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| scorpion2nz |
Shed Invaders Damn ElvesMy shed has been invaded the last few nights with some elves that can not read plans or they have very small rulers and they have left me with the following
it looks like i have to do the finishing. to give you some idea of size their mesurements are half the size of the plans ie the square blocks at the back are 5/8th inch and the oval beam is 2 1/4 inch. |
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| johnreid |
Looks like this is going to be a thread worth watching | ||||
| MooseMan |
Ooooh I like your elves....mine just empty out the biscuit tin! 
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| metalhead100 |
My elves just drink all my Meths and crunch on esbit like they are potato chips....
Are they making double the needed parts or are they laminating the beams? Jim |
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| Graham-Jilly |
I wish we had elves that left us nice pressies 
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| 27ace27 |
my elves stole my SE1a burner!
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| Les |
Is this TWO beam engines in the making??? | ||||
| igy569 |
You have my attention..... 
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| scorpion2nz |
and the chocolate fish goes to
damn elves can not read plans so made them half size but realized they did not use all the brass available so thought they would double the parts just to give me more work 
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| Sandman |
When did these Elves appear Dennis??
Just how many drinks did you have at the time???
Seriously mate, I bet that will be a beauty. |
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| Stilldrillin |
You have helpful elves? 
I only have spiders, who hide things! 
Good luck with the builds...... |
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| robertosala |
No idea what are you talking about. I will keep an eye on this one.... Rob |
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| Burnmafingers |
That pictures a tease!
What are the bits going to become? |
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| tmuir |
If you don't like the elves ship them to my workshop.
I've got lots of things they can do at night.
I like beam engines and look forward to seeing this one be built. |
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| johnreid |
They even take the tin here
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| metalhead100 |
Les ,
I get half the fish I asked/figured it to be doubles first 
Jim |
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| scorpion2nz |
have a look at this thread and you will see the first beam i built the flywheel is 4 inches and the beam 4 1/2 inches but this one the elves are building is half size ??? http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about21473.html&highlight= |
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| scorpion2nz |
but you suggested laminating would would suggest 1 engine but we will give you a couple of brownie points
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| Bugsy |
Do you think that when the trolls arrive to eat the elves they might build a double-sized engine with an 8 inch flywheel and a nine inch beam?
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| scorpion2nz |
well i had better look out then as I live in Norsewood and the village mascots are Trolls (Norwegian heritage)
But I think trolls might have to work in something other than brass |
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| scorpion2nz |
any way the elves have been back under cover of darkness and produced some more bits
so i thought i would interfere and do a temporary partial assembly 
and to give you some idea of the size
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| Les |
That is small, the elves surely have been busy.
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| scorpion2nz |
all those brass rods have to threaded yet but i will not be making nuts (those 2 you can see are just temps)as some little miscreant found my cc and according to my email I have some nuts coming from the UK
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| Stilldrillin |
Your elves can use a credit card!
I have a wife who`s still struggling to learn that skill!
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| Roly Williams |
Lucky you
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| Caprice |
Must be Ocean elves, I guess?
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| Burnmafingers |
Oooh, thats diddly. | ||||
| scorpion2nz |
well the elves heard about the postal problems in the UK and decided to make the nuts needed for the engines over the last couple of nights and they have now completed all that is needed and what do you think arrived in the mail today ??
Just the nuts that were ordered . they were posted on 23rd and arrived here on the 31st I am beginning to think the little leprechaun "Murphy" had something to do with it!!
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| Les |
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| scorpion2nz |
well the elves have been busy and made some parallel links
and whats is more surprising is that it moves up and down smoothly any way i have sneak a couple of photos. 
hope fully now that I am inside they will under cover of darkness make another four links I did learn a little trick today when making little nuts and screws or grub screws it pays to sneak inside and grab a white sheet to lay on the bench and floor it makes finding 3mm bits easy
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| Keith S |
Scorpion, are you making your own nuts and screws because it is difficult to find the correct size, or just because you have the technology and it is fun? | ||||
| scorpion2nz |
is it fun not really but there is a sense of achievement.
over here in NZ it appears to be impossible to find what I want there maybe bits in Auckland (6 hour Drive)or Wellington (3 hour drive)and i have an aversion to metric I do have the technology (tools yes, ability well !!) and also like most people being on a budget being able to save money by making bits means there is more money to buy engines
I have always been a hands on person and a bit of a bush mechanic/engineer mostly self taught from reading books |
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| Keith S |
Well, I admire that. AND, when someone asks you if you made it you can say,
Yes. ALL of it. |
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| scorpion2nz |
well the elves have been making some progress
here we have two beams on a temporary stand the correct height will be established once they complete the cylinders 
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| scorpion2nz |
they have built 1 crankshaft with the eccentric cam
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| Les |
They are very industrious elves you have there.
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| Sandman |
And talented.
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| johnreid |
looking good | ||||
| TE1DRIVER |
my lord those elves really know their stuff! I like how this is progressing
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| 27ace27 |
looking good! can't wait for the finished product! BTW, my elves had a change of heart and gave my SE1a burner back! that really made my day.
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| Minor1PJG |
Wow, they've been busy. There work to a high standard
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| metalhead100 |
Sure looks the part!
Jim |
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| mogogear |
Those busy Keeblers--and I just thought they made crackers
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| scorpion2nz |
well now we have a problem
the elves have found the meths and they are drinking it now as we all know it makes you go blind !!
which will explain the problem they have created for me the little beggars made a mistake with the base for the cylinder 
so I think they will have to come back and try again
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| Sandman |
That's all you need mate. Drunken elves.
Lock up the meths from now on.
Seriously though, it's a bugger when that happens. |
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| TE1DRIVER |
next thing you know is the elves will be asking for sick pay, duvet days and workers rights lol. Meths potent for elves! Hope you get it sorted matey
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| Les |
Just lock away all forms of alcohol with a promise of a treat when they have finished the engines.
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| Burnmafingers |
Don't be too hard on the elves or they may be inclined to call in the union! | ||||
| xlchainsaw |
excellent dennis success breeds success so you might be able to entice santas elves to lend a hand after the xmas rush...they normally have a month or two off after xmas and might be after a free drink of meths????? just a thought.
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| scorpion2nz |
well progress has been a little slow lately .I have heard all sorts of mutterings and strange non steam related words emanating from the shed at night .Apparently the damn engine they had assembled would not run on air
Any way today some one had a brain seizure  was he thinking and decided to drill/ream out the steam lines from inlet to cylinder out
and any way we ended up with this the crescent/spanner in the front is 4 inch |
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| Bugsy |
That ran very well!
Clever little buggers, them elves! 
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| Les |
Those elves have done a fine job.
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| Roly Williams |
Whatever they did - it worked. Well done Elves 
That must be an old radio you have in the background - 1960's?
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| scorpion2nz |
the radio in the back ground which I forgot to turn down is SolidGold fm they only play real music from the 60s and 70s
http://www.grownups.co.nz/solidgoldfm. that is real music you can understand and sing along to unlike todays crap in which the singers rely on exposing their body in videos in order to get people to watch and listen. |
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| scorpion2nz |
well the blasted elves can go home ant time they like as there is something wrong with their handy work
this is the second engine they were building and they attempted to get this one on Steam and it is unsatisfactory in my opinion |
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| SlideValve |
Wow that looks great I wish i could build something as nice
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| Les |
I agree, they should keep making them until they get it right.
Wow, that's great, does this mean the elves can have a Christmas holiday now?? 
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| scorpion2nz |
about the elves I do not know
they made a very nice vertical boiler (copper) would look very sexy if polished up but it was to small for the beam so now a oscillator is needed to make use of it . |
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| ministeamer |
If you think it is unsatisfactory, I can relieve it from your hands...
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| Stilldrillin |
Well...... I have to stand up for the little guys on the night shift! It`s all much too easy to blame the "other shift", when things go wrong...... A little fine tuning by the day shift will soon have it singing.....
Blummin well done, that man!
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| scalex |
great job Dennis | ||||
| gremlin |
really nice job that, I like it a lot | ||||
| scorpion2nz |
OK I had a word with the elves about all the leaks and they disassembled engine and replaced the piston packing with a rubber o ring and replaced the head and base gaskets and replaced the spring on the rotary valve and it appears the little blighters are playing games with me 'It appears I have a "Fixed Cylinder Oscillating
Beam Engine"" either that or the timing is f....up
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| ministeamer |
That's so cool! .. And so annoying... 
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| scorpion2nz |
the only reason it slows down and stops is because some nameless person keeps twiddling with the air supply
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| ministeamer |
Ah. The non-entire-revolution effect is interesting though..
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| Sandman |
Looks great to me.
I'm not very technical Dennis. Why do you think the timing's not right??? |