Paul’s GER workbench. Building the MOK BR 4MT 2-6-4T kit.

[Locomodels]

Paul?s GER workbench. Building the MOK BR 4MT 2-6-4T kit.

I think Tony Reynalds had a watchmakers mill at Telford last year, but I can't recall the make.

You are absolutely right, that is the one that I bought.  It is a little gem.  Although expensive I bought the dedicated machine vise and dividing head as well.  In all it made quite a hole in the funds.

John makes a drilling quill for it as well and I will be getting one of those, perfect for really precise drilling of very small holes. A really sensitive drill.

 

[Locomodels]

Paul?s GER workbench. Building the MOK BR 4MT 2-6-4T kit.

Right, I have just been on my bike and pedalled off to the workshop to get some pictures of gearboxes and things.

Three photos of the gearboxes first.  The plain bearing box is 12.25mm wide and the ballrace one is 15.15mm wide.  Although it is difficult to see, the bearings for the axle are in fact slightly recessed whereas the plain box has projecting bearings for the axle.  These locate in the etched motor cradle.  Now it would be easy enough to turn a couple of brass bearings to suit, and solder them to the cradle, however the bigger problem is the width of the gearbox, which would necessitate remaking the cradle to accomodate it.  Not insurmountable but not something that I want to do on this build.  There is an additional problem when using AGH wheels, one has to find the space for the taper pin on the telescopic axle. Building in S7 helps with wider frames but it is still a bit of a shoehorn job

 

[Locomodels]

Right now to the watchmakers mill.

I put it on my workbench, with a six inch rule on it, to give some scale to it.  In the second picture the endmill is 1mm dia.

I apologise for doing two posts, but could not find a way of getting copy between the photos.

Oh boy it's Sunday tomorrow so I can get on with the build.

 

[28ten]

The mill is a nice looking bit of kit - it would fit nicely in the corner of the workshop! I keep eyeing one of the small Sieg cnc mills, which would be a nice addition.

 

[Locomodels]

The mill is a nice looking bit of kit - it would fit nicely in the corner of the workshop! I keep eyeing one of the small Sieg cnc mills, which would be a nice addition.

As you can see the Stevens mill is really tiny, and it can be picked up with one hand, so can very easily be put away in a corner.  On the other hand the small Sieg KX1 is getting on for two feet wide and is hardly a carry about machine as it weighs about one and a half hundredweight. But is a really useful piece of kit.  You would not need a Taylor-Hobson for profiling if you had one.  Also you could produce super patterns for any lostwax casting you might need.  But if it is your only mill you could not use it for ordinary 'jobbing' milling , you have to programme it for everything.  A question of paying your money.....!  Though if money was no object, which sadly it is,  I would probably get one too.

 

[28ten]

As you can see the Stevens mill is really tiny, and it can be picked up with one hand, so can very easily be put away in a corner.  On the other hand the small Sieg KX1 is getting on for two feet wide and is hardly a carry about machine as it weighs about one and a half hundredweight. But is a really useful piece of kit.  You would not need a Taylor-Hobson for profiling if you had one.  Also you could produce super patterns for any lostwax casting you might need.  But if it is your only mill you could not use it for ordinary 'jobbing' milling , you have to programme it for everything.  A question of paying your money.....!  Though if money was no object, which sadly it is,  I would probably get one too.

Thats always the problem with cnc, its an hours work just to face a casting  I had the chance of a both an X3 mill and a pantograph miller but it would have been a real job to get them into the workshop and I had to turn them down.

 

[JimG]

The mill is a nice looking bit of kit - it would fit nicely in the corner of the workshop! I keep eyeing one of the small Sieg cnc mills, which would be a nice addition.

I would back up what Paul has said - from experience.  A KX1 is definitely a two man lift,  and not too easy at that because of the shape of the machine and its sheet metal panelling.  It caught me by surprise as I had envisaged some sort of desktop machine which I could carry around with one hand and hadn't taken too much note of its weight in the machine's specs. 

Jim.

 

[Locomodels]

Well it's Sunday again and I have spent quite a few hours in the workshop.  The results are pictured below.  It doesn't look much progress for six or seven hours work.  Just a little more cleaning up to do and that is this stage of the platework finished. 

It does seem funny to me to have moving parts that you can't remove, but that is the way this one is done.

Next job cleaning up the springhanger castings and soldering them in place. Now that should be interesting!!  Then it's the brake shaft and brake hangers, so it's mostly cleaning up castings which should be fairly slow progress too.  But if the wheels arrive this week, I can get them on and kid myself that I am getting somewhere.  ;D

Normally the workbench has scraps of fret and casting sprues mounting up, this is somewhat different as I now have a pile of twisted off tabs.

 

[Locomodels]

Well another week has gone by and I have spent all day in the workshop beavering away on the 4MT.

However first things first, I have just got home and am sitting here with a nice glass of red, so off to get dinner now.  Back soon with some pictures of progress so keep watching this space.  :wave:

 

[lnerjp]

That's unfair, now I'm going to have to keep checking this page for updates rather than getting on with my own jobs, and I've been up since 05:00. Had a good day on a 9F though.

J.P.

 

[Dog Star]

So true Jonpaul, I am eagerly wating for photos for I hear that the progress has been worth the wait.   

 

[Locomodels]

Sorry to keep you waiting JP & Graham, so lets get on with it.

The first job today was cleaning up after last week, that took quite a bit of time as I had used the soldering iron round the edge of the frame to stick the overlay on.  As I am using solder cream I smeared a thin coat all round the edge before applying the overlay and twisting the tabs. Then was very sparing with the 187 degree solder.  I used this solder because it flows so beautifully.

Cleaning up includes removing all the tabs, and this is a slow process as one does not want to make file marks all over the place.

Once this was done I could begin cleaning up the spring hanger castings.  Then drilling and tapping them 12BA as recommended by Dave Sharp.

The hangers are located with two protruding pins. The holes were on the tight side and needed opening out with a broach.  Fortunately the ashpan did not impede this as the broach goes right through the frames.  Even after this the hangers did not fit flush with the inner face of the frames, as there is a slight radius where the pin protrudes from the casting and it is not easily possible to file the pins.  So I chamfered the holes on the inside of the frames.  This solved the problem, all I had to do now was solder the blighters in place.  This I did with liberal dob of solder cream and the trusty blowtorch.  I held the casting down firmly in contact with the frame and heated the casting until I saw the solder flow.  This took in the region of 4 or 5 seconds only.  The cream did not flow well or form a nice fillet so I applied some of the 7mm flux that Christian sells.  Then briefly reheated the casting and presto nicely flowing solder.  After this I applied the flux before heating the castings.

Next up was the brake hanger brackets, these I drilled and tapped 14BA rather than 16BA ,  These are also located with a pin on the back.  Solder cream, flux and flame as before.  The only difference is that there is only one pin so they have to be lined up by eye.  Well I will admit it, I got two slightly out so had to remove them.  This was a bit scarey as the overlay expanded and formed a blister as I lifted the bracket off.  After all it is only held down round the edge, not in the middle !!

However I should not have worried for when I removed the heat they quickly returned to their lovely flat former selves. Phew.  Got away with that one.

The following shots show how everything went, and just how difficult it is to get the spring hangers that are behind the ashpan.  Hats off to anyone who has done it with an iron.

No cleaning up has been done, other than washing in hot water and detergent.  Cleaning the solder off is the next job. 


After getting the spring hangers on I thought that I had better fit a spring, I only have one at the moment as the other five castings are faulty.  I will be collecting some good ones next weekend at the Reading Show.

Here is a shot of it fitted.


As you can see I added one brake hanger too.


At this stage I thought that I should try the wheels on too.  These are the Slaters wheels made for the Scale7 Group.

When you open the pack there is a piece of paper attached to the axle saying that the burrs have not been removed so take them off carefully with a file.  This I duly did, as indeed one always has.  Then I fitted the crankpins into their nice moulded-in
brass bushes.  Assembled the axle with two horn blocks, tightened the screws and dropped the axles into place in the frames. 

This was the first problem, protruding from each spring hanger are two small pins.  I don’t know what they are for yet, if anything.  However they foul the wheels by a margin, so I snipped them about half their original length to clear the backs of the wheels.  They might be OK with the narrow frames but certainly not in S7.

Second problem, when spinning the wheels only three of them ran true, or nearly true.  The other three were hopelessly out of true, real wobblers.

I took them out, removed the offending wheels, checked the axle end, cleaned them again, very carefully indeed, and re-assembled them and dropped them back into the frames.  No joy they are still very wobbly, probably by as much as 20 or 30 thou in the worst case.

Well that is as far as I have got today, next week we are in the UK so the next installment will be in two weeks.

 

[Locomodels]

Sorry, forgot to add the picture of it on it's driving wheels.

Also I have not yet mastered the art of getting the pictures in the copy so that it all flows and makes more sense.

Perhaps someone can give me a little help and advice with posting, it does not seem intuitive to me.

 

[28ten]

Sorry, forgot to add the picture of it on it's driving wheels.

Also I have not yet mastered the art of getting the pictures in the copy so that it all flows and makes more sense.

Perhaps someone can give me a little help and advice with posting, it does not seem intuitive to me.

If you put the name of the photo where you would like it in the text I will sort it for you.
This is the process you need to follow

 

[Locomodels]

28ten

Thanks for that, I will try that next time.

I agree about cleaning the tabs off, but as you say it is the nature of the beast, and it does make a nice square job of things.  Also holds everything in place without soldering.

I do try to keep things clean, being mean with the solder etc. as it saves time cleaning up.  I reckon that most people spend more time cleaning up than actually soldering things together. ;D

 

[Locomodels]

Fingers crossed MOK decide to produce a D49 kit next year. ATB Mick

Hi there Mick,
Have been corresponding with Dave Sharp and he tells me:-

The D49 looks as though it is gaining support and will happen but will not appear this year. We have the Armstrong to finish, a 1B tender for the 76000 and then the 9F. Somwhere in there the DeGlehn (La France) is supposed to be completed and that doesnt include the Ivatt 4F and the other locos for my design contract customers. 

So as you can see he is a very busy man, however patience is a virtue I am told, so hang in there and it seems that your wish will come true.

 

[Locomodels]

Paul?s GER workbench. Building the MOK BR 4MT 2-6-4T kit.

The pins, on the spring hangers, that I had to trim down to get the wheels on, are in fact locators for the sand pipe brackets.  These are not required on all the hangers and have to be filed flush with the brackets anyway, so no worries on that score.

Dave Sharp sent me an attachment to an email showing the update which was not included in my build book.  So all is now clear.

 

[Dog Star]

Where is the weekly fix of MOK 4MT construction in the GER works?  I appreciate that May 8th was a S7 local area group meeting close to the A303...  what happened to an episode for Sunday 15th?

regards, Graham

 

[Locomodels]

Paul?s GER workbench. Building the MOK BR 4MT 2-6-4T kit.

Whoa there, don?t get so impatient, sit quietly and be a good Dog Star.

This lateness of this latest edition of the 4MT saga is only a victim of the Orange Livebox (router) getting it?s knickers in a twist.  We lost connectivity on Saturday evening and it was not until we had taken the box to get it checked out that the problem was solved.  The Livebox was fine but the local network had flopped somehow.  So we have only had the connection back a short while. 

I had not realised that some would suffer withdrawal symptoms.  Rather sad really!!!

So to continue, not much to show for a days work this week.  It was all down to cleaning up castings really and then drilling and assembling them.

Last week at the Reading show I collected the replacement springs from Dave Sharp. Now I had to cut them from the sprues and file them up then drill 12BA clearance holes in the ends.

Then there were the twelve blocks for the bottom of the spring hangers, all duly cut off and cleaned up.  This is my one departure, so far, from ? straight out of the box? building.  ?lnerJP? of this parish, had very kindly taken several pictures of these items on several BR Standard 4MT?s as they passed through the NYM Rly.  This showed that, some at least, did not have studs and nuts projecting below them.  These had recesses in them for the bolt/stud/nut or whatever.  So I decided to cut the nuts off them, (the unkindest cut of all some might say) drill them 12BA clearance and counter bore them to hide the csk screws. 

But before I could assemble them I had to cut and clean the spreader bars, and then fix them with a 1mm n/s pin to the springs.  These were soldered into position using the favoured solder cream and needle flame torch.  Dunk them I water, while still hot, and the flux dropped off them so that all that was required was a quick rub with a fine wire brush, job done.

Whilst in a casting cutting and  cleaning mode I also finished the spring hangers, brakeshaft, lever and mounting brackets.  Some of these required 0.7mm dia holes drilled in them for the brake pull rods. 

The post, on Saturday morning, brought forth a pair of abc gearboxes and motors.  One for the 4MT and one for a David Parkins MMP 08/09kit.  And before anyone asks it will be BLUE.

Now I had the gearbox there was no reason not to fit it so I finished the cradle and threadled the unit into the frames.

So that?s it for this instalment, here are the pictures. Not much to show for seven hours work is it?  I will try to get quicker.

For the sake of everyone?s sanity I will try to get next Sundays efforts posted promptly.

That, I suspect, will be assembling the brake parts, fitting the pull rods and then taking it all off again.  Though a little boiler rolling might be more satisfying

 

[Locomodels]

Hello  gentles all, here I am back again, just when you thought it was safe to come out .  Well after a trip to the UK and two weekends of Formula 1, grand prix I finally made it back into the workshop.

Next on the agenda was the cab steps and the rear buffer beam rivet overlays and corner reinforcements.  The steps went together well and are soldered up. However when I got to the triangular brackets it was a different matter.  The tabs did not fit into the slots.  So, as this is the Scale7 version, I checked that I had selected the correct parts.  There are special etches for S7 and they were indeed the correct items.  However I then went in search of the OF parts, just in case!  When I found them, they were the same size. Don’t know what happened but I will relay the information to Dave Sharp.

As I was not in a ‘file it to fit’ mood I decided to do something totally different and therefore completely out of sequence.  It was obviously time for a cup of tea.