tools, materials & knowledge for model makers
Time to make the Burrell hub caps. I made the hub caps for the front wheels some time ago. I do need to go back and change the bolts from steel to brass, but otherwise these are finished. The rear axle for the Burrell is a fixed solid piece of 1/4″ phosphor bronze. This is … Read more
OK, this isn’t a solid rear axle like a 1960’s muscle car. This is an actual solid round phosphor bronze bar that supports both rear wheels on the Burrell traction engine. The rear axle is fixed and the wheels then rotate independently on each side. Inboard of each wheel there is a gear that is … Read more
Most stationary engines are on a trolley, hence I though I should make a set of Whippet trolley wheels. As it happened we visited Wimpole Hall and there in the farmyard were some vehicles that might give some inspiration. The design that feels more in keeping with a trolley wheel is the one on the … Read more
For the miniature traction engine wheels there are a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels. In both cases I’ve followed a similar construction method. Rear Wheels The rear wheels are only 97mm OD, hence my initial thought was to buy some thick walled 4 inch diameter pipe, but I just could … Read more
Rims turned, hubs machined and spokes cutout, it’s now time for the front wheel assembly. A lot of parts, some errors along the way and so time has gone into the manufacture of all of the parts, now it’s time to enjoy the assembly process. The first step was that I pickled all of the … Read more
The traction engine front wheels are 70mm in diameter and 12mm wide. The wheel rims have been machined from 70mm mild steel round bar that is 1 inch long. This really didn’t leave any margins for error in diameter or width. I bored the mild steel and then parted them with the thinnest possible parting … Read more
The rear wheels of my miniature traction engine needed 32 spokes in total. This is quite a task and so thought I would take you through my process. I started the rear wheel spokes by cutting out the brass blanks on the bandsaw. Cutting thin brass on the bandsaw can be a challenge and so … Read more
The wheel rims for my miniature Burrell traction engine. I originally wanted to buy some 4 inch diameter steel pipe with a thick 0.5 inch wall, but I just could not find any and so had to resort to round mild steel. I bought 100mm diameter round bar as 2 off 1 inch long billets. … Read more