The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum

tmuir · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject: Tmuirs Table

Before I post any of my engines I thought I would give you a quick video tour of my workshop.
I hope I don't give any of you whiplash when I swing the camera around.
I'm good with still photos but no so good with video.

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A nice example of an Australian made Scorpion Donkey Engine

Graham-Jilly · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:14 pm Post subject:

great workshop Tony you should be able to while away the hours in there mate

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Stilldrillin · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject:

Really enjoyed the tour Tony. Thank you!

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David...... Widgets R us.

Les · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:26 pm Post subject:

Great tour, no whiplash but I do feel a bit seasick.

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Les - I would give up drinking but I am not a quitter.

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ozsteamdemon · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:34 pm Post subject:

Great Tour , great workshop , well done Tony .
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toxx · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:42 pm Post subject:

... paradise! Great tour, Tony! Thanks!

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Says Tom

... keine Wunder sind vollbracht.
No miracles ... yet.

tmuir · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject:

Still on the workshop theme I thought I would show you some work I did a little while back.
A few months back I got myself a fantastic Bing engine.

Here it is next to an SE3 for size comparison.

Unfortunately it needs some work, its missing all the boiler fittings and someone had drilled an extra hole in the end cap.

SO I had to make a new endcap.
I didn't have the correct thickness brass so decided to use something a bit heavier and this is how I did it.

First I measured the boiler diameter and cut two disks of jarrah out (Jarrah is a local hard wood). One disk was slightly smaller than the diameter of the boiler and the other just a fraction of a millimetre larger.

Next I scribed a circle on the brass sheet with a diameter about 18mm larger than the diameter of the boiler and cut it out roughly.

Now the fun stuff.

I set up my makeshift brazing hearth in the middle of the workshop and using my propane torch annealed the brass.

To remove the oxidation I have a plastic bucket with a couple of litres of tap water and approx two table spoons of citric acid in it.
Slower than the traditional pickle but much safer.

Once cleaned the brass disk was held between the two disks of jarrah in a vice and using a rubber hammer was gently tapped around it to start forming the end cap.

Once I reached this it was ready for annealing again.

SO more hammering and I was here.

A few more hammering and annealing sessions and I was here.
To do the last part I switched to my jewellery planishing hammer which has a highly polished face to get it nice and smooth.

Now the end just needed tidying up.
Using a calliper with one point stuck in the side of my workbench and the other point set so it was about 6mm above the workbench the end cap was held up to it and rotated around it to give me a cut line.

The cap was put back between the jarrah disks and held in the vice and a hacksaw was used to cut on the line.

Which gave me this.

Perfect fit.

Now I just need to buy the new fittings....
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A nice example of an Australian made Scorpion Donkey Engine

logoman · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:03 pm Post subject:

a superb "how to", thanks tmuir.

tmuir · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:36 pm Post subject:

We're getting closer to running an engine now.

I had an engine sitting on my shelf that I hadn't ran because I needed to make a burner for it.
I didn't want to spend too long making the burner and wanted it finished in one evening and here is the burner getting made.

I searched through my off cut pile and found a suitable bit of copper pipe already cut to size. As the pipe was copper so would be the end caps.
I marked out two squares on a copper sheet I had big enough for the end caps and cut them out with my scroll saw.

As the burner is not under pressure I decided to just butt solder the end caps to save time.

After cutting out the sheet it was rubbed with W&D to remove any dirt and oxidation as were the ends of the copper pipe.
The pipe was then fluxed and sat on the sheet and small bits of silver solder were placed inside the pipe where the pipe met the sheet.

My propane blow torch was used again with the flame being applied from underneath not directly to the solder.

To clean the oxide off in it went into the bucket with water and citric acid.

While this was cleaning up I rummaged around and found an 8mm brass nut and bolt. This was chosen to save time on making up a propper bush.
The bolt was fitted to the lathe and a breathing hole was drilled and then the nut was cut shorter.

Now the top was carfully marked out and drilled. One hole for the bolt to pass through and the other for the wick holder.
The hole for the wick was drilled about 0.3mm smaller than the brass tube and the hole carefully opened out with a small half round file to ensure a snug fit for the brass tube.
It was then all fluxed, laid out and silver soldered.

The top was then soldered on, the edges cut back, filed smooth and given a quick buff.
This burner wasn't made for show but to work but I'm still happy with it.

Incidentally the wick is the stuff Mamod fan sells, it works great.

Next to have this burner run something.
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A nice example of an Australian made Scorpion Donkey Engine

bigal · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:

What a nice workshop

And the tools

I'm in the cellar and feels like a dungeon

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While you're resting

tmuir · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject:

The engine this burner was made for was my Weldon.

I don't know a great deal about this company except their business name address was
Weldon Manufacturing Co, 87 Whiteman St, South Melbourne and they date from around 1950.

The Weldon is a quiet simple Vertical as can be seen.

But it is physically quite large.

I had never fired this engine and the staining in the second photo did give me some concerns.
Also the engine frame was slightly bent.

A gave the frame a gentle tweak by hand to straighten it.
Removed the pison and put some oil on it, moved it up and down a few times by hand and removed and cleaned it.
Oiled up everything and put 100mls of water in the boiler.

I then filled up my new burner put it in the firebox lit it up.... and now lets see what happened.

I promise to get better at doing videos.

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A nice example of an Australian made Scorpion Donkey Engine

ozsteamdemon · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:21 pm Post subject:

Great craftsmanship on your end cap and that Weldon with your new burner is a real nice runner , no wonder your happy . Well done Tony .
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tmuir · Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 7:11 am Post subject:

Time for the next instalment.

This is a Kookaburra 001 Overtype.
You can still buy these new if your pocket is deep enough, they are made in NSW Australia.
http://www.kookasteam.com/

Although I love the look of these engines I feel for what they charge for them (£350 or $675 US) the quality should be better.

Each engine has its own serial number engraved onto 2 brass plaques on the engine.

With the company details on the underside of the base.

The meths burner is made not to be removed and filled via a syringe which to be honest I find a little fiddly.

But they are very nice looking engines so might as well show you now.

The engine runs but is not my best performer due to the steam pipes just being push fit into the engine frame they leak. The flywheel is terribly out of ballance. Its a shame as this could of been a great engine but I feel they dropped the ball when assembling these engines.

But enjoy the video.

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A nice example of an Australian made Scorpion Donkey Engine

Les · Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 8:42 am Post subject:

The boiler looks to be really sturdy, do you know if it is soft or silver soldered??
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Les - I would give up drinking but I am not a quitter.

www.freewebs.com/lesmarsh

tmuir · Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 9:49 am Post subject:

Boiler is silver soldered
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http://www.freewebs.com/ozsteam/index.htm
http://members.iinet.net.au/~tmuir1/

A nice example of an Australian made Scorpion Donkey Engine