Archive for The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum The Original Toy Steam Forum Established 2006 The biggest, most popular global steam forum around! Accept NO imitations! We have a growing community of regular posting members who chat about all aspects of toy and model steam.          The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> The Main Shed '08 Steve_S Steve_S's table Hello and welcome to my table! As things get added throughout the weekend I'll insert a page number index here (an excellent suggestion by Nick) so you should be able to find things again later... should you want to. Page 1    Kitchen Table Steam Rally Part 1.... Cyldons and SELs Page 1    A nearly-Luton almost-replica Page 1    Kitchen Table Steam Rally Part 2.... Mamod, Burnac, Jensen, Latimer Page 1    A steam cablecar Page 2    Kitchen Table Steam Rally Part 3..... Bowmen To get the ball rolling here's Part 1 of my Kitchen Table Steam Rally, which will feature five classic British engines. Cyldon 13/1 Cyldon 13/3 Cyldon 13/5 SEL 1530 SEL 1540 And here they are in action!..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM_XzfAL0mM Part 2 will include engines by Latimer, Burnac, Mamod, and Jensen. But before that, the next engine to go on my table will be unique and slightly unusual!...... Steve_S A nearly-Luton almost-replica A nearly-Luton almost-replica ==================== Here's a complete restoration/homebuild project that I've just finished... the paint's barely dry! I've wanted a Luton Bowman PW201 for a long time, partly because it's a nice engine, and partly because it has so many similarities with the Latimer L5 that I have, and I'd like to see them side by side. Well, I still havent got one.... but here's the next best thing. A couple of years ago at STIA I bought this engine. It was obviously mostly homebuilt and although it had some very Luton-like features, there were a couple of odd things about it... In the first place, it's the wong way round, by which I mean that the engine components are like a mirror image of the equivalent parts on a PW201. Odd! In addition, the base plate, firebox and boiler were... er... a bit basic in construction (I'm trying to be kind here!)... they were functional but not very pretty. On the other hand the engine frame, the crankshaft and flywheel, and the cylinder/piston assembly were very well made. They look just like the real Luton parts except that they are the 'wrong' way round. The safety valve looks good too. I would very much like to know, but probably never will, the history of this engine, especially the origins of the pieces that are such good copies of Luton parts. And why were they made the wrong way round? Anyway, the question was, what to do with this engine? I considered several options. It was always going to need a new boiler, firebox, baseplate and burner. I could have made a PW201 copy by fabricating a new engine frame, the right way round, and mounting the other parts on it. I also thought about making an overtype PW202 copy, as the PW202 uses most of the same parts as the PW201. In the end I decided to stick with the intriguing "wrong-way-roundness" and make a mirror image PW201 copy. The engine frame was just too well made to discard, and it would certainly be unique!   Here's the engine frame assembly... it really is well made. Unfortunately though, when I connected it to a boiler it didn't steam very well. Closer examination of the port face showed the reason... the edges of the inlet and exhaust holes were almost touching which meant that the steam wasn't being turned on and off cleanly. I thought that this would probably mean making a new port face, but I decided to have a go at fixing this one first as there was nothing to lose. I drilled out the existing holes then silver soldered in some brass rod. After lapping on emery cloth on a flat surface it was very hard to see where the new brass had been inserted. Then all I had to do was drill two new holes for the inlet and exhaust... which involved some very fiddly marking out of the port face, and some good luck! I was surprised that this repair worked so well... it steamed fine after this! These are the parts that I could use for the new engine, together with the threads for the safety valve and water level filler, and the steam dome, all of which were unsoldered from the old boiler. Everything else needed making from scratch. Where to start? The boiler This year at STIA I bought, for 50p, this old Mamod boiler that probably never expected to see steam again... The mamod boiler had the right diameter, 1.75 inches, and was a bit longer than the 4 inches of a Luton boiler. I made some new encaps for it by anealing some brass sheet then pressing it between an aluminium punch and die. The pressing was done in a vice. The ends of the mamod boiler were removed with a pipe cutter, then the new endcaps were soldered on. I also transfered over the steam dome and the threads from the old boiler, and I made a new chimney for it. The base plate The PW201 base has Meccano holes along it's edges which is very handy as it gives an accurate indication of the size. I found a piece of steel plate that had been some kind of bracket in a previous life. I used my M101 baseplate as  template to locate three of the four corner holes, and drilled these through. Then I bolted the tempate to the base so as to locate the position of the fourth corner, and drilled it through. I could now use the template to mark out the edges of the new baseplate, and cut it to size. To locate and drill the holes along the edges I bolted a Meccano strip to each edge in turn and drilled through it. I'd recommend this method of 'jig drilling'. Its much easier than trying to mark it all out accurately. The firebox Luton fireboxes are made from aluminium and they are well known to be easily dented and bent. (Ask Erik!) I decided to make one from brass.... easy to work but stiffer than aliminium. The Luton firebox design and construction is very characteristic and unlike those from other manufacturers, so I thought that if I could make a reasonable copy it would go a long way to making the engine look right. Luckily there are, elsewhere on this forum, some very good photos of Sandy's PW201 firebox, and I based mine on these. Note the detailed drawings! On the Luton firebox the lugs to which the boiler strap or band is bolted are punched out of the firebox wall and bent to 90 degrees. For mine I made them from separate bits of brass then silver soldered them to the insideof the firebox wall so that they project through apertures to the outside. As the soldering is out of sight it looks OK I think. OK, let's have a look at progress so far.... pretty Lutonish! The burner     Some time ago I noticed this air release valve in the plumbing department of a local hardware shop, and made a mental note that it might come in handy for steam engine use. The Luton burner needs a screw on cap at the end of the burner tube in order to insert the wick, and this item is ideal for the purpose. I sawed of the threaded part and silver soldered it to the end of the wick tube. I also cut six slots across the tube with a junior hacksaw. The tank part of the burner is made from sheet brass and soft soldered.   The tube is soldered into the tank in tha same way that I used for my M122 burner. The meths filler cap is made from a brass nut with a small piece of brass sheet soldered over it, then filed into its round shape. The cap screws onto a very short length of threaded tube soldered over a hole drilled onto the top of the burner. The final act was to soft solder the base of the burner to the tank, then tidy the whole thing up using a file and wire wool. I've used a piece if MF's excellent ceramic wick... and it works a treat! Putting it all together I made a boiler strap which bolts to the projecting lugs on the firebox, put it all together temporarily, then made some new pipework. The steam pipe is soldered to the steam dome and attaches to the back face of the engine block via a union nut/coupling arangement. The one I've used here came in the box of bits and pieces when I bought my M140 on eBay, and it looks very much like the ones on real Lutons. I silver soldered the coupling to the engine block, partly for strength and partly because the high melting point of the silver solder meant that I wouldn't have to worry about it falling off when I soft solderded the exhaust pipe in place. The exhaust pipe enters the chimney through a slot just above the steam dome and is then angled upwards. Time for a steam test! (... and yes, it runs the 'wrong' way.) A short video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCyFGvLv2X8 Final touches I thought it looked really good without paint, and I would have played with it for longer in this state.... but I had a deadline to meet! The paint used on the base is Ford Highland Green from Halfords, as recommended elsewhere on the forum as a good colour match. The black and red gloss are from Wilkinsons. (No expense spared!) I made a back to front Luton-like decal by messing around with a photo of a real decal using photo-editing software. I removed the Bowman name because it really isn't, but I thought the reversed archer would be a nice touch. I used dry rub-off decal paper, and I sprayed the base with a couple of coats of clear laquer after applying the decal. Finally I fitted four pop rivets to the corner holes and on the underside I pressed some plastic feet onto the rivets. I don't know what these feet came off originally but they are just right for this job!   So here's the finished article.... I hope you like it. I'm very pleased with the way it's turned out! ... and here's a video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j72mPwtxv4w Steve_S OK, all videos are now replaced by Youtube versions. I hope that'll be the end of the problems. Steve_S Here are a couple of photos of the engine next to a mirror.  A Luton in a parallel universe. Steve_S Five more Here's Part 2 of my Kitchen Table Steam Rally, featuring five more engines doing their stuff..... Mamod SE2 Burnac Vulcan Jensen 25 Latimer L4 Latimer L5 And so without further ado..... Part 3 will, as you may have guessed, be devoted to those thoroughbreds the Bowman's! Les Very nice engines, I cannot see the burner on the Burnac, it doesn't look right, I may be wrong and the video is not working.   Les It may be the lighting what is deceiving me on the burner. Steve_S The Burnac burner is home made. The video is working for me but I've been having video problems all day. Can anyone else see it? Sandman Steve_S wrote: The Burnac burner is home made. The video is working for me but I've been having video problems all day. Can anyone else see it? Steve go into edit on your video and check if the tick box for public viewing is ticked. Looks like your vid is set to private. Remember you have to save the changes at the bottom of the edit page. Steve_S Thanks Sandy. I haven't used Youtube before... until todays PB problems. Can everyone see them now? Sandman Yep it's all go Steve.   Les I can see it now, a great video and I do love watching the Burnac running. johnreid Video works now Steve_S Things to do with an MM1...  Make a steam cable car. Some of you will have seen the cable car that operates at STIA above the heads of exhibitors and  driven by a (quite large!) stationary steam engine at one end of the wire. Here's a different design in which the engine is carried on the vehicle itself, driving one of the grooved wheels that runs on the wire. Considerable gearing down is necessary and that's done with Meccano gear wheels. After trial runs in the garage I decided to set it up for a video in the open air. I had to use a Bowman burner to produce enough heat to run it outside, but it had run quite happily on a Mamod single wick indoors. Les That is absolutely brilliant , I was wondering what sort of incline can it cope with?? pauly That is really really clever     I want 1 now steamyjim pauly wrote: That is really really clever     I want 1 now Build one...the hard parts been done already   Steve_S Les wrote: That is absolutely brilliant , I was wondering what sort of incline can it cope with?? I'm not sure Les, but I think it would manage a reasonable incline. The bogie that carries the wheels would have to be articulated so that the engine could still hang straight down, and that might make things a bit more complicated but I'm sure it could be done.  The weight of the car makes the cable sag somewhat so it's always going up hill slightly in any case. I tried to get the cable as tight as I could to minimise that. Steve_S Here's Part 3 of my Kitchen Table Steam Rally, and it's Bowman time..... E135 M158 M122 Luton replica M140 So here we go....! Bégé I'm afraid! I saw an Alien!!! Steve_S Hello Bégé! Bégé here the Alien!!!     it's very good job madeinenglang well done mate     Steve_S Here are all of the burners used to run the 15 engines in the Kitchen Table Rally. The ten on the left are homemade.        The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> The Main Shed '08 Page 1 of 1