Member postings for Ron Laden

Thanks Dave, actually I have just read in a couple of places that in general people stay clear of BA on the lathe. I have some taps and can get some dies plus studding etc. I didnt have any particular parts in mind but having just got some smaller head BA nuts and set screws I really like the look of them and would like to stay with BA for that reason. To be honest I didnt think the small difference in the tpi from the lathe settings would be a problem but I was obviously wrong. Anyway there will be a way around what ever comes up I,m sure.

Probably an obvious question but I had better check, to date I have only cut metric threads on the lathe but for the engine I am looking at some BA sizes. The inch table on the lathe for the change wheels/gearbox settings gives TPI which are close and I assume using those gives no fit issues..? i.e 2BA - 31.4 tpi - lathe 32. 4BA - 38.5 tpi - lathe 38.

Thanks Jason, its not the shape I had in mind but my error on the RT put paid to that, once I had it filed to something reasonable I called it a day.

The conrod is not too far away made up the big end strap today, still have an oiler to make and fit plus it all needs a good clean up. I need some small head 4BA setscrews for the finished item but I made up a couple for now from a pair of small head nuts and some studding. The pair of big end bearings are a good fit and I used the boring head for that.

To be honest I am feeling a bit chuffed, a year ago I would never have thought I would be able to make something like this. I,ve had a lot of help and advice from you guys of course but I must have learnt a bit of something along the way.

Edited By Ron Laden on 24/09/2019 17:34:21

I had a mishap today whilst shaping the conrod small end on the rotary table, the part moved and the tool dug in. My fault, I found that I had only secured one of the two clamps..

I thought the part probably scrap but I set to with the files and shaped it by hand, its the best I could do in an attempt to save it. What do you think, acceptable or bin it and start again ..?

Thanks Jason, our posts crossed, Warco do them but will have a look at Rotaqrip

Edited By Ron Laden on 22/09/2019 17:52:58

Would anyone know if its possible to get a set of soft jaws for the typical 100mm chucks that are supplied with the Chinese hobby lathes.

Sorry just found that Warco do them, dont know if that covers all the 100mm chucks though as there is probably more than one chuck supplier, will have to give them a call. 

Edited By Ron Laden on 22/09/2019 17:49:07

Edited By Ron Laden on 22/09/2019 17:50:45

Hi Mal, I dont have any means of silver soldering at the moment, its something I need to gear up for as its something I would like to learn.

So I am going to assemble it with 638 retainer and then pin it just to be sure, some say there is no need for pins others think it belt and braces and thats my sort of thinking.

Ron

Added a bit more taper, happy with it now.

Also looking at the Minnie drawings the blended rads at each end are quite small so will leave as is. To the mill next to machine the big and small ends.

Made a start on the conrod, turned and tapered the rod to size though I have only given it a taper of 9mm down to 7.5mm over 90 mm. It needs some more probably 9mm down to 6mm to be a more visible taper, also the radius corners at each end I think would be better larger. I turned the taper by off-setting the tailstock, first time I have tried this and it worked well enough but you may just see a spiral pattern along the taper. Its very shallow and a couple of minutes with emery and its almost gone, would this have come from the flexing of the workpiece away from its normal centre..? Thats what I thought it must be but maybe something else..?

Edited By Ron Laden on 22/09/2019 10:35:35

Thanks Jason, thats good to know.

Crankshaft parts made though not fixed together yet as I need to finalise the shaft length. The webs need cleaning up but it fits together nicely and should run true when assembled.

I meant to phone M-machine but ran out of time would anyone know how their pricing works. If the material is priced per inch and I order 2.125 inches does the extra 1/8 inch mean I pay for 3 inches or is it based on a per inch price and you pay for the actual length you order if you see what I mean.

Ron

Thanks Mal, I am certainly finding it interesting though a traction engine is a big learning curve, well it is for me but Jason and Paul have helped a lot. I think a T/E is probably a great teacher on the machining front especially when you dont have too much experience as there is so much of it to do. I was thinking of a rolled rim and T rings welded in, but having found the 9 inch steel tube I think I am going to give that a go. A fair bit of machining but I wont need the rings or the welding, worth a try anyway.

I have been following your Howitzer thread, you should be proud of it some lovely work and an unusual subject.

Ron

Rear wheel rims..?

Obviously I am pinching most of the design from the Minnie but I have also sized some parts from the 1 inch Greenly and Steel model which is similar to the Minnie. At my scale (1.625 inch) the rear wheels come out at 9.75 inch from the Minnie but 9 inch from the Greenly. I was thinking of middle ground at 9.5 inch but having just found some 9 inch seamless steel tube at M-machine I am tempted to go 9 inch. There are a couple of advantages, the tube would fit on the lathe (just) and with a wall thickness of 30mm I could machine the webs so the rim/webs is a one piece part.

I appreciate that it would be quite a lot of machining but I cant see why it couldnt be done. With rims at 2 inches wide cost would be about £30 each which I dont think is too bad.

I will think on it some more.

Ground a radius form tool this morning, did it freehand so the rad wont be perfect but its not a million miles away checking it against a 8 mm hole. I,m sure it will be ok for blending in, quite enjoyed making it. I used a 360 diamond card around the cutting edge and there is approx 5 degrees front relief that came from the shape of the wheel so not knowing any different just went with that.

Tried it out on some brass which seemed ok and the conrod is EN1A so it should cope with that...I hope.

p.s. I just wondered with the radius of the work piece falling away from the tools cutting edge, maybe it didnt need any front relief..?

Edited By Ron Laden on 19/09/2019 08:25:44

Edited By Ron Laden on 19/09/2019 08:44:19

Going to have a go at grinding a radius form tool in the morning, not done one before so will see how it goes. I need it for the conrod and blending in the tapered rod to the rectangular small and big ends. I think the Minnie rod is produced from flat bar but I,m going with round bar and then mill the flats on the ends. I will use flat bar for the the big end strap but prefer round for the rod, should have material tomorrow.

Thanks Jason, seeing those tracks it makes perfect sense.

Following on from Jasons suggestion, I happened to be on the Metals4U site and I had a look, they do 660 tube in a range of sizes up to 4 inch O/D with various wall thickness and PB1 up to 6 inch. I thought they had a minimum of 50mm cut length but it looks as if with the larger bronze tube they will cut even shorter.

I wonder where they get the tyres from for these engines, I cant imagine anyone is manufacturing them now. I guess the Aveling tyres could have been cut from a modern tractor tyre, the same with the Burrell and the double straked tyre. The only thing that made me doubt it on the Burrell was Goodyear moulded into the tyre at the edge of the strakes, if it had been cut from a tractor tyre I wouldnt have expected the name to be there it would have been on the side wall..? Wish I had asked now I had quite a chat with the owner.

Edited By Ron Laden on 18/09/2019 16:45:14