A Tale of Two Serpents

[magmouse]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments and likes - much appreciated.

Just that one small hole to drill in the top of the curb rail, the one on the non-braked side

Says the man who earlier in the thread decided no holes were better than holes in the wrong place! Seriously, though - the missing hole is not forgotten. I'm just nervous about being able to drill it accurately and without causing damage. Still thinking about that...

Start with gentle weathering and see how you feel.

Yes, I will.

The white stripe features on the contemporary models sold by Bassett-Lowke:

Thanks - yes. At least Greenly could (figuratively) look out the window and model what he saw - though it begs the question of whether a model without any brake gear should have the stripe???

Nick.

 

[RichardG]

Says the man who earlier in the thread decided no holes were better than holes in the wrong place! Seriously, though - the missing hole is not forgotten. I'm just nervous about being able to drill it accurately and without causing damage. Still thinking about that...

Perhaps a strip of brass prepared as a drilling template? Put two holes into the strip near one end, these the desired distance apart. The outer hole being to locate the drill, the inner hole being to locate the strip.

Drop a pin or a piece of wire through the inner hole and into the last hole on the curb rail, to stop the strip sliding. Hold the far end of the strip to stop the strip turning. Then use the outer hole to guide the drill bit.

Practice on scrap material first of course.

 

[simond]

3DP a guide block using whatever local datum makes sense?

 

[magmouse]

Perhaps a strip of brass prepared as a drilling template? Put two holes into the strip near one end, these the desired distance apart. The outer hole being to locate the drill, the inner hole being to locate the strip.

Drop a pin or a piece of wire through the inner hole and into the last hole on the curb rail, to stop the strip sliding. Hold the far end of the strip to stop the strip turning. Then use the outer hole to guide the drill bit.

Practice on scrap material first of course.

Old school - a proper engineering approach.

3DP a guide block using whatever local datum makes sense?

New-fangled nonsense. I'll do that.

 

[magmouse]

Old school - a proper engineering approach.



New-fangled nonsense. I'll do that.

Turns out you were both wrong...

I realised I could mount the axle spacing jig on the XY table of the Proxxon pillar drill, and use that to position the hole, by aligning the last existing hole with the drill bit, moving the table the required distance, and drilling again:





And done...

Nick.

 

[magmouse]

I've given the Serpent some general, fairly gentle weathering. I may do a bit more detail work on it - I like to leave it a few days and see how I feel about it after that. The light was good this morning (bright but overcast) so the works photographer was summoned:











Nick.

 

[Tony Overton]

Turns out you were both wrong...

I realised I could mount the axle spacing jig on the XY table of the Proxxon pillar drill, and use that to position the hole, by aligning the last existing hole with the drill bit, moving the table the required distance, and drilling again:

Nick Axle spacing jig, interesting, tell me more. Home made or bought? Any details most welcome, looks to be a useful thing to have.
Tony

 

[magmouse]

Nick Axle spacing jig, interesting, tell me more. Home made or bought? Any details most welcome, looks to be a useful thing to have.
Tony

They are etches by Brassmasters. The axles fit in the slots, and the slots are marked up with various scale spacings:





I had to hack a lump out of one of them to clear the brake gear of the Serpent, because I fitted the rocking axle unit after the brake gear. That means I can't build any 6ft wheelbase wagons .

Here is what is etched on them to identify them"





Not sure why they are both labelled "short", but G007 is the short one, and G008 the long one. G008 seems to be available from London Road Models:

London Road Models – Brassmasters products, Brassmaster Etches.

London Road Models Ex Brassmaster Etches, Soldering Materials and Tools

www.londonroadmodels.com

I've had mine a while and not used them much, though the short one was handy for the Serpent. They seem rather expensive now, and these days I'd probably 3D print something if I needed it.

Nick.

 

[Dog Star]

I think that the design of that jig owes much to the late Bernard Weller or the late Malcolm Cros as I bought my jig plus axle rods and axleguard spacers from an early incarnation of Exactscale... just before the death of Bernard when the company passed to the late Len Newman.

Rgds, Graham

 

[simond]

Turns out you were both wrong...

I realised I could mount the axle spacing jig on the XY table of the Proxxon pillar drill, and use that to position the hole, by aligning the last existing hole with the drill bit, moving the table the required distance, and drilling again:

View attachment 260893

View attachment 260891

And done...

Nick.

Proper old school.

 

[Dog Star]

Proper old school.

Yup, still got to press a button to drill the 'ole.

 

[simond]

You’ve got to press a button on that there new fangled business too. It’s just that the button is a key on a keyboard. Well, four actually.

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