Rickster 4'' RL latest

Rickster wrote: I made the mistake of covering the engine over with cotton covers, which has of course kept the damp in

Interesting. I would have thought a breathable cotton a good idea. I use a lint free cotton based sheet to cover my 3" and thought it to be ok. Are you sure you're not using a sheet with a percentage of polyester?


Dan

Hi Rick,

Does look very good, makes me want to get mine back to a point where it can be photographed but I want to be sure I am putting bits on for the one and only time. I know what you mean about the cleading I hated it and posted a very down beat comment which got a lot of leg pulling at Dorset after spending a Saturday in July fitting the damn stuff. Consequently I am trying to get to a position where every thing that goes on stays on. To that end I have just delivered my steel work to a loacl platers to get it all nickel'd up, was quite distressed to find the valve covers and end plates had a fine surface rust on them so made a descision to get it alll plated. For every piece I can find, including fairleads, water tap rod, all the motion excluding slides and crossheads ( as they will be covered in oil almost all the time) damper lever etc it comes to £40 which is less than the cost of the kit!! I too had wondered about the valve covers but have decieded to paint the inner bit once it comes back, I dont think having a nickel sub layer will bother the paint and it might not stick anyway due to the heat in that particular component.

Shouldnt be long before I can add another set of shots to the gallery, an STW rally once all in steam would certainly be a sight to behold, almost a millionaires row!!!

Keep the faith, I can almost smell the coal......

Kev.

Hi

My engine has sheets over it and I have had no problem with condensation and it gets very cold up here. Yesterday was -3 all day in fog.

I have also seen wax being used to cover/shield parts before plating when I worked in Portsmouth dockyard. Only problem is you can get a hard edge or overhanging edge. So when you put the wax on you cover further than needed then cut it back square. Nearest platters to Inverness are in the central belt 180 miles away.

Thanks Lynn for that advice. I'll take the covers to the platers when I collect the motion and see what they can do.

On the sheets - they do feel a bit damp after a foggy night - not being a sheet spcecialist, and no labels to guide me, if I tear a corner, or rather try to, they don't rip like a cotton shirt does, so I assume as Dan suggests they are a mix and maybe this is holding the damp in?

Either way I'll try something different.

Rick


Rick

Sometimes you just have to do these things !

Rick

It is certainly looking fantastic. In your pictures at the top of this page it looks like the engine is sitting on a red platform . Is it a motorcycle lift? If so what weight will it lift as I would like to try to raise my engine to a better working height, when it gets on its wheels hopefully sometime next year.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Yes it's a bike lift. Max weight is 460kgs apparently - it would lift it all up to cylinder kit, but now won't budge. It does lose oil now and again so I'll have a look as this maybe the reason.

Even flat on the floor it gives an extra 6" or so in height which makes a real difference if you have a tendency for a bad back like me.

Rick

I take my hat off to you Rick as this has got to be the first DCC from STW to be in steam...well done sir

Hi Rick

Many thanks for the info on the bike lift and good luck in getting it to work again, I have been looking for one that has more capacity but 650kg seems to be the biggest, I really do not want or can offer a car post lift.

Ian

Hi All

I use thick dog blankets on the floor and either sit or neil on them. Nice soft and warm. Then stick them in the washer once in a while

A few pics with gears all fitted - the 3rd speed hub keys took a while to get them to fit, particularly the 2nd one. I ended up being able to push them both in about half way and then a few taps with a hammer to secure them. Does anyone know if this is correct or too loose/tight ???

I have a slight tight spot for about a third of the way round when spinning the gears. I tried loosening the bolts as per Lynn's thread on the gear side of things and the same with the Cover, then finally with the shaft end covers to try to ease it all.

This appears to have worked to a degree but there is a definate stiffness on one area for about 60 degrees of rotation. There is backlash in the gear train as advised, a very small amount of end float on the LH gear, no more than about 3 thou.

As everyone else the gear fit on the crank was superb, just a few burrs to be removed.

On the water fittings, for those that haven't fitted the water pipes yet, you don't need to remove the brakes. Remove both rear wheels to you can wind as much break off as possible. This will bring the break arm down lowe enough to get the pipe over the arm. I had to remove the middle water tap though.

The balance pipe can also be fitted without removing the fitting in the belly tank if you cut the pipes short enough to create a bit of "sag" it is possible to then fit it all together and then balance the space between fittings then tighten up. I did this on the basis there is no real pressure in this part and didn't feel it was necessary to have the copper pipe fully in the end of the fittings. It certainly feels all nice and tight, so I am happy with this.

Has anyone fitted the water gauge yet ? When I tried to line the top and bottom bodies up there were only a few threads going into the bottom boiler extension which didn't seem right to me. Any ideas what could be wrong ??










Happy New Year to everyone !

Cheers

Rick

Hi Rick

The instructions do say 3rd gear hub keys need to be tight and even better to add locking compound. So you should be fine. Expect to need to use a bearing puller to remove in the future as also mentioned.

Hi All,

Been playing with gears again today and discovered a few things which maybe of use to others.

The alignment of the 2nd shaft in the universal hub is very critical to smooth rotation. I fitted the shaft to the hub and checked for squareness with an engineers square, having to tap the shaft into position. Then fitted the hub to the gear drive, finger tight, then built the gears, finger tight. Fitted the 2nd shaft and all was well, nice and free.

While in position, I tighted up the hub first, diametrically opposite each bolt and then same for the gears, checking rotation after the first four were done and then went round the others. This was the only way I could remove the tight spot.

fitted the LH crank gear and finally tighted up the coutersunk screw on the hub. The plate the scew goes into was also slightly concentric not helping everything to line up, but spins with no binding at all now.

Then refitted the 2nd gear on the crank and found the gear cluster has a small roun out of about 1mm. This caused the 2nd gear on the 2nd shaft to just touch 2nd on the crank.

The 2nd crank gear does not go back into the 3rd gear hub far enough such that about 1mm is extending past the hub so with runout on the cluster it just touches.

So I dusted off the trusty Myford and machined off about 25 thou from the back of the gear so it sits further in the hub and now only just clears the gears. I'll check with Steve tomorrow this is ok, if it is I'll probably take a bit more off just to give a bit of extra running clearance.

On the pictures of Tony's engine it looks as if 2nd gear sits further into the hub than mine.

Anyone else experienced this ?

cheers

Rick

Hi Rick

My second gear as recommended by Tony I think was to chamfer the splines that butt up against the crank as the crank has a radius and the splines are straight cut. My 2nd gear now fits in nicely with about 2mm space to the gear pack. May require adjusting once the gear change arrives as it may need to go in a bit further. I was looking at the pictures of Ex-mayor today and the 2nd gear fits fully into the 3rd gear hub so may need to do a bit more filing on the splines.

Hi Lynn,

Thanks for the advice - makes sense.

Rick

Hi Lynn,

Absolutely bang on with that - perfect fit now - I can now turn the complete motion over by turning the gear cluster when in 3rd gear and hear the air being exhausted out the block. Nice !

I am having a small problem with the water gauge - don't know if anyone else has experenced it - to get the the top and bottom water bodies to line up I only have about 3mm of thread going into the bottom body when checked with the steel rod. Then the water gauge glass protector bars foul on the two bold heads that hold the top water gauge bracket onto the 2nd shaft

I've checked with Steve and he correct amount from boiler bush to end of the bottom extension should be 55mm and mine is.

The only thing I can think of is a longer extension piece for the bottom and a spacer for the top. Any advice greatfully received.

cheers

Rick

Haven't posted for a while, so here's the lastest up to dry build of the latest kit - 29. Discovered a few issues with this - washout plugs almost impossible to get in. Only managed two so far but Steve is sending out some replacements and a tap to clean the threads, though they look clear and clean.
the lubricator cam wouldn't turn 360 degrees and a fix is on its way for this - basically the holes for the outlet and the pump ram are slightly out which jams the pump ram on the cam but will go the other way, so new clutches to reverse the operation will solve the problem.

Having dry built the governor the alignment with the pulley on the wayshaft is quite a bit out on the govenor. I haven't spoken to Steve about this little problem yet as I've only just fitted it to check and found the issue. As you can see from the photo, I had to turn the pulley round and leave a gap of about 1/8" to line up. As I intend to make the governor work, I will speak to Steve for a solution on Monday.

I need to give the engine a good clean up now and fit the seat. Was hoping to run on air this weekend but without the washouts that won't happen now.... still got plenty to do though so not too worried.

cheers

Rick








You can see the problem with the governor alignment in this one.

Hi Rick,

Looking really good, like the finish on the metal work, these engines will look the dog's dodar when they are out in steam, real credit to you. I will have received kit 29 by next weekend so hopefully the replacements will be in there.

All the best,

Brian M

Hi Rick,

I have had exactly the same two issues with plugs and the lubricator. I have the new clutches but have yet to get around to fitting them. I have been quite busy with a few other jobs which are in my picture thread. I've given up running on air as by the time it will be sealed it will be possible to light up!! Looking good though hopefully we'll meet up somewhere over the summer.

Can you take a close up of the lubricator on its mount and the feed pipe. I have put mine together this morning but the pipe fouls the safety and wanted to see if you have bent it to get it to fit. Also my mounting holes on the base of the lubricator only line up with one of the sets of holes in the plate??

Cheers Kev.

Hi Kev,

Sorry for the late reply - been busy steaming the engine all afternoon !!

The lubricator pipe had to be bent to get round the safeties, but it's not a problem. The mounting plate also didn't line up with the lubricator body - same as you. I elongated all four holes as there wouldn't be much meat on the end of the two that would need to be made an even longer stretch. Took about 4 minuites with a needle file.

So... I finally lit a fire this afternoon a 14.30 and staying i steam until I had to shut down and put the kids to bed! Same as Kev, I gave up trying to run on air as I couldn't hold enough air for more than a few revolutions.

Had a few leaks - whisle valve, steam manifold where I made up a fitting to blank off the pressure gauge connection - tender leaks as the M8 drain bolt doesn't grip in the thread - no idea what has happened here as it's never had a bolt in it until today.

One of the cylinder drains also needs looking at. Apart from that everything was ok. I managed to run the engine without a flywheel for about half a minute, but she is still very stiff. Great feeling though. If I can get the Iphone uploaded I'll post a video.

Here's some pics after a good wash.

Cheers
Rick

Hi Rick,

So what sort of length of time are we talking here? And I assume you couldnt really tell what pressure you had? Did you have the whole thing sealed with plugs and if so how did you get water in there without the pump, did you use the injector? I am asking all this because I could very easily light up now and get pressure up but having been holding back as there is no gauge and pump, but with the long weekend coming up I may well just have a go at this too now.

Cheers Kev.

Hi Kev,

I started at 2.30 and shut down at 6.30. Kept a thin fire as fittings were ahem not really suitable for serious pressure, particularly the Pressure gauge one. I have no idea on pressure but problably didn't get more than about 40-50psi - I couldn't use the injector - not enough pressure. I filled the boiler from the front tubeplate plug and sealed it all up. Two plugs were not fully home, one about halfway but no leaks from any of the washouts.

I've uploaded a videon on you tube for those interested and you can see it here - (still uploading at the moment)

https://youtu.be/fq8aObtAHWg

cheers

Rick

Looks great Rick, will be a real pleasure to see on the rally field.

Thanks for doing the vid Rick,

Looking very good indeed.

Kev

I have just taken a picture of my governor so you can see the misalignment. Also noticed, my governor belting seems wider or the pulley is narrower than Lynns'.