Author Topic: Another Simplex Refurbishment  (Read 57695 times)

Offline doubletop

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #45 on: September 25, 2012, 08:31:32 PM »
Carl, Ron, Stew

Thanks for your good wishes and apologies for my tardy response. I'm attending a conference at the moment which results in later nights than normal. You know how these things go.

Back to normal at the end of today

regards

Pete
?To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.? - Stirling Moss

Offline arnoldb

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #46 on: September 26, 2012, 06:16:01 PM »
She runs like a champ Pete  :ThumbsUp: - Well done!

Nary a chuff on no-load - I'm looking forward to see and hear her when on the rails for the first time; that should bring the chuff out  ;D

Kind regards, Arnold
Building an engine takes Patience, Planning, Preparation and Machining.
Procrastination is nearly the same, but it precludes machining.
Thus, an engine will only be built once the procrastination stops and the machining begins!

Offline steamer

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #47 on: September 27, 2012, 01:52:11 AM »
Sounds Great from here Pete....you need to put her to work!    A good load makes for some nice stack "talk"

Dave
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Damned ijjit!

Offline doubletop

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #48 on: September 27, 2012, 11:35:24 AM »
Thanks Arnold and Dave

Hopefully well get another nice Sunday and it will be down the club for the steam test and certification. Then wait for somewhere to run it. The track re-build is complete except for the swing arm and now the access track from the steaming bays. A suggestion "lets re-align it" ended up with virtually complete removal ready for a re-build on the basis of getting it right rather than wishing later that we had.

regards all

Pete
?To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.? - Stirling Moss

Offline doubletop

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #49 on: October 11, 2012, 09:47:10 AM »
I 've finally got the brakes finished. I been messing around half heartedly trying to find something to use for the brake blocks. I didn't have any CI to make a ring in the time honored way. I was reluctant to have to hack them out of solid and make them one at a time so to be honest I'd been stalling for weeks . It came to the point that I had to do something so rummaged around looking for inspiration I found I  had some 1.5" hex bar that allowed me to cut some 3/8" slices and face them to thickness in the lathe. Cut them in half and get two brake blocks out of each slice. I was then in two minds how to cut the radius, in the lathe or in the mill. They are too small for the 200mm lathe faceplate and I couldn't work out how to hold them in the milling vice so I could use the fly cutter vertical in the mill. Then I had an inspiration, my milling head will go through 90deg and so will my milling vice, so simple and four shoes in one go.


 
The home made flycutter looks a bit ungainly in the ER32 collet but it does the job. The whole set of blocks from start to finish was 4 hours max, a couple of evenings really.

So a bit of work to put all the parts together.






 
You'll notice a bit of rerouting of the p;plumbing was required to get the coupling rods in as the exiting pipework ran just where they needed to go.



That's it for now. I've arranged with the club inspector for the steam test and certification to be done on the next fine Sunday. Unfortunately it doesn't look like its going to be this weekend.

regards
Pete
« Last Edit: July 16, 2017, 08:22:29 AM by doubletop »
?To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.? - Stirling Moss

Offline Jo

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #50 on: October 11, 2012, 10:19:32 AM »
Then I had an inspiration, my milling head will go through 90deg and so will my milling vice, so simple and four shoes in one go.

 8) I hadn't thought of that. My Prazimat mill nose takes the chucks and faceplates off the Hobbymat lathe. :whoohoo:
Wow, what a diameter could be turned if I mounted a tool post on the milling table.

Jo

Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline doubletop

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #51 on: October 12, 2012, 10:09:46 AM »
Jo

Yes, before I got a decent lathe I'd that in the past, . This is making some rollers to try out my Rob Roy



Though I didn't need to put the spindle horizontal.

Even with the mill going down to 90rpm putting something really big in the chuck could be a bit hairy.

Pete
« Last Edit: July 16, 2017, 08:24:47 AM by doubletop »
?To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.? - Stirling Moss

Offline doubletop

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #52 on: October 14, 2012, 07:58:10 AM »
Big day today, the weather cleared up so I rang the boiler inspector to see if he was going to the track.

He was so the loco got packed into the car and off we went for the boiler certification. All good, so I'm ready to go. Unfortunately at the moment there's no access from the steaming bays to the 5" gauge track as its still part of the re-build, so we had to make to with it running on blocks

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT4EUHcKIuw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT4EUHcKIuw</a>

Happy chappy

Pete
?To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.? - Stirling Moss

Offline sbwhart

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #53 on: October 14, 2012, 08:07:39 AM »
 :pinkelephant: :pinkelephant: :pinkelephant: :pinkelephant: :pinkelephant:

:whoohoo: :whoohoo: :whoohoo: :whoohoo: :whoohoo:

Great stuff Pete I bet you can't wait for the track to be cleared.

Stew
A little bit of clearance never got in the way

Offline Jo

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #54 on: October 14, 2012, 08:26:46 AM »
Brilliant,  :cheers:

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline doubletop

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #55 on: October 14, 2012, 08:48:59 AM »
Thanks guys, my aim had been to get it running for the summer. The track really isn't that far from being finished. If there hadn't been a bit of 'scope creep' it would have been done. But I can't really complain, it was one of my off-hand comments that got the access track re-aligned. It ran too close to one of the storage units and was a real PITA when moving from the steaming bays to the raised track.

As always with these things the 'to do' list never gets completed so I've got a few odd jobs lined up already, More cosmetic and functional changes than major machining, like make a new shovel. Those in the know were looking at mine a bit quizzically when somebody handed me another one and said 'try this' it was ten times better, I could get coal in quicker so easier to maintain steam.

Pete

?To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.? - Stirling Moss

Offline steamer

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #56 on: October 14, 2012, 01:02:45 PM »
Nice Job Pete!

Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline ozzie46

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #57 on: October 14, 2012, 01:25:24 PM »


   Way to go Pete!!  Looks and sounds great.

  Ron

Offline vcutajar

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #58 on: October 14, 2012, 01:33:05 PM »
Congratulations Pete.

Vince

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Another Simplex Refurbishment
« Reply #59 on: October 14, 2012, 02:02:25 PM »
Congratulations Pete! Looks fantastic. Love the whistle!
Anxiously awaiting a video of the track run.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
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