The Corliss project

[Ray Dunakin]

Holy moly!! That looks beautiful! And very complex.

Is this going to be a working model?

[David King]

Wow!  Modelers that can work that well with brass always amaze me.  I've played with brass some but never got far with it, (and don't even want to get into my very short stint as a hobby machinist!) part of the problem is working in metal is a lot harder on the arthritis and tendonitis.  Like the others said, it almost be a shame to cover it up in paint, but you'll always have the photos.

David

[TRAINS1941]

-MJ

You know your really getting good at this modeling thing!!!

Just excellent!!!

Jerry

[Hauk]

And yes the linkage is all functional.

Real nice work!
For the working links, how do you obtain nice, tight rivet connections that are not locked up?
I have been dabbling with rivet connections for functional linkages, but I find it hard to obtain consistent results.

Do yus any special tools?

Regards, Håvard H

[lab-dad]

Unc,
I'll have to paint it, it is silly to make a scale model and then leave it as a "toy"
Dont worry though, there will be plenty of brass showing 

Gil / Ray,
This will be a "dynamic" model; it will operate but i will use a small electric motor hidden somewhere.
Once I get it going I will shoot a movie (then figure out how to post it )

Havard,
The connections at the links are not rivets but bolts.
I can see how they look like rivets in the picture.
The originals used acorn nuts so that is what I will use, just have not ordered/installed them.
Sorry for the confusion!
I wish I could do rivets in .030"!
I would think using a .032" tube and flaring the ends with a die of sorts would work.

Thanks guys!
-Marty

[Hauk]

Havard,
The connections at the links are not rivets but bolts.

No kidding?
I could have sweared that you must have used rivets to pin the four arms to the solid wheel in the center...

I would be very interested in where you can obtain such bolts, maybe I could substitute my rivets for bolts in some situations. Are there hexnuts on the back?

Regards, Håvard H

[jacq01]

Havard,

I have been dabbling with rivet connections for functional linkages, but I find it hard to obtain consistent results.

I solder rivets keeping moving parts together. I learned the trick from Pete McParlin of Backwoods Miniatures.
Punch a hole in a piece of printing paper and put it between the 2 parts. Push the rivet through and solder the rivet to part closest to the end of the rivet. File solder joint nicely round and remove the piece of paper. Has worked for me with H0e linkages of BM's Fowler and for the On30 Mallet I am building at the moment. Works much better than the shoulder rivets from Weinert, etc.

Jacq

[lab-dad]

Havard,
The large disc (wrist plate) is drilled and tapped, the bolts come through to the front and then I will attach the acorn nuts.
These are 1mm, scale hardware dot com has functional "bolts" down to .5mmhttp://www.scalehardware.com/
They are only 10 miles from me but I still just mail order.

Jacq,
I'll have to try that tip. Thanks!

[marc_reusser]

I don't know what to say about this!....really incredible ....but, you're completely f*ing nutters!


MR

[finescalerr]

Marty, maybe instead of paint you could use metal blackener or that stuff Paul Rayner mentioned or something else. -- Russ

[RoughboyModelworks]

Good tip Jacq. Another method is to use graphite as a barrier. You can actually do this with a soft pencil or NeoLube, just draw or brush a line at the outer perimeter of where you want the solder to flow. It won't flow past the graphite unless, you're using way too much solder.

Paul

[jacq01]

  Paul,

  what is important with the piece of paper methode is the small clearance ( 0,3mm) enabling free movement around the rivet of the linkage part.
  I have used barrier material preventing solder to penetrate too deep, but it resulted nearly always in a too tight fit of the parts.
  That piece of paper is just enough to take care of tolerances associated with the linkages.

  Jacq

[Chuck Doan]

This is really quite stunning!

[Brian Donovan]

Very nice work! but what does a Corliss engine do?
I tried to find it in this thread but it can be hard to catch up with these long threads.

-Brian

[lab-dad]

Thanks everyone!
Marc,
What are you trying to say?
At least I am in good company!
Brian
Basically a Corliss is a stationary steam engine, the "Corliss" really refers to the valve arrangement. Back when developed it made the Corless engines way more efficient. There were several variations on the Corliss design.
Corliss engines were used in sawmills and cotton plants just to name a few.
They came in many sizes as well, mine has a (scale) 16' flywheel.
-Marty