Member postings for GarryC

Hi Ed

I must admit I did start thinking that way myself, I'll give it some serious thought.. Doing the curved ends of the Crankshaft Webs showed me how unpleasant interrupted cuts are - on a small lathe anyway. Thanks.

Cheers.

Allan.

The Column Drawing.

and the supplied bar is just over 7 x 1.5 x 0.5 inches. Was going to try some Flycutting but again the supplied bar is found to be already slightly undersize.

To keep the machining to a minimum (as much is interrupted cuts) I cut off the excess length with a saw and thought I would grind down a bit closer to the line. Only the third time I have used the grinder - I've been lucky so far with buying tools as cheap as possible, but not this time - first time I've showed it a piece of serious steel...

Ah well what can you expect for £15... I'll need to get a decent one now, maybe not from Amazon this time though. I don't think its worth fixing as it'll never be up to any serious work.

I'm going to drill and cut away as much of the bar as I can before it goes on the Lathe.. Seems very wasteful.

One thing I was going to ask is whether going back 100 years or so it was common to leave centre drill holes in round bar ends or parts in general or were they usually faced out afterwards? I must get around a few museums and have a look at such things..

Cheers

Allan.

Hoping the video works..

Edited By Allan. on 04/05/2015 14:02:24

Edited By Allan. on 04/05/2015 14:06:35

Edited By Allan. on 04/05/2015 14:14:12

Thanks very much John, that's well worth knowing - I've put it on my list for next time I'm ordering.

Cheers.

Allan.

Apologies, having trouble editing again - it should say above the long flat side goes against the movable jaw (front)..

Time to get back on with the engine. After watching Eric's video's its clear that earlier in the build I didn't square off the bearing blocks properly which I think contributed to the solder failing when tightened in the chuck. They were definitely not square, out by a tiny bit - "that's the best the equipment can do" I remember thinking and I thought they would be ok at the time - hopefully I know better now... So anyways I thought I would make the little 'holding' tool / bar that he was recommending before going about squaring the supplied bar for the column and using his method. Its just a piece of bar with some flats - 2 parallel and two tapering for supporting a part when squaring off..

It didn't take long to do and should get lots of use I hope. I'm sure there are lots of different ways of squaring a part off but this looks like a good idea to me and you have to start somewhere. It doesn't have to be sized exactly but I need the practice... First time I've tried for a nice finish on the new lathe and easily the best I've ever achieved - indexable tip but with the tool angled over to the tailstock CCMT 06/04/02 I think. I can't get them to give any kind of finish if presenting at 90 degrees to the work which seems odd somehow..

Putting the flat down one side of the bar - this side goes against the fixed vice jaw (.the back one)

Didn't have to do this but decided to aim for the tapered flat going to 25% depth of the diameter - so used my little Trig App to get the angle, aiming for the tapers to meet tin the middle and then to put a flat across them. This small flat sits against the part. The 6 degree angle was the one I needed to find. I'm not saying the figures are exact, but for anyone interested in the figures - from my scribbles I can see the bar was 77.22mm long. The two sides at right angles are the known ones.. Diameter 18.57mm.

Putting in the small flat parallel to the long one.

The finished tool / bar.

The tool / bar in the vice jaws. Vertex Vice.

Still working on the assumption of course that its only other beginners who will look at this thread...

Sorry if I've waffled on a bit over such a simple thing..

Hope it was of interest to someone...

Next to grind a tool for the flycutter to use on the bar for the column - I've not used one yet..

Regards

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 02/05/2015 16:22:19

Edited By Allan. on 02/05/2015 16:25:18

Edited By Allan. on 02/05/2015 16:27:47

Edited By Allan. on 02/05/2015 16:39:55

Thought I would just put this link in here having taken some time out to watch Eric Vaaler's workshop series, they were done a few years ago now but I thought they were great (for beginners that is), lots of interesting bits and pieces and I've watched all 10 now. Can see how I maybe ran into problems with my bearings long before I even picked up the torch for soldering, discovered a new found respect for double sided tape and lots more! Anyone just starting out in the hobby will find them well worth watching I'm sure - **LINK**.

Thought this USA video was great as well - **LINK**

[and the camera seems sorted now after trying a new battery..]

Cheers.

Allan.

The Bottom Cylinder Cover in place, nice tight fit on the Standard.. (Nuts not screwed down)

The Support Column nut now with enough room and sitting properly.

Next to do the tapered Column.

Cheers.

Allan.

Camera has been playing up, not focusing, now it seems to have died..!

Edited By Allan. on 25/04/2015 13:44:05

After a little time with the small round file and some tape to protect the adjoining surfaces....

I can always take it back more later if need be, hopefully ok though.

The awkward step removed 2.

Cheers.

Allan.

Thanks Jason, I do have a tiny round file I'll have a go with that. Still haven't replaced by Dremel that went pop yet..

edit - wow just seen the photo of the Flycutter, I just knew there would be some clever way to it. I do have some flycutters now, I've not used them yet. Think I had better stick to the file for now - but thanks for showing that, very interesting.

Cheers.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 24/04/2015 13:31:45

Thought I may have had trouble getting this hole right, but that went ok - it was facing the top side of the Column Support arm for the Column nut to sit properly that I found difficult. The Assembly Drawing shows a spot facing in the top but I couldn't seem to get the angle for that being so close to the cover rim, so I tried to go with the method used by Andrew Smith in his guidelines on building the engine - but I'm left with an awkward little step to cleanup. I need to get some small files for it..

Showing the difficult angle in facing the top of the Column Support Boss 1.. The Drawing by Andrew Smith.

Showing the step left in facing the top of the Column Support Boss.. The picture makes it look worse than it is but I want to get rid of it if I can..

The Bottom Cylinder Support Cover so far..

Cheers.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 24/04/2015 13:13:34

Just a couple more photos of progress with the bottom cylinder cover..

Drilling with the rotary table the 6 holes 2BA tapping size for spotting through to the Steam Cylinder later - opening to Clearance Size afterwards

The Bottom Cylinder Cover so far 1.

The Bottom Cylinder Cover so far 2. The 3/8 diameter countersink is ok but I went a bit oversize in the Column Support Arm..

Next to try drilling the hole in the Column Support boss 8 degrees.. The rest of the holes in the drawing need to be spotted through when the parts are made later...

Cheers.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 23/04/2015 13:20:36

Hi Peter

I'm a beginner as well - buy the largest small lathe that you can afford (not the best way of putting it but trust you know what I mean) especially if you plan to keep it long term. It takes lots of time and work to make things especially when you are learning, you may get to find like me that its good to have something as substantial / large as possible at the end of it. When I bought my first lathe I also thought it would be good to make some small models but I now find it more satisfying to work at as larger scale as I can. I'll go up in scale again with my next engine even though no doubt I'll have to pay to get some of the larger bits done - I should have bought bigger when I upgraded (so I got it wrong twice), just be sure that you think that bit of it through.. It helped me enormously in learning and planning to put the build on here - or wherever you find the most interest as getting regular feedback is so helpful starting out. I was fortunate to have lots of interest and help here on my first build (not much this time though sadly) and it got me going. There are some other similar forums more dedicated to model engine building as well but its so worth getting at least your 1st build on one somewhere. You will likely get a small mill as well perhaps - the most important thing I have found is to get one with the greatest distance between table and tool holder / quill as you can and plan to use it for accurate drilling as well, so again buy as large as you can and take into account the double use - I find I use the mill as much as if not more than the lathe...

All the best, happy anytime to point out all the holes I fell into early on if you want to get in touch..

Allan.

Thanks Roy. As a beginner to the hobby its been a surprise that I've come across quite a few comments about various drawings having errors (not necessarily Stuart) as 'engineering' would seem to be such a precise discipline. The only things I can see so far on my drawings is one or two holes that look to need countersinking but no mention on the drawing, but I don't know if this is normally specified or its usual to leave to the builder... In particular one of the 6 holes on the PCD to fix the bottom cylinder cover to the cylinder goes through the column support 'arm" and the studs provided are way too short without 'sinking' into the arm. The drawing seems to have that hole shown in a slightly heavier line thickness if you look very carefully but nothing else - no real problems though.

Thanks for the kind words George, we've been fortunate not to have come too close to it until now really - if its confirmed.. Good to hear you are over it.

Regards

Allan.

Hi Roy

Thanks for your post, your advice is very much appreciated. I made a silly assumption yesterday that I just needed the same angles both sides for the column seating - I only later realised it needed to be the specified 8 degree angle - what an idiot! Sorry for the confusion. It looks fine after milling to the 8 degrees - believe all is ok to go ahead now.. Please let me know though if you still think there may be a problem.

Hi George

Yes I like this tilting table, I bought it recently from RDG **LINK**

The calibrated scale is nice, can be set accurately and locks easily - unlike my old one. I can't fault it.

We had a member of the family having tests for cancer today, been very unsettling... Puts all this into perspective..

Regards

Allan

[Hi Roy - we seem to have posted at the same time. I'll read your post carefully when I get back later, thanks very much.]

Having to make do with very small sessions at the moment but like to keep going forward most days if poss..

Milling the correct angles for the Support Column. This 'new' tilting table has a much better (accurate) scale and is a bit larger than my old one - nice to use.

Before I start drilling holes at the wrong angles just checking the two Column seating faces are at the right angles (8 degrees). Both faces of the Calliper are lying flat, looks good to me..

May get some more time later on with a bit of luck..

Cheers

Allan

Edited By Allan. on 21/04/2015 09:37:14

oops again - I've realised since the last post I need to change the sole plate angle for the column seating to 8 degrees as per the drawings... Something I can do more accurately now..

Cheers.

Allan.

Thanks very much Ray good to have you along...

A little milling before breakfast sees the Standard seating milled to size..

Milled down to size.

Checking the Angle for the Column Support seating - I've changed my Tilting Table since I did this (it was difficult to set the angle as the scale was not the best) and I didn't have a protractor then, still lacking the basics sometimes - the angle was supposed to be 8 degrees but I now make it 5.5. I'll do the boss on the Cylinder Cover the same now..

Cheers

Allan

Not looking too bad after all..

Cheers.

Allan.

A little more work done on the Bottom Cylinder Cover.

The turning to size finished.

After drilling - test fitting the supplied 5/16" Stainless Steel bar to make sure it didn't need skimming. The slight score mark is on the 2 7/16" PCD for the fixing holes etc - to aid marking out later

After reversing in the chuck - setting the hole to run true.

After initially turning the chucking spigot and then reversing to hold by it should i have used the 3 jaw? When setting up by holding on the spigot there were no machined surfaces to set to run true with the DTI so I set the outer rim of the casting to run true in the 4 jaw. I can see now that the central hole is slightly out through the spigot as a result I guess. I've set up now to continue after reversing by setting the hole to run true with the 'finger gauge' and it [the hole] looks to spin perfectly, I know the chucking spigot is to be cut away shortly, just wondered if I have gone about it the right way or if it matters? Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 18/04/2015 13:14:12

Edited By Allan. on 18/04/2015 13:14:58

Edited By Allan. on 18/04/2015 13:20:38

Didn't get much time today, just managed a start on the bottom cylinder cover..

Setting the outer rim of the cover to run true as poss. Cant believe I've struggled doing this kind of thing for so long when all I needed was a pencil - works brilliantly! Thanks again Jason and Chris, I've had so much help and good advice on here but this maybe the best / most useful yet..

The Chucking Spigot turned..

This was as far as time allowed - now holding on the Spigot the Cylinder locator turned to 2" and a start made on the excess casting around the Column support boss.

Cheers.

Allan.