Member postings for Ray Wood 2

Hi All,

Portlight has progressed well during my enforced holiday, but back to London for work on Monday 😀

The rudder and steering servo in it's place, hatch covers built in situ using Clingfilm to help the release from the hold coamings

Regards Ray

Hi Eddie,

She looks like a speed machine 😀 and will be good practice for the barge racing if we manage to get a race in this year ??

Big news down here is I'm back to work on Monday !!I

Oh well we have got to get the show back on the road 👍

Regards Ray

Hi George,

You know a picture is worth a thousand words so somebody said and I think they are right, the text is secondary to the photos and most of our ramblings 😀

I had a great afternoon boating on the Royal Military Canal Hythe with my grandsons with 2 yachts & a speed boat, they seemed to enjoy it 👍

Regards Ray

Hi Mark,

The bypass valve is manually operate and allows the flow from the pump to divert back into the tank, but if only opened a small amount less water is fed into the boiler.

I will try & find a loco pipework diagram to show the layout.

The 2 pin coupling you have will always be noisy, a Huco type of coupling would be much quieter.

Is that just painted string lagging? Or asbestos string wound round the pipework, maybe worth a check!

Regards Ray

Hi Bob,

Only the bracket that holds the motor on the back, all present & correct 😀

Regards Ray

Hi Dave,

I learned a long time ago your only as good as your equipment & tools 😀

Here is Portlights rudder a ply sandwich with 1/8" core and 1 /16" each side with a recess for the clear acrylic sheet extension for sailing, cheating really but they won't turn enough with just the scale rudder. The straps on the rudder & stock have 1 /16" diameter tubes soft soldered on, with a brass rod down through the gudgeons, this is in my view the most important part of the barge, I have seen other skippers loosing the rudder while racing 😲

regards Ray

Hi John,

I'm a Gorilla white glue fan for most general boat work, the bigger size are about £ 6.95 and will last over a year normally , but for my balsa boat I use good old balsa cement fast drying and it smells great 😀I

Your planking looks good and will make a sturdy hull with the second layer.

Regards Ray

Hi All,

Making the gudgeons to hang the rudder on from square brass bar turned down to 138 thou and threaded 4 ba to screw into the transom of Portlight, and remembered how easy it is with a 4 jaw self centering Chuck on the lathe 😀

Regards Ray

Hi Mark,

You obviously have a good grasp of what's going on with the engine, the boiler feed pump will fill the boiler with water against the steam pressure with no problem, the bypass valve just reduces the pressure of the water being pumped in and normally returns it to the storage tank. this prevents the boiler from being completely filled leaving no room for the steam to gather at the top, I forgot to advise you but you may know the water level must be maintained at a level above the centre flue tube, it's worth making a note of this level on the gauge glass.

Regarding the safety valve setting if it's a loco type valve it will be adjustable to blow at say 10lbs above your working pressure say 60 lbs.

During a boiler hydraulic water test it will also be good practice to test your pressure gauge to see if it's reading correctly with a bigger gauge.

I'm hoping the Model Boats Steam Guru Richard Simpson can let you know about clubs in your area?? I'm in Kent.

Regards Ray

Hi George,

That's a good looking dinghy now you have completed the hard part you will have to build the boat to attach it too

Yep grim weather here this weekend didn't sail any boats

Regards Ray

Hi Mark,

Your father certainly knew his stuff, what a lovely legacy to have

The centre flue boiler is a Martin Evans design published by SARIK, which comes in various sizes from 4" > 2" diameter, I think you may the 3" version which I also built about 25 years ago, a very robust sound design.

Lots of rules and regs these days about needing a current test certificate for the boiler which some model boat clubs have tester, certainly model engineering clubs do. But if you have a private lake in your garden happy days !!

The most important part of the steam plant is the displacement lubricator which is in the steam feed from the boiler to the engine which needs to be filled with steam oil before the run and the condensed water drained from it after the run, the steam condenses in the lubricator and forces the oil up and into the steam pipe.

The water feed pump should have a bypass valve to allow the excess water to be returned to the water tank, this prevents the boiler being filled with too much water, the rate of feed is a matter of trial & error.

The exhaust steam does appear to be going back into the tank, many folk wouldn't bother and put the exhaust straight up the funnel.

Hope this helps, a gas cut of valve for the burner is a good safety precaution if your going to use radio control, if it gets stuck in the middle of the lake to prevent it boiling dry, because the blow lamp is hot enough to melt the boiler joints!!

Regards Ray    (Bob beat me to reply)

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 05/07/2020 09:39:31

Hi All,

Iast week I didn't get much done only fiddling with the little steam engine, but now seem to have got my mojo back and pressing on with Portlight's mast foot tabernacle in 20g brass sheet soft soldered together, and found some pine for the lower mast section, I'm sure the real thing would be steel tube but once painted 😎

Regards Ray

Hey Bob,

Let's go traditional how about Lee Boards ?? With a twist in them 😀 drop the left one for left turns etc etc

Only a thought ! Everything else has been suggested 😯

Regards Ray

Hi Chas,

Any chance of a photo of the drawing ??

Regards Ray

Hi Paul,

I'm familiar with the technology, but the complication would seem extreme for a model boat ?? Especially as none of this will be seen when it's On the water.

Bob the picture on the beginning of the thread has 2 levels of portholes, is that what your trying to create?

Regards Ray

Hi Bob,

Kort nozzles ???? Are you sure your not building a tugboat 😀😀😀,

They must be great for directing the thrust, but never seen them on a fast boat?

Don't forget to put a rubber tyre on the bow !

Regards Ray

Hi Brian,

Your traction engine is well on the way 😀 what scale is she 3" or 4" ? I miss being a member of an engineering club with the variety of interests of the members, I have recently sold some long term projects like a Sweet Pea chassis which I knew I'd never finish, but I still have a Boxhill to complete 😯

Regards Ray

Hi Brian,

Maybe a steam drifter trawler with a spirit fired boiler from a gauge 1 project loco, I'm not keen on gas firing 😀

What are you building still yachts ??

Regards Ray

Hi Bob,

I nearly had a heart attack when I looked at the price of locomotive castings these days wow !!I

I suppose it's less popular than say 40 or 50 years ago as the skills fade away 😢

Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 02/07/2020 20:27:40

Hi All,

Here is a change of direction for me during the never ending furlough, this little 5/8" Bore by 5/8" stroke engine is the next stage on from an oscillating engine, the castings are available from AJ Reeves for about £80 plus the bits of bar and bolts etc.

Have reached the stage of milling the ports and drilling the steam passages and machining the slide valve not that far to go

Regards Ray