This week sees the completion of the main construction/assembly phase of Samson’s frames.  Here is the latest on progress:

Below: Chris is seen welding up the rear frame stretcher.  Following riveting, it was found that some small distortion of the rear end of the frames had taken place. The easiest method to cure this was to cut the stretcher, narrow it fractionally then weld it back up.  Being accessible, Chris was able to get full penetration welds from both sides.  The yellow spacer is a machined datum, to give the exact distance between the frame plates.  The effort at this stage is important to the eventual accuracy in locating the axles, axleboxes and coupling rods.

Below: The final job today was to fit four tie rods across the frames, now that the tanks are in final position.  Dave Young drilled and countersunk these, inserting ties which he had pre-machined to enable a deep weld to be run around the tie on the outside of the frame plates and thus create a very strong and permanent joint.

Below: Another view of the mag drill in action – what a useful tool this has been on this project!

Below: After welding the tie rods, Chris dresses off the joint to return the flush surface on the outer frame plate.

Below: A view along the frames showing the modified stretcher, nearest the camera, and some of the tie rods secured into position.  The frames are inverted at present, and are due to be shotblasted and primed later this week.

Below: A side view of the tie rods.  Note the tank bottom to the left – a lid is fixed to this to retain the water but enable future access for maintenance and cleaning.  If all goes to plan, we can start painting the frames this week (black) along with footplate and bunkers.  Dave has also been busy making the driving wheel centre pattern, with help from Tony.  We have also settled on the axlebox design and method for assembling the wheels onto their axles.