michael mott

Good morning Doris, reviewing your model is a great way to be inspired at the beginning of my day. Your attitude about replacing parts that can be improved is exemplary, great work replaced by excellent work, because you know it can be improved after receiving more knowledge.
You do set a very high bar indeed.
 
Michael

What a joy it is to follow your work Doris. The video showing how you artfully created such a complex shape with the most simple tools. You clearly demonstrate A great skill that can only come with a tremendous amount of practice. You do make it look so easy and we all know it is not.
 
Michael

Matt the figurehead looks beautiful, I like the finish that you have achieved. can you give us the formula or the proportions of how you prepare the finish wax?
 
Michael

Matt,
Thank you for your prompt explanation.
 
Michael

Forgive my ignorance but what is "Microcristal Wax" ?
 
Michael

Matt
I just finished going through all you pictures, you are making a beautiful model. your workmanship is a joy to see.
 
Michael

Not a lot more progress to report on this project which has been challenging I feel that it will not be worked on much over the next few months as a couple of commitments that need to be completed by the new year take precedence. A few more pictures of the work done over the last year.
 
After the springs were completed the next work involved preparing the wheel bearings These are basically a solid block of brass with some additions added to dress it up. the first picture shows the basic block with the initial shaping and fitting to ensure a good slide fit into the "W" irons.

 
The prototype is manufactured out of two castings bolted together and to replicate this I slotted a piece of brass into the block with the thicker area that would hold the bolts.

 
The insert and a top block were soldered together using some high temperature soft solder, my third hand has been very handy during this entire project so far.

 
Once the soldering was done and cleaned up holes were drilled for the various bolts and oil caps, these were formed from a few different diameters of brass rod annealed and pulled through my Hex draw plate. the bolts are glued in place with AC glue.

 
Now with the springs and bearings the under-frame is beginning to look like the contemporary frames of the period.

 
The frame has a decent amount of springiness.
to be continued
Michael
 

A few more pictures of the progress of the van. The next area to tackle was the springs, I thought about this for a while, and decided that because this van would not get a lot of use in a real sense that I prefer building to running the models, that Hard brass sheet would be sufficient for the springs. The top leaf is the most complicate I had to make a small jig to ensure that the loops at the ends were consistent, but rather that a fixed jig I opted for an adjustable one.
first yo bend the strip to length and then using the jewelers saw to cut the excess off
 
then to close the loops with some parallel jaw pliers

 
The rest of the leafs were straight forward , to get the correct curve was a trial and error wood jig reducing the diameter of the curve until the correct bend was achieved then it was just a matter of cutting to length and drilling the hole in the centre after bending. The reason for bending the curveafter was to avoid the kink in the middle that was caused by there being less material and so it bend more easily at that point.

 
Next were the spring hanger bolts, I used the similar method to the one I used to make the shackles for the Cutter only I also needed a thread and only one forged end.
Beginning with 1/8th hard brass rod I used a single form tool  in one pass to reduce the diameter and form one end of the bulb that would get flattened, and  in order to thread the end 00x90.

 
Then after indexing the tool forward ised it to form the other end and part off in one motion, a little crude but it worked.

 

 
A picture showing the evolution of the method arrived at above.

 
a simple wooden holder to drill the holes before they were added to the top leaf.

 
The rest of the hanger bolts was a simple inverted cup to hold the 3/16 section of "O" ring with an .047 inch hole drilled through it to represent the rubber dampening part  a flat washer and nut completed the assembly.
a bit of square tube was used to form the central keeper and a pin through to keep it all aligned.
 

 
to be continued
Michael
 
 
 
 
 

Continuing on then here is a bit more of the progress much of this work has been done over the last year.
The wheels are a combination of wood and steel the wheels used on passenger vans etc were Maunsell wheels the idea that by insulating the steel tyres from the hubs with hardwood would eliminate the noise generated by steel on steel over the joints etc.
after choosing some yellow ceder for texture and ease of working I cut four sets of 16 oversize in length wedges and began gluing them together in pairs.

 
after a while the set of pairs became sets of four,

 
and so on until I had two halves that were easy to get flat to match and then glued those together, these were then trimmed on the outsdide diameted with a jewelers saw and slowly sanded with sanding sticks until they slipped snugly into the tyres, then colored with the pentel pen.

 
After the wood had been glued to the tyre I was able to bore the centre hole for the hubs, the wheel was then set up on the rotary table to bore the holes through the steel ring on the front face through the wood and the tyre for the 1/32 copper rivets. ( eventually had to make them from brass because I did not have enough of the right length so they were turned and annealed ) the backside was countersunk with the small hand held tool.

 
the first wheel with some copper rivets from the back and then flipped over to show the front side with the retaining ring 

 

Using the same method a the sets of turned brass rivets I machined up some flat-head brass 00x90 bolts to assemble the hubs.

 
then bolted them together.

 
and finally set loosely on the axles.

 
to be continued.
Michael
 
 
I chose brass because I had the right diameter to do the work.

Thank you all for your kindness and welcomes. Here are a few more pictures of the restart as Druxey so aptly called it.
After bending up the angles I then used a vice and a little work with a chunk of mild steel flat bar and suitable hammer to tighten up the corner. Next a set up on the mill to cut each leg of the Angle to the scale 3 inch x 9 inch accurately this was a slow process and a couple of hiccups before all the needed section was produced.

 
The individual parts were marked out and cut to length with the inevitable mistakes because of the right and left handing of angles and holes. I now have a number of extra parts for some other purpose down the road so to speak. A few test samples were made of the riveting of corners a couple of which were very challenging but I wasn't giving up. ( More trinkets in the spares bin.) One of the reasons for some of the changes was my changing the layout of the frame as there is no extant drawing of this particular under-fame and during the late 1800's the Great Western Railway was undergoing all sorts of developments with the design of their rolling stock and Locomotives, as were all the other companies.
Once I was happy with my conjectural configuration based on the best practices and closest other frames of the same era I began riveting the frame together with 1/32 copper rivets.(very challenging indeed)
 

 

 
I ended up with all sorts of oddball configurations of vices clamps and bars in order to sequentially put it all together in all it took a few weeks and even then a couple of time I had to chisel off a connection because I had boxed myself in or the holes did not quite line up.

 
The sole bars were the last parts to add to complete the main structure and again I ended up taking a long time thinking about how to get these parts together.
 
Another oddball combination of vices and clamps allowed me to get the job done.  (where are those nano robots when you need them?)
 

 
we are getting there......
to be continued
 
Michael
 
 
 

Mark, if you made your form on the end of a longer piece you could have it overhang enough for the clamp to be underneath.
 
Michael

Well Just because I like using the jewelers saw, I would think that a curved bench pin one that is like the normal pin but fixed to the end of the bench with a couple of hold down screws like the one I have used for the brass stuff but on a curve. This is getting to complex to explain I will make one because I will no doubt need one sometime in the next little while. having said all that i do like using the littel planes and chisels for odd curved bits. Your planking does look superb Mark. and Happy New Year to you and your family.
 
Michael 

Hi Mark, The dimple was in the end of the brass bar I just cut the piece off the end not worrying about the aesthetics just whipped it up from stuff at hand. it took me about 40 minutes to make it the filing of the flat took the longest. I thought that round was more flexible for tight spots and the flat only so that the tightening screw did not cause the inevitable markings to cause the stop from sliding. With small clamps for the sorts of tasks that you illustrated with your planking and setting them through the portholes I should think that they would only need to be 3-4 inches in length max. [does the world really need another clamp design] I guess the principle of the bar clamp is really what it is, just a miniature version.  It is interesting that as you had mentioned you had the clamps for a long time but this was the first time you had used them. I have seen those types of small brass clamps in a variety of different catalogues and always thought that I would like some but never actually got round to purchasing any. I should think that $24 for a pair of the brass bar clamps is in good competition with the miniature Irwin quick clamps which in my neck of the woods are around $24 each.
I'll just sell the modified design for a cup of coffee☕ 
 
Michael

Ok I couldn't resist, I went out to the shop and with a couple of 4x40 allen head cap screws and a 6x32 threaded end on a bit of 3/16th brass rod filed a flat along the bottom side after locking it into the head end, and some 1/4 inch square brass bar sliders

 

 

 

Very easy to make.
 
Cheers Michael
 
 

Mark thinking about these clamps they would be easy enough to make with a round bar the 1/4 inch stuff that Home depot sells is nice brass easy to machine. my thought would be to mill or file a flat along the bottom for the screw to tighten against and use a couple of allen head machine screws, the jaws could be brass or aluminum. I will have to see about making myself a couple tomorrow.
 
Michael 

Mark I could not agree with you more. And for those of us who have enough of a challenge building a simple single masted model watching your progress and diligence in solving those puzzles is most rewarding.
 
Michael

Nice work with the mold jackets Mark, and this of course applies to all the mold jackets that we want for production runs, not just cannons.
 
Michael

Mark if you can only get Plaster of Paris, in my experience you can mix it in small batches and soak strips of J cloth or cheese cloth to add to the strength. just build up a few layers it will take longer but will give you the strength and integrity you need. and wait afterward until it is completely dry before using it for its intended purpose.
 
Michael 

Mark looks like you are on your way. I would agree with Druxey, and as LH suggested put the brass master back in before making the jacket. If you know someone in the medical profession perhaps get a line on the same plaster that is used for plaster casts, which is basically the same stuff that Evergreen use for the landscape work make the plaster jacket the same way that you made the mold only make it so that it is 90 degrees and when it is slipped over the two halves it automatically holds them together.
 
Michael

Wow! what is interesting mark is in looking at the last picture, it reminds me of those images that one sees occasionally where the image can be seen in one of two ways either a positive shape or a negative one. and the barrel appears to be raised up from the surrounding surface because of the lighting.
 
A beautiful surface indeed.
 
Michael

It is all about the journey isn't it!....You will find a way.
 
Michael

Mark Ah I see you are adept at adding material to your scrap box just like I am. It is amazing how these bits get used up over time.
 
Michael

Hello Mark, following Druxey's comment about dusting the inside of the mold with talc first, I totally agree, once dusted however make sure to bang the open faces of the mold on the table before closing it. this will remove any loose particles of talc. I say this after casting thousands of pieces of jewelry in pewter and white metal in centrifugal vulcanized molds when I was a young man.
 
Beautiful work on the turning. and I agree with Greg's comment about the view out your window as well
A happy new year to you and your Family
 
Michael 

Mark the photos of your hull upside down show what a fine job you have done on the frames and fairing.
 
Michael

Gary not only is the lighting great but I really like your work station I also like to work standing usually. I spotted all the clamps along the one end, very tidy.
 
The ship looks very clean.
 
Michael