Brian’s 1″ Minnie Traction Engine

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well done Brian!

Neil

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Thanks Neil

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Another bit done, least the smoke can escape now!

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Hello all.

With the chimney saddle now complete i am going to look at drilling the exhaust port in the end of the cylinder,

The chances are i will never steam this engine, but just in case i ever did, or maybe someone else does, should i allow for a gasket between the boiler and cylinder? and am i correct to say there is no need for a gasket between the chimney saddle and the smoke box ?

Thanks all.

[Jon LawesParticipant @jonlawes51698]

I would imagine not; there isn't any pressure there.

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Exhaust and blast nozzle done, just need to do the blast pipe valve and pipe work then thats something else ticked of the list.

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

Nice work Brian

[henrybParticipant @henryb]

Posted by JasonB on 25/07/2014 20:55:44:

Looks a nice job. You could have got away with steel or brass as its a bit easier to machine and just put a bronze sleeve in the centre. A lot of the parts on these small engines are done from gun metal to make casting easier and avoid hard spots rather than its bearing qualities.

Virtually all the minnie could be done without castings, maybe just the cylinder and flywheel to make things a bit quicker. Done as a road loco you would not even need the spoked flywheel.

Hello Jason. i am going to buy the materials for my minnie shaft bearings Would it be ok to make them out of brass or mild steel and sleeve them with bronze rather than buy the more expensive bronze?

Thanks Henry.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Nice work Brian

H

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Thanks, Harry, hows lockdown treating you, seams an age since the last club meeting.

Hit a slight snag on the engine. When I machined the side of the boiler I made a mistake and took it a little undersize.

Looks like the 1/16" reversing link should run between the side of the boiler and the horn plate, anyway, mine won't.

Anyway, all the best.

Hello Henry,

I would make them straight from SAE660, saves messing about too much.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Henry, it will be OK to do as you say making them from steel or brass and then fitting a bronze bush or you could make a steel plate with oversize hole matching the spigot size that locates in the hornplate and silver solder a bronze "teardrop" shape to it with an integral spigot that locates in the plates hole . Then treat it as a casting to bore bearing and drill other holes

[henrybParticipant @henryb]

Posted by JasonB on 01/05/2020 07:37:01:

Henry, it will be OK to do as you say making them from steel or brass and then fitting a bronze bush or you could make a steel plate with oversize hole matching the spigot size that locates in the hornplate and silver solder a bronze "teardrop" shape to it with an integral spigot that locates in the plates hole . Then treat it as a casting to bore bearing and drill other holes

Thank you very much for the reply.

Yes that is another idea. i think i will just sleeve it though.

[Ron LadenParticipant @ronladen17547]

Henry, have you considered one piece cast iron bearings, thats what I am going with for all the bearings in my electric version. C/I is reasonably cheap, machines very well and as I understand it a good bearing material which I would have thought fine for a slow moving vehicle such as a traction engine.

A picture below of a test bearing I machined for the main axle.

Sorry to intrude into your thread Brian, your Minnie looks excellent by the way very nice indeed.

[henrybParticipant @henryb]

Hello Ron. Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking about cast iron but i ordered some steel square this morning.

Your cast iron one looks good though.

I hope mine comes out as nice as brians.

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Hello all.

I am after some material to make the brake band,

Drawing calls for 5/16" wide x 0.015" thick, some sort of spring steel.

Does anyone know a supplier for this material?

[derek blakeParticipant @derekblake72550]

You could try eBay and buy an old clock spring? That’s what I did for the Allchin.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I got mine from Reeves, they do it annealed, probably have to come up to 24g as they don't seem to have the width in 28g now.

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Thanks Both,

I just dropped Reeves an email.

[peter hobbs 2Participant @peterhobbs2]

hi

has anyone experienced firing problems with Minnie

fire keeps going out ,also on subject of the brake band I used 15 thou steel shim it seem to work well

cheers

pete

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Hello.

What do you think i should use for the brake blocks, some seem to turn from a solid block, the book suggests ply wood, can you remember what you did Jason?

Hi Peter, not got that far but a friend of mine has one which he fires without problems.

Thanks.

[peter hobbs 2Participant @peterhobbs2]

hi

I have been experimenting over the weekend and found the smaller the coal the better but I will keep trying I managed to get steam up to find pump wasn't working against boiler pressure so I got another problem to solve all good fun as they say. when I did my brake blocks I used 3 mm thick ply wood and steamed a suitable length until it was supple enough to pull it round the brake drum clamp it until it was dry and that did the job

I steamed it in our vegetable steamer

cheers

pete

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Brian, I laminated mine but will need to look to see if I used thin (1.5mm) aero ply or individual layers.

Peter, some users find lump wood charcoal works well, start with some that has soaked in paraffin then as that burns replace with dry. Any small engine like this needs almost constant attention to the fire unless running on gas or meths.

[peter hobbs 2Participant @peterhobbs2]

i will have to try lump wood charcoal and see how I get on

I have thought about gas firing its much cleaner but its where to put gas tank

thanks

pete

[Brian AbbottParticipant @brianabbott67793]

Hello All

I am having a problem with a bouncing link assembly when in reverse.

Thought a video might explain it better than i can, just hope it works.

Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks

Link Arm

Edited By Brian Abbott on 18/06/2020 13:04:42

[Dan JonesParticipant @danjones77555]

Brian,

It looks like you’re holding it up too high or there isn’t enough clearance between the bottom of the radius link and the die block. You might find that when you hook it up to the reversing lever it’ll hold itself in place and allow you to set your notches/time it all properly.

It all looks good apart for that, good work!

Cheers,

Dan

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