tools, materials & knowledge for model makers
Just been looking for materials to make a project and was concerned by the variation in the price of brass sheet, hence thought I would do some calculations. The main calculation was to work out the volume, then work out the weight so that I could then calculate the £/kg column. This then allowed me … Read more
What can I use as masking tape for silver solder? Reading through a number of threads and references there are a number of options: Pencil Lead Tippex China White Yellow Ochre Jewellers Rouge Rubber Soapstone Anti-flux Commercial Products There are lots of options and I will try them and report back over time. The one … Read more
The Burrell engine nameplate for this tiny model is just 14mm wide. The capital letters are just 1.4mm high. For all of that the etching has come out rather well. When I started looking at this Burrell valve chest plaque I was concerned about achieving the level of detail that my dad achieved over 20 … Read more
The Burrell valve chest plaque has the makers name and factory location embossed on it. This means I need to etch another brass plate. This time though it is very small indeed. Etching at this scale is possible and feasible at home. The face on this clock was etched using a photographic technique. The dial … Read more
This is a tiny oscillating engine that was made by Roy Taylor around 1995-1998 Up close like this it doesn′t look quite so beautiful. However, in the images below you can see it against a common match and you then get the scale – quite remarkable. Compressed air/steam goes in through the pipe and exhausts … Read more
I need to make the tender bulkhead for the Burrell traction engine. This is the bulkhead that sits at an angle and provides a volume for the coal. I may not use coal in this tiny traction engine model, but it needs this volume. First of all I cut a piece of 0.6mm brass sheet … Read more
There are a few different ways to do brass etching, but having learnt how to do this with a really simple method I just had to share it. The real drive for this is to produce the brass lettering on the smokebox door of the Burrell traction engine. You will need: Laser printer – or … Read more
Cutting brass on a bandsaw can be difficult and so I devised this simple modification to overcome two of the main issues. My solution was to fit an MDF board on top of the cast iron table. This would need fixing holes through the table surface. My logic was that these holes needed to be … Read more
The cylinders on steam engines need insulating and there are many ways of achieving this. On this page I’ve shared some ideas, options and a particular design of mine for the insulated steam engine cylinder for the wooden beam engine. The cast iron cylinder from my wood and metal beam engine with a number of … Read more
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, but often other elements such as aluminium, iron, manganese, tin and lead are added. There are two basic classes of brass: Alpha alloys – less than 37% zinc – ductile and can be cold worked. alpha/beta or duplex alloys – 37-45% zinc – have limited cold ductility … Read more