Member postings for GarryC

Thanks very much Roy, yes understood, have read some info about climb milling. Going to give the slot a try tomorrow...

Cheers

Allan.

Hi Roy

Thanks, I'm glad I did the post now - sounds like I nearly messed up..

I'm sure its a daft question but when you say "use a smaller drill and make two passes" do you mean a pass down each side of the two edges of the slot or one pass down the middle followed by another with the 3/8 mill - i guess you mean the former? Also I'm assuming the "cross hole" is the phrase used for a hole that has the same diameter as the intended width of the slot and is put in as the end of the slot? Sorry to sound so completely clueless about this - when slot cutting if its usual to not be using the same width cutter as the intended slot it is obviously important to know and something I didn't, but then I've never tried to cut a slot before - maybe its difficult to generalise though...

Thanks again.

Allan.

Just a little update of the Con Rod, not much progress and I'm waiting on a 3/8" Slot Mill to arrive to carry on - all my cutters are metric and so didn't have anything to do the Slot in the fork end....

Setting up to Mill the 'little end' of the Con Rod.

The Con Rod so far - I thought that the setup above would result in the Rod going back square each time it was turned over, with a stop set on the Mill travel and using a square - but the shoulder didn't end up exactly the same on each end. You can see its cut over the marked line on one shoulder in the next photo. So I'm thinking to go with the setup below that to do the Big End and see if the accuracy is any better as its rotated from one side to the next...

As the shoulders are going to be turned / filed away its not critical I hope and perhaps a good opportunity and interesting to experiment / practice...

The setup ready to do the big end. (Nothing tightened yet so the table is not left under torque while waiting on the Slot Mill..)

At least my new Profiling Tool to use for the turning has turned up...

Regards

Allan.

ps its the way of things now I've done this, I think the the slot mill's just arriving...

I'm thinking when finished to save this little thread as a pdf and print into a little booklet to keep with the engine - as its a great record of the stages involved and should be interesting to look back on, and I guess it will get passed on down with it in due course...

Jason

This is simply superb, such a massive help for someone like me trying to make one of these first time around.

If you / the magazine were to organise an online training course / range of courses I would be the first to sign up! I'm sure it would allow and encourage more people to get started as well...

Wonder if there are many reading this and like me who would do likewise, or many who don't take the magazine itself as the content is almost exclusively 'too advanced' when first starting out, but would with a bit more knowledge / experience etc?

and of course you would likely make a fortune!

Many thanks.

Allan.

ps for what it's worth, I for one would love to see regular very (and I mean very) basic tutorial type content in the magazine and lots of it - the advanced stuff is interesting too of course...

Hi Steve

Thats a good point, Ill have to check the length of travel on the top slide, bound to be less than your C6 I expect, may mean the tapers will just have to be a shorter length.

Just ordered a 10mm, round profiling tool holder as I don't have any rounded tools at all at the moment (the Glanze replaceable tip 'round button' type)..

I can carry on and mill the ends now..

Cheers

Allan.

Brilliant, Thanks Jason, best thing I could have done was coming on here...

Cheers

Allan.

Cheers Jason, that makes a lot of sense and certainly as Andrew says for the 'important' holes.. I'm converted and will do it this way in future, and of course on the next Con Rod attempt - I'm sure I'm going to need one..

If you (or anyone) could give me some idea of the procedure for turning the taper (between centres) on the Con Rod I would be very grateful?

Thanks

Allan.

Hi Steve

I need to try that myself with the Mill and see how it compares to the bench Drill.

and yes completely agree about the Victoria, it's very enjoyable to build, it is sold as suitable for beginners with a small lathe and feels like a great introduction to Model Engineering - guess I'll only know if thats true looking back, I've certainly started to learn and discover some of the basics as a result of building - I hope.

May look at the governor kit when it's all together as well but I've still a way to go yet.. and I'll probably look at doing another Stuart Steam Engine again next project, but something on as large a scale as possible that my current kit will cope with....

Hi Neil

Thanks thats well worth knowing it works and something to try in the future.

Cheers both

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 10/01/2014 20:36:05

Edited By Allan. on 10/01/2014 20:49:25

Cheers Alan.

Hi Neil, thanks, I wouldn't have thought of using the cooker, ours is LPG, also we have a coal fire, I wonder if I could use that.. I'm going to have a read up on some of the various heat treatments, it would be good to at least start getting some info of the basics, my 3 x Great Grandfather is probably turning in his grave - he was a blacksmith! Shame knowledge like that stopped being handed down a long time ago.....

Hi Steve, I'm going to have to put some cans in the post to a few people when its up and running, not least yourself..!

I have made a start on the Con Rod now although not much progress yet. In the workshop today it was all about holes, you will have to excuse the photos, I guess they will all look the same, a bit sad maybe, but I have to say it felt like a bit of a 'Top Gun' moment and was well chuffed when turning the bar over to see where the 'little end' hole had come out - brilliant, I don't get many little victories like that! I'm sure I would not have managed that when first starting out... and what a difference it makes to have drill bits that just get on and do the job - even though not exactly perfect, I have been having so much trouble previously drilling in steel the result was better than I thought I would manage 1st time around..

I was well chuffed with my little drill today! I found out early on, drilling holes in exactly the right place is not as easy as it looks, especially in steel..

Setting up to drill the Con Rod using one of the wigglers to line up the hole. Despite doing this I found it better (essential for me anyways) to start with a small centre drill (I used a 1mm) and stopped and checked the position almost immediately - then if slightly out put in a larger centre drill and adjusted the position, then likewise again if needed... The 'little end' in particular left no room for error as the 3/8 hole was almost the same width as the the bar..

Test fitting the Wristpin through the Con Rod 'Big End'.

Con Rod Wristpin Hole side 1. (The chamfer on the bar is slightly more on the one side, making it look worse than it really is here)..

Con Rod Wristpin Hole side 2.

Drilling the Con Rod 'little end'. I only bought a few of the small sizes Cobalt Drill bits (to first see what they were like) and so had to use my existing bits going up in 0.5mm at a time once the hole was started all the way through. But they were ok for this. There is no way I could have started the initial hole with them though. I need to get some more sizes Cobalt Bits now as they are excellent. Not even a hint of them finding it hard going..

The Con Rod 'little end' side 1.

The Con Rod 'little end' side 2.

The Con Rod so far. The bar is faced off at about 12mm over length at the moment to allow room to put in and then get rid of the Centre Drill holes in the ends for later turning between centres - not done them yet. One will get 'lost' in the fork on the one end..

Regards

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 10/01/2014 15:34:46

Hi Andrew and Jason

Yes cheers, after quite a bit of 'gentle and not so gentle' thumping and a bit of tightening in the vice it is a fair bit better, don't have a heat source to Anneal it so have to see how it goes from there.. It seems surprisingly springy for a chunky bit of steel..

I've asked Stuart models to replace, I don't know if they will yet - its a fair bet I''ll need another restart with this..

Ta very much, I'll try not to bother anyone for a while now ..

Cheers

Allan.

Thanks Andrew, from your comments then I would say it is cold drawn mild steel. I must get around to ordering some spare bar stock myself and asap I think..

Cheers.

Allan.

I was hoping someone may take a quick look at this, I can't quite get my head around if I'm on a hiding to nothing..

The Replacement bar supplied for the Con Rod is bent quite a bit and I'm not sure if its a non starter (for me anyway). The bar is 7 inches long and I intend to turn between centres, the ends have to be milled flat.. The bar measures on the micrometer 12.69 x 15.82mm and is 'banana' shaped. The gap at the top of the 'try square' photo is about 1/16" and the other sides are bowed - should I just ask for another bar do you think? Thanks very much if anyone can advise. Virtually all of the length of the bar has to be used..

Apologies for the quality of the photos.

The Con Rod Drawing.

The end the bar is standing on has been faced in the Lathe.

Hopefully the bowed shape can be seen here.. The bar is on my granite block surface plate.

Thanks again.

Regards.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 09/01/2014 11:49:06

Day 45.

The Piston Crosshead. (Mild Steel)

This is the second attempt at this after failing the 1st time over Christmas when a drill bit snapped in the end of the bar drilling the 2BA tapping hole - with my 'cheap' drill bits.

This time around I was looking forward to trying the new Cobalt bits and was not disappointed - superb to use, completely effortless on the handwheel of the tailstock. To my mind they make it obvious the other bits were 'unfit for purpose'. How on earth has the country gone from leading the Industrial Revolution to selling rubbish like that....

The Crosshead has some chuck marks left on it, maybe I tightened too much, (next project I intend to concentrate much more on the surface finishes...)

The stages involved in this were almost identical to the Valve Crosshead but on a slightly larger scale.

The Piston assembly drawing (with the Crosshead at the top).

The short piece of 3/8" square section bar supplied for the Piston Crosshead.

Milling the square section to rectangular form for the piston crosshead. (Previous time spent milling all the vice faces square have made many little jobs like this much quicker and easier, time very well spent).

Have lately switched to using an automatic centre punch in place of the ordinary type and hammer and find it much better - I only ever punch once and very lightly now since using the wiggler or tailstock centre to setup - with much better results..

Setting up the bar for the Piston Crosshead in the 4 Jaw Chuck.

Drilling the hole for the Wristpin in the Piston Crosshead.

Test fitting the Wristpin in the Piston Crosshead.

Centre Punch marking in the end of the Piston Crosshead.

Drilling the end of the Piston Crosshead before turning the diameter. This was where the cheap drill bit had snapped on the 1st attempt.

After tapping 2BA, the finished Piston Crosshead.

Test fitting the Wristpin to the Piston Crosshead.

Test fitting the Piston Crosshead with Wristpin on the Engine.

Regards

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 08/01/2014 19:15:16

Edited By Allan. on 08/01/2014 19:15:54

Hi Neil

Remembering back to school days and 'O' Level Maths - I'm assuming Pythagoras can / is used to calculate this. I have 'iMachinist' on my iPhone with a trig calculator and yes it comes out at 1.5 thou difference at 1 degree angle for a 10" bar. Interesting! I've been wondering if I do a similar calculation when it comes to the taper on the con rod - but I'm not at that stage yet to worry about that just now... Cheers.

Hi Norman.

Mental blockage at the moment in how to read out loud as it were 0.00039in! Cheers.

Hi Geoff.

I use a small granite 'block' which I bought from Axminster Tools. I do find it a bit small and wish I had bought slightly larger. I keep it wiped over now and then with a cloth and some meths - it seems very good though. Cheers.

Direct link is **LINK**

Allan.

Hi Jim

Thanks for the kind words, the satisfaction in finishing building your own home must be immense and something to take pleasure in everyday you're living in it! Glad you've enjoyed reading about the progress (and setbacks) with my little 'Victoria' - hope we get to see your son's cannon progressing soon.

Just a thought, you may not have the time, but why not think about detailing progress of setting up your workshop as well here. I for one would be very interested especially if you are using older equipment, I'm hoping to 'upgrade' by going backwards in time as it were in the future (not sure that makes sense but hope you get the idea). I'm sure others would be interested too and no doubt come up with lots of interesting advice etc...

Good luck with it all.

Cheers

Allan.

ps and my drill bits have finally just arrived....

Hi Roy.

Thanks, you are right of course, I do take the point. I must admit though that I find it enjoyable trying to get things as close to the drawing spec as I can, not always possible to say the least at my stage but very satisfactory when actually managing to get things spot on, something of a little victory and very good for morale! Also good practice at the moment for when accuracy is needed - I can see though its maybe a pointless exercise sometimes - its good to know when spot on accuracy is not essential, hopefully this will come with more experience..

Hi George.

Thats all very interesting, thanks, been a bit frustrating today as I have time to be in the workshop and my new drill bits not arrived, well not yet anyway - I'll go and take a look at my existing ones with a glass now and see what they look like! It would be good to be able to recognise a dud one....

You make the same point as Jeff and Jason in using oil when drilling, something I've been doing on the Lathe but will also do in future now when using the drill.

Cheers

Allan.

Hi Jeff and Neil.

Thanks very much both of you, I had almost thought not to bother putting up the Wristpin details as there was not much involved or would be of interest to anyone - it just goes to show and I'm glad I did now...

Picking up Tips / Good Practice like this on here is great and increases enjoyment of the whole thing in knowing the right methods.

and I'll be using a V-Block for such things in future..

Regards

Allan.

Day 44.

The Wristpin. (Stainless Steel)

Been waiting on some new drill bits to arrive - found I couldn't order from MSC as there was some technical fault with online ordering on the day so have ordered some Cobalt bits from UK Drills, due here tomorrow. I've lost all confidence with the ones I have to be able to carry on until the new ones arrive.. I will though try MSC again next time...

Meantime and just for completeness really the details of the 'Wristpin', which I've just done - it goes through the Crossheads (yet to do), that sit between the Bar Guides. This must be the simplest part to do of the whole project but as I suspect that it will be mainly beginners like myself who will be likely to read any of this, I know its nice to see at least one bit on the overall drawing that really is straightforward to do - simply a 1/8 inch bar needing to be cut and faced to length (1 & 7/8 inch) in the Lathe (or at least that's what I did)...

The Wristpin Drawing.

Checking that the Wristpin final faced off length of 1 & 7/8 inch is correct.

Regards

Allan.

Thanks Jason, Andrew and Peter, all very interesting. It's a bit of an eye opener for me looking at the price and quality variations for drill bits - I had no idea or even given any thought to it - until this last week or so when my existing bits have brought me to a complete stop on two separate parts now. My fault of course for buying them - but I can't help but wonder at some of the tat available to buy in this country these days, with seemingly no comebacks....

Jason. MSC looks like a great place to buy from and with lots of choice, also its really good to have some figures to use as a guide when drilling etc, that is such a big help. I'll get an order in to MSC.....

(Hope by putting all this on here it may at least prevent some others making the same mistake..)

Cheers

Allan.

The Con Rod 1. (Mild Steel)

A quick update - sorry I'm back looking for advice / comments already! I was in, failed miserably and out of the worship so quickly today, the kettle had barely boiled...

Although I have gained some more valuable experience this morning, unfortunately of the bad kind though, but all part of the learning process - I suspect mostly down to me somehow and part my budget drills - again.

I've been having trouble drilling in steel from the beginning and this bar for the Con Rod is by far the biggest lump of steel I have tried to work with. The first attempt at drilling the through hole at the fork end on the Bench Drill and the drill bit again seemed to not want to know (I made sure everything was all clamped as tight as it would go this time) and then the bit snapped again. This was with a 2mm and then exactly the same thing happened again with a 2.5mm bit - the bench drill at its max speed of 2,500 rpm., both bits part of my 'budget' set and new. The drill itself was making a horrible rattling noise, even with the centre drill, not the motor but the table it seemed. So I thought I would try it on the mill - I love the mill I have it seems to be an excellent bit of kit - but the drill bit would not move through at all. This was again one of the budget set and again unused. Next try was with one of the 'individual' bits I had bought, this time it was lovely and smooth no vibration and the drill started to move through the steel but, within maybe 2 or 3 seconds, no more than that, the drill had gone bright red and melted in half and a 'red bubble' had momentarily appeared at the hole for a second, it was that hot, that quickly - ie so not snapped this time, see photo. Checking back there was no mention of it being HSS so just a 'standard' type I assume. The mill was running at close to 2000 rpm. It seems at the very least obvious now that the budget set of drill bits are not much use for anything. Does anyone have any tips where to buy good quality bits on line at a good price or advise what I should be using? I'm assuming they should be at least HSS steel or even better? Can anybody see if it was me at fault? The other thing to mention is that although I have had one 'budget bit' snap on the Lathe they have generally been ok then for some reason, although I have had a feeling some of them were not sharp even at first use - been drilling at about 700 rpm on the Lathe with the small bits. Any suggestions would be welcome - don't be stupid and buy cheap drills might seem appropriate! But I thought I would ask in case I am out with the drilling speeds or something?

The Con Rod drill bit failure.

So I'm hoping for a better outcome when I try again with some better quality drill bits..

Buying cheap drills seems to have been a big mistake in my original setup and definitely something to avoid in the future, even allowing for my bad technique they've definitely not helped I think.... ( Anyone like me just starting out may want to take note..)

Regards

Allan.