October/November/December 2018 production photos.

well its a new quarter and a new topic... yes it will soon be Christmas

first up this week are the BU4 weigh-shaft brackets. turn around on these is quite quick and they are all finished...





BU4 reach rods...



and the reach rod ends...



the pile of drilled lyka boiler plates is slowly growing...



and the prototype boiler is nearly ready...



another job i have to get done are these foden 6inch front stub axles, needed for stock...



brass elbows for the next roller kit...



and the cladding is all done...



the manual section is now working on the pipes for the roller...







and the standard BU4 ash pan is ready to fit...

Hi Craig
What do you think the chances are of seeing the last two showmans kits before Christmas

we have sent one of the new dynamos out to a customer for testing and feedback suggests that more development is needed. Ian has been tasked with getting this sorted next week. Dean is very aware and genuinely concerned about the situation. we will have more news some time next week.

a few photos from this week...

6inch foden front stub axles. the king pin hole has now been bored, not as simple as it looks as it runs at 91 degrees to the turned shaft !!!
just waiting for the 4th axis machine to be free so i can finish these...



and some 6inch front springs are formed, ready for heat treating...



for those people wondering about the new Lyka boilers. work is getting done on these. all the barrels are weld prepped...



and the drilled plates are having bushes welded in...



the laser cut parts for the showmans/road loco belly tank are in...



and im machining the fillets for these...



im also working on lubricator brackets...



and BU4 slide bars...



on the lathes, mark has moved on to the 6inch foden cylinder accessory kit. unfortunately there has been a delay with the cylinder block castings
due to a problem at the foundry, but at least the next kit will be ready when they finally arrive.

HP trunk guide glands are turned...



and HP covers are on now...

There has been no production update/photos for two weeks now - spoilt my Friday evenings!! I hope that all is well with STW?!

yes, sorry about that. i was off ill last week and busy last friday working on the new dynamo parts... doing the photos now

That's OK Craig - you are of course allowed time off! I was just beginning to wonder if everything was all OK at STW towers!

this weeks photos.

i was busy on friday coding up the program for the new dynamo internals. for reasons that are beyond me we are now fitting the magnets at a 12 degree angle...



most of my work last week involved drilling various wheel rims...



and we are also making various front hubs for a new batch of kits starting at kit one...





and the inner (and outer) covers...



i also have two large bags of spokes to countersink...



other jobs included BU4 slidevalves...



and i have these castings to get done for the BS/RL belly tank kit...



manual and fabrication are also working on the belly tank kit...





these are the tool boxes...

Goliewogs wrote:That's OK Craig - you are of course allowed time off! I was just beginning to wonder if everything was all OK at STW towers!

yes things are a bit hectic around here at the moment. we are currently running without steve and with xmas approaching things need close monitoring to get things done. we are working on the new dynamo parts and i should get the new prototype part done today. as i said the magnets will now sit at an angle so things are more like the original internals.

also had people using up holidays over the last couple of months and some have been hit by a minor bug. thank fully i just came down with a migraine, something i used to suffer from a lot but dont get very often these days but when i do i get them big time and all these fancy tablets dont work on me.

Take care. I used to have the same problems - pills just don't work with real migraine!!

Thanks Craig for the update on the dynamo bits
Do you think we will get the two kits by xmas?

hard to say. i have done the machining and Ian is assembling now

this weeks photos...

1st off, the new prototype showmans generator is together and working very well. i'll try and explain the problem we had to fix on the original prototype. imagine 12 magnets in place around a drum with small gaps in between them, as the drum rotates and passes from one magnet to the next it creates a sort of on/off effect. apparently this was causing large amounts of drag and making the center shaft hard to turn. now imagine turning the magnets at an angle. this effectively removes the gaps as the magnets overlap each other. as the shaft turns there is no on/off action and its a lot easier to turn, quieter and works better. well thats the basics as i see it.

good news is, we are now happy that it all works. the vast majority of the last two kits are in stock, kit 34 be sent out before Christmas minus the generators. this will give us time to order and modify the generators and these will be sent out after Christmas with kit 35.  

Fantastic news Craig

other work this week...

we are working on the 2inch ash pan kit with only 3 small jobs left to do. these are the grate bars...



and these will be hinges (you will have to trust me on this one)...



im also in the middle of some BU4 gear change levers...



and we are now working on 6inch foden eccentrics...





showman/roadloco front hubs are all finished and the spokes are all countersunk and are being bent as i type...





manual/fabrication are working on foden 6inch cylinder covers and work continues on lyka and Bu boilers...

photos for this week...

showmans and roadloco kit 17 belly tanks are finally done and should be going middle of next week...









and the foden 6inch crankshaft kit is ready to go, probably Tuesday...



we are now working on the roller kit20, mostly levers...







and after that BS kit16, ash pan etc...



im also doing a few more boiler parts, fire hole....



and harry is starting on another batch of boilers. i know the photo looks the same as before but it is different... promise



and yes, the lyka boiler has been pressure tested and is sitting in the chassis now so we can finalize the pipe work...

Any wood in the factory for the agri trailers?

I promised various school and church fetes in my area I would be coming to visit them in the new year thinking i would have finished my trailers by now along with the traction trailer kits that were sent out at the same time. (metal parts)

They are starting to ask for confirmation but I cant until I know i will have trailers ready.

any news would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Nick

Hi Craig
As you have the majority of parts for showmans kit 34 can you give us a idea when its going out?

sonick45 wrote:Any wood in the factory for the agri trailers?

I promised various school and church fetes in my area I would be coming to visit them in the new year thinking i would have finished my trailers by now along with the traction trailer kits that were sent out at the same time. (metal parts)

They are starting to ask for confirmation but I cant until I know i will have trailers ready.  

any news would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Nick

there is no wood here at the moment, thats a question that Ian or Dean would be able to answer for you. i would drop dean an e-mail or even try to call.

Mark the spark wrote:Hi Craig
As you have the majority of parts for showmans kit 34 can you give us a idea when its going out?

i was told that it would go out this side of christmas, Dean was very firm on this. i dont know a date. sorry.

Hi Craig, any chance a Roller boiler is one of the ones going to be made for me?

NorfolkModelSteam wrote:Hi Craig, any chance a Roller boiler is one of the ones going to be made for me?

you would have to phone or email for availability and production times on the boiler

Thanks Craig, I checked with Isabelle today and one is in production for me! I’m like a kid at the sweetshop knowing it is being built - finally all the components I’ve already built will start to come together!

this weeks photos, and the rush is now on to get some more kits done this side of xmas !!!

i have a batch of 2inch perch brackets that are nearly done...



we only have to do a couple of exhaust pipes to complete another roller kit...



these are the exhaust flanges...





just one part to make for the showmans kit2... the spring hangers...



and showmans ash pans for the kit 16...



and they are full steam ahead on the next batch of boilers, that will go out in December. they enter the welding bay from this line...



and come out almost complete, and join this line...



here is something im not sure you have seen before... all the tubes that go inside them. these have to be cut to length and de-bured...



and these are the finished fire holes that i was machining last week...