Member postings for Ron Laden

You cant beat some early morning (5am) machining to get the day off to a good start.

Anyway, 2 x 46 holes later, waste pieces removed and the angled ends cut and filed to shape it was back on the mill to clean back the drilled edges. Its a case of sliding the work along so as not to get too far away from the vice but it works well enough.

I would have used a 10mm 2 flute carbide alu cutter but its past its best so need to get another one. So it was a case of having to use a 8mm 3 flute coated HSS cutter from ARC,s premium range. I am really impressed with this cutter I have used it on both steel and alu with great results, think I will get a 10mm version also.

Not a very good picture but the tool made light work of cutting the 45mm x 1mm steel disc, started at 350 rpm which I increased to 400 and then 650 half way through. Its left a good finish, well very smooth to the finger though I need to adjust the tool height a tad. So looking good for a number of jobs on the TE which is the main reason I bought it.

Chain drilling the chassis rail side walls for clearance at the bogie positions, 2" x 1" x 3/16" alu angle back to back to get a matched pair. I did remember (just) to set the depth stop to prevent drilling the vice..

Thats what I thought Jason, the quick test I did today on some 40mm ali was at 650 and it was fine, for the 45mm thin steel discs I am doing in the morning I was thinking of starting at 350 and see how it goes from there.

Havnt had much time today but with the new tool mounted in the rear tool post I gave it a quick try with alu and brass and it was very good with no issues at all. I guess that is to be expected with softer material but I need some 45mm dia x 1.00mm thick steel discs so will see how it copes with those in the morning.

Edited By Ron Laden on 12/09/2019 17:05:53

Depending on the job I often cut dry but when I need some lube I use WD40 on alu (must find some paraffin) and for steel I use a 50/50 mix of motor oil and WD40, all I know is it works really well.

Jason, your 4 flute link goes to Model Engine Maker pages..?

Looking at those 2 flute prices they are very good some of the ones I found when I had a look were £30 upwards.

Bearing Boys sell 1mtr lengths of Nitrile O ring cord in a range of diameters, as mentioned some superglue and you can make your own...dead easy.

The parting block, blade and inserts arrived from ARC and looks to be very good quality, before I give it a try and also been new to insert parting tools a couple of questions if I may.

Am I right in thinking that to fit the insert into the blade you just firmly push it in and then the loading from parting locks it in.

Also, running speeds..? I watched a video recently of a similar tool which was tested on a variety of materials and it worked really well but I was surprised how low the speeds were, example 150rpm on 3/4" steel thats slower than I would use with HSS. Surely thats not the norm with inserts is it I thought inserts always work at higher speeds than HSS tooling, unless I,m wrong.

Jason, If its the motor I think it is (approx 5000 rpm) then 33/1 but dont quote me on that, there are a number of models in this range 12 volt and 24 volt and the spec given is often not that accurate.

I agree with Fizzy I was recently fitting the wheels to the axles on the class 22 using Loctite 638 and I didnt seat one correctly, when I realised which was no more than 30 seconds later I couldnt budge it, it was solid.

So despite what Loctite quote re working time in practice it is somewhat different.

Thanks for the tips guys but Geoff Adams (above post) has very kindly said he will CNC it for me, which is very kind of him and very much appreciated.

Ron

I also considered that, but didnt come up with an answer for that one.. I had better not rock the boat and go with the norm.

Edited By Ron Laden on 10/09/2019 15:49:49

Jeff, I did think of that but based it on the fact that the amount of running the engine would get, the bearing would probably see me out. Its not a problem though I can make it as per the drawings it was just an idea.

I have not given this too much thought so am prepared to be shot down in flames but I see on the Minnie drawings that the big end bearing is a pair of shouldered semi circular half bearings... is this necessary. I wondered if a one piece bearing would work, it would need to be fitted to the crankpin when assembling the crankshaft. If the conrod and strap are then machined to a size which grips the o/d of the bearing when fitted to the crank would that not work..?

Thanks Jason, I did forget something though I just realised that I only allowed for clearance of the crank webs and forgot the con rod. It would just about clear but a 4-5mm deep slot would make certain and there is enough meat in the boiler top to allow for this.

Bevel, is it not possible to find a bit of space for a seperate mill, for another £93 you could consider the Sieg SX2P from ARC..its R8 - 500 watt brushless and I have found it to be an excellent small mill. I have mine on a 30" x 15" bench so it doesnt need too much space....just a thought.

I have been sizing and positioning items scaled up to 1.625" from the 1" Minnie, I havnt followed it exactly but close.

I calculated the main axle position on the horn plate, centred the 80T gear at that position and worked back up through the gears to the 20T drive gear on the 2nd shaft. With the gears I am using it would be ideal if I moved the crank and second shaft rearward by 10mm and also move the crank down by 7mm and the second shaft down by 5mm.

The top of my boiler is square not radiused but I checked the crank throw and the larger 30T on the 2nd shaft and at the new position they would clear the top of boiler by 4mm. I realise this would change sizes/positions of other items but I couldnt see any real problems but it would be good to know if you guys can think of something I have not considered..?

Edited By Ron Laden on 10/09/2019 08:48:18

Your welcome Bill, but as I mentioned they dont list 3.5 inch gauge as stock so you will have to see what they say.

Ron

Very nice Jason, some quality engineering there I fancy.