October, November, December 2015 production photos...

the main focus at the moment is the 4inch foden kit 24 (cab sides etc).

motion cover mounting angle...



door latch...



door latch plate...



beading...



door wood...



also drilling a batch of SCC boiler barrels...

photos from last week.

lots of work done on the 4inch foden cab kit...



wood work...





sheet work...





and trim...



6inch foden chain covers...







6inch foden smoke-box trim...



some wood for the 2inch wagon...



and test machining a new DCC cylinder casting...

If that's the 4" DCC cylinder, then please we want to know more, is this the first one, or have you already cut some up, we have eagerly been waiting for an update about this for some months now!

i think (and i have been wrong in the past) that this is the second sample casting. i thought we had done a "cut-up" on these, but i can't seem to find any photos.
after the cut-up stage, Steve will make any modifications he feels are needed and then a second sample is made and machined to prove it out fully.
i know that Steve asked Mark to machine this so he could get the "final order" placed.
i also believe that the bores on this are now open both ends. i think the original had them closed off at one end ???
I'll get a confirmation on this soon as i can, and if we have a cut-up, i'll get some photos.

got to be honest, we have so many cylinder blocks around at the moment that i get confused as to what is what ???

good news... the 4inch foden cab kit did go out today

Thanks for the quick response Craig, if there are some photies, that would be most splendid!

Hi Craig, i no your all very busy at STW headquarters, but i there any chance fo some pictures of the 4 inch control model with the cab kit fitted, something for us second batch customers to look at and visualize our models at that stage

Russ

OK Russ, ill include some photos in the next up-date  

OK. the cylinder block. it IS a sample casting for the new version of the DCC block. the old block had blind bores (blocked at one end). this was causing problems with blocked ports and the bottom of the bore. this has now been opened up to allow proper machining of the ports and will be blocked up by a separate part/cap.

i also believe that the saddle part has been made thicker.

you can see the old and new casting styles side by side...



and yes, we did cut one up...



there is just ONE sample that has been fully machined to prove out the new cast. this has been done so that a full batch can be ordered.

hope that answers any questions

Craig,
That's brill thanks very much.

I notice as one looks at the picture, there are two steam ways missing from the top right hand side?

Mark.

Looking good, no problem with wall thickness there, glad you took my advice ..........................eventually!!!!

the governer wrote:Craig,
That's brill thanks very much.

I notice as one looks at the picture, there are two steam ways missing from the top right hand side?

Mark.

oh yes, well spotted !!!


.... i have no idea why

Very interesting production thread this month Craig...Excellent!

That new DCC cylinder design looks awesome!..... One question to Steve, would it be possible to fit to existing engines without changing other components?

Regards,
Tony

well i did do an update this week but for some reason i put it in the wrong thread
if you didn't spot it, here it is again ....

ok photos...

first off, some of these picks are a bit naff. my camera died a few months back and im now using my camera phone. trouble is it seems to focus properly as and when it pleases. sorry bout this.

first pick, the 4inch foden cab kit during fitting to the control model...



as mentioned above, the 6inch foden kit 29 is all but done. it's mainly manual wielded parts that need doing.

this is the water lifter hose bracket mount...



the machine shop is now concentrating on the 6inch foden smoke-box kit.

the badge...



chimney base ring...



smoke-box awaiting rolling...



smoke-box rings (front and rear)...



machined from a solid cast ring...



we have also made a start on some SCC slide bar brackets...



test fitting on a boiler barrel...



and i have made a start on the weigh-shaft bracket...

photos from last week.

the 6inch foden kit went out mid week...



water lifter hose brackets...



and steps...



covers...



work continues on the latest batch of 6inch foden cylinder blocks...



and we are on the last few ops of the smoke-box kit...



doors...



smoke-boxes...



and some brackets for the next 2inch kit...



and 2inch rear wheels...

Hi Craig,

Any idea what the next 2in kit is? I'm waiting for the fire doors which I believe come in kit 14 Cladding, so that I can fit the horn plates to the boiler. I'm a bit stuck till then and can't really do much with the kits that have come recently.

Ian

sorry for the delay Ian. the next kit does include the fire doors. it is 90% done and some of the outstanding parts are the doors and runners. we get the blanks for these from out laser cutters. we have had a huge amount from them lately so this probably explains the delay on these

Thanks Craig. That's good news.

Ian.

last weeks photos.

it was a busy week for the manual section finishing off the 6inch foden kit. this is one of our kits where we like to match parts together and send them out as sets. one example is the chimney base. the base to smoke-box mountings feature a "lug" in the casting. we dont drill these to a fixed pattern, we drill the center of the lug, these are then manually drilled into the smoke-box, making matching pairs.
we also fit the hinges onto the doors these days as well, due to a lot of customers struggling with this.

smoke boxes with matching rings and chimney bases....



chimneys and matching rings...



and chimney caps and a few doors...



im currently doing another batch of showmans's crank bearings !!!!



work has started on the DCC flywheel and gear-change kit...



6inch foden cylinder blocks have now reached the 4th axis machine.



and in still working on the SCC slide bars and cross-head kit. more photos on this next time

Hi Craig,

Any update on the 4" DCC cylinder casting, where the test cuts successful, and has the decision been made to start a production run on them, or where are we with it?

Cheers,

Mark.

no sorry. steve would have that information an he's away at the moment

Thank you Craig!

Hi craig, not that im not needing another kit right now got three waiting to be done, but did Steve ever manage to sort the problem out with the 4.5 Foden cranks, as i no they were due out a few months ago and there was a fault found something on the gearing side

Russ

i do have some cranks to finish as soon as the 4th axis is free, not sure if they are the foden ones but it sounds like the ones you are talking about.

they came in 90% finished with "splines" on to mesh with the gears... they didn't fit !!! we turned them off and are going to machine key-ways and supply them with keys.

not sure if that makes sense but i'll include them in the next up-date

ok, sorry about the lack of recent updates, lets try and catch up...

another batch of showmans crank bearings were completed...







and showmans flywheels...





we did fix the spline problem on the foden cranks...







6inch foden cylinders blocks are ready for packing and dispatch this week...



we are now concentrating on the SCC motion kit. lots to do on this one.

weigh-shaft brackets...





cylinder covers...







piston rods...



pistons...



and regulator glands...



we have also just finished a batch of 2inch boilers and fire door/ash-pan kits and these are due out this week

Hi Craig
Any news on the next showmans kit
mark

Hi Craig any updates recently, and out of interest what kts are you hoping to get out before the Christmas break

Russ