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672 SMOKERINGS
News,views andcomment on theworld of modelengineering
676 ARADIALMARINE STEAMENGINE
IanCouchman buildsa triple expanson marine engine with thecylinders arranged radially
680 THE51stAGM FORTHE 7¼ INCH GAUGESOCIETY
John Arrowsmith encounters avariedrange of locomotivesatthe RugbyMES
683 AGWR PANNIER TANK IN 3½ INCH GAUGE
Gerald Martyn buildsa 1366 Class locomotive from worksdrawings.
686 LIFE BEYOND LEGO
PatrickHendrareminds us that we should all take responsibilityfor promotingengineering skills in youngpeople.
690 SMEE NEWS
Martin Kyte pays avisit to theFoncett Steam Museum
692 ATANDEMCOMPOUND MILL ENGINE
DavidThomasrevisitsArnoldThrop’s design of aCorlissmillengine.
Aratherunusual triple expansionmarine engine,withradialcylinders,built by Ian Couchman (photo:Ian Couchman).
Midlands Show
MARTIN EVANS Editor
DIANE CARNEY Assistant Editor
Iwrite thishavingjustreturned from therecentMidlandsShow at theWarwickshireEvents Centre.The eventwas well attended,asevidenced by the number of cars in thecar park, andthere were plenty of highqualitymodelstosee.Myfirst trip wastothe EYEs standto seeFreya Hempenstall’s Nelly theCoptor (photo1), featured in ModelEngineer (M.E.4753 October4th). Freyawas 9years oldwhenshe made this andit washer first modelengineering project. Ithink it is averynice pieceofwork. Youcan read more aboutthe EYEs,and howtheyfared at theshow, in PatrickHendra’sarticle on page 686.
Iama bitofa sucker forthe unusualand Ihad neverseen a modelofa Hansom cabbefore so Ifound this oneparticularly interesting(photo2). It’s clear that theHansomcab wasa highly evolvedvehicle –very efficient at moving fare-paying passengersaroundLondon.The littlehatch at thetop wasof course forpassing thefareup to thedriver. Theoriginal‘hop on,hop off’ transport, perhaps. Anotherobjectofparticular interest wasa hydrogen poweredturbine on display at theGas TurbineBuilders Association’sstand.Hydrogen burnsveryhot so thedesign of theturbine presentedsome seriouschallengesand it was very interestingtohearofthe
Mar tin Evans can be contacted on the mobile number or email belowand would be delighted to receive your contributions, in the form of items of correspondence, comment or ar ticles. 07710-192953 MEeditor@mortons.co.uk
variousingenious ways these challenges hadbeen met. Ihope we mayindue course include an articleabout this engine It wasgood to seeEKP at the show afteranabsence of several years. Having recently acquired Kennions(seeM.E.4734January 12th)theynow have arange of locomotivesand other engines available. Thelatestofthese is Lara (photo3), an exhibition qualitybeamenginewitha 9 inch flywheel,availableasa set of castings anddrawings– see www.kennions.co.uk.
Starting next time we will be includingthe usualreports on theshowfromJohn Arrowsmith
Bradford Cup
As youmay recall, this year’s Bradford Cup, awardedfor the best articleorseriesin Model Engineer during 2023,asvoted forbyour readers, waswon by RonFitzgeraldfor his Steam Engine series.The Midlands Show provided aperfect opportunitytoactually make the presentation,which wasdone on thefirstday of theshow. SMEE presidentMikeChrisp made thepresentationand our photograph (photo4)captures theevent forposterity
Kennions
FreyaHempenstall’s Nelly theCopter
Onesixth scalemodel of aHansomcab.
RonFitzgerald(right) receives theBradfordCup from Mike Chrisp,president of SMEE.
Bikes.
Whether you’ve been searching for the perfect gift forfriends andfamily, or you’re just wanting to tre yourself–look no further!
AR ad i al Mar ine adi
St eam Engi ne ea mE ng in e
Ian Couchman buildsa rather unusual‘quasi radial’ triple expansion engine
PA RT 1
It’sbeen very quietinthe workshop lately.The traction engine hasbeen steaming, thedrumhas been threshing, theelevatorhas been elevating andthe hitand miss engine has
been missing andhitting,but nothinghas been made Inspirationarrived, however, in avideo on Youtubeinthe form of atripleexpansion, radial marine steamengine
(youtu.be/Oh9LpKAodxs?si= PU1Ja57TDmbm_Rbj).
Okay,it’snot technically radial,more‘W’ or ‘Broad Arrow’ butstill avery interestingengine. Theoriginal wasmadeinthe early20th Century, by CharlesWard EngineeringWorks,Charleston, West Virginia andwas installedina tugboat. What, then,makes it so interesting? ell, firstly thelayout three cylinders at 60 degrees spacing around thecrankshaft. The threeconnectingrodsshare acommoncrank pinwiththe cylinders spaced by rotating themainhousing by about 7degrees (moreabout this later...).Next, there’sthe timing Fora triple expansionsteam engine youmight expect to seetwo eccentrics percylinder (one forwardand onereverse)
Fig 1
Radial Marine Engine –isometric view
Radial Marine Engine
1 2
butthisenginemanages with just oneeccentricfor allthree cylinders (including reversing) Wardsdescribed theengine as thesimplestmarineengine built andI’m inclined to agree. So wheretostart?Withno chance of drawings or seeing theprototype,I’m relyingonthe video, so it’s goingtobea lotof educated guesswork. Oh,okay, just guesswork.
Making plans
To getsomeideaof dimensions,I took anumberof stills from thevideo.Guessing, from theheightofthe presenter compared with theengine, that theheighttothe topofthe engine is about5 feet,I decided on ascale of 2inches: 1foot
3
4
singthe foot figure, too anumberofmeasurements from thepictures. Starting with thecrank throw(1.125inch),I canmakea reasonable guess at theheightofthe crankshaft abovethe bottomofthe base (1.75inch).The height of the crossheadguide mounting face forthe centralcylinderwill be 2.5inchesabove thecrank shaft(to allowclearance for theconnectingrods) andthe othertwo will be rotated+/-60 degrees from this (fig 1). From thestrokelengthI canhavea good guessatthe crosshead guidelengths -say 3.375 inches . inally,pistonsi e starting at thehighpressure cylinder, Iguess 0.75 inch bore From otherinformation found
online, it appearsthatWard used aratio of 1.75 forbore sizes, so 0.75 x1.75gives me 1.3125 inch -let’s say1.375 inch forthe intermediate bore and1.75x 1.375gives me 2.40625 inches -let’s call that 2.375inches.
Now, before Isavage innocent lumpsofmetal,I want to make sure I’ve gotthe principles right, in particular thevalve operation, so Iprinted up themock-up shownin photo1 on the3Dprinter,with therealthing in photo2.The tatty bits of paperrepresent thevalve portsand thevalve Allseemstowork! At this stage, Ihaven’t decidedifI’m goingtouse slideorpiston valves.AslongasI useoutside
admission,the timing is not affected.The videoshows circular covers on thecylinder tops,which suggest piston valves.The locationsofthe exhaustpipes suggest outside admission
Theframe
This is in twoparts.The lower sectionhousesthe crankshaft with main bearings andisthe sectionwhich boltstothe hull of thetug.The uppersection hasthe crossheads,withtheir cylinders,mounted on it.I cast theseinaluminium,using 3D printedpatterns. Thelower sectionusescores to form the webs on thefront andback. Photographs3 and 4 show the pattern andthe core boxes.
Photograph 5 showsthe flas s rammedupand thecores ready to go in and photo6 hasthe coresinplace just waitingfor some unsuspecting metaltobe poured in!The uppersection is much simpler, usingthe pattern in photo7,asyou cansee in photo8,withthe flas readyfor pouring.
Ineeded themainbearings to finishthe lowerframe,so hadanother castingsession, this time lost plastic(similarto lost waxbut using3Dprinted patternsprinted usingPolycast filament . he finishisnot as good as wax, whichisnot a
problemwiththe material but rather duetothe limitations of theprintingprocess. It’s still betterthansandcasting, though,especially forsmall partsasseen in photo9 freshout of thefurnace.After removing theparts from the sprue(that’s whereI usually damage partswiththe saw...) Iend up with theselection of partsin photo10:two sets of main bearings,parts forthe eccentricassemblyand three sets of bigends.
Nowfor some machining. Thelower sectionofthe frame wasset up on themilland the
upperfacewas cleanedup, followedbydrillingand tapping thefi ing holesfor theupper section. Therecessesfor the main bearings were cutwith theboringhead(photo11). Withoutmovingthe casting, the main bearings were fittedand boredtosize(photo12). Aftermachining thebottom of theuppersection anddrilling themountingholes,I have the makingsofa frame(photo13)! Imentioned earlierthatthe main housingwas rotatedby about7 degrees.For quitea time Icouldn’tworkout how thecylinders were spaced
Threebig ends side by side on thecrank pinbut allcrosshead guides apparently mounted centrally on theframe.How didtheydoit? Crankedcon rods …? Notnice. Littleends off-setinthe crossheads …? Also notnice. Then Ispotted it (photo14). Theplanofthe uppersection of theframe is a parallelogram,not arectangle, with the60degreefaces parallelwiththe crankshaft Simple!
Thenexttrickybit is machiningthe mountingsfor thecrossheadguides. Here’s theset-up(photo15). The silver steel barisclamped in themainbearingsbypadding outthe bearings with strips of paper. While this will grip the barwellenoughtorotatethe assembly,itwon’t be secure enough formachining,sothe smallangle plateisclamped to thebase. TheDTI on thetop lets me seeifanythingmoves while clamping or machining. TheY axis on theDRO is centredonthe barand the Xaxisonthe casting(after centring theY axis!).The boring head is used to bore the main holesand therecessfor thespigotonthe crosshead guides,thenthe fi ingholes aredrilledand tappedusing thefunctiononthe DRO(saves alot of time!).The tapping attachment also earnsits keep here (photo16).
11 13 15 16 14 12
To be continued.
Boring therecessesfor themainbearings.
Boring themainbearings.
Trialfitfor theframe andbearings.
Plan view of theframe showingthe parallelogram arrangement.
Boring thecrossheadguide mountings.
Tapping thecrossheadguide fixingholes
The 51st AGM for th e 7¼ Inc hG auge Soc iety y
John Arrowsmith reports from theRugby Model EngineeringSociety.
The 51st Annual General Meetingofthe 7¼” GaugeSociety was held this year at thehomeof theRugby ModelEngineering Society. TheRainsbrook ValleyRailway hasexpanded considerably over recent years andwas an ideallocationfor this prestigiousevent.Sixty locomotiveswerebooked in forthe weekendwhich started on Friday 20th Septemberso themembers of theRugby Societyweregoing to be kept very busy forthe threedays. Such wasthe organisation of themeetingthateverything went offwithout anyserious problems,wellnonethatI saw anyway!The railway itself is a largesinglegauge ground level trackabout amilelongona full circuit. It is well equipped with alarge hydraulic lifting tablefor unloadingwhich has acapacityoftwo tons andalso traverses, so unloadingheavy locomotivesisnot aproblem Adjacent steaming bays assist in thepreparation of allsizes of engines. Afurther ground level steaming area is availableas well forthe really largeengines
likethe Garrattand others (photo1). Theextensive raised multi-gaugetrack wasnot in usethisweekend.
Adjacent to theRainsbrook Centralstation theclubhave built asuperbnew clubroom andcafé(photo2)which is nowa real asset, as it has allthe requirements forthis type of event. Hotand cold drinks were always available alongwithbiscuitsand plenty of room to sitbothinside andoutside.A superb buffet lunchwas served everyday to
membersand visitors andwas very well received by everyone They have certainlyraisedthe barwiththatpresentation. Theweather overallwas quitegood with Saturday being alovelylatesummerday with plenty of sunshine.Sunday morninghowever,was another storywithheavy rain andwinds forsometime, butthatdid notdeter thehardy members from the7¼inchgroup from getting theirwaterproofson andproviding some dramatic steamdeparturesfromthe station(photo3). On the previous days awiderange of steam, electric andpetrol driven locomotiveswereup andrunning allday,providing lots of excellent tracktimefor everyone andopportunities for visitors to ride behind many of them.The largeSouth African locomotivescertainly caught theeye andthislarge track wasa good opportunityto watchtheminaction(photo4). Smaller7¼inchgauge models from thelittlesingleseater Scamps to standard gauge prototypes (photo5)with allcombinationsofnarrow gaugeand freelance typesall
Themagnificent
arratt raises the ag as it is prepared forthe da soperations.
n outside ie ofthe ne clubhouse caf .
mixedinprovidedanexcellent atmosphere to be enjoyed. Ihad agood chat with club member Phil Hancock regardingthe coal crusher he wasusing.Ithas been fabricated from scrapmaterial from around thesitetogether with some newmaterialfor the cran shaft etc. heflywheel wasoriginally thecarry wheel from underthe swingbridgeat Foxton Junction on theGrand UnionCanal whichPhilfound discardedinthe undergrowth. Some good re-cyclinggoing on here,I think(photo6).
Thesemeetings area chance to meet oldfriends andmakenew ones and to make comparisonswith varioustypes of locomotives whichperhaps at your own club arenot seen.Rugby is a progressive club whichhas built this finerailway andthey know howtoenjoy it.Having built theirnew clubroom theold oneisusedlikea drivers’ mess room nowasitisadjacent to theunloading facilityand steaming bays -itall seems to fit together naturally. hen IarrivedonFridaythe track wasalready busy with quite anumberoflocomotives trying outthe system.The steaming bays hada wide varietyinpreparation andwith theslightly damp atmosphere
createdthatold butfamiliar sceneofsmoke,steam and hotoil. Of course themain objectiveofthe meetingwas theofficial Mmeetingofthe 7¼ Inch GaugeSociety
Late on Saturday morningI hada chat with oneofRugby’s youngengineers. Harrisonis 13 andattendsregularly with hismum anddad to work on therailway wherehecan.His mumtoldmebeforehandthat he hasstarted hisown little business of repairingold lawn mowers.Hewas givenan oldone whichhedecided he woulddismantle andrepair. Dadhelpedhim obtain the spareparts that were needed andHarrisonsoonhad it going againduringa morning’swork. He promptly sold this oneand used theprofit to buyanother one, whichhesaidtook hima bitlongertorepair- twodays! He againsolditfor an even betterprofit whichheusedto buya leaf blower.Thisinturn hasled himtocarryingout smallgardenmaintenance work forhis localneighbours to earn some pocket money. Fora youngman of this age, this alovelylittlestory which hopefully as he gets olderand more experiencedwill make himbecomea real assetfor theRugby club.I am sure the club memberswillgivehim all thenecessary encouragement so that he candevelop his mechanical talents.
TheAGM meetinghad been arranged offsitein DunchurchVillage Hall about
ramatic departures from ainsbroo entralon unda morning
The large City of Johannesberg departsfrom ainsbroo entral station.
att anier gets his lass going from ainsbroo entralstation
hil ancoc built thecoalcrusher to do its ob during the ee end.
his
amile away from therailway itself.Thiswas agood venue to hold theformalpartofthe weekend. Agood attendance ensuredthatthe members couldpartake in thenecessary procedures that arepartof an AGM. ChairpersonJanet T. Roystonintroducedthe meetingand spokeabout the successful year forthe society andhow theminigatherings hadbeenenjoyed.She noted that currently with members in 17 different countries around theworld the7¼Inch GaugeSociety wasnow atruly internationalorganisation. Sheintroducedthe members of thecommitteewho in turn introduced themselves and what theirpositionentailed.
heofficial paperwor for the meetinghad been distributed before themeetingsoeach sectionwas duly considered andvoted on by themeetingfor acceptance.The only change to thecommitteewas that Tim Morton Joneshas stood down as editor of the 7¼ Inch Gauge News magazine andTim Coles andhis business partnerHelen have takenover. Onenotable item wasthatthe subscription rate formembers wouldstay the same.Ithas notbeen changedsince 2009 andthe chairpersoncommented that they must be doingsomething right.
In termsofthe annual awards TheBrian Reading awardfor thebestengine
met with theacclaimofthe audience as atoken of their appreciation forall thework they have done over theyear. Themeetingwas concluded with thanks beinggiven to all theparticipating membersfor attendingand to thehostclub fortheir excellent facilitiesand organisation Meanwhile at therailway the memberswho didnot attend hadcontinued running so that on return from themeetingnew andadditionalengines were in service. Theseoperations continuedtoearly evening when ahog roastwas available to thosemembers stayingon site.Sundaymorning wasvery wetbut theintrepidmembers of thesociety were soon outon thetrack getting very wetbut providingsomespectacular steamand smokeeffectsinthe wetatmosphere.
on show as determined by thehostclub’sjudges, was presentedtoJohnDaltonfor hisexcellent exampleofa LT 0-6-0Hunslet tank loco of whichonlytwo originalswere made (photo7). TimMorton Joneswas presentedwith theCharles Simpsonaward forhis services to theSociety both with themagazineand the roficiency cheme. he Junior Awardfor theYoung Engineer of theyearwas made to Mickcauley Myersfrom theBurnley Societyfor allhis work at thecluboverthe years (photo8). AubynMee, the chairman of theRugby Society, received theAnnual Plaque awardedtothe host club every year.All theseawardswere
To conclude my notesfor themeetingI wouldliketo thankall themembers of the Rugby Society, particularly AubynMee thechairman, for theirgreat hospitalityand welcomeand to thevisiting membersofthe 7¼ Inch Gauge Societywho made it such an excellent weekenddespite the inclementweather at times. Finally Imustmention the ladies of theclubwho provided constant refreshments and superb buffetlunches each day -thank youall foryourefforts, it wasappreciatedbyeveryone (photo ).
ic caule ers as a ardedthe unior ngineer troph .The ladies ho epte er onefed and atered during the ee end
ohn altonloo srelaxed ith
Ttan locomoti egoing ell.
AG WR Pa nn ie rTank in 3 ½I nch Gauge
PA RT 5 – MO TI ON BR AC KETS
Gerald Martyn decidesto build alocomotivethat he canlift.
Continuedfromp.655
M.E.4755 November 1
The motion plate(bracket) assembly is made from twolaser cutparts,silver soldered together,and some smallpiecesofangle (fig ). Thelaser cutparts arethe main motion plateand itsflange and they arelocated forsoldering usingtabsand slots. It should be possible to pop6BA bolts throughthe flangeand frame withoutany need to ‘ease’ the holes, such is theaccuracy of lasercutting.Bothplatesare
marked fordrillingall thesmall holesbut therequiredholes aredifferent each side;the right-hand side platehas extra ones forthe vacuum pump whichwill be re-purposedto pump waterintothe boiler. Afterdrillingthe holesas appropriate, assemble with the flanges andchec to ma e sure they’recorrectly ‘handed’,with theframe attachment holes to therear. To allowfor solder penetrationthe tabs need to be aslac fit. fparts areon maximumthickness tolerance then afile maybeneeded to getthemtofittogetherproperly becausetomaintainaccuracy I’ve notallowedall that much clearanceinthe slots. In order to hold theparts at aright angle (important)I drilleda small hole in theflange between the tabs andthenthrough into the edge of theplate,thenjust poppedanironrivet in loosely. This gave just aboutenough stiffnesstoholdsquare. They were then cleanedup, plenty of flu appliedand soldered together using ilverflow(photo15). Afteranovernight soak in citric acid they were visually checkedtoensurea soundjoint
Theforward edge of the flangeisonlythere to surround theslots,soshouldbefiled or machined away.The inner face of theflange needstobe machined flatand trulysquare to theplate andparalleltothe outeredge, andfor this there is a0.010 inch machining allowanceinthe design.Pop it into themillingmachine vice with theflange uppermostand thebottom(outeredge) of the
platehorizontal(easy;sit it on theviceslide or aparallel) Machinebacktoachieve the1 3/4inchdimension What is really needed is the 11/16inchdimension to the cylindercentreline, butthis is notsomething that canbe measured so we must measure to somethingwecan and rely on theaccuracyoflaser cutting to getthingsright.Note, also,thatthe cut-outs forthe couplingrodsleave plenty of spaceonthe inneredgeso that thosewho do notwantto bother thinning theinner sides
of therodswill still findplenty of clearance. Thereisnoready source for thethinsteel angleneeded forthe next bits.After much head-scratchingthe best idea Icould come up with wasto cutpiecesfromsomesquare tube purchasedinone of those largechain DIYand builders’ merchants. Notmuchisneeded buta metreofthe stuffisnot terriblyexpensive andwhat’s left will undoubtedlyfind other purposes.Minewas 20mm square by 1.4mmwall. Forthe topedgeangle,after drilling theholes,openthe angleupa bittomatch the1 in 11 slope of themotionbracket to the topofthe framebysqueezing in thevicewithtwo pieces of steel anglestock as lowfriction jawfacings (photo16). Thetop edge of themotionplate must be filed to the in angleto matchthe frametop.The little brackets forthe slidebarscan be made andfittednow,too, also cutfromthe square tube Ihad thoughttoleave these to allowslidebar adjustment later, butgetting in to fit the rivets becomesincreasingly
Squeezingsome angletomakeit un-square.
difficult as more andmore bits andpiecesget built and fittedintothe frames. lidebar ad ustment will be by filingor shimming,asisoften thecase. Theplate support brackets (fig 10 may,atfirstsight,loo idealfor lasercutting.However, thesubsequentfolding of theflangeswould need to be carefully done to geteverything just right. This wouldbemade even more difficult if theholes were pre-drilled. Easier (general rule here?) is to cutsome pieces of sheet over size,fold theflanges, then mar -out,cut andfile to si e anddrill the holes. When cutting sheet metal then,clamp it flattothe bench
andcut onthe flat photo1 ). Thin sheet clampedinthe vice andcut down thethinedge tendstoproduce inaccurate andwandering edges. Idon’t have much in theway of special toolingfor sheet metalwork. Formostthingstodowith bendingand foldingI usea couple of pieces of steel angle clampedinthe vice together with ahammerand whatever bits of barare handy. After doingthe necessary corner cut-out, so thetwo folded flanges will overlapproperly, forthese littlebracketsI just clampedthembetween angles andpersuaded them in to shape with acopperfaced mallet (photo1 . Mar ingand filing to shapeisthenstraightforward benchworkand doesn’ttake long.A toolmaker’sclamp can be used to help with orientation when filingthe flanges, otherwisetheycan be rather awkwardtodo(photo1 ). Themotionplatesand thebracketscan nowbe assembledtothe frames, butnotethatthe motion plates will need to come off when it’s time to mark out theaxlebox bearingholes. It’s worthgoing over allthe steel partswitha coat or two of primer.Thismakes it look greatfor when youtakeit down to theclubhouse to be admired. Of course,the paint will getdamaged as thebuild progressesbut it will still help keep therustatbay andgiveit amorefinished loo photo20).
To be continued.
Cutting sheet metalonthe bench.
Knocking over afootplate bracket.
finished setofframes.
hapingthe anges
Life Be yo nd Le go
Patrick Hendra of Eastleigh YoungEngineers, says thereis- or should be –lifebeyondLego.
Iaminspiredtowrite this piecebythe excellent article in M.E.4752 (September 20th) by TomParhamwhere he describesthe current and future situationinmodel engineeringclubs.
My view of thefutureof modellingisratherbleaker than Tom’s. Foratleast two generationsthe schoolshave not been teaching theirlads andlasseshow to make things Adeclining number of parents areengineeringpractitioners -plumbers, machinists, electricians,welders -referred to todaybythe cleanhand establishmentasTIN BASHERS -especiallythose whohave served apprenticeships. They areretiringand feware being replaced.The result is that thechildrenDON’T MAKE ANYTHING becausenoone is theretoprovide toolsand workshopsand appropriate teaching andencouragement
This doom-laden message is shared by many of thefolks whocameuptothe Young Engineersstand at MMEEx 2024 at Warwick. It really is no exaggeration
Whereare themodel shops? hey aredefinitely athreatened speciesbut it is fallaciousto blametheir demise on online shopping or COVID; they have gone becauseofa lac of demand.The demand hasnot
dribbled away simply because thechildrenare always on their mobiles, it is becausethere are no modellingopportunities beyond Lego
Youngsters whohavethe urge buyready-to-fly model planes or boatsratherthan make them from scratch. In asense,thisdoesn’t matter overallbut it does affect the progress of theboysand girlswho have aPOTENTIAL interest in scienceand engineeringand potentially to become MODELENGINEERS when they aremucholder.
My personal solution hasbeen to runa club -the EastleighYoung Engineers basedina village northof Winchester.Why Eastleigh? -all will be revealed below!
TheYoung EngineersClub hasbeen operatingfor 13 yearsand hada standat MMEEx2024inWarwick where membersdid well in thejunior classofthe competition- a Second,a Thirdand aclutchof Highly Commendeds.
TheYoung Engineersare a smallgroup whocometomy workshop weekly foranhour plus afew sessionsduring school holidays. Terry Brown of theEastleigh ModelBoat Club andI teachthe youngsters on aone-on-onebasis. his is done forsafetyreasons Includingthree members, who arenot availableexceptduring holidays,themembership amountsto13and areaged between 9and 17 yearsold -6 girlsand 7boys.
Hasthe EYEClubproduced anyrealliveengineers? Of course Yes!
neofthe first members wasAngus French.Hewon theTurnerShieldthree times at successive MidlandModel EngineeringCompetitionsand is nowa fully qualified engineer at Jaguar Land Rover. Angus can’tstopmodellingand has recently made areplicaof
aFormula 1steeringwheel whichwas Commended in thecompetition at this year’s MMEEx.Another ‘old’Young Engineer Ewan Whiteisnow apractisingprofessional electrical engineer.Another EYEisanundergraduate at Exeter University andanother oneatBristol University.Yet anotherisa fitterinthe local boat-buildingindustryand so it rolls on BUTiswhatI do relevant to thefutureofmodel engineering?
If we assume that the schoolsare notgoing to reestablishworkshops andthen findstaff to teachinthem, theonlyway aheadisfor the modelengineeringclubs to do thejob.You modelengineering people have many members in your midstMUCHBETTER qualified ande perienced than me whocould teachsome enthusiastic youngsters how to make things.The clubs oftenhavethe workshops, the materials, theskills -all that is needed is thewilltodothe job. TheWILLcan be aproblem.Let me tell youofmyexperience andhence ourname- the EASTLEIGHYoung Engineers. Istarted my work with childrenin2011. At that time therewas athrivingyouth club in my village -Crawley near Winchester.The kids hadnothing to do during August so Iset up ascheme to teachasmanyyouth clubbers whoturnedupon Monday, ednesday and Friday mornings from 9.30-11 forfourweeks. Iboughta Keil Kraft-type kitand we made a R/Celectricallypowered plane from balsawoodand covering. 22 youngsters were involved Imight have 12 onemorning andonlythree thenextasthey allwentatvarious timeson holiday.Unfortunately,I didn’t realisehow tric y it is to fly a modelplane so theplane had
CraneatCrawley Pond
only threeultra-short flightsthroughhedges. Thenextyear we built aR/C boat -launched on thevillage pond (photo1) andthena Thornycroftlorryboth from scratch. Thesetwo models wona silver at the ModelEngineer Competition at SandownParkand then the youthclubran into thebuffers Ithenaccepted an invitation to letthe Crawley-based youngsters form theJunior Sectionofthe Eastleighand District ModelBoatClub. This club produces some of thevery best modelboats in theSouth of Englandand themembers helped me up my game (photo2). Allwentwelluntil 2015whena newlyformed management committee decidedthatwemustgo because‘theyoungsters don’tmakeboats they make lots of otherthings.’Bythat time we were knownfor our involvementwiththe E&DMBC at showssowedepartedbut kept Eastleighinour newtitlethe EastleighYoung Engineers -the EYEs.The crazything aboutthissad littlestory is that asmall groupwithinthe membership were really keen to build up theJuniorSection ANDran aweekly classfor the EastleighScoutsteachingthe Scouts howtobuild boatsfrom scratchand they still do today! Fortunately, we have restored excellent relationshipswith theEastleigh ModelBoatClub andtheyprovide me with a steady flowofunfinished hulls andconsiderablehelp. n particular, erry rown, the
club commodore andanexpert at building shapes likehulls from planks andalsosheet metalworkteaches theEYEs regularly.
What wouldyou have to do to runa successful Junior SectionofyourClub?
Members
Youneed oneortwo members whoare prepared to give an eveningortwo each week during term time.Iftwo membersoperate fortwo evenings each,you cansupport 8Young Engineers. Most youngsters canbeatyour workshopseitherat4pm or 5pmsothe obligation should finishat pm. ote- one-tooneteachingis absolutely essentialand parentsmustbe fully supportive and committed to bringing theyoungsterson time,all year
Iassume youhavemostof theequipment youneedon site butyou will have to buy materialsthe youngsters will use. TheEYEsparents are expected to come up with a subscription of about£150 peryearand that covers workshop expendablesand paints,insurance andother regularcosts.Inaddition, parentsare expected to pay foritems specifictotheir own YoungEngineer’s project- R/C transmitterand receiver etc. Theseare oftenone-off and usually notlarge.Inmycase, thesubscriptioncontributes to heatingand electricityin theworkshop. Some might thinkthe cost is large- too
high forhard-pressedparents hec onlineand findthe cost of coursesofferedbylocal authoritieswhere hands-on work is involved.You will be surprised. Oursub is VERY small- mainly because Terry andI give ourservices completely free of charge
What sort of projects should youtry ?
No -youngsterscannotbuild anothersteam engine Kids Don’tHaveThe Time.Even includingsomeholiday time in my workshop,the EYEs put in less than 50 hoursper year. Newmembers know almost nothingofany significanceand canbeasyoung as 9years old. Thenew YoungEngineerneeds teaching howtomeasure andset outworkand almost everything else BUTITIS INCREDIBLE HOWRAPIDLY INTERESTED YOUNGPEOPLE CANLEARN GIVENTHE CHANCE.Bythe endofa term, my youngsters canuse the jigsaw,havehad agoatsilver andsoftsoldering,can operate adrillingmachine andhave learnedhow to tapholes in metal(photo3). They will also have been usingthe Myford. Newmembers arealmost always givena scraphulland askedtodosomething with it. heyma ea stand, ashaft andrudderfromscratch,ma e couplings andinstall radio control- allintheir first term andthenbecomecreative.
Once anew YoungEngineer hasbuilt andsaileda R/Cboat, Igivethema choice of several
projects.Eachisintendedto take about50hrs of workshop time andistimed to be ready forthe next WarwickMMEEx Competition.
Letmetellyou somethingof just threeprojectsondisplay at this year’s show (photo4). Over thelastyear, Sacha hasbeen buildinga R/C jeep carryinga somewhat incongruousGatling gun. He is now10and wona Second Prize. Freyabuilt Nellie the opter not aboat asher first modelatage 9and reported it in ModelEngineer.Itwas on ourstand. he has ustfinished aR/C cranelorry.and won aThird Prize. Lyra (9¾) is a brand-newmemberand was givena scrapwoodenhull. She is making it into aR/C tugboat
Teaching methods
Iteach in averyunusual waytakingfulladvantage of thefactthatI am teaching one-to-one.Weuse no preexisting drawings -wework
When we were still theYouth Section.
Assemblinga ship’s wheel –all made from scratch.
from photos availableonline.
As aresult, therudiments of sketchingand scalingcomein almost from thestart.I have hadmymeasurementstaken sitting on astool holdingan imaginarysteeringwheel more timesthanI wish to remember In theworkshop, I demonstrateevery procedure. Idemonstrate safely holding theobjectand then carrying outthe processand then -I move thesetup andwatch the YoungEngineer do thejob him/ herself. If necessary Irepeat. Theimportant featureisthat theEYEsmustunderstandand thinkbeforetheyact.
Ihaveseveral basic principles upon whichI insist: Zero Themostimportant principleofall -the Young Engineer must achieveprogress at EVERYsession.Kidsrun out of steamiftheydon’t progress. 1Wemeasure wherepossible usingdigital callipersrather than rules---never rulers.WE useset squares(unknownit seemsintoday’s schools)
2‘Neveruse ahandtool if you canuse amachine‘. Grandpa used hand tools. We use machines becausetheyare fast andaccurate (photo5).
3‘We work with metaltoa hairsbreadth accuracy.’ In their first session,the newmember measures his/herown hair, typically 0.03 or 0.04mm.
4Whena Youngsterisdoing somethinghe/shehas done before,I will saynothing other than ‘NO’ if youare about
to make amistake.I watch everything.
5Oncetheyare alittle experienced- ‘decide anddoit. Don’task me,justdoit’ Iwill stop youifyou areheading into trouble. This isn’tschool.And finally,
Almost none! Youmustwork completely safely.Accidents must NEVERhappen. Ourclub carries insurancebut your club should be able to have your existing coverextended. You MUST emphasisethatyou will operateone-to-oneand hence minimize theunderwriter’s assessmentofrisksoyou shouldn’tneed to paya massively increasedpremium
TheteachersMUSTholda valid certificate. his is simple to arrangeand is free to amateurs such as ourselves.
Youmusthavecomplete support from parents. Iam NOTa babysitter. Iexpect aparenttodeliver andthen collect theirchild ANDtosee what he or shehas achieved very frequently.I getparticular satisfaction when ayoungster explains howtheydid this or that on thelathe or mill knowingthatthe twoofus know that theparenthas little or no idea what theiroffspring is goingonabout!
ndfinallyTeaching theseenthusiastic childrenisa real pleasure (photo6). Select projects that theyoungstersfind interesting andaim to competewithusat thenextMMEx.
Ihavejustheard from an excited10-year-old shouting breathlesslydownhis Mum’s mobile that he wasatthis fabulous show andwon SECOND PRIZEatWarwick andheisonhis wayhome. He wangleda dayoff school. Just wait untilheboaststo hispalsatschooltomorrow. would love to be aflyonthe wall. Oh Inearlyforgot. TheYoung EngineersClubhas apermanent member of staffTHE TOOTH FAIRY. When disaster has befallenand ruin is clearto see, thelittlething flitters in andbythe next session the problemhas just vanished.How couldYoung Engineerssurvive withouther? ME
