Tony Bird
Senior Member
Hi,
At last, to the great relief of all, not least the author, we are at the finishing post, and the last posting on the construction of the Biscuit Tin Steam Engine.
With the exception of the ‘T’ pipe connector, all the original parts were used. The original and new components were assembled; all that was needed to finish the model was to connect the various parts together with silicon tubing. The finished result looks a bit like ‘Spaghetti Junction’ (the joining of several motorways in Birmingham UK). (P. 126 & 127).
The pipe work in the base of the engine needed to be covered and it seemed appropriate that a part of the biscuit tin was used (P.128).
The Biscuit Tin Steam Engine was now complete. Starting in October 2022 it consisted of these parts of a steam engine (P.129).
After six months of on and off work, the following photograph shows how the model looks now. As a finishing touch, a cast resin figure ‘Owen the Oil’ was fitted onto a rod screwed into the engine base plate. (P.130).
There might have been other parts made for the model that weren’t found, even if there were, I don’t think the model was ever completed. With the error in the design of the piston clearance in the cylinders; and the misalignment of the steam ports in the one cylinder, the engine couldn’t have worked. Also, there was no evidence of any wear on any of the moving parts. In general the parts of the model were well made, though there were some issues, like the trunnion being a push fit in its cylinder and what remained of the water pump was also pressed together, in both cases, in use, especially under steam, these joints could easily fail. However, the construction of the axle and the type of pump fitted was a bit different.
There must be thousands of part finished models in the world; well, at least one of them got to be finished, and it probably ended up looking nothing like what the original builder intended. I have previously worked on models that other people have made; which either weren’t finished or didn’t work but none have had so few original bits to play with.
The inevitable short video:
The result looks a bit rustic, but I feel its appearance is quite pleasing, and the model runs quite well. Come, the 12th of October of this year there is another ‘Bring and Buy’ sale at the Cardiff Model Engineering Society, is it too much to hope something similar will be available again?
I quite enjoyed the challenge of improvising, and it certainly didn’t cost a lot in materials. As mentioned before having no drawings means that you tend to use the materials that you have to hand rather than ordering new.
Take care. Tony.
At last, to the great relief of all, not least the author, we are at the finishing post, and the last posting on the construction of the Biscuit Tin Steam Engine.
With the exception of the ‘T’ pipe connector, all the original parts were used. The original and new components were assembled; all that was needed to finish the model was to connect the various parts together with silicon tubing. The finished result looks a bit like ‘Spaghetti Junction’ (the joining of several motorways in Birmingham UK). (P. 126 & 127).
The pipe work in the base of the engine needed to be covered and it seemed appropriate that a part of the biscuit tin was used (P.128).
The Biscuit Tin Steam Engine was now complete. Starting in October 2022 it consisted of these parts of a steam engine (P.129).
After six months of on and off work, the following photograph shows how the model looks now. As a finishing touch, a cast resin figure ‘Owen the Oil’ was fitted onto a rod screwed into the engine base plate. (P.130).
There might have been other parts made for the model that weren’t found, even if there were, I don’t think the model was ever completed. With the error in the design of the piston clearance in the cylinders; and the misalignment of the steam ports in the one cylinder, the engine couldn’t have worked. Also, there was no evidence of any wear on any of the moving parts. In general the parts of the model were well made, though there were some issues, like the trunnion being a push fit in its cylinder and what remained of the water pump was also pressed together, in both cases, in use, especially under steam, these joints could easily fail. However, the construction of the axle and the type of pump fitted was a bit different.
There must be thousands of part finished models in the world; well, at least one of them got to be finished, and it probably ended up looking nothing like what the original builder intended. I have previously worked on models that other people have made; which either weren’t finished or didn’t work but none have had so few original bits to play with.
The inevitable short video:
The result looks a bit rustic, but I feel its appearance is quite pleasing, and the model runs quite well. Come, the 12th of October of this year there is another ‘Bring and Buy’ sale at the Cardiff Model Engineering Society, is it too much to hope something similar will be available again?
I quite enjoyed the challenge of improvising, and it certainly didn’t cost a lot in materials. As mentioned before having no drawings means that you tend to use the materials that you have to hand rather than ordering new.
Take care. Tony.
