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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
New Engine FINISHED - Was how many wicks on my wick burner?I'm currently building another toy engine, mostly home made parts, but utilising the odd commercial part.I have built a boiler 6 inches long and 1 3/4 inch in diameter. I plan to utilise the geometry of a Mamod SE2 on the engine unit which is as yet just a figment of my imagination. Can anyone suggest how many wicks I should have on the burner I am about to make?. I have 5/16 brass tube to make the wick holders. My thinking was 4 if not 5? |
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| IndianaRog |
BC...I've made a few such tank/burner/wick units and given you are using fairly narrow brass tubing for the wicks, I would go with 5 upright wick tubes. I got very good results with 4, but they were each 0.44 inches in diameter (used 44 magnum shell casings).
Rog |
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| MamodFan |
a SE4 boiler is 6" X 2" and has 5 wicks, tubes are 8.2mm X 24 heigh
your boiler is smaller so 4 would be fine unless your cylinder assembly is going to be greedy with steam |
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| johnreid |
IF you have ever met Roger you would know that he is just about the nicest guy you ever met, so please take this with a bit of humor.
I look at the picture of Rogers Burner and see the 44 Magnum casings and imagine Roger lighting his burner for a Steam and saying "Make my Day" 
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Oh well, just made a 5 wick one. Currently being pickled in a sausepan of water and vinegar to get the flux off Not going to change now! Mind i can always not light one if 5 is to much. Thanks for the replies MF and Rog |
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| Cranko |
It will be very easy to make a cap for one or more wicks if the heat proves to be too intense with all five 
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| mc_mc |
Can't wait to see pictures of the burner and engine, it sounds great.
Mine isn't going too well. Can't seem to get the boiler end caps right. Is it okay to solder brass and copper together? I didn't think it would be a problem. I see lots of brass boilers with copper pipes soldered into them. |
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| Les |
If you look at Burnac engines, they are either a copper boiler with brass top cap, brass boiler with copper end cap, all brass and all of the ones I've seen have a metal bottom cap. Very prone to rusting 
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| MamodFan |
If you find you get too much heat with 5 you can either shorten the wick to get a lower flame or as has been said make a cap for one of the wicks. |
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| MamodFan |
No problem at all, just make sure everything is spotlessly clean, use a good flux and just enough heat to flow the solder. I have found with end caps that it helps to tin the cap before you put it on the barrel. All you have to do then is sweat them together adding a little solder if it looks like you need it. Any pics, we might be able to spot something wrong? |
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| mc_mc |
Oh it's obvious what's wrong. The caps aren't the right shape to fit on the copper pipe at the moment.  I'm too embarrassed to post any pictures quiet yet. And I also wanted the project to be a secret until the grand unveiling.
I was just checking that if I did manage to beat them into the right shape that I wouldn't have any trouble soldering them up. |
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| MamodFan |
sounds interesting, keep going with it and dont get disheartened it will all come good in the nd.
If you need any help or advise, drop me a pm and i might be able to sort it out. |
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| Cranko |
I wish both of you the best of luck with your projects and look forward to a photo or 2
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Here is the boiler. Basically just a 1 3/4 dia brass tube with 1/64 wall. 2 mamod endcaps. A home made dome and bush for the SV. There will be no whistle on it, they do nothing for me. The collar on the endcap is for top support for a chimney in the stame style as my previous 'Jones' engine. 
And so far with the 5 wick burner. 5/16 dia tubes at 7/8 inch spacing, just under 1inch high (they needed filing tidy!). I've not fitted a tank yet, though I have a suitable tin located. I just want to make the firebox first so I can get the length spot on. 
Took a fair bit of making. Chop the 5/16 tube to length and trim. Cut out 4 rough squares of thin brass. Sit all five on top of the vice fluxed with the tubes sitting on them. Solder all 5 in one go (saves gas!). Trim the bottom with the wifes best pair of scissors. Then tidy with the file. Drill a hole to suit feeder tube right through the bottom of 4 and half way through one. Mark out positions for the tube on the feeder tube, and make 4 slots in it with a junior haxsaw. Slide on tubes with rooks of flux and again sit on to of vice. 'Cook up' and solder the joints. Last job put in wifes best (and biggest) saucepan with 75%water 25% vinegar and simmer for 30mins to remove the copious amounts of flux. Bingo 1 hour later! |
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| mc_mc |
That all looks great, the boiler especially.
My end caps currently look more like bottle tops: [img]...[/img] But MamodFan has given me some pointers which should hopefully sort things out. |
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| IndianaRog |
MC...have you unleashed a demon within???? | ||||
| Mister Occlusion |
image stolen? That's a bit harsh.. cross linked, certainly, but to steal is to possess is to download.
Bandwidth leeched, maybe... ... ah, teh drama 
Don't mind me, just meandering OT Tis a serious looking burner thou art constructing. When I did mine I had just soldered the solid fuel line into all of them and then gone down into them with a drill press to perforate the line.... Quite a messy and crude solution, turns out. Yours sounds better. |
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| mc_mc |
OOps, it looked fine to me, please imagine an image of a beer bottle top in it's place.
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Just following tried and tested design and methods. As far as I can tell, basically similar the the single wick burner on my 50's Mamod Minor 1. That said the burner tube is one piece as it is 'drawn', and now I look harder the carrier pipe is soldered longditudonally with a seam!. How do you make yours MamodFan? |
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| johnreid |
Arrrgh there me buckos There be Pirates on the loose.
Me Buccaneers will be takin yer pictures we will. We will unfurl the Jolly Indiana Roger we will 
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| mc_mc |
And the Jolly Roger Graphic was "stolen" from:
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~banks/images/logos/jolly-roger.gif
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| johnreid |
Yep me bucko we be takin pictures, pirates creed, no lyin just pirating pictures.
IMHO if no profits are made, and not too much bandwith is used, what harm does it do? |
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| MamodFan |
I must admit that i am a bit wasteful with mine. I get some 8mm or 5/16" diameter brass rod. i then drill it 23.5mm deep with a 7.3mm drill then cut the rod off to 24mm long. I cross drill for the feed tube and solder it up. Using a modified centre drill i can spot the feed hole by drilling down the wick tube. 
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| Mamodman123 |
Here's the burner I made for my SE4
Once you get the wicks in place (even if they don't all line up) You can easily move them with a little heat 
It works too
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| IndianaRog |
Dang MM...that SE4 is such a beautiful engine. Have you done a video of it with the new burner??? | ||||
| Mamodman123 |
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums...ion=view¤t=PICT0117.flv Sure have
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| IndianaRog |
A thing of beauty, a sight to behold !!! | ||||
| Mamodman123 |
Thanks Rog
There's one on ebay apparently 
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| IndianaRog |
I know...but as the saying goes..."I'm skint" | ||||
| Nick |
I like the speed your hammer is tapping away it. Much more realistic. | ||||
| Sandman |
ERR, MM, mate, buddy, pal. friend, will the SE4 be on our table at the STIA??
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| Mamodman123 |
More than likely
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| Sandman |
WHOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Next update.
New firebox, made from a metal beer tray. The lid is for the tin I intend using for the burner tank. Just propped for sizing purposes. I'm thinking 4 wicks may be better than 5 having made the firebox. I like the boiler overhanging the firebox, so the boiler is 6 inches long and the firebox 5 inches long. 
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| johnreid |
It is easy to see how nicely it will turn out already. Good work. | ||||
| Reid |
What a great thread, really inspiring art going on here.
The firebox looks neat as a pin! And MammodMan's display on the previous page, zooks! I think I like meccano, and mamod workshop toys. Really ex-cell-ent, all of this! |
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Well then, seem to be getting on quite well with this engine.
Having 'weighed up' the length of the firebox I decided to go to 4 wicks as suggested. No big deal, just unsoldered the two end tubes, sawed a bit of the carrier pipe, and put the end back on. So for the tank, I had spotted that the wife had a nice tin, containing a candle designed to reduce the smell of cooking. Having promised to buy her a new one (from Lakeland Plastics), she let me have the tin despite having refills. There was a beaded rim on the lid, but I didnt like it and cut it off, also trimmed the bottom so the 'tank' would be no taller than the wicks. I hate soldering steel, and this tin was no exception, I eventually tinned it all, then put it together, despite being a little messy, a blow test seems to show its ok. Because the tank bottom actually goes above the wicks the only parts that may leak are all the soldered joints on the burner part. The lid is a 1/4BSF boiler bush, with a drilled and knurled plug. So here we go, my 4 wick burner 
On my last home build I made a flywheel out of a boiler offcut, I wanted to keep the same style, but fancied a bigger flywheel. My boiler for this engine is 1 3/4 inch OD, but I had procured a 2inch OD tube for the flywheel. It was just over an inch wide, 18SWG. I had a spare spoked 'monkey muck' flywheel knocking about, think it may have been Mamod, but there is no pulley turned into the boss so I'm not so sure. Anyway it is irrelevant. By 'weighing it up' i figured that if I could turn off its rim, it could be fitted into the brass tube. To do this I found a bit of bar that was a tidy fit down the middle, fitted the flywheel to it and bunged the lot in my hand drill, the chuck holding the bar. I then put the drill in the vice and started filing the flywheel down simply using a hand file. This was awfully bloody slow. So I got my angle grinder on the case. Within 30 mins or so, the flywheel was now an interference fit in the brass tube. I podged in some Loctite 'Bearing Fit' left over from my Austin 7 engine rebuild and clomped it together with a hammer. I then put it back in the drill to get it nice and square and consentric by spinning it, tapping it with hammer, untill I was happy. Here it is with a coat of paint 
Last recent job was a crankshaft. As I plan to use the geometry of a Mamod SE2 for my engine (I have a spare port block and cylinder that I intend to use) I measured up a mamod crank to get my throw. With the bar I used to 'turn' the flywheel I knocked up this with some brass and steel, oh and a nail. All painted up gold like on my last engine. The crank needs to be quite a bit outboard of the bearing as the SE2 port face is quite thick, and I dont particularly want to joggle the engine frame I'll be making next. 
As soon as a 1 7/8 brass Meccanno gear turns up, next job is to make the crankshaft and intermediate shaft bearing |
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| Mamodman123 |
Thats a very good burner!
What are the measurements? |
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| MamodFan |
yes very se3 like |
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| Mamodman123 |
Thats what I was thinking
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| bessytractor |
this is all looking very marvellous!
keep up the good work |
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Having had another Excellent MamodFan chimney (and safety valve) in the post yesterday I got a little more enthusiasm.
Mornings job was setting the valve clearances on the wifes Peugeot 106, a tedious job involving the iterative changing of shims. Afternoon I made a boiler strap, and made a start on the engine frame. Like I said I had a Mamod SE2 port face in stock with a cylinder and piston. However I didn't have a frame so I had to work out the geomety based on the throw of the crank I made. Hopefully I've got it right. Time will tell While I was at it, I also opened out the hole in a 1/2 meccano gear and a 1/2 pulley to fit the crank. I plan to have a pulley on the crank and another on a countershaft. Current progress is thus 
The hold up now is only the 1 7/8 brass gear I've ordered from Meccanoman. Without it I there is little point in finishing the engine frame. Basically I need to form a wide and deep 'U' like on my last homebuild. But I need the gear so I can work out the shaft centres. In terms of pipework, steam pipe will run horizontally out of the dome to a 90degree bend and down to the top of the port black. The exhaust comes out the LHS (on the picture) of the port block, and I'll probably just run it straight into the chimney with a single 90 bend. |
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| Les |
Looking nice. What size is the flywheel? | ||||
| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Sorry for not replying earlier, it is 2 inches in diameter. My meccanno gear arrived finally, so I've made the engine frame. Very much in the style of my home built twin, simply out of 1/16 brass. The 'U' is one section, with a strip to support the cylinder. I also added a foot half way along that strip so that the engine sits when not bolted down. My last engine was a nuicance before I bolted it down. I also notice that Mr Bowman did the same! It is all soldered together, except the cylinder block bolts on with two nice screws. 
I plan to use a painted wooden base for this engine, probably something like 3/4 inch thick. Can anyone suggest a good material?. I was thinking Plywood Another thing is, I will have a spare end on the countershaft. It allready has a pulley, what should I fit there? |
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| Les |
Thanks for that. It is looking very good. 
As for the countershaft, maybe you could put a cog and have something chaindriven. If it was me, I would look at using Ash, Oak or Mahogany or a natural wood opposed to a plywood. Mind you, you would need something whats not going to warp. |
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| John Chapman |
That's coming on a treat, brilliant job. | ||||
| Griffin |
Very nice indeed, very well put together.
For the blank side of the counter shaft, I would suggest a pulley of a different diameter. For the base, a nice piece of hardwood would look nice, just have to be careful it does not warp. Only sure option would be plywood. |
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| Minor1PJG |
If you want to run it ply wood would be good.
Any hard wood would be good as well but ply wood will resist warping
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| Steve_S |
It's looking very good indeed. I like that flywheel ... clever idea! 
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| MamodFan |
Missed this update, Nice work, polished wood will look nice for a base. | ||||
| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
Not a lot of progress, but here it is. Been moving the tender for my steam roller today, and bringing my Austin 7 home.
Anyway, a little paint, and a rough assembly so I can work out the pipe runs. I'm not into lots of bends, so straight runs and right angle bends for me. I've still to drill the holes in the chimney. I think next job may be to solder the pipes to the engine portface. I think the most difficult job on the whole engine is drilling two holes for the bolt that fixes it to the boiler! Not looking forward to it. I've found two nice pine T&G floor boards for a base, need to glue them up, but no varnish for me, just nice red paint. Good thing is theyve been in my garage nearly 2 years so they should be nice and dry and will not warp. |
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| Les |
Looking good, cannot wait to see it finished. 
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| 8_10 Brass Cleaner |
FINISHEDHere we go, now finished, just need to sort one screw, the last damb cut off wheel on the dremel expired!
Hope you like it. I'm going to give it a week or so for the paint to harden before I put a fire in it. |
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| Les |
Very nice indeed, well worth the wait, are you going to give it a name? | ||||
| Nick |
Very impressive and shiny.
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| Mister Occlusion |
Very nice job!
I expect it's going to run like a demon. |
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| Minor1PJG |
I really like that.
Superb work. I look forward to seeing it run
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| Steve_S |
I looks superb! I'll certainly be looking forward to seeing it run.
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| Reid |
Beautiful, just beautiful and sweet.
Will wait like you for the time to fire it. |
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| johnreid |
I like that one a lot, I hope that in a week or so we might be able to see a video. Real good job there. |