Yorkie's Connoisseur 4F build

Don't worry Paul... I'm having to stop after tomorrow cos I've run out of flux and the supplier I ordered from has only just processed the order so I don't expect delivery until next week at the earliest.

 

These make up really well and will look good once dressed I'm sure. I always thought your decision to change the Q1 rods for solid ones was a good move because the kit ones looked a tad chunky, same thing happened with the ACME Ivatt tank I did... the rods on that fret were truly awful and having invested heavily in upgrading it seemed the right thing to do.

 

Back in business again as the flux paste came today all 450g of it ... so I ain't going to run out in a hurry, anyway back in the land of big ideas that backfire having built up the brake rigging ... and then the sanding gear ... and then painted the frames I quickly discovered that some of the pick up plungers wouldn't fit into their ports because the hangers were in the way. Anyway ever the optimist and with Toto stating confidence in me finding a solution I have a way forward, simply the hanger must be de soldered at the cross beam and then pulled forward to allow the plunger to fit, I think I'll solder a wire onto each tab first then build the unit up away from the frames first because I think trying to nut up within the confines of the frame space once the pick up is in place will be difficult. I'm sure the tab / nuttage and pick up body can be juggled into place as a pre assembly... anyway tomorrow will tell.

Now I do like Rob's idea of 14BA nuttage to hold the hangers in position... thanks Rob this may well be what I will aspire to do on another build. Anyway here is an update picture of work complete so far, note the sand pipes have had brackets and the blower valve steam pipes scratch built, this bit of detail is not in the kit and is why I got carried away soldering the brake hangers since |I needed to see how clearances worked.

 

Most of the day today was spent making up the remaining three coupling rod sections and then cleaning then u with a file and wire wool, the crankpin centres were drilled out at 2.5mm to make a sliding fit over the bushes, I counter sunk drilled the tops of the rod 0.8mm and then inserted some 0.7mm nickel wire which after soldering and trimming back represent the oil filler corks. I this point I would say care must be taken not to contaminate the centre joint where the two sections of rod meet on the centre driving wheel crankpin... the make up of this joint will invariably cause some drag and a flat spot in the quarter to nine wheel position on rotation. I'ts just a matter of filing the rubbing edges around the crankpin hole on both coupling rod segments allowing for a smooth clearance and taking away any burrs. I did this process on both sides and after several attempts of taking the nuttage back off and then on I did arrive with a nice free running chassis.

So jumping back in time to last night I set the positions of the weights on the wheels having glued the crankpins in place using Araldite, note the weight positions as the larger centre weight lies against the crank boss whereas the thinner outer wheel weights are positioned oposite the boss.

Tomorrow I'll fix the plunger pick ups in place and wire up to the motor, it will be a matter of just touching up the paint once everything is tested.

 

No worries there Keith as this all adds interest, for me the Fry fluxite solder works best and used in conjuction with Ersine 5 strand flux core 145 degree I seem to have a medium which keeps my bits from decaying. I only just the other week changed a bit, the previous MT10 had done about two years solid service. Previously when I used solid solder and a different sort of flus which i cannot remember what it was now I'd be getting through MT10 bits like they were going out of fashion.

I only use 145 degree solder now and even use it to sweat larger white metal castings in place with, somehow a knack has been self taught to add tiny bits onto assemblies without other bits reheating and falling off, it just doesn't phase me and I use all angles and faces of the bit as you might using a pencil to draw a picture depending on the job in hand.

 

I'm just about to load a few more pics Kimbo

 

That's news to me Rob, I've always managed to eradicate flux contamination to a clean surface using several washes in hot water and Bar Keeper's friend as a neutralizing agent. He probably says that as part of a sales tack and also to deflect complaints if work pieces haven't been properly pre washed beforehand. Not sure really I just find this medium works for me but I'll monitor the painted work I've done for potential bleed through.

 

The flux I've seen some plumbers using looks like vicious stuff to me... leaving big spats of green fatty stain all over the walls behind pipes.

 

The Slater's crankpins can be swapped out for 10BA but it would mean tapping out the bushes to take the larger pin. Thing is the 4F is a simple six coupled loco which makes doing such an upgrade easy in the future if needs must, I can see the value of an upgrade with a 4-6-2 loco with Walschaerts valve gear.

 

This weekend saw quite a few little jobs come together, most needed doing before the setting up of the wiring and all were jobs where you couldn't tell anything had been done. First off was to do a final check over of the coupling rods making sure there were no niggles which could affect a free rotation of the wheels, then it was back to the trusty Araldite and glue the crankpin bushes to the pins... I left them to set overnight. The following day having cleared the excess glue residue from around the base of the bushes I masked up the rims and the threaded pins then primed the wheel fronts.