Hi
I started on this project a while ago and progress is being made although its fairly slow. I get side tracked easily and drift off in all sorts of strange directions, mix that with the usual domestic duties and you can see that this will take some time.
The model I am building is based (very loosely) on the Sissons portable engine. A series of articles in the Model engineer magazine in 1999 covered the building of such a model. I believe that only recently a set of castings has become available. I will not be using any castings but intend to fabricate everything myself. I will be building around available materials and I will be including designs from various engines as takes my fancy.
I must give thanks and praise to a man who has given me considerable help and guidance and I think will have to lend a hand many more times before this is finished.
Many thanks Sandy
The Sissons portable engine is a rare beast, not many photos exist of it. The company of Sissons was taken over by another company, J J Seekings. The following photo is of a J J seekings version.
The following video contains a short piece of a J J Seekings portable running, I believe in Australia. I'm sure Tel will correct me if I'm wrong.
What drew me to this model was the boiler design which I felt would be within my curent skill level. I own the magazines that the article was published in so I can show you just a small part of the plans, the boiler. I don't think that showing just a small section of something I own will infringe any copyright but moderators please feel free to remove the image if you see fit.
I originally started this topic on another forum so what follows is just a brief glimpse to bring us back up to date. If anyone needs anything more detailed about any particular section please shout up and I'll do my best to oblige.
My intention is to run this model coal.
The copper tube I am using for the boiler is a piece 4 1/4" diameter x 12" long. This is considerably longer and slightly fatter than the plans called for but I decided there was little point in chopping off a short section which would be a waste. The longer boiler would make for a more substantial model.
I started out by making a few jigs to hold the boiler. A cradle from MDF and some soft wood turned in the lathe.
Here the boiler is having its ends trimmed in the bandsaw, held in the jig.
The 2 boiler end plates were pressed in a punch and die made from some scrap oak.
Annealing the 2 end plates.
In the press
The finished end plates
After a light trim in the lathe they fit perfectly
One hase a hole machined for the firebox tube.
The other has 9 3/8 firetube holes drilled
The firebox is a piece of 2 1/4 " copper tube with 1/8 walls. I made a punch and die to press the firebox tube plate from 1/8 copper plate. It then has 9 corresponding firetube holes drilled
Loosely assembled to check for fit
The cylinder block is being fabricated from a car brake cylinder with a .7" bore. It machines beautifully. A block of steel and a curved section of steel are screwed onto a machined flat with 3 4mm stainless steel countersunk socket head screws
The valve chest is machined from a piece of 1/2" brass bar.
The valve chest cover is made from 1/8" brass and has a steam inlet silver soldered on. I have made a displacement lubricator which screws straight into the steam inlet in the valve chest cover.
I have a small steam valve that I picked up at a steam fair that I will use. It will screw into a bush in the boiler and have a short pipe to connect it to the displacement lubricator.
Well thats pretty much where I am to date. Like I said before if anyone wants more detail about any particular section please shout up.
Cheers
Rich