Table of contents for Issue 4744 in Model Engineer

Bournemouth Centenary I have been informed that the Bournemouth and District Society of Model Engineers celebrates its centenary this year. The formation of the society was announced in a letter to the editor of this magazine on March 13th 1924. The Society website (littledownrailway.org.uk/bdsme) provides a very interesting history of the club, describing its first track at Southbourne, then the move to the Civil Service sports ground and, about a decade later, to Kings Park. This track eventually became unavailable, with the expansion of the football club, and the Society made its final move to their Littledown Park site in 2004. It's interesting to note that the move to the Civil Service site was facilitated by one D.E. 'Laurie' Lawrence, a former editor of Model Engineer, who worked at the…

When we left our colonial correspondent, he had just arrived home with a new trailer, six feet long and ten feet wide in its stockinged feet, with a hinged and ribbed ramp at its rear and was preparing to convert it into something that would comfortably haul both a traction engine with its driving trailer and a steam locomotive with its attendant train, albeit not at the same time. The Wind in the Willows To kick this episode off, let's have a look at that important aspect of any trailer - its entrance - for without a well thought out entrance you won't be able to load your trailer and if you can't load it then you are the proud owner of nothing more than a fresh-air transporter with wheels.…

We continue with the making of the cylinder's parts for the TTCSE model steam engine (fig 10, part 4, M.E.4743, May 17th). The crossheads are machined from 20 mm diameter mild steel – on the drawing (fig 10) I have omitted to dimension the width of the flats which are 14 mm. If the 10 mm diameter boss is machined on the end of the piece of steel then this will guide you to the correct depth of the flats. The flats should be machined and the cross hole for the bush drilled and reamed at this setting. Then with the bar clocked to run true in your four-jaw chuck, finish turning the two crossheads. Note that the threads in the crossheads and the threads on the piston rods are…

Martin Gearing explores different approaches to the design of oscillators. Advantage of tangential laying out to increase port area One other aspect of the oscillating engine often overlooked when seeking to achieve the maximum performance, is that a note has to be made of the exact point of maximum cylinder 'swing' on the fixed port block. This was discussed by E.T. Westbury (ref 7) when he wrote a series on the appreciation of the Muncaster steam engine models which states when discussing the port location and timing of the classic Muncaster designed inverted single acting oscillating engine that '…both the size and position of the holes in the stationary port block are dependent on their radius from the trunnion centre, in conjunction with the maximum distance of swing at extreme cylinder…

I have to admit that I had almost forgotten about this - shame on me. I have produced castings for all the components that you will need and everything can be made to work for very little effort. There are only a few small drillings to do. I have made them all work on my 4MT. However, one thing it is as well to be aware of is that this may mean sand blowing into the valve gear and other places where it isn't needed! Needless to say, that I have never tried mine for that very reason. As with most engines with six driving wheels there is one set for the front of the leading wheels and a set either side of the main driving wheel. The sanding valve…

The tender Someone said to me many years ago that when building a locomotive, be sure to build the tender first, otherwise you will be tempted not to bother with it once you have completed the locomotive itself. I must admit to falling into this trap myself somewhat, as once Cornwall was completed to this stage, it took a back seat, or rather back bench, for over a year before I got sufficiently re-enthused to finish it. The first hurdle to overcome was completing the design drawings, which had stalled. There are plenty of good side and front views of the locomotive, but not many of its current tender, and none taken from above, so it was hard to know how the internal details of the tender were actually laid…

SMEE Welcome to another catch up on SMEE activities and I do hope youfind my musings informative and thought provoking. A while back I wrote about a talk given by Matthew Waterhouse to our Engine Builders Group on the history of engine development by Rolls-Royce at Crewe. Matthew promised us a part two, covering the RR L engine in detail, a power plant he spent most of his life involved with, and a very enjoyable and informative afternoon it was. As an aside Matthew's son is part of the Red Bull Racing team and coincidentally, in the light of the subsequent lecture, the conversation over lunch dwelt for a while on the developments in automotive technology brought about by the changing rules of Formula One. The relevance of this will…

Veneering My case is veneered with rather expensive Rosewood but there are cheaper options. The quantity needed will depend on how the figuring of the veneer chosen looks and thus the need, or not, to book match, that is to arrange the grain to be a mirror image on each side of the case. In any event buy more than you think you will need as some is always wasted. I have tried various gluing methods but on balance I would now recommend using old fashioned hot glue as this allows adjustment (correction!) in what is fundamentally a fiddly and messy business. Most veneer needs to be prepared by flattening. Fill an old spray bottle of the type used for window cleaning products etc. with a mix of 6 parts…

POSTBAG Views and opinions expressed in letters published in Postbag should not be assumed to be in accordance with those of the Editor, other contributors, or Mortons Media Group Ltd. Correspondence for Postbag should be sent to: Martin R. Evans, The Editor, Model Engineer, Mortons Media Group Ltd, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR F. 01507 371066 E. MEeditor@mortons.co.uk Publication is at the discretion of the Editor. The content of letters may be edited to suit the magazine style and space available. Correspondents should note that production schedules normally involve a minimum lead time of six weeks for material submitted for publication. In the interests of security, correspondents' details are not published unless specific instructions to do so are given. Responses to published letters are forwarded as appropriate.…

CLUB NEWS Well, unprecedented it may be, but I had enough raw material to sustain me for the whole of this contribution, as opposed to the recent few issues where I subsisted on 'nothing, spread thin.' It may be the answer to my prayers but not one I was expecting. Whilst preparing for the fray, debonair, handsome, well informed, suave; none of these qualities feature in my repertoire as I begin the next chapter in the Life Saga of Club News. In his issue, a 'Clan', female engineers, solar power, pond life and an Atkinson truck. Criterion, March, from High Wycombe Model Engineering Club is first out of the bag. On the cover is a boat, not often featured in this prominent advert for our hobby. It is an Admiralty…

I am sure most readers of Model Engineer are well aware of the infamous Congreve Clock, a clock which, love it or hate it, has a reputation and fascination like no other. Without a doubt it has its many critics. As a clock, even when working at its best, it is a notoriously bad timekeeper, so much so that many people totally disregard it as a timepiece at all. In fact I have heard many serious clock collectors say it isn't really a clock, but an engineering novelty, like a clockwork toy. To many owners, and even some repairers, it can be a nightmare to repair or manage to make it run. And yet, despite its bad reputation, it is captivating to watch and has an attraction more than any…

Introduction The ability to produce flat surfaces on metal and other materials is a prerequisite for the mechanical engineer. Precise surface flatness is highly valued for many reasons within the various disciplines of manufacturing and engineering. Among these, it enables precise movement and rigidity in a mechanical system that subsequently reduces the complications of inefficiency and wear. The eminent British engineer Joseph Whitworth recognised the importance of precise surface flatness early in the nineteenth century, towards the end of the Industrial Revolution. Together with the method of using three comparative plates (the three-plate method) Whitworth had learned the technique of hand scraping metal to precise surface flatness during an apprenticeship under Henry Maudslay (ref 1). When used in combination, hand scraping and the three-plate method enabled metal surfaces to be…

Not long after my wife and I bought our first house in North-East Northamptonshire in 1970, we went on holiday to Scotland and found some wonderful landscapes with railways and bridges over rivers that gave us thoughts towards the possibility of building a live steam railway in our garden. On our return, some elementary surveying was carried out and, with a minimum radius of 30 feet, we found that a length of 5 inch gauge track of around 150 feet would fit into the garden without encroaching on the decorative areas. It would require a slope up and down at both ends with gradients of about 1 in 60. Figure 1 is the diagram of the track layout in our back garden. The track was to be laid on a…

Tim Coles takes us through the basics of model turbine design. Introduction Sixty years ago, I was a 'Keil Kraft kid', building tow line gliders, small free flight and control line models, with bold ventures into single channel radio control. At that time, there was talk about model gas turbines, or jet engines as we knew them, and I'm sure I'm not alone in having experimented with making turbine wheels from aluminium sheet, or from baked bean tin lids and razor blades. However, we were told, in no uncertain terms, by those who purported to know better, that there was no prospect of making small gas turbines; it was simply a physical impossibility, in the same way that scientists insisted that bumble bees can't fly – but they forgot to…

June 2 Guildford MES Small Model Steam Engine Group, 14:00-17:00. See www.gmes.org.uk 2 Plymouth Miniature Steam Public running, 14:00-16:30, Pendeen Crescent, Plymouth, PL6 6RE, Contact: Rob Hitchcock, 01822 852479 2 Westland and Yeovil MES Running the track at Yeovil Junction – Steam Train Day and Children's Day. Contact: Michael Callaghan, 01935 473003 6 Sutton MEC Bits and Pieces evening 20:00. Contact: Paul Harding, 0208 254 9749 6 Westland and Yeovil MES Thursday running afternoon and evening followed by fish and chips. Contact: Michael Callaghan, 01935 473003 7 Rochdale SMEE General Meeting. Castleton Community Centre, 19:00. See www.facebook.com/RochdaleModelEngineers 7-9 Cardiff MES Welsh Rally at Heath Park, Cardiff. Contact: secretary@cardiffmes.co.uk 8 Bradford MES Meeting: RC Loco Competition and Evening Running. 13:00 onwards, Northcliff. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999. 9 Bradford MES The…