3" Burrell Traction Engine build.

 End of year Roundup (6 year's In) Six Years in the Making: My End-of-Year Roundup Finally !!. As the year draws to a close and Christmas is around the corner, I’ve finally taken the time to gather everything I’ve made over the past six years. What started as a few small castings and bits has slowly grown into an engine spread across countless late nights, bursts of inspiration, and more than a few headaches. This week, I decided it was time to assemble all the bits and pieces together — to see how far things have come. There’s something incredibly satisfying about laying it all out and realising that each piece holds a challenge overcome, or a skill learned along the way. < Behind, my mother is watching on — as she’s done quietly and patiently for years. Much of this work has lived on her dining room table for at least the last four or five years, and I can’t thank her enough for her tolerance, encouragement, and gentle humour about the ever-present clutter of “creative prog...

 Penultimate Post this year. Reversing Lever                                                             Regulator Lever < Left reverser working progress hand modelled by me.  Not a huge amount to show for this month, but I did make a solid start on the reversing bracket and lever. I’ve had the metal for this part for well over 12 months, so it’s satisfying to finally see it taking shape. The plan is for it to eventually be mounted on the tender, but for now—once finished—it can sit on the shelf and look decorative. The regulator lever was part started but is now fully completed.  In my next post I’ll try to put together an end-of-year photo, Year-6 round-up: all the current progress assembled or balanced together for a group photo, similar to last year’s. It’s a useful reminder of how far things have come over the ...

 End of year Roundup (5 year's In) Well after 5 years, and its nearly Christmas! I decided to assemble all the bits I have made in the last 5 years for a end of year roundup, this is the current situation of where we are at. My mother looking on from behind I have to thank because some of this is normally sat on her dining room table, and has done for at least the last 3 to 4 years.  On my Previous post there was a nice picture of the lifting links that I was most pleased with. However it appears they are not long enough and this is a confirmed mistake in the drawings. It means they need to be extended by about 1/8" or so, the plan is to do a cut and shut with the silver solder rather than committing to making new ones at this time. Time will tell if I'm happy with this arrangement or if new ones are to be started, below is my list of faults so far:- The front locking pin cannot easily be removed past the smoke box door. The flywheel is very close to the winding drum almos...

 3" Burrell Steering almost complete...  Well finally I can say the steering is finished!  After weeks of tinkering... The steering turns nicely with no binding or tight spots, one of the mounting holes had to be drilled twice as a mistake was found on the drawing. The angle is quite critical for a smooth operation and the last job done was to add 2 oil holes, and to put the radius on the brackets. This now being complete, the next job will be the front and rear spectacle plate. This however requires the complete engine to be disassembled for drilling the horn plates as a pair, this seems a step backward but is required to ensure they will be square. Also required are the 100 or so holes for the dummy rivets but this might be for another day, however once these are done the engine can probably remain in tact until the boiler is sourced. Another mistake / feature is the steering shaft is in 2 parts owing to not being long enough to clear the flywheel. Now the shaft can be ...

 Welland steam Show 2023 Report..... Welland Steam Show (Upton-upon-Severn July 28th-30th  2023). The show as usual was well attended. I'm happy to report the numbers looked better than perhaps some of the traders were expecting. Maybe the cancelled years, due to Covid, have inspired the next generation of Model Engineers. It certainly looked like there was no shortage of money changing hands for tools.  The show boasted 37 miniatures and 99 full size engines, along with a huge number of commercials, cars, bikes, tanks and military vehicles and displays. This time again, like last year there was the heavy haulage arena, which was fascinating to watch, as long as you could keep the coal ash out of your eyes :-)  I can imagine the rising fuel costs to move large machines, but this has not stopped them from attending this year. Thank you to all the organisers and engine owners, both big and small another fab year!! I actually spent quite some time there wandering about,...

 3" Burrell Chain Drum and steering Part 2 and back head. Recent progress has been made on the back head plates, these were items I had laser cut, and just require a small amount of filing and bending the outer sides. I plan to get these TIG welded on for a neat finish.  (My Son permitting as he is the welder)   A quality finish from the Laser cut parts In other new the chain drum has been progressing well, the keyway for the worm wheel has been completed using a 1/8" key. This is because the worm and wheel as purchased were made to drawing so I've had to go with an imperial size rather than a 4mm key. As luck would have it my dad had a 1/8" woodruff cutter an a number of 1/8" end and slot mills, so no new cutters were required for this 1 off job.  Following some TIG welding  Until next month stay safe; make swarf; have fun!

 Latest progress following many holidays. My plan outlined in previous post was to get all the front-end sections completed, and standing on its wheels for any shows that may go ahead.  The last few weeks I have been busy on holiday, but following the return, the job in hand is to complete the 2nd rear wheel. This should take me nicely up to the end of the year, and hopefully I will end up with a pair of finished rear wheels.    In order to keep the work moving and on track, I have set out a few dates to try to hit for next year.  Also a point to note for others, it is evident that in a model build of this scale, and the time required in making each part, it is better not to try to make and finish a part in the same night, as the following session becomes difficult to get started. It can be that no drawing was prepared or the materials selected were not quite right. So basically leaving some part to finish means you can jump on it again quickly. Building the whe...