Bone Works

What is your latest project?
User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:29 pm

Some of you may recall that I created a new siding at Bulkeley Station for another lineside industry. After some deliberation, I decided it would house a boneworks. One actually existed in the area near my railway and so I felt its existence on the line could be justified. I'm not sure I've ever seen a boneworks modelled in any scale and so I quite like the idea of having something a bit different.

There are no clear images of the boneworks near here apart from this photo taken from the top of the brickworks chimney adjacent to the boneworks (Beeston Castle is in the mound in the background and the tower of Peckforton Castle is just visible on the hill to its right).
Boneyard12.jpg
Boneyard12.jpg (212.38 KiB) Viewed 6629 times
.
As you can see, it seemed to have comprised a series of large corrugated iron sheds.

I did a bit of investigating and discovered there was a bone and flint mill in Stoke on Trent which is actually still in existence as a museum. The building looks far more interesting than our local boneworks and so I decided to transplant it (or something similar to it) at Bulkeley.
0_136-16.jpg
0_136-16.jpg (108.96 KiB) Viewed 6629 times
.
Rik
Last edited by ge_rik on Sat Aug 08, 2020 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:35 pm

The first job was to survey the site at Bulkeley station where it would be located, to figure out what sort of space I'd have.
IMG_0935.JPG
IMG_0935.JPG (147 KiB) Viewed 6629 times
.
I reckoned I could squeeze in a building about a metre long by around 30cm deep. It would be modelled in relief, as I did with the brewery.

So, I cleared the area and dig a shallow trench for the building foundations.
IMG_0943.JPG
IMG_0943.JPG (141.22 KiB) Viewed 6629 times
.
This was half-filled with rubble and shuttering placed around. I used the same shuttering for the platform edge as I used for the loading bank - waste-not ...!
DSCN0659.JPG
DSCN0659.JPG (106.57 KiB) Viewed 6629 times
.
A 3:1 mix of sand and cement (plus some concrete dye) was trowelled-in, smoothed off and left to set.
DSCN0663.JPG
DSCN0663.JPG (110.09 KiB) Viewed 6629 times
.
Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:54 pm

Meanwhile, I sent off for some PVC foamboard and tried drawing some window-frames on SketchUp.

The Sketchup frames looked fine on the screen, ......
Sketchup window.jpg
Sketchup window.jpg (140.24 KiB) Viewed 6627 times
.
....... but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get them to load successfully into my slicer software (Cura). Cura complained they were unprintable as they weren't manifold (which means there were holes in the drawing). I tried various methods are repairing the drawings but all to no avail.

In the end, I consulted Google and discovered a great little online 3D package called TinkerCAD. The problem with SketchUp seems to be that, although it is an extremely powerful and versatile program for producing 3D drawings, it was developed before 3D printers became available and hence its drawings are not really appropriate for 3D printing (unless there are some techniques or tools of which I am unaware). TinkerCAD is designed specifically for making drawings for 3D printers and so, after a bit of "tinkering" I produced the drawings for the three types of window needed.
Tinker-window2.jpg
Tinker-window2.jpg (154.03 KiB) Viewed 6627 times
.
The large (6' x 12') window for the engine room (which incidentally contained a Watt beam engine), had to be split as it was too large for the printer bed.
Tinker-window3.jpg
Tinker-window3.jpg (192.87 KiB) Viewed 6627 times
.
The drawings imported into Cura and were sliced with no problems!!

TinkerCAD is actually designed (by AutoDesk) to be used by teachers with children and hence it is quite easy to use. It does mean it has limitations but I found the drawing environment to be quite intuitive and the learning curve a heck of a lot less steep than SketchUp - though, of course, a number of the concepts and techniques are transferable.

Rik
.... to be continued .....
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:02 pm

Update on today's progress
I have finished printing out the widows.
IMG_0953-001.JPG
IMG_0953-001.JPG (102.52 KiB) Viewed 6610 times
.
Because I have a very cheap printer (or maybe I'm just no good at setting it up properly), I have to do a fair bit of cleaning-up after printing. But the windows do seem to have turned out OK.
IMG_0954.JPG
IMG_0954.JPG (52.57 KiB) Viewed 6610 times
.
As you can see from the photo of the original, I've reduced the length of the building by one set of windows. This should give me sufficient room to model the engine house.

The shuttering has been removed from the cast plinth and, while the concrete was still green, I carved the upper surfaces of the edging stones. I resisted the temptation to carve individual cobble stones over the rest of the platform.
IMG_0956.JPG
IMG_0956.JPG (132.55 KiB) Viewed 6610 times
.
IMG_0958.JPG
IMG_0958.JPG (80.03 KiB) Viewed 6610 times
.
Now the windows are done, I have started marking-out the walls and then comes the mind-numbing job of scoring the bricks.

Actually, I'm quite looking forward to it as this building has an interesting variation on English bond brickwork. Instead of alternating rows of stretchers and headers, it has three rows of stretcher bond followed by one row of headers - and then, of course, there are the arches over the upper windows.

As they say, variety is the spice of life!

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: Bone Works

Post by philipy » Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:25 pm

ge_rik wrote: Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:02 pm
Now the windows are done, I have started marking-out the walls and then comes the mind-numbing job of scoring the bricks.

I feel for you, or rather my fingers feel for your fingers! The brickwork on the front, and brick & stone of the sides, of Bench Hall nearly did for both my fingers and head!
Philip

User avatar
Tropic Blunder
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2015 4:02 am
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by Tropic Blunder » Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:28 am

Looking great rik. theres no denying that for repeat builds printing or casting is the way to go, cant wait to see how it turns out.
Jake

Image

steamyjim
Retired Director
Retired Director
Posts: 1210
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:19 pm

Re: Bone Works

Post by steamyjim » Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:39 am

Looking forward to seeing this progress! That 3d printer of yours is a godsend for jobs like that!

The Etruscan Bone and Flint Mill is somewhere I've always wanted to visit - from memory it is preserved in working order.
Check out my steam and engineering youtube channel at...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8vX4P ... _PnvhldjjA

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Mon Aug 10, 2020 7:58 am

Philipy of this parish took a look at my SketchUp drawings and repaired them. It seems that you have to interpret the way the various lines and faces are presented on the screen to figure out if the faces are reversed and if lines are shape outlines or simply just lines. I'm not sure I've explained that correctly, but it would appear there is a whole set of subtleties to drawing in SketchUp with which I am not fully conversant.

Many thanks to Philipy for his guidance and advice. Maybe he could be persuaded to create a masterclass thread in SketchUp drawing for beginners??

TinkerCAD seems to have been designed in a way that makes it difficult for numpties like me to make errors so I'm going to stick with it for now, until I reach the limits of its capabilities. It might be that TinkerCAD could act as a precursor to SketchUp. Its learning curve seems to me to be far less steep.

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
Soar Valley Light
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1451
Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 5:18 pm
Location: North West Leicestershire

Re: Bone Works

Post by Soar Valley Light » Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:42 pm

Hello Rik,

You've come up with a really unusual idea again. The appearance looks great - but I wonder if you are going to reproduce the smell? :pale:

All the best,

Andrew
"Smith! Why do you only come to work four days a week?
"'cause I can't manage on three gaffer!"

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:06 am

Soar Valley Light wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:42 pm ........but I wonder if you are going to reproduce the smell? :pale:
All the best,
Andrew
Not intentionally ....... 🤔

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:09 am

Just discovered a rather fine looking beam engine on Thingiverse which can actually be made to work ...
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1350988

It looks like I'm going to be firing up the 3D printer once more. By the look of the accompanying video, I may not have to rescale it, which will be a relief, as there are 54 individual parts.....

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
Jimmyb
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 492
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2019 10:43 pm
Location: Weston-super-Mare

Re: Bone Works

Post by Jimmyb » Tue Aug 11, 2020 11:43 am

ge_rik wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:09 am Just discovered a rather fine looking beam engine on Thingiverse which can actually be made to work ...
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1350988

It looks like I'm going to be firing up the 3D printer once more. By the look of the accompanying video, I may not have to rescale it, which will be a relief, as there are 54 individual parts.....

Rik
Rik lovely to watch, makes me yearn for a 3D printer, but first I need to finish the projects I have started, without starting any more.

User avatar
Old Man Aaron
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 795
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2016 11:08 am
Location: Sunshine Coast QLD, Australia

Re: Bone Works

Post by Old Man Aaron » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:49 pm

Enjoying seeing your work thus far, looking forward to seeing it come together. Platform looks quite good, too.
Regards,
Aaron - Scum Class Works

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: Bone Works

Post by philipy » Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:02 pm

That beam engine looks magnificent Rik. Brilliant find.
Philip

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: Bone Works

Post by philipy » Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:16 pm

ge_rik wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 7:58 am

Many thanks to Philipy for his guidance and advice. Maybe he could be persuaded to create a masterclass thread in SketchUp drawing for beginners??
No Probs, Rik, glad to help whenever I can.

As for me doing a Masterclass, I'm very far from being a Master! A SketchUp Bodgeller would be closer. :lol: I spend a lot of time going the long way round to achieve things that I'm sure should be very simple. However if you or anyone else wants to pick my brains, such as they are, please feel free at anytime.

To come back to your suggestion though, there are many video's on YouTube created by real experts, although admittedly they are often more 'expert' than I need. However, it's difficult to predict what issues you might want help with, and they might be different to what somebody else wants, and I may or may not know the answers to either!
I guess I could try to do a " This is how I created a ........" thread, in the same way that your blogs are structured.
Perhaps starting with windows? If that's of interest, what other subjects would you or anyone else want describing?
Philip

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Wed Aug 12, 2020 7:54 am

I think window frames would be an excellent starting point. I reckon most people buy frames when making their models and sometimes compromises need to be made to make the model fit the frames available. Also, quite a few techniques can be demonstrated with a even a simple window frame. I was about to produce a blog post showing how I drew the frames using TinkerCAD, so they would complement each other nicely.

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
Lonsdaler
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1226
Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 9:50 am
Location: North Yorkshire

Re: Bone Works

Post by Lonsdaler » Fri Aug 14, 2020 12:07 pm

ge_rik wrote: Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:02 pm Update on today's progress

Actually, I'm quite looking forward to it as this building has an interesting variation on English bond brickwork. Instead of alternating rows of stretchers and headers, it has three rows of stretcher bond followed by one row of headers - and then, of course, there are the arches over the upper windows.

As they say, variety is the spice of life!

Rik
Another interesting build Rik, and the wi(n)dows look great :D . Just fyi, the brickwork is English garden wall bond! So perhaps you may think a strange choice for a building. However, it uses fewer facing bricks and gives a good spread of lateral load. Who knew my building construction and fire engineering studies would be of use 40 years later!
Phil

Sporadic Garden Railer who's inconsistencies know no bounds

My Line - https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 41&t=11077

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:44 pm

Lonsdaler wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 12:07 pm Just fyi, the brickwork is English garden wall bond! So perhaps you may think a strange choice for a building. However, it uses fewer facing bricks and gives a good spread of lateral load. Who knew my building construction and fire engineering studies would be of use 40 years later!
Thanks Phil
I suspected there would be a name for it, but hadn't expected an industrial building like this would have such a rural-sounding connection.

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:53 pm

Incidentally, I have created a little tutorial on my blog showing how TinkerCAD can be used to produce bespoke window frames. Hopefully, I've included sufficient info for people to be able to transfer the techniques to drawing other items.
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2020/0 ... ercad.html

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Bone Works

Post by ge_rik » Wed Aug 19, 2020 10:34 am

Update
I've finished scribing/impressing the brickwork into the walls and am now in the process of tiling the roofs. It's nearly 1m long and so should look quite impressive once it is installed.
IMG_0981.JPG
IMG_0981.JPG (86.67 KiB) Viewed 4989 times
IMG_0982.JPG
IMG_0982.JPG (96.01 KiB) Viewed 4989 times
.
Meanwhile, the printer has been churning out the 60 odd parts for the beam engine. I calculated they have taken 47 hours 1 minute of actual printing time - but that of course doesn't count setting the printer up for each print. I am impressed by the attention to detail the chap who has made the files has gone into.
IMG_0990.JPG
IMG_0990.JPG (102.81 KiB) Viewed 4989 times
.
I just hope I do it justice when I put it together.

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests