Bassett Lowke 1.5″ Burrell Plans Required

[JBFliesParticipant @jbflies]

I have acquired a complete kit of parts for the Burrell 7HP Traction Engine as produced by Bassett Lowke. It is quite old (mid 60's I would guess) and all the parts / castings / fastenings etc appear to be there. I have all the plans except Sheet 1 which is quite a big omission. There is also no construction booklet and I feel there probably was one originally.

I would be very grateful if someone had Sheet 1 of this plan set and hopefully also the booklet and I could arrange for a copy. Without it there is not much I can do with all the other parts I have.

Thanks, John Begg, Christchurch, NZ

[JBFliesParticipant @jbflies]

[JBFliesParticipant @jbflies]

No replies. That is a bit surprising. I would have thought that someone would have built one of these. Are they actually a rare beast?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Yes quite rare and you see more posts asking for drawings than you do engines.

J

[JBFliesParticipant @jbflies]

Hi Jason, thanks for the response. As it seems to be a more unusual model than I thought it is perhaps not the best subject for my next project. Do you know if they did make a good model once completed?

Thanks, John

[Detlef GauseParticipant @detlefgause87417]

there has been one sold at cheffins, incl. drawings, maybe you could ask them to forward your request ?

Detlef

[TrickyParticipant @tricky]

Hi John,

I am currently building a Bassett Lowke 1.5" traction engine that was started by my father about 40 years ago.
I have all 5 drawings but they are rather fragile and not verry good quality so I have scanned them in as a series of A4 scans and stitched them back together using Photoshop. I can email a copy to you if you want but the drawings are not totally accurate and don't give much detail for some parts.

Sheet 1 is the general arrangement and doesn't appear to have been revised compared to the others because it shows a different firehole door to the detail on anotheer sheet.

There was no construction booklet original produced, unlike the 3/4" scale Bassett Lowke TE so you need to have some knowledge of model TE construction. I have an old set of the Plastow 3" Burrell drawings which I use for additional information as it appears to be very similar to the Bassett Lowke Burrell.

The other thing you need to consider is that the original boiler drawing shows an all copper rivetted and soft solder construction with integral hornplates which isn't really acceptable now. I redrew the boiler to be silver soldered construction with separate steel hornplates and had it made commercially.

If you want any more information please let me know.

Richard

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Hi guys, I'm new.

I have noticed the above thread convention the 1.5 inch bassett lowke Burrell traction engine, I to need a set of drawings, my engine is a complete week and probably never run again but could anyone help me with a set of drawings to maybe give me half a chance.

Willing to pay.

Thanks Derek

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Sorry my spelling was awfull.

can anyone help with a complete set of the 1.5 inch drawings as above? i'm willing to pay.

Thanks Derek

[TrickyParticipant @tricky]

Hi Derek,

I have scanned in my copies of the 1 1/2" Bassett Lowke TE drawings and can send a copy of them to you at no cost. If you send a Private Message to me with your email address I will contact you to discuss what format you want them in.

Richard

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Great, thanks Richard, i have sent you my email

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Hi Guys

I'm stuck again with this engine, the cylinder block seems to of been machined wrong, all the inner holes etc but I can't figure the drawing out on how wrong they are.

can anyone help with digital pictures of there's, or know anyone who would machine the inside for me?

regards Derek

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

looks like I have the slide valve parts missing

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Depending on how badly placed the wrong holes are you may not be able to recover the casting, at the very least most of the mating parts may also need to be machined to suit any corrective work. Post some square on photos of the cylinder with a steel rule against it and the relevant part of teh drawing and we can have a look.

J

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Thanks for the reply, i will try and get some photos done, is there anyone who has built this engine and knows how the slide valve should look inside the cylinder block?

and if i should even carry on with this engine, i'm being told that the copper hornplates are unsafe and i sould get rid, which seems silly as they have been working OK in the past.

Thanks Derek

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

This engine's boiler is made like the full size and the "hornplates" are a continuation of the boiler sides rather than separate plates as most designs now have. To get rid of them would mean a complete new boiler and boiler design.

Unless they are leaking or in some otherway defective it would not be easy to "get rid" Has a boiler inspector taken a look at the boiler? Who has said its unsafe and why? Not sure what stage of build the engine is in but before doing any work on it I would suggest you get a hydralic test done on teh boiler as its not going to be worth bolting all the other bits onto a dodgy base.

J

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Hi, thanks for your response.

i agree i think it looks fine to me, an sending it away today for a test at £55..then i will know if to carry on.

i am literaly trying to save this engine from the brink of the bin, thats how bad it is.

Derek

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Even if the boiler gets the thumbs down it would still make a nice display engine and could even be made to work on air without pressurising the boiler so you could have a bit of a play at home.

[JBFliesParticipant @jbflies]

As I indicated earlier, I have acquired a complete set of castings, all the machined gears, all the fastenings,. In fact everything for the complete engine except the mild steel stock (for axles etc). However I have encountered a major problem in that the boiler does not meet the NZ (or Australian) code and would require significant changes to do so. I have the modified boiler design, thanks Richard, but even that does not meet our NZ code.

I wonder if the best option is to sell it all back to someone in UK as it seems that it meets UK requirements closer than ours. Is there a market for stuff like this?

John

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

There should not be that many alterations to bring the modified boiler upto your spec, probably needs radial stays if the drawing has girder and one or two there odd bits. Agree that the rivited and caulked boiler is now outdated.

There is always a market but really depends on costs, shipping will be a major downer, I just bought a casting set from the US which cost me $125USD but the postage was another $108USD to post to the UK which will be against you if selling overseas. The other factor is that the current trend is to build larger scale engines, at the time BL offered these kits 1 1/2" scale was generally the largest a lot of people would tackle, now most want something that can hold its own on the rally field so 3" or large 2" is the practical minimum and 4" plus prefered. If someone really did want to make that particular engine then most of the castings could be done by fabication or cutting from solid so again a smaller market.

J

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Interesting coincidence – At the Fornsett show today I saw a model traction engine that I didn't recognise. The size was just the sort of thing I would like to build. The owner told me it was a 1 1/2 " Bassett Lowke Burrell. Very nice engine, un-painted and steaming like a witch on coal. He also said that the Plastow 3" was just doubled up from the Bassett Lowke drawings, so that may be an option.

HTH

Rod

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

The 6NHP in the same scale that Avery used to do would make a nice one Rod, better drawings and a silver soldered boiler as well. Its a SCC so compound but single throw crank, like a Devonshire.

J

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

I have a bassett lowke Burrell traction engine for sale on eBay at the moment, it's a real wreck and I couldn't afford to buy a new boiler as it has two shallow dents one either side of boiler

[Dave Matthews 3Participant @davematthews3]

Happy new year all, I am new to this world its been my passion from a very young age to own my own traction engine. I have just got myself a 1.5 Burrell off eBay. It needed a lot of work doing to it so i thought I would give it a go. It came with all the plans, well i think they are the right ones. I have stripped it down taking many photos along the way, I am not shore the the boiler that is the correct one. Could anybody give me a name of some ware I could get a new one from or made, Many thanks.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Helen at Western Steam does very good boilers, you could also try Southern Boilerworks.

Don't expect the boiler by return, they have long waiting lists upto 12months

J

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