Garden Railway Forum

You certainly are Rob. A very impressive job, it's starting to look more and more like a steamer.

RobRossington wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 3:12 pm Anyway, as recommended, I cut a slot out of some of my pipe, and slotted it into a full-size piece for a smokebox and another for a firebox. It’s a bit rough, but it’s definitely the right size now. This was just a quick experiment, so if it doesn’t clean up well enough I can cut another piece and take a bit more care. I’ve got 3m of the stuff so it’s not like I’m going to run out

Looks like it will be OK. If it doesn't work out, PVC electrical wiring conduit is measured by the OD (unlike water pipe) and is available in a 50mm size.

Regards,
Graeme

Something has been bugging me over the last few days. The running plate was just too wide, so today I’ve reduced it by about 6mm by taking 3mm from each side. It looks much better now IMO, pictures to follow.

It's so annoying when you get that itch and simply can't see what's wrong!

Glad you've sorted it and looking forward to seeing it.

You're right there Philip.

I get an itch all the time and it's so annoying when I can't reach it....

philipy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2019 5:19 pm Graeme, my initial thought is that because Limonene takes longer to evaporate there is more opportunity for subsequent warping, but presumably you have not found this to be an issue?

Sorry Phil, I meant to reply earlier..........

I was laminating up a block of polystyrene today and finally remembered.

I started using limonene many years ago when it first turned up here in Oz. A friend tried it, recommended it and we've used it since then. It is sold by several local suppliers here, as well as Microscale under the name Micro Weld. There are probably others.

It will work well on polystyrene, but not other plastics. Generally claimed to be perfectly safe because it is a 'natural' product made from orange skin, but some people can become allergic to it.

I use it mostly for laminating three layers of 0.5mm sheet for carriage and wagon roofs. It gives a longer working time, so it can be brushed over a large area and clamped before it evaporates. I takes a while to set hard and I leave the roof blank in the clamping jig for a week to harden up.

I also use it for laminating up blocks for subsequent shaping, as once hardened up the joints don't show, or tear out when filing and sanding. If I use MEK the block hardens faster, but it is more difficult to get a good surface finish when filing and sanding it to shape.

The other thing I use it for is when applying thin strips to a curved surface. eg. bands on gas tanks. It is much less likely to cause the strip to break when it is under tension. As an example, today's job was to wrap 0.75mm x 4mm strip around a block with 3mm radius corners. If I'd tried that with MEK the strip would have snapped on the bends as soon as the solvent hit it.

Because it is slow drying you don't need three hands to assemble parts, just brush the limonene along each edge and bring the parts together. It acts a bit like contact cement, as due to the slow evaporation rate it makes the surface tacky for a few seconds, long enough to line everything up before it starts to harden. The action is described on the Microscale instruction sheet here.

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/gra ... minstr.pdf

D-Limonene isn't the answer to all problems glueing polystyrene, but is less likely to cause warping and cracking than other solvents in my experience. You just have to be patient while the joints harden. Unless you were unlucky in the genetic lottery, it is safer to use than chlorinated solvents and some of the other mixtures out there.

Regards,
Graeme

Cheers Graeme.

I've got some Limonine that I bought to dissolve supports in 3D printing, so no prob getting it.

I must give it a try. I know what you mean about styrene strips breaking as you try to curve them, so it sounds interesting for that if nothing else.

Happy (belated) new year from the CLR!

















All images taken on New Year's day

Last post edited to correct the lack of pictures, you should be able to see them now!

Happy New Year to you too, Rob.

I love the two B&W photos, especially the second one. Not quite so sure about the purple ones though.

Lovely, thank you! I love the last one, very festive - and just in time before Twelfth Night!

Cheers,

Andrew

RobRossington wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2020 5:39 pm Happy (belated) new year from the CLR!

















All images taken on New Year's day

I still can't see them Rob unfortunately.....

FWLR wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:25 am

RobRossington wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2020 5:39 pm Happy (belated) new year from the CLR!

















All images taken on New Year's day

I still can't see them Rob unfortunately.....

How Strange! I’m not really sure what to suggest. Imgur seems to be having some problems at the moment.

I’ll attach the links to the imgur gallery directly instead;
https://imgur.com/gallery/uvtRmL0

https://imgur.com/gallery/XXL6goE

RobRossington wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:20 pm

RobRossington wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:20 pm I still can't see them Rob unfortunately.....

How Strange! I’m not really sure what to suggest. Imgur seems to be having some problems at the moment.

I’ll attach the links to the imgur gallery directly instead;

I'm not sure what is going on either but I think it must be something to do with whatever device Rod is using. I'm now seeing the entire collection of 8 pictures three times each.
1- Rob's original posting, then
2- Rod's reply in which he copied them, followed by
3- Rob's reply which has copied Rod's post and they show up there again!

Yes, that is what I'm seeing down here too.
Grant.

I can see the pictures in three posts. I am using Crome browser on Windows 10 on a laptop with a decent Broadband (about 40Mbps average).

Don

FWLR wrote: ↑Sat Aug 25, 2018 10:29 am Hi Rob,

Just some brilliant photos and you should be very proud to have a collection of very fine locos. I love your line, it’s simple, yet brilliantly thought out as well. Love the way you wind the locos around the tree.

Could you put a camera on a tripod, or even put it packed up on some thing soft like a cushion and take a short video from both ends. Just a thought.

Thought I would reply with this post I put up on Rob's thread on this date and time.

It clearly states I can see Rob's photos. But now I can't even see them. I have been using this MacBook Pro for over 4 years now, so it's not my device or is it the average Mb. Safari update their security on a regular basis.

Sorry Rob, but even those links won't open for me. I get a message if a site is not secure, therefor it won't let me get on it. Your photos on the forum are not the only ones that my laptop won't let me see. On some emails I get, there are photos that won't open on them also.

It's something that can be rectified I am sure. Hopefully in the not to distant future we can meet up and I would then be able to see your line in real time...

This is not an issue with the forum.

Linking to 3rd party websites for images is not always reliable which is why you can upload images directly to the forum (this also means as time goes by threads do not have broken images).

FWLR wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 8:53 am

FWLR wrote: ↑Sat Aug 25, 2018 10:29 am Hi Rob,

Just some brilliant photos and you should be very proud to have a collection of very fine locos. I love your line, it’s simple, yet brilliantly thought out as well. Love the way you wind the locos around the tree.

Could you put a camera on a tripod, or even put it packed up on some thing soft like a cushion and take a short video from both ends. Just a thought.

Thought I would reply with this post I put up on Rob's thread on this date and time.

It clearly states I can see Rob's photos. But now I can't even see them. I have been using this MacBook Pro for over 4 years now, so it's not my device or is it the average Mb. Safari update their security on a regular basis.

Sorry Rob, but even those links won't open for me. I get a message if a site is not secure, therefor it won't let me get on it. Your photos on the forum are not the only ones that my laptop won't let me see. On some emails I get, there are photos that won't open on them also.

It's something that can be rectified I am sure. Hopefully in the not to distant future we can meet up and I would then be able to see your line in real time...

That sounds like you’ve got some sort of security software blocking imgur Rod? I’m also using a MacBook Pro and it’s fine, although the original issue did only occur when I posted from the MacBook as opposed to my iPad.

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:30 pm This is not an issue with the forum.

Linking to 3rd party websites for images is not always reliable which is why you can upload images directly to the forum (this also means as time goes by threads do not have broken images).

Unfortunately forum software doesn’t usually cope too well with the 36mp files from my D810!

IMGUR are reducing the size and quality of your images which is normal as websites would run painfully slow if all online images were MB in size!

https://help.imgur.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000083326

The forum has a size limit for the same reason:

https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 33&t=11543