Author Topic: 2" Clayton Power Wagon  (Read 15966 times)

Offline dnalot

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2" Clayton Power Wagon
« on: May 10, 2014, 03:52:09 PM »
2" Clayton Steam Wagon

I started this project not knowing if I would get very far. The model design was published by "Model Engineer" over about a two year period (78-79). Many of the parts were available for purchase at the time, something I would not be able to do. The wheels looked like the most challenging parts so that is where I started "about a year ago". I now have a completed frame, axles, wheels and tires and I have a start on the engine, so I guess I'm building the Clayton all the way. Over the next few days I will bring you up to date on the project and in the months to come I will keep you informed as to my progress.

The original model had cast aluminum wheels. My casting abilities are limited so I decided I would machine mine from blanks. Now the rear wheels are some 6" in diameter and that is a big chunk of metal. So I decided to cast a rough blank using the lost foam method. The foam was cut on my cnc router and then I gently rammed them in green sand for casting. The foam is very delicate so I had to make the web thickness hearty to be able to hold the wheels shape while ramming.

Once I had the wheel blanks I chucked them into the lathe to turn the outer diameter and to dish in the center of the wheel to speck. After that was completed I mounted the wheels to the mill and roughed out the web between the spokes.  And then it was off to the CNC router to detail the spokes. This is where I ran into a little trouble as my routers bearings decided to give out after 5 years of use. This made for a little bit more in the way of tool marks. A bit of file work and some sand blasting and the wheels were ready to be anodized.

Next I will show how I cast solid rubber tires.

Mark T
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline Alan Haisley

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2014, 04:41:34 PM »
This sounds interesting.  :popcornsmall:

Alan

Offline Kim

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2014, 05:12:33 PM »
Hi Mark,
That is really interesting, how you made the wheels.  Thanks for sharing this with us   :popcorn:
Kim

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2014, 06:06:18 PM »
Next I will show how I cast solid rubber tires.

Cool.  :popcorn:
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Offline Coopertje

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2014, 08:15:51 PM »
Very nice work on the wheels Mark. Have the plans for the Clayton too, but I find it quite intimidating to start on it, so many parts to make. Admire your courage to take such a huge project  :praise2:

Jeroen

Offline pgp001

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2014, 11:18:58 PM »
Mark

Great job on those wheels.
Did you spot the mistake on the steering linkage, there needs to be a double joint at the bottom end of the steering drop arm.
The drag link needs to be able to pivot in two planes as the lock is applied, but as designed it only allows for movement in one plane. Most builders just make a very "slack fitting" joint to compensate for it.

In fact the whole front axle is not accurate to the original wagon, when I made mine many years ago I redesigned that whole assembly so it looked like the full size one.

Phil

fcheslop

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2014, 11:25:58 PM »
Nice work on the wheels.
I seem to remember a little problem on the valve gear when I made my Clayton it always had a very slight kick on the lever arm or it may have just been the way I made it although a gent at Harrogate last year mentioned the same prob.
I made a simple clutch so the engine could run whilst standing as I had not fitted an injector .I did fit the feed water heater and it worked better than I thought it would.
I keep thinking about rebuilding it as a 6 wheeler and do away with the trailer.Well oneday
cheers

Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2014, 02:14:56 AM »
Thanks for the comments guys. I had not even looked at the steering. Thanks for the heads up, I will be taking a closer look at that when the time comes. And a timely comment on the reverse linkages. I just completed the crankshaft and now have it mounted to the crankcase, It could be that the Joy linkage being designed straight rather than curved is making for a problem.

I am not clear as to what the injector does, please explain. I expect to sail along just fine till it comes time to plumb this thing.

I have made my frame longer than the magazine's model and will set it up as a flatbed.

I will have my post on the tires ready by tomorrow, I need to make the photos ready for upload.

Mark T
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline Jo

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2014, 07:56:20 AM »
In fact the whole front axle is not accurate to the original wagon, when I made mine many years ago I redesigned that whole assembly so it looked like the full size one.

Phil

You mean something like this Phil  ;)

I must finish the plumbing  :facepalm2:

Jo
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Offline pgp001

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2014, 10:13:49 AM »
Jo

Yes, that was the main big difference in that the forks are part of the hub and not on the axle ends.
The wheels would be dished as well to get the tyre contact on the road somewhere in line with the king pin.

Phil

Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2014, 02:30:16 PM »
After an exhaustive search for an easy way to put some tires on my wheels I finally decided I would have to cast my own. A search of McMaster-Carr for rubber casting materials found me this product. Liquid urethane, it was available in several grades of hardness. It is a two part mix that vulcanizes at room temp.

The form I made from some plastic material that boat builders use. The product was called "Star Board" and it machines very nicely and nothing will stick to it. To determine how much material to mix I filled the forms with water and then poured the water into a mixing cup and marked it. The forms were placed in a vacuum bag for the pour. The urethane base is thick like cold syrup, it needs to be mixed VERY well or you will have soft and hard spots. The mix is by weight so I used a gram scale to measure out the material. MIX MIX MIX scrape the stick and the sides of the cup Mix Mix Mix some more and then repeat.  As I started pouring the material into the form I applied a little vacuum to help pull in the thick mess. Once the forms were full I turned off the vacuum pump. It takes about 30 min. for the stuff to start to set. I kept tapping the forms during this time and a few big bubbles came out. There were some smaller bubbles that were trapped near the top of the form and they became apparent when I sanded the tire to give them a road worn look. They are small and I'm not going to worry about them. I let the forms set over night and parted the forms the next morning. The material takes about a week to come to full hardness. After a few days I stretched them onto the wheels using the same material to glue them in place. An interesting note: Lock tight-green-680 can be used to glue the urethane as well. It took three 1 QT kits so the tires were not cheap, but the scrap aluminum I made the wheels from was free so the cost of the Tires & Wheels was acceptable.  The shelf life of the urethane kit is very short, about 3 months; less if the can has been opened. If you don't follow the mixing instructions and change the ratio of part A to B you can start a fire or get a mix that never cures. The product is very flexible and durable; one suggested use was for repairing conveyer belts.

The wheel is black but to get any detail to show in the photo I had to overexpose the image. The wheels were anodized and dipped in black die. After sealing them I then sprayed them with a polyurethane semi gloss.

Next I will show you the rear axle and differential.

Mark T
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #11 on: May 11, 2014, 02:35:29 PM »
Wow. Well done. That looks absolutely great.
Thanks for the postings. There's quite a bit here I'll refer to some time.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
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Offline tvoght

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #12 on: May 11, 2014, 05:03:37 PM »
Informative and fascinating. Thanks.

--Tim

fcheslop

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #13 on: May 11, 2014, 07:49:26 PM »
Hi ,The injector feeds cold water into the boiler using steam along the lines of a venturi.I did not make one as I had made a feed water heater and apparently injectors dont like hot water.
Thats why I made a simple dog clutch for the engine sprocket so the engine driven pump could be used to keep the boiler up to level without having to use the hand pump in the water tank
A daft little story
Myself and a superb model builder Jimmy Mac and another Gentleman built the Claytons and once had a burn up :Lol:on an industrial estate we then worked at when the Police suddenly turned up .After  lot of humming and haring the bobby looked at us and said now children give us a go :ROFL:
cheers and good luck
frazer

Offline Roger B

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #14 on: May 11, 2014, 08:53:57 PM »
 :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :whoohoo: :whoohoo:

Great tale  :)
Best regards

Roger

Offline Steamer5

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #15 on: May 11, 2014, 10:56:12 PM »
Hi Mark,
Those tyres really look great, to say nothing of those wheels! I've had the build article for this so long that I don't think they will come out of the plastic slip pockets! Anyway just checked them out the updates for the steering are in M.E. 3814, 3944, 3946, 3948, why the big gap I don't know. There was also an update for the engine to make it more authentic, issues 3918, 3920, 3922, 3924, 3926, 3944, seem to remember its a bit of a trick to make.
I've got a bit of 8" tube that would make a great boiler for an upscaled version............mmmmmmm NO must be good train first!

Cheers Kerrin
Get excited and make something!

Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #16 on: May 12, 2014, 12:19:35 AM »
Thanks for the feedback guys. And thanks to Fcheslop & Steamer5 for the leads to more information

Spent the day mowing my field with a 1950 Ford 8n, wondering how hard it would be to make one?

Mark T
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #17 on: May 12, 2014, 02:31:34 PM »
Before I started this part of the project I knew what a differential did, I just never thought about how it worked…. After a little study time I now realize there are a lot of ways to make a differential. I have not yet learned how to make gears so I bought some that would need to be modified a little. They are brass and I hope they will work. If not I will need to make my own someday from steel.
 
The axle was turned from a 1.5" x 18" piece of steel and my modified ring gears were soldered in place. The carrier for the pinion gears I made from aluminum and the sprocket was store bought and made to fit the carrier. Once assembled the gears were a tad bit stiff and lumpy so I put the assembly on a lathe and dabbed a little 600 grid lapping compound on the gears. A few minutes at 28 RPM and the gears were running butter smooth.

After everything was made and fitted, I "Parkerized" (got it right this time) the steel parts. The hubcaps I made from steel and then copper plated them. I think I will add a bronze plating bucket to my collection and bronze plate them before I'm through. The wheel is held in place by a ring with a pin through it. The pin is retained by the hubcap. And the hubcap is held in place by a very thin magnet. It takes a lot of effort to pull the hubcap off.

Next I will show the frame and the springs and put what I have built so far all together.

Mark T
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #18 on: June 15, 2014, 04:28:28 AM »
Spring happened and I have not been as active in the shop of late. But here is an update on the Clayton project.

The model's design plan called for mild steel "fake" springs. I wanted real springs so I used spring steel. It is still very stiff so I made the rear springs with three leafs active for a soft suspension and the rest come into play as an overload set. Like the rest of the running gear the finish is Parkerized and oiled.
 
The engine has been rather difficult but I have finally gotten the lower end completed and turning over smoothly. This is my third engine and I have learned to make my parts a tight fit and then lap them to perfection. I lapped my ass off on this one. The crankcase is made of mild steel sheet soldered together. I used a 70 percent tin and 30 percent lead solder to assemble and then followed up with a lower melting temp solder to seal up all joints, this is a wet crankcase. That part went fine and the case is very robust. All the internal parts are of mild steel with bronze bushings and blocks. The plan showed an assembled crankshaft but I went with a solid one piece unit. The crank was turned from a 1.5 inch square stock "4130". After removing most of the material I let it sit for a few days to settle down before doing the final turn. (The black stuff on crankshaft in the photo is from some electrical tape that secured the Jacks between the webs) Getting all the linkages for the joy valve system to clear one another was a real job. I spent more time fiddling with the parts than I did making them. The three gears that will power the water pump's eccentric were salvaged from an old optical scanner. On my next project I want to learn to cut gears (thinking about making a Minnie Traction Engine).   I'm going for a gnarly looking old engine so I copper plated the crankcase and aged the copper and bronze parts. I now have all the top end parts cast in bronze but I need to do the cylinder block over, it has a lot of porosity. The top end should be little or no problem so my mind is wandering off thinking about the boiler.

I painted the frame with an etching primer. I liked the color so I top coated it with a spray on polyurethane.

My next update will have a video of the engine running on air "I hope"
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #19 on: June 15, 2014, 04:29:55 AM »
and a few more photos
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Online fumopuc

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #20 on: June 15, 2014, 06:39:23 AM »
Hi Mark, that is a very intersting and also fascinating build report. A lot to learn and understand. The suspension and also the rest of the chassis and engine are looking great. Thanks for sharing it.
Kind Regards
Achim

Online steamer

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #21 on: June 15, 2014, 10:23:03 AM »
Outstanding write up Mark!  Wonderful build...I've machined a bit of 4150....it's not particularly pleasant!.....Well done!

Dave
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Offline ogaryd

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #22 on: June 15, 2014, 01:11:01 PM »
That's beautiful work, Thanks for sharing this wonderful build.
                                                                                                       Gary
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Offline Coopertje

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #23 on: June 16, 2014, 09:46:42 PM »
Very nice build Mark! Thanks for posting. I have the plans for the Clayton, quite intimidating in terms of time to spend to complete such a project. Admire you patience and your quality of work  :praise2:

Jeroen

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #24 on: June 17, 2014, 01:14:35 AM »
I am just catching up with this build Mark...nice work so far and some interesting techniques you are using as well.
Bill

Offline crueby

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #25 on: June 17, 2014, 04:33:24 AM »
Looks like a great model! Great work on it.

I have never seen one like that before, do you have a picture or drawing of what it will look like finished? What type of upper works did it have?

Offline Graham Meek

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #26 on: June 17, 2014, 09:11:56 AM »
I have to agree with the other posters that this is a very skilful and interesting build.

As regards what these vehicles look like if you Google "Clayton Steam Wagon" there are lots of examples and there is also a PDF file of the original Robin Dyer article.

My best regards
Gray,

Offline gerritv

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #27 on: June 17, 2014, 12:09:19 PM »
Amazing job on the crankcase. I first thought it was a bronze casting!

Gerrit
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Offline dnalot

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #28 on: June 17, 2014, 03:10:10 PM »
Thanks for the encouraging words; I needed it to catch a second wind. This has turned into an epic build and I have a long way to go.

Here is a photo of the Australian version of the Clayton.

Mark T
Some times it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Offline pgp001

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Re: 2" Clayton Power Wagon
« Reply #29 on: June 17, 2014, 05:21:20 PM »
That is actually an Atkinson Steam Wagon also built in Britain. It is also a unique survivor of this make.
It was repatriated by Tom Varley many years ago, along with many other rare steam wagons that were languishing in the Australian outback.

I keep wondering if a full size Clayton undertype wagon will ever be discovered.

Phil

 

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