Author Topic: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.  (Read 193895 times)

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #255 on: April 06, 2016, 01:14:41 AM »
I am waiting for some more brass to arrive so i have been catching up with the perspex proving model.......

Offline Intheshed

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #256 on: April 06, 2016, 01:48:16 PM »
Hi,
many years ago, I was a driver/operative for a woodworm treatment company and we were called to treat Beeleigh Grange, the most haunted house in England and made almost entirely of wood, a most unusual thing for a fine house.
Wish I'd known about the engine there!

Cheers,
Martin

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #257 on: April 06, 2016, 04:50:36 PM »

Hi,
many years ago, I was a driver/operative for a woodworm treatment company and we were called to treat Beeleigh Grange, the most haunted house in England and made almost entirely of wood, a most unusual thing for a fine house.
Wish I'd known about the engine there!

Cheers,
Martin
[/quote]
Hi Martin, this is a map of where the engine resides. It is totally off the beaten track and almost completely surrounded by water and what with the corn laws etc etc has escaped the attentions of anybody that may have had any nefarious interests with it

Offline crueby

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #258 on: April 06, 2016, 05:57:33 PM »
Corn laws? Your crops have laws?!


Offline Intheshed

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #259 on: April 06, 2016, 07:02:12 PM »
Oh yes, crueby!  Look em up.

Just up river from there is the Museum of Power at Langford.  Full of engines.  Worth a visit.

Martin

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #260 on: April 06, 2016, 08:45:29 PM »
slowly working out how i am going to do this....................the acorn ends will be turned up and then slots milled in them to slot the beam into and then soldered together. The beam will then be filed to the contours of the acorns. vis.............this is only a test piece at the moment just to see how it will work .the difficult bit is the scalloped detail.........
« Last Edit: April 06, 2016, 08:53:18 PM by steam guy willy »

Offline crueby

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #261 on: April 06, 2016, 09:09:22 PM »
Clever solution - going to be a great looking engine.

Offline Intheshed

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #262 on: April 06, 2016, 11:46:59 PM »
How will you do that lattice work on the drop beams?  I notice it isn't exactly even on the real one!

Martin

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #263 on: April 07, 2016, 02:19:09 AM »
the beam bar is milled from a piece of 1" x1/8" brass bar, it is 3/32 " thick so 1/32 is removed. the milling marks are removed by filing with a 3 square file. the wooden handle is taken off and the file held on the top with the fingers  at a slight angle . this makes it easier to file very flat.
When the brass was removed it sprang into a banana shape. this often happens with steel as it releves the tension but i have not noticed it with brass before. I will have to heat it up and see what happens. Perhaps it should have been annealed before milling. has anybody had this happen and any advice to make it dead flat again ?

Offline crueby

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #264 on: April 07, 2016, 03:15:23 AM »
I have had that bending happen a lot with flat bar brass. Best prevention is to heat it in the oven at 500f for an hour and let it cool. That relieves the stresses that were introduced when the brass was rolled out in manufacturing. Without it, if you cut down one side it will spring into a curve. If you take an equal amount off both sides it can even out. Once curved it is very hard to straighten, I don't think heating it after cutting will help, but I have not tried it. After several times that it happened, I now stress relieve all stock that I will be cutting down. It happens on both flat and round bars. Turning on a lathe doesn't show the curve since you are taking an even layer off all around.

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #265 on: April 07, 2016, 07:15:40 PM »
thanks Crueby, I heated it up and just pushed it down on the fire brick and squished it in the vice and it came strait again. However when i returned it to the piece of steel to hold it firmly for marking out it seems to have shrunk a bit..........Also the brass has a matt finish that will make it easier to photograph.   also when brass is annealed it is softer so is it easier to cut until it work hardens again saving energy ??!!

Offline Intheshed

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #266 on: April 07, 2016, 07:34:13 PM »
Why would you mill that bit off when you could have started with 2mm brass?  That can be had from engravers as off-cut.  Or, if pushed you can get it from brass suppliers in small amounts.
I have made brass patterns for the white metal model kit industry for years and never had the bending issues.  But then mostly I was hammering it into shape.

Martin

Offline crueby

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #267 on: April 07, 2016, 08:29:52 PM »
thanks Crueby, I heated it up and just pushed it down on the fire brick and squished it in the vice and it came strait again. However when i returned it to the piece of steel to hold it firmly for marking out it seems to have shrunk a bit..........Also the brass has a matt finish that will make it easier to photograph.   also when brass is annealed it is softer so is it easier to cut until it work hardens again saving energy ??!!

Glad you were able to save the piece. I've had the bending problem a lot on thicker bars that were harder to reflatten, so have gotten in the habit of stress relieving the brass stock for an engine before cutting. Just takes an hour in the oven, and does not change the hardness. From what I've read, for most steels the temperatures needed are much higher so can't be done so easy.

Offline steam guy willy

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #268 on: April 08, 2016, 02:19:30 AM »
so, i am taking the plunge and starting on the beam proper......i have made a new acorn and milled the slots for the web as well as the feather. I have sort of filed the scalloped bit but it will need further work to look right. the acorn has been soldered on and the web filed down to match the acorn.......seems to be going ok so far......
« Last Edit: April 08, 2016, 02:26:57 AM by steam guy willy »

Offline Johnb

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Re: The Beeleigh Mill, Woolf compound engine.Maldon, Essex.
« Reply #269 on: April 08, 2016, 10:05:55 PM »
Plunge well taken Willy. I'm looking forward to this bit. Many thanks.
John Browning. Member of Ickenham and District SME

 

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