Member postings for Ron Laden

The 6mm MDF body side panels will need some 3mm deep recesses and slots and for what I need to do it would be much easier if I can cut them on the mill. I know you can get away with cutting wood and the like with metal working cutters but I have not tried MDF and wonder what type of cutter I should be looking at bearing in mind that I only have 2500 rpm top speed.

I was thinking of trying a 2 or 3mm 2 flute uncoated HSS Al cutter which I would have to get in but before I do wondered if any of you guys have any thoughts on it.

I appreciate that wood cutting bits would be the way to go but they run at much higher speeds than I have available.

Thanks

Ron

A picture below of the Dickson type post that came with my s/h 918 lathe. I dont know if it was from a supplier or home workshop made but whichever it is certainly very good quality. The post came with 12 holders, 8 quality ones which match the post and a set of 4 black holders which are definitely from a supplier.

The black holders fit the post but not as well as the quality ones plus they are smaller in some of the dimensions so lighter duty. Although the black ones do fit the post it is only just when it comes to clamping them down, I have noticed that the cam spindle rotates further around and with one of them I think a bit of extra leveridge and it would pass the cam high point and be loose again. Having said that they do work and I have had no issues when using them. Unfortunately it is not that helpful here as there is no markings on them so I dont know which supplier they came from.

Edited By Ron Laden on 11/12/2019 14:05:46

GLR Kennions is another one I have used.

My Warco 918 came with a Dickson type tool post, do I take it that it is only a genuine Dickson if the holders have a W stamped on them and the post has 3 tool stations mine only has 2 and no W on the holders.

I have the loco body, well not really but I have my original sketch which I offered up for an idea of sizes and how it looks, the sketch is short lengthways by 35mm so needs to grow a tad.

I have decided to go with the MDF, PLY, ABS etc as I did with the 0-4-0 shunter, I,m quite happy working with those materials, the loco length is 48 inches buffer to buffer.

The body main side panels will be 6mm MDF and you can see from the sketch there are a good number of doors and vent panels. I dont fancy cutting all those out and weakening the panels so I am thinking of facing the MDF with 1.5 mm Birch ply and cutting the apertures out of the ply, it will cut well with a good Stanley blade and a steel rule. I can then make and fit the doors/vents into the recesses and only cut through the MDF for the windows. Also a bonus with the Birch ply is that it is easier to achieve a good surface finish plus its a tougher skin and doesnt suffer dings as easily as MDF.

The curved roof will be a skin of 1 mm Birch ply built on a framework, at the moment I plan on having the roof lift off for access.

Anyway thats the plan so will see how I get on with it.

Very nice Jason I like the sound of it and it looks different.

It seems to be sensitive to mixture and timing but it had a sweet spot towards the end of the video.

Edited By Ron Laden on 10/12/2019 06:55:37

Edited By Ron Laden on 10/12/2019 06:56:16

Edited By Ron Laden on 10/12/2019 07:15:58

At £200 for the table and tailstock that is a very good buy, it certainly looks to be the ArcEuro one and I have only heard good things about it.

Hi Steve,

My CJ18 didnt have adjustable dials and as Brian suggests I had them set to adjust the backlash, its something I was going to modify but I didnt get around to it before I moved up to a larger lathe.

Ron

Jason, are we quite near to having the engine up and running, I say we as its just that I have been looking forward to seeing it.

Hi Paul, with the Dc and 3ph motors having similar power figures it sounds to be worth a try at £35.

In your searching have you seen a 3ph motor with a bit more power, say 250/300 watts but with the wrong size spigot..? If the spigot was smaller you could turn up a spacing collar and if it too large remove the motor end plate and turn down the collar to 50mm. You maybe dont want to mess around that way but it was just a thought providing there is a motor with a little more power and at the right price of course.

Ron

Thanks Guys, I have just ordered a 10mm holder so I will see what arrives, at a fiver it wont be the end of the world if its not up to much.

Ega, I think its the same part number as yours.

I wonder what the Banggood threading insert holders would be like..? they do quite a range for both internal and external threading.

I have never used Banggood and I wouldnt use them for the inserts but I would have thought the holders should be half decent..?

Anyone use the carbide threading inserts..? to be honest I didnt know they existed until I came across them yesterday. I was looking at some internal and external inserts in 60 and 55 degree, I really like the idea of them and fancy getting some but I need to see if a 8mm or 10mm shank tool holder is available as 10mm is the max I can go with and dont know yet if they come down that small.

Ah I see, thanks Jason.

I know nothing on this subject but what is the difference in the end product between case hardening using a carbon compound or quenching in oil which I believe is another method of hardening..?

At long last I have a rolling chassis, more detail to add to the sides and ends but that can come later as I want to make a start on the body.

Still thinking about the best approach for the build of the body, I have considered carving a blue foam plug and laying up a glass shell with laminating epoxy. I have used the method a few times in the past on R/C aircraft but in a small workshop the thought of being knee deep in foam shavings doesnt appeal much.

I built the shunter body from a mix of 6mm MDF, 1mm, 2mm and 3mm ply, ABS and alu sheet and it worked quite well so that is an option but the class 22 body is twice the length so it would mean more in the way of framing.

Anyway pleased the main chassis and bogies are complete.

Thats what I do with the tool square to the job, it seems to work fine for me and I am a relative beginner when it comes to thread cutting.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 03/12/2019 08:29:11

The X2 came with covers..? my SX2P didnt but to be honest I have never found it a problem. I clean the machine down in between jobs and give it a deep clean about once a month, have had no issues from swarf.

Sounds good Trevor, I am certainly happy with mine. The previous owner had done a number of mods which are well engineered so I was lucky. The only thing I have added is a digital readout for the spindle speed.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 02/12/2019 04:40:09

Ian, that probably would help a bit but I think the bottom line is that the cross/compound slides and tool post are just not rigid enough. They are fine for general turning though so dont let it put anyone off the mini they are good machines but parting really does test the mini lathe at least it did mine.

Having said that I have read on a number of occasions people saying that their mini-lathe is fine with parting and they regularly part 50 - 60mm steel bar with no issues..? That is not my experience with the mini and it was only after I made the heavier cross slide and rear post that I could tackle that size of job.