tools, materials & knowledge for model makers
We needed to hide the old radiator pipes and one idea was to make copper covers. As I only needed two covers I didn’t want to spend much time engineering the former. Hence forming copper over MDF. Maybe more accurately into MDF. Changing the radiators in the house left the old 1/4″ pipes poking through … 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
A few silver solder coupon tests to look at options for soldering copper and phosphor bronze (PB). The test parts are a representation of the PB saddle and copper boiler on the miniature traction engine. Preparing Test Parts Fundamentally a sheet of copper 1.2mm thick has a PB M4 bolt through the top and into … Read more
Being very new to this I wanted to look at copper versus steel for enameling. Most commercial enamel signs and cases are enameled steel. These normally use a special grade and surface finish steel designed for enameling. In the hobby and craft world copper is the chosen base material. But what are the real differences? … Read more
I forgot to buy soft copper washers and so ended up Making Soft Copper Washers. |I know, this feels a bit extreme, but I really wanted them now so that I can run a proper steam test on my small vertical boiler. A strip of copper is drilled slightly undersize. This means I can finish … Read more
Copper is a orange/reddish coloured metal which is malleable and ductile. It has excellent thermal and electrical conductivities and good corrosion resistance. Pure copper has an electrical conductivity second only to that of silver. Hence its main application is in the electrical industry. Copper is also the basis of many important alloys: brass bronze aluminium … Read more
I’ve been looking at how to make the copper boiler tubes. For the vertical boiler I’m using a piece of 15mm household plumbers pipe. For the miniature traction engine I’m working on I wanted a lot more smaller pipes. I was looking around and scratching my head to think of places that I could purchase … Read more
Making a copper boiler end plate with a mild steel pattern and firstly hammering the outer edge over. I made a mild steel pattern for the copper end plates to be formed over. The final boiler is for a small traction engine, but firstly I wanted to trial a small vertical boiler with a single … Read more
My homemade or home-bodged copper flower. This job started with an old copper kettle and a 2″ diameter piece of mild steel. This shows the 2″ piece of mild steel sat on the bench and waiting to be turned. This was faced, one face domed and a 3/8″ hole machined through the mild. Near to … Read more