Member postings for Roy Birch

Yes the taper in the LOO spindle is a parallel taper from MT3 enlarged, I did see Ian’s post regarding the making of this part at Wedge Engineering, I think his differs from the Boxford collet in that the original has a collar around the outboard end of the spindle to allow an ejection piece to be inserted, I assume that when you draw the collet in it can also draw the adapter in. I was looking for the diameter of the collar, the overall length including collar, and the gap between the end of the spindle nose and the collar, someone has already said that the collar is 11.1mm thick.

I have asked a good engineer friend who has said to make it out of mild steel, en1a or similar, the Boxford one is case hardened but I doubt I would have the need to go that far unless I am told different.

Many Thanks for the replies so far

Kind Regards

Roy

Hello All

I made a 5C holder for my Clarkson yesterday and found it quite easy, everything was a good fit. I now want to make a 5C collet holder for my Boxford VSL, does anyone recommend what type of steel to use for this?

Also does anyone have the dimensions as in length of this piece?

Kind Regards

Roy

Not silly at all, I don’t have any sleeves for my Clarkson at present but I do have 5c Collets and I can get them with square holes for lathe tools, the cost of 5c collets really outweighs buying steel etc and time. That said I can just machine some sleeves to fit the current work head. I also own a Boxford VSL which will take 5c collets so I decided that I did not want to add another collet system to my tooling. I have already made the holder for 5c to fit the Clarkson which only took a couple of hours and works really well. With regard to grinding dust, I wash all the collets in paraffin and brake cleaner after use.

Kind Regards

Roy

To be fair I thought that ER collets were advertised as having a 1mm clamping range and I think in some catalogues they are still listed as 1-2mm,2-3mm, and so on.

Kind Regards

Roy

Ok it looks like the 8 collets are needed, I have 5c collets but no way of using these in my Clarkson, I could also buy square 5c and use the T&C to regrind lathe tools for my shaper, I have never been good at using a hand grinder for lathe tools, I have not noticed any square er32 collets other than tap holders. I may take a look at making a 5c collet holder for the grinder.

Kind Regards

Roy

Hello all

I need to buy some ER32 collets to fit a work head on my Clarkson Tool and Cutter Grinder, I need to sharpen 1/4,5/16,3/8,1/2,5/8-6mm,8mm,10mm,12mm,16mm. Can anyone tell me the minimum number of collets I need to cover this range.

Kind Regards

Roy

The one I have is this and it's called Starrett 220XRL-1 Mul-T-Anvil Micrometer, you can often find them on ebay for £40 or so in a box with the bits.

https://www.starrett.com/metrology/product-detail/220XRL-1

They look excellent, I will give it a try.

Kind Regards

Roy

The frames and horn side are square, I checked that very early on, to be fair this loco looks like 2 different builders were in play, I will go back to the split axleboxes now though as that is what the drawings indicate for both leaf springs and coil springs and it does make more sense especially if they have to come apart at some point, I think I will get the boiler tested now as well.

Kind Regards

Roy

So I was a bit unhappy about the overall look of the axleboxes and the spring links that had already been completed, you guys who are seasoned model engineers know when something just does not look right, the lugs on the axleboxes were too thick and the tops had been very roughly filed as were the completed spring links, not a filing button in sight was evedent on the .156radius, the axleboxes were all steel solid bored 1" to take needle bearings which were installed. I decided to take all 6 out and put them on a surface plate and square them up to see if the axles lined up, they did not and the boxes were all different heights, the holes for the spring pins were in different places and different sizes all above the .156 reamed that they should be. I think it is now time to make new axleboxes, I don't know why someone has decided to make solid boxes out of steel with needle bearings, it is not called for or shown on the drawings, I assume it knocks out the need for lubrication but does anyone know if there are any advantages to the needle bearing setup or any disadvantages?

Kind Regards

Roy

Many thanks for the replies, the ones that have alrady been made by a previous builder are too short between the hole in the tab and the hole in the shaft and were not pleasing to the eye, they were also too short from the base to the top of the tab, I made some buttons to re profile the round shaft and got them to size and only then realised the other errors, would this be better if I just turned the shaft and soldered the tabs in unprofiled as a square and over length? that said it may be easier to just cut pieces from bar and do all the drilling and reaming whilst it is still a rectangle, I think the problem is that the previous builder made the shapes first and then decided to drill and got that part wrong.

Kind Regards

Roy

Edited By Roy Birch on 01/05/2023 10:32:41

Hello All

I am trying to make the Spring Link below, Can anyone tell me if this is suitable to be fabricated rather than filed from solid, I would like to turn the body for the pin from 5/16 and drill 5/32 for the pin hole and then mill a 1/8 slot into the round body and silver solder the tab into this after first forming the shape of the tab and drilling. I do have a very good jewellers oxy/Acetylene torch that fits my bottles and has a needle point flame. Is soldering strong enough for this component?

Hello Clive

Yes it is for the main springs on the Loco, the only problem we have is that the buckle shows it would take 22 leaves if it was 22swg to fit the hole in the buckle but the plan calls for 16.

Kind Regards

Roy

Hello All

Can anyone tell me what the thickness is for the Tufnol to make working springs are on a Torquay Manor 5 Gauge, the spring steel is 22swg but the plans give no rise to thickness, and of course where I can obtain it.

Kind Regards

Roy

Hello All

Can anyone who owns a Clarkson T & C Grinder tell me what grinding wheels they use and where to source them, I have the book with all the wheel numbers in but they dont seem to be recognised anymore.

Kind Regards

Roy

Yes that’s correct, when measured I get 270mm between spindles at start of adjustment and 285 at the end, it looks like I need new bearings for the spindle housing though.

Thats correct 300mm is the shortest in flat belts but for the money I might just get a toothed belt and turn it over and reverse the grinder and put a drum sander in the headstock annd see if I can get the belt down to the 1-1.5mm thickness.

Sorry yes it is a flat belt.

Yes that is another way but I am told it can lead to grinding pattern problems because the belt is stiffer where the teeth are and more flexible between the teeth, one way around this is to somehow mount the belt on something like a piece of wood turned to the inside diameter of the belt and mount this in the chuck and use the grinder to mill away the teeth to give a flat belt or perhaps turn it down to give a flat belt.