British 0-4-0 Toy Locomotive: he said

[zeeprogrammer]

Kermit...that nut is too big. :big:
Thanks tmuir, Dean, Arnold, and swilliams.

I should be able to tighten down the nuts without the axle binding. I suspect the distance between the wheels is a tad short and the wheels are up against the bushings.

The nuts should tighten down such that the wheels don't spin on the axle. (The axle should spin in the bushings.)

I do worry about the amount of pressure needed to run this...but it's still early and there's more fiddling to do.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Maryak]

Zee,

I was going nuts trying to nut out your problem.........................forget about the nuts and make a screw in pin with a collar in place of the dreaded nuts.

Lateral or for both wheels bilateral nutting it out.

Best Regards
Bob

 

[njl]

Zee, If you haven't got lock tight a dab of super glue will do just as well.

BTW sorry if the name "cotton wool" foxed you, I don't know any other name for it, so what do you guys call it then? Over here it comes in various formats.

Nick

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks Bob.

These nuts are real small...OD maybe .25 or less. But what I'm wondering is that the nuts are supposed to tighten the wheel against the end of the axle. I'm thinking if I pin it...the nut won't move...but the wheel will turn on the axle rather than the axle turning in the bushing? No?

Thanks Nick. I was thinking 'aha...maybe superglue' on my drive to work today. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Picture a twelve year old, the first day of summer vacation, running out the door with all his goodies and toys for a fun day, and the biggest smile in the world, yelling "yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh"

Now picture a 57 year old 240 pounder, hobbling up the stairs, with the biggest smile in the world, trying to find his wife so he can show off his engine', yelling "yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhh"

They're actually very similar feelings.

Anyway...

So I was thinking about the axle today and thought...maybe I just need to shim it so the wheels don't pinch against the frame.

So I made some washers. They're 0.17 OD, 0.125 ID, and .005 thick...(or thereabouts).

I was pretty surprised I was able to make them!!!

Everything seemed to go together pretty well. Here's a video of the thing running on air...



It runs...but as soon as I put it on the tracks...it stops.
I have my doubts it will run on steam. But we'll see once it's run in a while.

And yes, T (wife) came downstairs. I got the usual 'uh huh...looks nice...I'm happy for you'.

I couldn't ask for more. :big:

woohoo1 woohoo1 woohoo1

 

[joe d]

Hey Zee...

Yippee for you! :bow: :bow: Knew ya could do it. All the rest is just tweaking!

Cheers & congrats, Joe

 

[kustomkb]

That's awesome!!

Congratulations Zee!!

You'll get 'er rippin' 'round in no time.

 

[Philjoe5]

Congratulations Zee. Now we can add you to the long list of locomotive manufacturers from Pennsylvania ;D

Cheers,
Phil

 

[larry1]

Great work Zee, glad to see those first runs. larry

 

[Deanofid]

That's great news, Zee! But, arrrrghh! The video I want to see most in the whole world right now
is not available because Pbucket is doing maintenance!
I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow.


The washers:

I was pretty surprised I was able to make them!!!

I can't imagine why. You know how to make stuff! You know?
Of course you could make them!

I'm so excited to see the vid. Won't be able to sleep!

Dean

 

[tmuir]

Congrats.
Steam oil is your friend.
I have a toy loco made around 1948 tha at first it would oly run with the wheels off the ground.
I put some steam oil on the port blocks and cylinders and then I had trouble stopping it from derailing on the corners.
I put 4 wagons behind it and it would spin the wheels on take off and still derail on the corners.
Just keep tweaking and it will run on steam.

 

[Maryak]

Zee,

Maybe the reason it stops when you put it down is because there is no flywheel and hence no inertia. My gut feel is that the wheels should be locked to the axle with the cranks at 180 deg and the axle should turn in the frame. that way when one finishes the other starts and the power cycle is more continuous. At the moment it appears that each driver is completely independent of the other and so there is no control over how they interact with each other. :-\

I wonder what you and others think ???

Best Regards
Bob

 

[doubletop]

Carl

Well done a major moment.

I'm with Bob the wheels should be fixed to the axle so both pistons assist each other on the return stroke. And plenty of oil and let it run free for half an hour.

Back off the pressure at some point when it loosens up. As Bogs will tell you too much pressure with these wobblers and the steam ports get blown apart and you have more leak than power.

Pete

 

[njl]

Looking good Zee. I'm sure it will just be a small step to getting it running on the track now.

I think joining the two engines together as Bob says would defo help the running. But it might also cause a problem going round tight corners as the wheels will be turning at the same speed, assuming your wheel rims are flat and not cone shaped. Maybe that won't matter on a small engine, some experimentation required I reckon.

BTW I have the same issues with my Mrs not getting the same buzz out of my hobbies as I do, maybe that is a good thing as at least I don't have to wait for her to finish up using my tools before I can get going

Nick

 

[ozzie46]

Well done Zee. Thm: Thm: Thm:

With your pluck and tenacity I knew you'd get it going.


Ron

 

[Groomengineering]

Hey Zee, great lookin' little loco!!! Looks like Engineer M&M Man will be zooming around in no time! :big:

In RE the rear wheels, I don't know what the provided plans say but I checked Dr. Senfts' original article in Live Steam and he shows the wheels tight on the axle with the pins 180° apart as suggested by Bob and Pete.

As they say, the light at the end of the tunnel could be a train..... Rof}

Sorry, couldn't help it. ;D

Cheers

Jeff

 

[tmuir]

Zee,

Maybe the reason it stops when you put it down is because there is no flywheel and hence no inertia. My gut feel is that the wheels should be locked to the axle with the cranks at 180 deg and the axle should turn in the frame. that way when one finishes the other starts and the power cycle is more continuous. At the moment it appears that each driver is completely independent of the other and so there is no control over how they interact with each other. :-\

I wonder what you and others think ???

Best Regards
Bob

Yes just noticed this.
Both wheels must be locked to the axle as they are only single acting and need the other piston to push the wheel back round so it can do another power stroke.
I have 6 single acting oscillating locos and on all of them the wheels are locked to the axles at 180 out of phase with each other.
I did have one once have a wheel come loose on the axle so it shifted position relative to the other wheel and the loco would not run until I loktited it back at 180 degrees out of phase with the other wheel.

 

[mklotz]

That's really great, Carl. I knew you could do it. I'll lift one to your achievement as soon as the sun is over the yardarm.

I'm with Bob and everyone else on advice about cylinder phasing. Lock the wheels to the axle, which turns in the bearings, and arrange the engine power strokes to average out over one revolution of the wheels.

Do the instructions say anything about wheel phasing?

If you look at Elmer's #2, you'll see that he has the two oscillators connected to the common crank with the crank pins 180 deg out of phase, just as Bob suggests. He uses a separate flywheel but your engine wheels assume that role in the loco.

Good luck with it. You'll be on your hands and knees on the floor making "choo choo" sounds soon. Sure hope they'll have wifi at the sanatorium.

 

[arnoldb]

Great going Carl ;D

I agree about locking the wheels to the axle as well.

Just a thought - When the loco is run on a track, the entire loco's weigh provides momentum to carry it on past strokes, hence no flywheel is needed. On your rolling track you don't have the momentum - so it might be worthwhile to add a steel "flywheel" to one of the rollers on your rolling track to provide some momentum...

Cheers - I'm already lifting a glass to you *beer*

Kind regards, Arnold

 

[fcheslop]

Congratulations Zee,looking forward to the big steam up.Know what you mean about the knowing look from she who must be obeyed but its always nice when the child within escapes. Now the big question whats next :big:
regards and best wishes Frazer