I'll be looking for that hat!

[Joe d]

Looking forward to it, Steve, it will be nice to put a face to the posts....

After cutting the saddle, finished bringing the various faces of the cylinder down to size as they are referenced from the
inside of the arc of the saddle



Still have to bring the outside of the saddle down to dimension, and the rounded over outside of the cylinder, but this is purely cosmetic
and will wait until I've drilled and milled all the various ports and passages which is next



Joe

[Joe d]

In between some honey-do stuff and a quick trip south to Vermont for the American Precision Museum show,  have got a little further on....

Milling the steam ports:  drilled them out undersized, and them milled them out with a carbide PCB drill that happened to be the required size


the exhaust port was easier, a stock size of cutter, and then drilled a steam passage


Milled the pocket on the underside that acts as the "steam dome"


a couple more steam passages


Brought the outside of the saddle almost to size with some free-hand dial twiddling, cleaned it up afterwards with some filing, then
mounted it on a mandrel on the dividing head to bring the curved portion of the cylinder down to size


a little cleaning up, and here we are


So far so good, just have to make and install the liner for the cylinder, and then a bunch of studs for various bits that get attached....

Joe

[Joe d]

Got the liner done,

Turned and bored:


Sawed it off the parent stock, and soldered it into place


milled the ends down to final size, and then drilled the steam passages, used a centre-cutting end mill to start the holes, then followed up
with the drill


Then called it a night....