3" Burrell Traction Engine build.

  Midlands Model Engineers Exhibition 2023. This year’s Model Engineers Show 2023 was a huge success! All four days of the show were fantastic with exhibitors and visitors alike enjoying plenty of opportunities to purchase items, learn and explore the very latest in machinery tools and model engineering. The 2 exhibition halls were abuzz with vibrancy, excitement and anticipation. I went with a usual shopping list, and a few parts that I had organised from suppliers to take to the show for me for collection and postage saving opportunity. Centre piece if the show for me, a huge amount of work in this engine and the builder, sadly no longer with us, only finished it last year.   A fantastic selection of Loco's on display and also a good number of Traction engines both engines in steam on the parade field, but also a number of static models in side. It appears this year whilst there were still a few suppliers missing, there were a good number of static displays to improve t...

 Burrell Bearings (Part 3) Hello, following another holiday and time at shows to enjoy the hobby, I am taking the plunge and finishing at least one of the bearings. This has taken some time to come up with this Jig idea to hold the bearing, and its carrier square and true, in order to be able to bore the final hole. A hexagon carrier is perfect for aligning in the 3 Jaw chuck and has sufficient metal to provide stability for the part it is carrying. This method the bearing it self can be removed, checked on the job, and replaced back on the internal datum seating in perfect alignment. Only time will tell if the gear mesh is accurately maintained by this method but we will see in a couple of weeks! (A week later) - Yes it did !!   (Right) both finished. I also made a start on the crankshaft by machining the ends smooth to take a centre drill for mounting. So far its looks ok, and my large drive dog fits nicely over the end of the shaft so that's a bonus.  (can be seen...

 Carbide Tips (Part 2) used in the workshop                                           (a)            (b)            (c)          (d) As promised last month and by way of a change from just Burrell Traction engine parts here is a short discussion of the tooling I use in the workshop. Above are some of the tools I use most often, from left to right they are:-. (a)   -   This is a new tool I purchased, SDJCR1212H07 with a smaller tip than was expected the joys of             shopping after a beer. (b)   -   2nd Most used tool, this insert is able to get under hard cast iron with ease and is good for steel. (c)   -   This tip is actually impregnated with diamond material on the end and gives a good polishing   ...