An NSR Absolute Block instrument

If I could post the video, you would see it working.. thankfully the key part is for the levers is ok, but I did snap one key when it jammed.

idea is now I have a working blank is to go and get a metal one cut.
As for the latches, not quite sure yet….

 

Fantastic Brian, thank you so much..

only thing I have noticed is it does seem to drag a few mins after the first wipe (sponge in a cloth t shirt as suggested) so really only been doing one coat at a time.


I do need to find some finer wire wool. I only have O at the moment. May be an internet purchase.
Thanks again. It will all be broken down in to panels and done in some newspaper.

 

Here are the keys working the two locks.

first the Absolute block door lock

https://youtube.com/shorts/TClHUnM0zmM?si=qV1MRFbesc4x3G-j

and the bell box lock
https://youtube.com/shorts/EL3lI9jnFKw?si=xMkphmhvOByY3_K_

 

Back to doing the trim/beading for the cabinet top glass, trying to set up and use a Router (no, not the thing for the internet, but some whizzy thing with a shaped bit spinning on the bottom)

Anyway, it didn’t go anywhere near as planned due to the length, and there being osolation in the middle, one shattered and the second came out too thin.

this one snapped after it was looking good.

This one as can be seen came out just too thin.

so the next 30 mins were spent with the thinner (an electric planer) making some new strips from what was left of the last sections and then trimming up on the band saw.

I’ve opted to go back to the original idea of simply carving them out with the sanding disc on the dremel.

 

Erm.... yes. I guess I could.

We hadn't planned on using a router when we first made them. (and at that time the band saw was playing up, till we realised one of the guides had come loose) so if we need to revisit, yes its probably a better idea. Although I've given the router bits back now.

 

Sorry for the break but holidays etc have arrived and gone, so here is a small update.

rather than try and cut down my old brass bell
Post and use the thread, I decided to print the one I had drawn up. I’d been experimenting in Fusion with the threads and holes so decided why not.

printed, but I wonder if the thread needs a fresh cut with actual tap and dies? After half an hour winding back and forth, it cleared enough thread to get it half way. I did print a lock wheel, but somehow made it the wrong thread. So that was reprinted later. You can see how the turning as turned down the profile of the bolt shaft/thread. This was pre UV cure. It still worked after curing but took a little while again to clear through.

so i decided to fit it. All looks good and the new retaining knob is also now the correct thread, but because I had already cured the main bolt, it doesn’t want to turn on to the thread well..

To may also notice that the screws are loose. I forgot to sand the bottom flat(er) and when screwing it down managed to break the base. I’ve not quite got the chamfer of the screw holes correct so they don’t sit right as it is.

work to do..

On another note, we recently took a trip
To the Sill Mill museum in Derby, where they have a number of railway related items on display. Whilst the staff member was suitably distracted I had a closer look at the Tyer Absolute block they have on display.

It would appear on lifting the lid on the bell box that it is a genuine NSR instrument.

The NSR stamping can be seen on the right, but partly covered by the star from its last testing. It’s also a slightly different internal design to mine, but does more or less the same thing. Look at the colour difference between the inside and outside.
I do wonder if the outside once matched but has faided over the years.

 

I took the plunge last night to start recovering the first 4 of the 8 electric coils within the block instrument.

I took the main coil back plate out the wooden cabinet back in preparation for reviewing the coils.

A slightly closer look. I was amazed how much it was recessed in to the rear board.

This was the first coil to have its red cover removed, it simply peeled away.


I wasn’t expecting the white underneath.


There is a slight continuity bit here as missed some photos. This shows the first 2 coils refurbished and refitted.

And from a different angle. Each needle has 4 coils, 2 large on the left and right and two smaller top and bottom. The smaller ones are missing here.


Showing the two smaller coils ready for the old cover to be removed.


Another damaged one to replace another evening.


a better lit photo of the first two in situe. Each post they sit on has a block screwed in to the top which points to the middle and sits around the needle spindle.


All four done and a rebuild so everything is together and nothing goes missing. The other four will be for another night. I’ll take some more pictures.

The new wrap is a cotton for book spines and seems to work well and was stuck down with a thin layer of wood glue neat.

 

I couldn’t add all the photos in as there is a limit of 10 per post as we know, so here are a few more..


bit of OCD?? Laying the screws out in order so I know where they all go back in place.


Partial way through covering the smaller coils. They are wired together making handling and wrapping a delicate job. I also couldn’t get the cotton ribbon in the correct width so had to make do with a slight overlap rather than one sheet as I would have liked.

showing them back in place - with the ends refitted I referred to earlier.

Andy

 

Indeed.

That's why I have half these photos, for just that reason. Although didn't help the other day when returning to the project after a month or so and finding two screws loose in the bottom and thinking... "where are these from?". I later realised that the front panel was only secured by the two two screws and not the bottom...

Any suggestion with cleaning some of this brass up ? Some parts are far too big for the little cleaning bath and not sure the small whizzy wheel in the dremmell will do a neat enough job over that large surface.