2" Burrell Kit 16A - Crank Axle Kit

Hi 2" Burrell Builders,

Kit 16A should be available for despatch from tomorrow (Wednesday 10th September). This kit contains the crank axle, eccentrics, governor pulley, steam head, globe valves and crank bearings. The control model has now gone together and the instructions have been completed. Around 50 of the crank axles have been finished with the balance still running on the lathe and 4th axis milling machine.

We are currently having very little joy in obtaining a credit card facility, therefore, letters will be leaving either Wednesday or Thursday to all STW customers outlining a production schedule (best guestimate currently), kit costs and giving further information on payment methods available including our bank account details for bank transfers. Should you wish to pay by cheque for kit 16A please send your payment as soon as possible. We would ask for cheque's in future to be sent approximately 4 weeks prior to the kit despatch so the kits can be sent without any delays. Please be assured cheques will not be banked until the kit is ready to be collected by the courier.

Happy building

Dean

HI STEVE, WILL BE AT OLDWARDEN FOR THE WEEKEND, AS WE CHATTED ABOUT AT DORSET. BRING US A KIT, AND I'LL SWAP IT FOR A CHEQUE AGAIN !
WILL PHONE YOU TOMORROW AS I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU ANYWAY.

REGARDS
BRUCE

Hi Bruce,

Although we have booked in the Bedford rally, if the weather is really bad we may decide not to go as there is a shed load we could be doing back at the factory. We'll update the forum as soon as we've made a firm decision (could be as late as Friday though).

I'm sure Steve will be more than happy to have a chat tomorrow.

Regards

DEAN

Hi Dean,

I will BACS my payment for kit 16a into the STW account tommowow, it was nice to have a chat with you and Steve last wednesday and to have the guided tour around the factory and see the parts being manufactured, Isabel's coffee wasen't to bad either.
Keep up the good work and one day you will have a car like mine, by the way I have just cleaned all the dribble of the drivers seat.

all the best

Ian

Gents (and Ladies if there are any)

I have spoken to Steve and be aware that you cannot bed the crankshaft into the bearings as yet!

The problem is that we have not received the 'bits' that go with the boiler, one of those 'bits' is the jig that will align the cylinder with the bearing surfaces on the hornplates to allow that offset as described in the boiler instructions. The adjustment is fairly critical and is made by moving the hornplates back or forth. This will obviously affect the alignment of the two crankshaft bearings to each other and they need to be sorted before you start gtrinding or bedding in the crankshaft to them.

Steve says he thinks the metal for the jigs is in and they can start working on them soon.

Also

Re the cladding for the boiler, my covers overlap at the top by a good 3/8" Steve says by fettering them down from the inside to a sharpish edge the join should not be evident. There is no reason why they cannot be fettered and painted before the hornplates are attached. Have to be carefull putting the cylinder studs in though.

Happy building

Alan

The ISO's supplied with Kit 16A show the RH elbow parallel to the boiler, whereas the ISO's and instructions for Kit 12 show the RH elbow at 45 deg. The Kit 12 ones are correct. The Elbows (brought in item) came in bigger than expected, so we had to alter the orientation to stop them hitting the crank.

The hole in the rear spectacle plate for the water gauge pipe needs to be enlarged and moved towards the right slightly. It needs to be enlarged to allow the pipe nut to go through and moved to the right to bring it inline with the bracket on the 2nd shaft. The problem was inherited from the 4" version (but I didn't notice it!). We need to make the alteration on our 2" version because of larger scale pipe nuts.

I've also been advised that you need to fit the cleading before the hornplates due to the difficulty in fitting the cladding over the studs for the two clack valves.

Sorry for any problem caused.

Regards

Steve

THANKS FOR THE INFO STEVE.
GUESS MOST OF US HAVE PAINTED THE SPEC. PLATES BY NOW, SO WE'VE GOT SOME CAREFUL MODS TO DO TO LIMIT THE DAMAGE ! ALL PART OF THE FUN !!

REGARDS
BRUCE

HI STEVE,
RE THE CLADDING PROB: THINKING ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT, I WOULD NOT BE HAPPY HAVING TO COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLE OUR ENGINE I.E. TENDER, MOTION WORK, GEARING, REAR WHEELS. ETC. SO THAT I COULD REMOVE THE HORNPLATES, JUST SO THAT WE WERE ABLE TO REMOVE THE BOILER CLADDING SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, SAY TO REDO THE PAINT ON THE CLADDING, OR WHATEVER.
SO MY QUESTION IS; WOULD THE PROBLEM BE SOLVED BY SPLITTING THE CLADDING IN TO TWO SECTIONS PER SIDE, AS I BELEIVE THE 4" WERE, AND OF COURSE THE FULL SIZE ENGINES ARE IN SECTIONS. THIS WOULD MEAN CAREFUL PLANNING SO THAT THE BOILER BANDS WERE CORRECT.

YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE STEVE

REGARDS
BRUCE

Bruce
When I first read Steve description of the problem I wondered why the cleading was not made in sections.

As you know the cleading on the Burrell is in 5 sections. The boiler bands hide most of the "extra" joints. To protect the finish I did not fit mine until late it the build. At the time I fitted it was a bit of a pain as I had to remove the valve gear and some pipe work. In retrospect this pain was worth it. I probably should have left it off until after the first steaming to avoid scratching it during the running in period.

The cleading is the most visible part of the engine. It is surprises me that I hardly notice the tender or hornplates. When it comes to cleaning the engine I spend most of my time cleaning the cleading and wheels. The point is you should aim for the best and most durable finish possible on the cleading. Aim for a decent paint thickness and let the paint harden completely before fitting. If you can give it 2 months or more to dry.

On a different but related subject the gap between the hornplates and the boiler is subject to "Sods Law" If you ever drop a nut it will get trapped here. I have often wondered whether it would be possible to either fashion the rear section cleading to catch the nuts or add a separate filler strip.

HI JULIA,
THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK, YOU COVER MY POINTS EXACTLY, IN THAT WE DON'T WANT TO FIT THE CLADDING UNTIL AS LATE AS POSSIBLE REALLY, AND CERTAINLY DON'T REALLY WANT IT TRAPPED BY THE HORNPLATES. WE WOULD RATHER CAREFULLY SPLIT THE CLADDING, WHICH IS SUPPLIED IN JUST TWO PEICES ON THE 2", AND HIND THE JOINS WITH THE BANDS AS PER FULL SIZE, AND INDEED YOUR OWN ENGINE.

REGARDS
BRUCE

Bruce

Thinking about there is no point going to 5 pieces, 3 would be just as effective. Looking at my pictures there does not seem to be anything hard to get round at the front. From one of the 2" pictures I gather that the existing joint is along the top. Cutting into two along the bottom seem a good move. While I am sure you will do a good job the underside edge will never been seen and could be left messy. I gave my engine a treat and cleaned the underside of the boiler barrel cleading for its winter's lay up. The underside is usually caked with oil!

Another advantage of 1/2 circles it that they will be easier to hold for painting. I found it easier to line the cleading off the engine but a word of caution - I found the boiler bands did not run parallel to edges of the plates so it would be worth fitting the cleading unpainted and marking the positions of the bands before painting. If the marks are just inside the band positions they will not show.

If think it would be fine if you want to cut the cladding into two or three sections. The reason why I designed at on piece is that I was concerned about the strength of the boiler bands and whether they would be able to hold the parts together without gaps under the band.

I'm not convinced that there will be a problem with the one piece side. Once the studs have been cut down to about 6mm long, I think it'll be okay. As soon as I get a moment I'll try it on our Control Model.

Regards

Steve

JULIA,
THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS, AND ADVICE.
THE 2" CLEADING ARE TWO PIECES SPLIT ALONG THE BOILER TOP AND BOTTOM. I WAS THINKING OF SPLITING IT AGAIN AROUND THE BOILER JUST BEHIND THE CLACK VALVES, UNDER THE REAR BAND. NOW WAIT TO SEE HOW STEVE GETS ON.

STEVE,
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS.
WILL WAIT TO SEE IF THE PROB STILL EXISTS AFTER THE STUDS ARE CUT DOWN, HOPE NOT, AS ALTHOUGH I WAS THINKING OF SPLITING THE CLEADING AGAIN I TOO WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE BANDS HOLDING IT OK, TWO PIECES WOULD BE GOOD IF IT WORKS OK.

REGARDS ALL
BRUCE