# Wot can it be?



## tel (Jan 10, 2010)




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## Noitoen (Jan 10, 2010)

A piece of aluminium you can cut to bits an make small parts :big: :big:


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## Maryak (Jan 10, 2010)

tel,

Bedplate ??? ???

Best Regards
Bob


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## tel (Jan 10, 2010)

;D Well yes, it's a bed plate - but for what?


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## Artie (Jan 10, 2010)

Mate thats a bedplate for an Icarani twin cylinder model steam engine. These were available in Aus during the 80's an early 90's. I have one and they are a nice little model engine. Sweet runner. Where did you come by it?

Rob


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## Artie (Jan 10, 2010)

awwww ok I fess up.. I made that all up.. but I did sound like I knew what I was talking about didnt it? ;D I actually have no idea.....


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## tel (Jan 10, 2010)

Yeah, you almost 'ad me believing it for a while, and I _know_ what it is!


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## Artie (Jan 10, 2010)

sorry bloke.. the smartarse in me couldnt 'elp meself :-\


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## Jasonb (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks like it will have an A frame type standard, twin cylinder if those are clearance slots for the cranks

Jason


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## Metal Butcher (Jan 10, 2010)

tel  said:
			
		

>



That,s any easy question!

It's the 'base' for my current build of Elmer's # 52, Reversible Vertical Twin Wobbler.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=7529.0

Did I win anything? ;D

-MB


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## tel (Jan 10, 2010)

Spot on MB - you win all the beer you can drink,_but_ bein' as I'm so far away you will 'ave to buy it yourself. 

Been a good many years since I built an oscillator, so with the side beam out of the way I thought I'd relax for a while and put this one up. Should be a handy unit for a medium sized boat or some such.


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## jonesie (Jan 10, 2010)

it is the a or b plate for a plastic injection mold the plate held the cores or cavities and the small pockets were for the heel blocks that locked the slides so this is probly the a plate as the slides were in the bottom or b plate


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## tel (Jan 12, 2010)

Next bit




the two screwed together


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## jonesie (Jan 12, 2010)

are you asking what it really is or what you are making with it ?


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## tel (Jan 12, 2010)

Nah mate, I know what it is. MB got it right - it's Elmer's #52, a twin cylinder, double acting, reversing oscillator. A change of pace from my usual projects.


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## Artie (Jan 12, 2010)

tel  said:
			
		

> Nah mate, I know what it is. MB got it right - it's Elmer's #52, a twin cylinder, double acting, reversing oscillator. A change of pace  from my usual projects.



Thats the correct termionology Tel! The pace at which you build amazes me. How long have you been doing this? You must have quite a stash of engines sitting around on shelves? Care to show us your collection?

(A very impressed and somewhat wistful) Artie


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## tel (Jan 12, 2010)

Not as many as you might think mate - I guess I've built about 20 since 1979 but I've sold a few off over the years for various reasons. I've also done two locomotives and some rolling stock in that time as well. And I have two or three unfinished engines sitting around waiting for the muse to strike.

There's probably 15 finished engines here and 1 loco. Time and weather permitting I might try and dig a few out over the weekend and put up a bit of a gallery for ya.


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## Artie (Jan 13, 2010)

ole mate, that sounds like a lot to me. 8) ;D

Look forward to it.... in fact hoping that when you get your hands on the clay I can drop in with a bottle and do a personal viewing.... til then looking forward to a few pics (steam porn in fact!)...

Speaking of the clay, any idea on the cost? Id like to send the funds down afore hand for when you get over that way...

Artie


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## tel (Jan 13, 2010)

No idea mate, been a few years since I bought any - a bag lasts a long time. I'll give Victoria a bell tomorrow and find out.


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## tel (Jan 13, 2010)




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## tel (Jan 14, 2010)




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## Metal Butcher (Jan 14, 2010)

Good job Tel. I see your moving right along at a good pace.

Today I started back up on mine, after being side tracked with my chuck mounting project and major clean up.

I'm about to start drilling holes in the column. after taking a look at the air passages I got stuck on the 'BB section' drawing in the upper right corner on page 249.

The plugged passage runs all the way through. This doesn't make any sense to me, thinking the engine couldn't possibly run with the upper intake and exhaust ports inter connected.

I was planning on tapping the passages 3-48 for set screw plugs since the 5/64" drilled passages are close to the correct size for tapping. I normally plug with removable set screws. This allows me to go back and make sure the passages are clear, and will also allow me to drill through (BB section) if necessary.

If this isn't a mistake, then is this needed because of the 90 degree offset of the crank throw? ???

-MB


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## tel (Jan 14, 2010)

Nah MB - that BB section is definitely a mistake, the AA section shows how it should be correctly. In the event, I had no suitable 5/64" drill and went to 2mm, tapped the openings 6BA and put in tight screws that were then cut off and filed flush. I like your idea of removable screws - that could save a lot of problems.

Drilling the passages was pretty straight forward. The only concern I had was with that compound angled lubrication hole. In the end I scribed a light line in the correct position on one face and set that vertical in the vise, then slewed the head of the X2 over 20° - with the vise jaws parallel to the Y axis. Ran in with a 1.2mm drill, then opened out with a 1.4mm - about as big as I dared to go. Seems to have worked out OK - oil squirted in the end comes out the trunnion hole and no where else.

The only other change, so far, is that I thought that space was a bit tight for opening out the trunnion hole for a bush. so I used a bit of K&S 1/4" brass tube to bush the existing hole - means that I'll have to hold the trunnions down to 5.6mm, but that shouldn't make a lot of difference. 

It's an interesting build.


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## tel (Jan 16, 2010)

Crankshaft done


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## tel (Jan 17, 2010)

Started on the yoke


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## zeeprogrammer (Jan 23, 2010)

tel  said:
			
		

> There's probably 15 finished engines here and 1 loco. Time and weather permitting I might try and dig a few out over the weekend and put up a bit of a gallery for ya.



 stickpoke

I'd like to see them...especially the loco.


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## vlmarshall (Jan 23, 2010)

ooooh! oooh! We wanna see the loco! ;D


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## tel (Jan 23, 2010)

Youse blokes are easy pleased - here's an old shot






and here's a coal hopper I built for it


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## ozzie46 (Jan 24, 2010)

Nice loco. Looks like the "Simplex" from Model engineer,1967 or so, I think. Is it?

  I have the whole build article on it and have been studying it but the cost of copper tube for the boiler has me just dreaming about it. 4 in well over $100 US.

 I've even been thinking of ways to fab up the cast parts from bar stock. Oh well dreams are nice. :big: :big: I'm not good enough to tackle something like this ----YET.

 Ron


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## tel (Jan 24, 2010)

Yes Ron, that's a Simplex - my first loco was a Tich in 3 1/2". Simplex took 5 years of my spare time, between 1985 & 1990


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## ozzie46 (Jan 24, 2010)

I may start on it and make it a long term project like you did. Do what I can when I can.

 Ron


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## tel (Jan 24, 2010)

That's the best way with a loco or other big project - just focus on it bit at a time rather than the whole thing.


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## zeeprogrammer (Jan 24, 2010)

Nice looking loco and coal car tel. Thanks for posting them.
I'm almost sorry I asked! :big:
I am definitely building a loco...someday.


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## tel (Jan 25, 2010)

There's a bit of a story goes with that coal wagon. On the originals, the planking is held to the hopper frames with plain round head bolts. Now, being keen to do the right thing I made up a little hand jig and proceeded to make some 300 7BA bolts out of 3/32" rivets - usually doing a few while watching TV - almost an automatic process - until Mrs Tel remarked on the tiny metal shavings that were mysteriously appearing in the lounge room. Any'ow, to cut a long story short, I finished making all of them eventually, and installed them true to prototype, with the heads on the inside of the hopper, then proceeded to fill the dang thing with fine coal, and the heads have never been seen since!


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## tel (Feb 11, 2010)

Haven't reported on this for a little while, mainly 'cos workshop time has been limited and progress has been in dribs and drab, however, I got a session in on it today and we are beginning to get somewhere.


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## max corrigan (Feb 11, 2010)

Tel good work! dunno if i missed it, but did you fabricate the crankshaft, or do it nail biting way out of one lump
Regards Max


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## NickG (Feb 11, 2010)

Tel,

I missed this, nice work! Looks like you have a nice powerful osciallator there. What is the pivoty bit on the column that goes around the cylinders?

Cheers,

Nick


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## tel (Feb 11, 2010)

Thanks blokes.

Max, the crankshaft was fabricated, as per Elmer's instructions (well, almost as per). It was one of the easier crankshafts to do, with that big 'flywheel' section in the middle.

Nick, the 'pivoty' bit is actually fixed in position, it is really only there to carry the tensioning screws that bear on the balls/springs that hold the cylinders up against the port faces. There are a number of ways of doing this, but that is the Gospel according to Elmer, so I went with it.

Looks pretty grubby there, covered in oily fingerprints - it was straight from a running in session on the lathe


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## NickG (Feb 11, 2010)

Oh right that's a novel way of doing it, looks a good way too. Thanks.


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## tel (Feb 20, 2010)

Well, it runneth - in both directions. Just some tweaking and cosmetic work to go. The sharp eyed will notice that I"ve made a rather radical departure with the reverser - was never really happy with the one in the drawing and, thinking ahead to r/c control when it finds its way into a hull.


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## zeeprogrammer (Feb 20, 2010)

Neat. I hadn't seen an engine like that.
I'm looking forward to the video...and to seeing it in a hull.


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## tel (Feb 20, 2010)

zeeprogrammer  said:
			
		

> Neat. I hadn't seen an engine like that.
> I'm looking forward to the video...and to seeing it in a hull.



Well, different any'ow.

Hopefully a bit of vid today, got a bloke coming around with more $#&&* HO locos to have smoke generators fitted - a fiddly job if ever there was one, but if time permits.

Plans are on the way


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## tel (Feb 20, 2010)

Grrrr1 It was working better yes'dy! Any how, for wot it's worth there are some moving pictures here

http://entertainment.webshots.com/video/3099665690105506259iYnjMp?vhost=entertainment

Back to the tweaking.


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## ozzie46 (Feb 20, 2010)

Nice looking boat.

 Ron


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## Metal Butcher (Feb 20, 2010)

Glad to see you get 'er done! I like the creative use of a separate reversing valve.. I've been a bit busy myself and mist your finish picture post. I'm all caught up now.

Congrats!

-MB


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## zeeprogrammer (Feb 20, 2010)

Congratulations. I'm sure tweaking is no problem.
I wasn't sure...but is that track back there?


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## tel (Feb 20, 2010)

Yeah Zee, that's track - 45mm (G1), part of the 80% of stage 1 that I've got laid.


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## zeeprogrammer (Feb 21, 2010)

Ah! Well we'll be talking more about this when my turn comes.


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## tel (Mar 27, 2010)

Temporarily mounted for demonstration purposes.


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## BigBore (Mar 27, 2010)

That's purdy neat pardner! I like the look.

I bet it will be able to do wheelies....errr.....propelleries?

Ed


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## ksouers (Mar 27, 2010)

Ah, so that explains the universal joints!

Very nice Tel. I assume you intend to put it in a boat?


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## tel (Mar 27, 2010)

Yep, got plans for a 1m steam launch here, that will, hopefully, be the winter project.


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