Gauge 1 Simple M7

To get more area to bolt to, have re-made the front cover as a simple square 1/16 thick piece of brass. Machined the rear cover as a disc and will flatten off the edges later. Finally, have milled the ports this evening which was a nervous excercise but seems to have gone well enough .

Made a start on the front cylinder cover. Just needs drilling - will do this with the cover on the block to spot through and ensure the holes line up.

Starting this blog to record progress on building a simple Gauge 1 0-4-4 tank loco more or less to the "Daisy" design. Ben Pavier is putting together a kit (and RTR options) for this loco and this is a 'guinea pig' account of a test build. First job is the cylinder block. Started off with a stick of 1" x 1" brass and cut a length off then reduced the height and width to 7/8" in the 4-jaw. Faced-off the length to 1 1/8" and centred in the 4-jaw. Centre drilled then gradually drilled out the bore before running a 1/2" reamer through. Bore finish looks ok, not perfect not bad, will be using o-rings and think its in good shape.