Garden Railway Forum

Lovely work Dazza. I think I need a lot more workshop practice to boost skills and confidence.

Don

DonW wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:46 am Lovely work Dazza. I think I need a lot more workshop practice to boost skills and confidence.

Don

I reckon you are going along pretty nicely. I have never done this stuff before, I often do some test runs on scrap and then get stuck in.

It is happening at glacial pace but there is some progress to report, so here it is:

Wheel blanks held in soft jaws of the chuck.



Six wheels, plus one for spare (and for f*** ups ), axle hole reamed and outside register turned at the same setting (to ensure they are concentric).
Seventh wheel is on the spigot used to finish turn tyre thread



Spigot in the chuck ready for wheels.



There is enough clearance between axle hole in the wheel and retaining bolt to allow the wheel to be tapped until precisely centred on the spigot.



Finishing the wheel thread (you can also see poor man's DRO substitute using DTI )



Finished wheels.



Wheels will be loctited on the axle, rather than held by a grub screw (as suggested in Brian Wilson's book).
Unlike the commercial offerings they will never be re-gauged so there is no point in grub screw.

Bit of a milestone today



and on it's own "legs" for the first time



Delighted with how free rolling and smooth it is on ball bearings.
It was definitely a lot more effort than what it would be if I used conventional bronze axleboxes,
and I hope the bearings I used are up the job, but so far it was really worth it (at least for me).

Looking at the wheels, I am inclined to blacken them rather than leave them shiny?
Black would have (at least afaiac) more "prototypical" appearance?
What do you think guys? (and girls, if there are any here?)

That looks sweet. Nice work. I like the surface plate as well.

Hydrostatic Dazza wrote: ↑Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:04 pm That looks sweet. Nice work...

Thank you
I only just test assembled it to see if it all fits OK, before loctiting the wheels on the axles,
and before I do that, I also need to blacken the wheels (if I decide to do so).
I will do the test on my spare/seventh wheel.

Hydrostatic Dazza wrote: ↑Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:04 pm ...I like the surface plate as well.

One of the few survivors of decline of British engineering/manufacturing industry over the last 40 years that ended up in my workshop
All three of my past employers ended up being closed down and space thus "liberated" ended up being converted into supermarket
On each occasion I have managed to acquire some equipment

Cranks next...

bambuko wrote: ↑Sat Nov 09, 2019 9:18 amI also need to blacken the wheels (if I decide to do so).

Why wouldn't you? No full-size loco ever had unpainted wheels (that were not rusty).

I tried my spare wheel:



and it definitely looks better/real blackened (rarther than bright steel).
I am not happy with the quality though...
it is blotchy and rubs off easier than it should.
Need to experiment more with temperature, degreasing and preparation before the process I guess

ps possibly the finish is not as good as I hoped for, because I am using clean oil, rather than old used one?

Maybe the type of oil. Perhaps some good thick steam oil, close to boiling and then dunk the stinking hot wheel .

Last time I've done something like this was about 35 years ago so there was some re-learning curve
but, it is all sorted out - I was overheating and burning things.
Much more delicate and ontrolled application of heat (you don't need it glowing red ) resulted in finish I wanted.
No, you don't need old oil! Some people recommend boiled linseed oil - might try it some day...

Call me old-fashioned if you like, but why not use primer and paint?

Because you cannot paint flange and thread of the wheel and (as far as I am concerned at least) bright shiny mild steel just doesn't look right

I am a fan of chemical blackening and have moved on to this product which is a true four stage room temperature process:

http://www.black-it.co.uk

bambuko wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:22 amBecause you cannot paint flange and thread of the wheel and (as far as I am concerned at least) bright shiny mild steel just doesn't look right

Oh, I absolutely agree, but there are hundreds of model loco owners out there who think bright shiny steel wheels (and cranks) look just right, apparently.

Thank you @ tom_tom_go for sharing - interesting
Main advantage of the hot oil method for me is that it is using things I already have in my workshop, without having to buy additional stuff, for what is a one off, relatively rare operation.

TonyW wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 1:47 pm ...there are hundreds of model loco owners out there who think bright shiny steel wheels (and cranks) look just right, apparently...

and, that is absolutely fine but... I am building this loco to please/satisfy just myself

There are girls on the forum and they are well versed in the ways of engineering. It's something of a mystery to boys, that girls can make things out of steel.... Not having ago really....


On the shiny wheels. Don't get me wrong, I haven't much knowledge on how railways ran or do run, has most members know... But don't the bottom of the wheels stay somewhat shiny, as the rails do when they are constantly running against each other...

FWLR wrote: ↑Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:56 am...There are girls on the forum...

No reason why not indeed although in these PC times they may object to being referred to as "girls"

FWLR wrote: ↑Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:56 am... don't the bottom of the wheels stay somewhat shiny, as the rails do when they are constantly running against each other...

They do and I hope that with use my wheels will become shiny where they should as well... (and if not I will help with the process )

Anyways... it's a personal foible and there is no right or wrong way, just the way you do it on your railway.

A bit late to this thread, but one of the things that I have always done when oil blacking is to return the part after dunking in oil back to the flame and allow the oil to burn on the part. Keep on doing this until the depth of black you want is achieved. For obvious reasons you shouldn't do this in a confined space, I always do it outdoors but with the current weather patterns that may be a bit difficult. I have in the past used old engine oil as I believed that the impurities/dirt in the oil would aid the blackening process, but as I no longer carry out my own car servicing I no longer have access to old sump oil so use whatever I have to hand and I haven't really noticed any difference.

@ pandsrowe
Yes, I have applied it twice as well to get the right depth of black