Chimney Base finally completed

[Cappy]

Not been around much recently as my ISP decided to try and get an upgrade to the phone line to improve the broadband speed which failed miserably and just caused the line to collapse completely. When it did finally get resolved, after a week or more, the PC had a bit of a hiccup and couldn't find the modem, so more sorting out to do. Now it's all done there's a lot of reading to catch up with here

One of my little winter projects has been the fabrication of a new chimney base for one of the loco's on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. It's finally all done and looks pretty good, I think. However sucess, or whatever, breeds it's own wee difficulty as I now have another one to do for one of the original 100+ year old engines

If you're interested the link is as follows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AYKQmpaUqE

I'll catch some stills from the video to put into the Gallery asap.

Meanwhile in my spare time hope to get on with fitting out the VW bus ready for the summer.

 

[rtbcomp]

Brilliant!! I've always been fascinated by the way things are made.

I noticed a Leg Vice in one of the frames, I got one the same for free off Freecycle the other day. A guy had just moved into an old house and found it in the cellar. Thank God he had enough sense not to scrap it.

 

[Cappy]

I noticed a Leg Vice in one of the frames, I got one the same for free off Freecycle the other day. A guy had just moved into an old house and found it in the cellar. Thank God he had enough sense not to scrap it.

Glad you enjoyed it, fun to make as well. As for the leg vices we have at least 4 or 5 in regular use which stand up to an amazing amount of punishment and still keep working

 

[Haze]

fair play, am bloody impressed with that.

 

[Justme]

Was supprised it was made out of strips & infill & not a sheet.

Justme

 

[rtbcomp]

Was the original cast?

 

[Drains]

That's great Cappy. Good to see what you've been up to, and good to have you back - wondered where you'd been hiding!

 

[Ratty]

Brilliant!! I've always been fascinated by the way things are made.

Me too...great video, fascinating. I was well impressed with the tool used for twisting the bar..3 bits of rod, so simple and so effective. I have to make one that will be my first project when I get back to welding again. I've been using a knackered set of forge tongs (even more knackered now) which weren't always very effective.

Can someone enlighten me as to what a 'leg vice' is please...at least, I presume it's the vice that was holding the bar being twisted..but why 'leg'?

 

[Cappy]

Nice to be back with me old mates, and now three times faster

The Hunslet drawings do show that the bases were pressed from 5/16" steel plate. I imagine that once the dies were made it was a lot easier and quicker to bash out a few bases rather than go through the casting process. Apart from costs, it must be a lot easier to get a steel pressing to make a good seal against the top of the smokebox by bolting it into place, heating it and thumping it down. well, that's what we do For a casting I guess it would have involved a lot more fitting time. Must have been quite an impressive sight to watch the steam, or drop hammer, knocking them out.

As a lot of their locos went for export to pretty exotic places (our No.14 went to Sierra Leone) it was probably easier for the customer to repair the base by welding on a patch rather than having to order and wait for a new casting to arrive - a supposition on my part.

While the workshops and volunteers at Llanfair will have a go at most things mechanical we don't have the facilities or the skills to heat and manipulate what is quite a large chunk of metal, so the strip fabrication method seemed like a reasonable alternative. There were the odd barking mad suggestions in the pub, my favourite being, to beat a former from copper sheet and paint it with mig weld , then we had another pint

Justme - the railway also has a somewhat tenuous link with your current place of residence. The water tower at the Welshpool came from the West Somerset Railway's Minehead Station. One of our members however was interested in it's history and turns out to have been made by Isca Foundry of Newport and was originally made for the Cambrian Railway were it stood on Pwllheli Station for many years.

 

[rtbcomp]

Yes - I can see the advantages of forged steel - cast iron doesn't like being bashed with a hammer!

A leg vice is a vice with a leg on the fixed jaw that extends to the floor, so that when you welt something with a hammer the shock is taken by the floor and not the bench.

Do a Google on "leg vice" there's quite a lot there,

 

[Ratty]

A leg vice is a vice with a leg on the fixed jaw that extends to the floor, so that when you welt something with a hammer the shock is taken by the floor and not the bench.
Do a Google on "leg vice" there's quite a lot there,

Thanks..makes perfect sense and I've seen them, just didn't know the name. Lucky old rtb to get a freebie. I've only just discovered freecycle and just found a home for my ancient but working toploader..the woman who collected it turned out to work for eastex.org.uk which is a materials exchange site, like freecycle but more for business/industry, (off to look at plastic storage bins tomorrow). Lots of interesting stuff and you can posts request as well, some is for sale but a lot is foc. Eastex is eastern area but I think there is a northern area one called Why Waste.

 

[Cappy]

I was well impressed with the tool used for twisting the bar..3 bits of rod, so simple and so effective. I have to make one

My quick version of the following 'proper' jobs scanned from one of my college textbooks, the price rather gives the game away as it new when I bought it



Quite enjoyed the forgework bit of the course

 

[Ratty]

I think the date gives it away, never mind the price! I think your low rent one looked better actually, those look like a flat bar would slip out or get kinks. Useful pics tho'.. thanks. Still gonna copy yours..if you have no objection ;->

 

[Drains]

Cappy - do you get much stuff cast up? (BTW, the chimney base looks v. fine on the loco)
I ask just cos I wondered if the chimney base would have been easier made that way? I know there are very few jobbing foundries left, though there is one just round the corner from me, which is great when you need odd shaped bits made! (and we do)
Si

 

[Cappy]

Cappy - do you get much stuff cast up? (BTW, the chimney base looks v. fine on the loco)

Thanks for that, am now just coming to the end of making one for 'The Earl' - one of the railways two original locomotives, both over 100 years old now. Well, bits of them are anyway

We actually get a lot of our small casting work done at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum's foundry, near Telford, for example brake blocks and firebars.

I made the pattern for the new chimney cap and they did try to cast it but unfortunately it was just a little too much for them and the mould burst - a scary moment I would imagine. In the end we found a small foundry near Birmingham who did a splendid job for us.

With the running season just started it will soon be time to hang up the welding mask for a while, and get to do some driving again. Though there are a couple of ongoing projects so that I can keep my hand in with the fizzing

 

[Drains]

I'm very envious. I used to live near Tyseley, but never took advantage of the place, to my regret. One day when I get some time, I shall work on, and learn to drive a locomotive. You should bottle the smell and sell it!