5 inch Gauge 9F

[34053]

Thank you for the Update and Video Clip, VB.

PW

[Vulcan Bomber]

Another exciting update for the little 9F, so we finished the last update with much progress on the horizontal stretchers.... Well, today we update with a lot more!

To machine the 2nd side of the stretcher I had to make a fixture and come up with a way of holding the stretcher to the fixture, after much discussion we decided that countersunk bolts in holes drilled where the pockets would be was the most logical answer so the stretchers were drilled and countersunk for M6 bolts and then clamped to the fixture.






I then failed miserably to get a picture of the middle milled out.

The next job was mill the pockets out and drill any required holes... same fixture was used with clamps this time just nipped down on the edge.



And at home time tonight we had this.



Very chuffed with the outcome.... these are 1.5mm thick, at true scale it would be 1.12mm. These will now need the rivet holes adding on either side and either end. My current plan is to finish off the last bit for the Rear drag box and also the last gussets I need for the vertical stretchers so i can get them welded up, and then i will get back onto these.

[34053]

Very Impressed, VB. Many thanks for your latest Update.

PW

[Vulcan Bomber]

Evening one and all.
A nice little update this evening to show 4 finished Horizontal Stretchers.
I used the same fixture to hold them for drilling the did holes, i mounted the fixture to the angle plate.





And i turned the fixture 90 degrees to finish off with the end holes.

The finished articals are thus.









And i attended the Midland ME show on the Sunday, seeing a couple of completed 5 inch 9F’s both of which carry history in the class, first off 92220 Evening Star.... We know why she is famous!



And this one of 92240


92240 also made it to preservation and currently is awaiting overhaul on the Bluebell line.

Oh and I should report the monumental cock up i made on the rear drag box.... Having picked the wrong line up on the cad when I got the bits laser cut, the side plates were cut 2mm to short... Its no surprise it wouldn't all fit together. Still, new bits are on order.

[34053]

Thank you for the latest Update VB. Sorry to hear about the rear drag box. These things are 'sent to try us', as they say!

PW

[Vulcan Bomber]

Thank you for the latest Update VB. Sorry to hear about the rear drag box. These things are 'sent to try us', as they say!

PW

Yes, very much so. Just proves I'm human.

[Aceyone]

Great work,thanks for the updates !

[Vulcan Bomber]

Evening readers,
Lots to see this evening, you’ll be pleased to know. I was hoping to have updated you before now but sadly one of my dogs went missing last week and looking for her was far more important than trying to entertain you lot.
At the end of the last update I had just finished the 4 Horizontal stretchers so it was time to do something else, I have still got some fiddly little gussets to finish off for the 2 Vertical Stretchers, not being in the frame of mind I found something a little bigger.... So I have started the 2 big Gussets that sit between the outside of the frames and the back of the Front Buffer Beam. I suppose the best thing at this point is to show you the full size item, so once again, a Picture from 92220 Evening Star.



The original is made from 2 bits of folded 1/2inch plate welded together; I’ve gone for machining from 1 solid piece to sneak a little more weight into the frames.

I’ve not pictured the fist couple of ops, you’ve all seen me hold a piece of steel in a vice and mill around it, which is basically what i did to start with... that produced this after they had been milled to thickness.... the 2 holes are reamed for potential use for fixturing for later on.



I then milled around the 2 working faces adding the corner rads and the rad that goes through the corner cut out and drilled the rivet holes.



Next came something a bit cleverer, i needed to finish the angled face in the corner cut out, to make life easy the angle was 51.75 degrees..... Fortunately, we have just the tool for this at work, it’s a tip up V block



This goes together in the Vice like so



The roller serves 2 purposes (its the remains of a bearing and for an idea of size is 1 5/16ths diameter, 1) it backs the Vice jaw to clamp a solid part of the job and 2) is gives me something sensible and reliable to get at with the wobbler (also in the picture) to set a datum. I have then, on my CAD drawn up everything to tell me where all the edges are, The cad looks something like this



Then it’s just a case of throwing a cutter into the machine and milling through the slot.




And in other news, I sent some time back the Stretcher the Pony Truck pivots off to Ed for a couple of bits of soldering , I haven’t got any pics but he has now done this and tonight he’ll be shot blasting it for me so I can ream the last hole in it and mill the mounting pads down to size.

Thanks for looking.

[Sooty655]

All good news on the 9F, VB, but did you find your dog?

[34053]

Thank you VB for your latest, detailed update.

(Yes, very important, as Sooty asked - did you find your dog?).

PW

[Vulcan Bomber]

Evening Gents, we did find the dog, but unfortunately she was in the central reservation of the motorway. How she managed to get herself down there is unknown. As I'm sure you can imagine she was killed in the process.

[Sooty655]

Evening Gents, we did find the dog, but unfortunately she was in the central reservation of the motorway. How she managed to get herself down there is unknown. As I'm sure you can imagine she was killed in the process.

[34053]

So sorry to hear that VB.

PW

[Vulcan Bomber]

I've made some more progress with my Buffer Beam Gussets.

First job after the last update was to Mill the top to match the bottom, i havn't photographed that because they are identical.

Then, it was time to mill the pockets in. Incidentally this is the same setup as milling the top, the packer is an old 2 inch slip.






The pockets are 9mm deep.

Ive still got to put the pockets in to the Gusset for the other side but unfortunately the machine will be commandeered in the morning to mill some spanner flats on some adapters i'm turning at the minute... 3" AF!!

However, normal service will be resumed after they are finished.

[34053]

Thanks for your latest Update VB.

PW

[Spitfire]

I find this totally absorbing and at the same time completely baffling
It may as well be in Swahili because I haven't a clue what's going on - not understanding this sort of extreme
I shall enjoy it more and more as it begins to come together and I can see what bits do what and why

But I do love seeing the sheer skill and tenacity you are showing us ... I especially like the fact that you are making, and telling us about, your mistakes ... it makes it seem more 'real'
They say 'measure twice - cut once' and that is all well and good - but I have measured several times and still got it wrong as, sometimes you are 'blinded' by your own errors. Only the other day I was 3D printing a lens cap for a camera and having double and triple checked it I began the print only to see it appear on the hot bed far too big ... I had got a percentage wrong - twice - in my calculations

And that's only cheap old plastic - so doing that in solid metal must be a total nightmare

Crack on

[Vulcan Bomber]

I do write these updates for a Model Engineering forum I frequent and then simply copy and paste it onto her and a Land Rover forum I also use. If you don't understand any of the Jargon I come out with then do ask and I'll try and explain it.

I am fortunate in that the material costs me next to nothing, it's mostly Bar Ends from work. I've probably spent in total about £100 on material so far.

All the bits I'm making at the minute are for the Locomotives Chassis, the stretchers I rattle on about all fit between the 2 bits of plate that make either side of the chassis.... Or in the world of Steam engines, the frame plates. If things keep going how they are at the minute, I'm hoping to put the frames together in a year or so.

This does bring me onto a question... How good is your 3D printer?

[Spitfire]

If you don't understand any of the Jargon I come out with then do ask and I'll try and explain it.

Nah - I wouldn't even understand the explanation - just keep doing what you're doing and I'll understand it more when it starts going together

I have my son's autistic tendencies and traits and I get far more from pictures and videos than text and words ... once I see it more in a steam engine 'shape' I'll get it

This does bring me onto a question... How good is your 3D printer?

Its as good as I need it to be

Hobby grade - only cost £280 So not professional and £1000's ....But it does ...and makes.... the parts I need
I've added a heated bed now and its a bit better for larger things ...

https://lbsfilm.at/print-rite-diy-a-3d-printer-from-hobbyking/

On the laptop connected to it - for .STL designs - I use the free programme Autodesk123D - the Printer software has the 'slicer' programme built in ....

http://www.123dapp.com/design

What had you in mind

[Vulcan Bomber]

I didn't know if you printer could do wax for lost wax Castings... Might of had a few jobs for you.

My current plan with the 9F is to finish making all the bits of the front end so I can put a few bits together for people to see.

[Vulcan Bomber]

A quick update tonight just to show the Pony Truck Pivot Stretcher now it has returned from Ed's shed for soldering.





This will now need the bronze bush in the center reaming to size along with the bolting pads in the 2nd picture and finally the silver seel locating pegs need drilling through because they are in fact bolt holes.

And Remember the cock up on the Rear Drag Box??? I now have the replacement laser cuttings.




Looks like we know what is happening when the Buffer Beam Gussets are finished.

[Spitfire]

I didn't know if you printer could do wax for lost wax Castings...

Having now researched it - not even knowing this was possible - I see that I COULD potentially print Wax Filament by lowering the extruder nozzle temperature from 210 degrees for PLA plastic to 170 degrees for wax ...

BUT ... my printing deck is no where near big enough to print anything meaningful for a scale steam engine of this size - I would have thought ...

Nice thought though ... better luck elsewhere

I had good fun researching it though - printing wax - who'd have thought it

[Vulcan Bomber]

I didn't know if you printer could do wax for lost wax Castings...

Having now researched it - not even knowing this was possible - I see that I COULD potentially print Wax Filament by lowering the extruder nozzle temperature from 210 degrees for PLA plastic to 170 degrees for wax ...

BUT ... my printing deck is no where near big enough to print anything meaningful for a scale steam engine of this size - I would have thought ...

Nice thought though ... better luck elsewhere

I had good fun researching it though - printing wax - who'd have thought it

You will be surprised at how small some of the bits are that i'll need. I dont really know much about 3d printing but I do know that one of the guys ive met in this hobby has got a 3d Printer specific for wax and he uses a modified ink jet printer nozzle for it, but that can put writing onto things that are tiny as you can imagine, then gets it cast in bronze!

[Spitfire]

Ah - even more complications - not just different nozzle temperatures but a different nozzle as well

You'll find someone to do whatever it is you need I am sure

[Vulcan Bomber]

Evening readers,
I have now managed to finish off the pockets in the Buffer Beam Gussets, I have also drilled these for the brackets that hold the steps. These are through holes on the big 9F but I will tap them 10BA when the time comes. These now need to go onto either the Pro or maybe Ed’s mill to finist them, they end up a triangular shape with a big rad on either end. To do that needs a mill with CNC control of its quill or table (a Z axis).



And today, I took the Pony Truck Pivot Stretcher into work for finishing after it was soldered which i showed in the lasted update. First I milled the pads and bronze bush to size.



Then I slot drilled and reamed the bush ¼ inch diameter. I also added the 4 bolt holes, they will clear 8BA bolts.



And then, finally I turned the Stretcher over to clean up the top face of the bush so the pin that goes through it has a square face to sit on.



This means this stretcher is ready for fitting to the frames, when the frames are assembled it will be drilled for locating the Horn Keep Register and the Spring brackets, it will be removed, the bits soldered/welded and then Riveted back in to the frames.

I’m now going to see what i’m going to do next.

[34053]

All good stuff VB. Thank you.

PW