7mm Rob's workbench - Gladiator J6

Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen

Western Thunderer
I agree with you about them being a "Marmite" tool, and despite what some say, I wouldn't try to do any seam soldering with it.

I am used to using tiny amounts of solder with the microflame but in my experience when using a standard iron it's far too easy to smear some of that tiny amount in the wrong place meaning that you need some more to make the joint - or perhaps that's just me. :rolleyes:

After the "newness" has worn off, it will be just another tool in the tool box, used when appropriate. Much the same as I don't drill every hole with the Proxxon pillar drill but I do like using it when the job is suitable.

Rob,

I'm probably trying to teach you to suck eggs but rather than my old method of carrying solder to the workpiece on the iron I now cut tiny pieces off the solder wire, place them in the joint and then heat it until it flows. This seems work well with an rsu as well as a torch or regular iron. I think the key is using enough heat.
all the best
Tim
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Rob,

I'm probably trying to teach you to suck eggs but rather than my old method of carrying solder to the workpiece on the iron I now cut tiny pieces off the solder wire, place them in the joint and then heat it until it flows. This seems work well with an rsu as well as a torch or regular iron. I think the key is using enough heat.
all the best
Tim

Doh!, there's nothing like a light bulb moment Tim. Far from teaching granny, despite the fact that I use small pieces of solder every day with the microflame, I still pick up solder with the iron when using them. It has never occurred to me to do the same when using the iron. To be fair to myself I do use the microflame for much of my soldering.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
I am still beavering away at the J6. The boiler bands are on but despite having Tony’s build as a guide I added two 0.7mm infill pieces down the side of the smokebox as Tony had but initially made them too deep thankfully this was all done before attaching it to the smokebox so it was a simple matter to take it of and adjust it.


I made a new mounting plate for the snifting valve which it now fixed in place and I have made a start on fitting the very prominent set of bolt/rivet heads bellow it on the photo that I am working to. – They still need a bit more work with files to make them a bit shallower and more even.


Again, I followed Tony’s lead and started to drill out the chimney in my little lathe. Sadly I don’t have Tony’s touch because I had only got to a 4.5mm drill when I must have gone a little too deep and the spigot came away from the chimney. I attempted to make a collet from wood as suggested by Davis Smith (DLOS) but my chimney casting was ever so slightly misshapen and I couldn’t manage to get it to centre in my 3 jaw chuck (I don’t have a four jaw at present).

I did the rest, the old-fashioned way and set to with a 2nd cut round file. In all honesty I think that it took less time to file it out than I had spent messing about trying to hold the casting to use a drill. I am just glad that I had drilled the base for the bolt heads before starting on drilling the inside or I may not have had the patience for it at that point.

Like the chimney casting the dome comes with a cast threaded spigot I suppose the original idea being that you would screw it to the boiler top. I opted to cut the spigot away and then using some emery paper wrapped around the boiler. I rubbed away at the dome until I got a good fit before cutting a couple of slots for the boiler band with a slitting disk in my Dremel.

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Not really much to show for all that work… as you will note it’s all just propped in place for the photo.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Still working on the detail from my photo of 64206 and I noted that there was a semicircle of rivets/bolt heads on the left side of the smokebox just above the handrail surrounding the bottom half of an oval patch.
The patch is made from some very thin brass shim that I bought from china via eBay several years ago. It’s just under 0.1mm thick

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Next up I fitted the internal window frames and the associated rivets/bolt heads on the cab front.

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Hopefully that should be it for the boiler/smokebox and external cab details until I start fitting the castings pipe runs etc.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Although I am working in the general direction of getting the footplate complete so that I can attach the cab/boiler etc. to it. I am not ding things in any particular order so when I glanced at the sketch in the instructions for the cab floor I thought I would have a go at that before fitting the splasher tops.

The sketch only shows the rear of the cab splashers/floor and at first, I took the etched lines at the rear for fold lines. Having folded it I couldn’t get the floor to fit so I ended up straightening it out and soldering it up. Surprise, surprise, it now was too long for the cab. I surmised that I would have to cut along the half etched lines to get it to it. However after a bit of head scratching I emailed David Hill (Gladiator) to ask how he had done it on his before doing something that while not irreversible would make a good bit more work. David replied very quickly and advised that the cab floor did indeed need cutting at the half etched line because the kit has options for both the 521 536 series locos with the 521 series having a much deeper cab. A point that I had completely missed!!

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You can see the half etch lines in the shot above. What isn’t apparent is that the half etched lines in the splasher tops are approx. 3mm different from those on the floor etch. I cut at the splasher lines first but needed to cut at the floor lines to get it to fit so anyone else building one of these as a 536 series you need to ignore the lines on the splasher tops and use those on the floor etch.

Once I had it a good fit in the cab, I added the splasher top sandbox filler plates and the fillers themselves. Curiously the splasher tops and the half etched sandbox top plates have a recess/hole for the top which I can only assume is for location purposes as the filler cap needs to be slightly proud of the splasher top. Like those on the front I cut a slice of tube and gently squashed it into an oval with pliers before soldering the top on.

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I made up the reverser and fitted it to the cab.

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After having a look at the reverser in the C1 I added a couple of bits of scrap etch to give a little more detail – not very clear in the shot below. Strictly speaking the lever should be on the outside of the ratchet plate not in between as shown in the instructions

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I decided to leave it as is, as it will be lot in the gloom of the cab.

It was probably a sign that I should have left it alone at this point but for the life of me I could only find two of the four splasher tops. I decided to cut some replacements out of 10 thou sheet on my “Mini Formit” guillotine (which I have used extensively throughout this build). Parts duly cut, the first front sandbox/splasher went on easily then it took over two hours to fit the rest and, in the end, I cut it off the cradle to make it easier to solder from the back.

For whatever reason they sorely tested my patience. It was even more frustrating when trying to fit the ashpan sides as again one went on easily without issue to the second was a nightmare which resulted in the splasher top coming adrift several times before I had both in place to my satisfaction. On the back of that I had an evening off last night.

But here is the state of play.

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Still a bit of detailing to go on before I fix things together but I am getting there.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
The latest bit of modelling madness is a couple of Wakefield mechanical lubricators.

The kit provides a couple of nice but generic lubricator castings which have a lid and a hand wheel but no pipework. The lubricators fitted to 64206 are a little unusual to my eyes at least in that the pipes all come out of the bottom whereas I am more used to then coming out at the bottom of one or both sides. Now I could have followed Tony’s example and gone for some Ragstone castings but where would be the fun in that.
Cutting out and drilling all the parts (18 each not including the pipes) was relatively easy the fun part was soldering them all together without it all collapsing in a heap.

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Not the easiest thing in the world to photograph but after taking the earlier shots I remembered the quite prominent wingnut on the top holding the lid shut.

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I made it from a 16 ba cheese head screw with the head squashed in a pair of pliers and then filed to shape.
 

Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
Very nice representations, Rob.
It's no fun trying to get a spanner on those pipe unions, especially when there are two lubricators next to each other.
Dave.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
This week has seen the lubricators fitted along with the firebox/ashpan sides. Then I fitted all the main components together and fitted it to the chassis. I needed to file a bit of the undersides at both ends to get the chassis to mate with the body. This is because I have used the narrowest frame spacer due to the need to get the loco around 5’ curves.

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But it all fits now; I have just rested the chimney and dome on for the photo.

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I have also fitted the splashers and cab floor and fitted a couple of short lengths of tube through the front of the cab for the hand rails. On the GA and on internal shots of the C1 cab the right side handrail has a handwheel attached to it so I have added that too.

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Once I had the cab floor fitted I could determine the fit of the backhead. The Laurie Griffin castings although quoted as being for a J6 among other locos was a little short so I added a strip to the bottom. I suppose that makes a change from hacking bit of the sides to make them fit in cabs.

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Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Although it hasn’t been without its trials, I have made good progress this week and the bodywork is almost complete.

The left side handrail caused a few problems because the etched hole in the cab front, to which I had soldered the tube for the handrail proved to be slightly out of position. I am not sure whether it was a vagary of the hand drawn art work which I have then exacerbated as I have opened the hole with a broach or that my positioning of the boiler was slightly low.

To make it all line up I had to remove the stub of tube, fill the hole with brass rod and file flush then redrilling the hole slightly lower.

I also drilled the rims of the buffer stocks and inserted some scale hardware fittings the collar of the buffer stocks is quite small so it was a bit nerve wracking drilling with a 0.4mm drill bit, but it came out okay.

All the boiler fittings are soldered in place with the exception of the smokebox door which it just resting in place for the photos.

The front steps come with an interesting fold up support which makes them fairly rigid but before I had finished fitting the front one’s, I had managed to bend the rear ones so I soldered some 2x1mm bar behind them to give some strength.

The only things left to fit, are a pair of globe lubricators that sit on the front of the sandboxes either side of the smokebox. The reason that I haven’t fitted them yet is that I have lost them. I bought them at the same time as the backhead and some additional valve rods so I know that they are here somewhere but can I find them….

Of course, the moment I order some more to replace them they will pop out from where they are hiding so I am holding off for the minute.

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Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Not a great deal to show for this week’s efforts on the J6.

I filled in the lightening holes in the front of the frames as the photo that I am working from doesn’t show any. I also cut away the bottom of the etched ashpan sides and fitted a representation of the bottom. This may need a bit of trimming to clear the gear wheel once finally fitted.

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The rest of the time has been spent patiently filing the hornblocks, hornguides and the cranks to enable the cranks and eccentrics to fit between the centre hornguides and rotate freely.

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Due to the need to get the loco around 5’6” curves the frames are a bit narrower than they might have been if I had been building for myself.

So far, so good.
 

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
Rob,

It looks like you have no side play on that axle! If you had set the frames just a wee bit wider there could have been a bit of movement. Even with full motion work you can allow enough play in the joints to permit just a little.

Ian.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
After reading Tony’s struggle to fit all the inside motion in his J6 and observations made on a couple of forums by Ian Middleditch and Jim Snowdon. I decided to take the plunge and cut some new frame spacers to give me more room to play with. With the new spacers I have given myself a couple more millimetres. The downside is that I need to make a new motion bracket but I am sure it will be worth it.

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Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
Rob,

You might get away with just adding a piece of brass either side of the motion plate rather than make a new one. I have done that before modifying a standard O frame kit for S7. If you just add a piece of etch waste at right angles it may just be enough and the cutouts for the slide bars should still match your cranks. Motion plates usually have some sort of flange anyway.

Ian.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
I have been distracted for the last few days by teaching myself to draw in QCAD with a view to getting a few things etched. Before that I had made some progress on the rest of the inside valve gear.

Early in the week Tony Geary kindly pointed me at a photo of the inside valve gear on a 7 ½” gauge N2. Armed with this as a starting point I searched online and found a Facebook page chronicling the guy’s build. In his photo section I found loads of photos which have gone a long way to clarify in my mind what I was struggling to interpret from the GA.

I have a few photos of the full sized N2 valve gear which again are great for showing how things fit together above the slide bars but not below which is the area that I was struggling with. The build photos have clarified things now I just need to make up all the parts. Unfortunately, most of mine will need to be made from scratch as my spares box is nowhere near as comprehensive as Tony’s.


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The sections are just resting in place for the photos I have a lot more to attach to both the motion plate and cylinder front before finally joining them.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Although I haven’t posted an update since before Christmas, I have been doing a bit here and there. Mostly this has been making the additional bits and pieces needed for the inside motion. The motion for the J6 differs from other versions of Stephenson’s motion in that it has four valves rather than the more usual two. There are two between the cylinders and two above them. Although I have the full LG Stephenson’s motion set, in the end I doubt that I will be able to use much more than the connecting rods, eccentric rods and the slide bars and cross heads. The other bits will go in the spares box for a future build.

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The arms that fit to the lower linkages still need to be shortened to 5.5mm between hole centres.

The expansion links in the motion kit are a couple of millimetres longer than the GA and have a lug on one side which I would have to cut off for this particular application.

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As I am making all the other parts to match the dimensions on the GA, I opted to make a pair of expansion links to match. Working on the theory that I always have the LG castings as a fall back, if my home brewed ones don’t fit for any reason.

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