Member postings for raysal

I just found a thread on HMEM concerning this issue. The guy used set screws and due to the kickback as Jason mentioned the set screws came loose. He did cure this by adding flats on the crankshaft and plenty of loctite but on the strength of it i'm now going with the plans and using roll pins.

thanks for your help guys anyway

Thanks Baz/Jason B

I can see where your coming from there Jason. I suppose if using grub screws, once timed I could drill a little into the crank to give a bit more integrity. I haven't done keyways yet but it is another option to try on future projects. I am at least happy that yourself and Baz have not told me "no way use grub screws"

Ray

I have put this question in the "beginners question" as this is my first ic engine.

The plans show the flywheel is fixed with roll pins once the builder is ready to time it up. Has anyone fitted the flywheel with grub screws instead so they can be loosened and the crankshaft turned to time it.? Going by using the grub screw method on my steam engines I would feel a lot more confident if you feel it is acceptable. Any thoughts appreciated thanks.

Ray

Just put in a order to Rapid metals, £21 total, this is a better price than steelcitygavs

thanks again to for your replies I will add the other recommended sellers to my favourites

Ray

boy that was quick, thanks chaps, I will put in a order first thing in the morning.

Ray

Hi all

I need a 100mm diameter x 30mm height piece of mild steel for making a flywheel for my Webster build. I ordered it from steelcitygav on Ebay but after waiting 3 weeks for delivery I was told it was lost. He offered me a refund but did not offer to send a replacement out so I assumed it was out of stock.

Do you know where else I may purchase it please?

many thanks

Thanks for the offer of lending me a arbor and cutters John. As previously said, I will buy the two gears for now and try to find a '3 to go with my #5 for future use. I will still probably buy the set of 0.8 mod as well as they will come in usefull for future projects.

Thanks for taking the time to show the photos Jason, They are very interesting.

Thanks chaps, my head is still buzzing a bit but each post I read gives me a little more knowledge and it is slowly sinking in.

Jason , thanks for the arbor tip, I will do that to suit if I do purchase another smaller bored set.

Thanks for that Andrew. Perhaps I am looking too much in to gear cutters and making it more complicated than I think. So you are saying it does not mater what DP or Module set of cutters I buy, I just pick the ones with the amount of teeth I need and that will achieve what I want. So in theory I can go on Ebay and just buy any set that comes up.? There are some cheap sets that I can buy off Ebay with a DP20 or DP16.

Andrew, After trying so hard to find the #3 32DP cutter I did think of going module instead after a suggestion on here of going 0.8 Mod, Then I realised I had bought a arbor to suit the DP gears with a 1" Bore. I don't think there are any MOD arbors with a 1" bore. I will just do as I said in the above post and buy the gears for now.

I made a electronic indexer a while back that works spot on. When I purchased the #5 gear cutter I cut quite a few equal toothed gears in brass for practice. If I had, had the #3 at the time I feel I would have cut the required Webster gears ok. I do understand gearing and ratios as I used to have to work out gearing when building Hotrods in the past. Where I am as I say "dumb" is I don't understand the maths and calculations for working out what gear cutter I need for a specific job. I also can't understand the swap-ability of different DPs, PAs, and module copared to DP. I am like the youtuber "Thunderdog" I am useless at maths, he however IMO does the best simple explanation to get the end result.

Howard I bought that book after watching Andrew from Leaning Turning recommended it. This is how I am going to play it after all your help. I will buy the gears for the Webster and meanwhile look out for the elusive #3 cutter while building it.

I find it difficult to understand gear cutters but did wonder as DC31K mentions if there was another way arround this by selling the no 5 32DP and buy a matching pair of say 20 PA 0.8 mod gears to achive the 2:1 ratio.

I thank you all for your help and have decided I need to go back to studying the basics of gear cutters to see if the above way can be achieved. I must admit as I am so dumb on the subject it looks favourable now to buy ready made gears that I have the part numbers for.

Juddy, thanks for the heads up on the home and workshop machinery site, it looks a amazing site, I will certainly give them a try first.

Hi Thor no,

Although I have been a hobbist engineer for a few years my skills are quite basic, I have built only sterling engines and steam engines. I am probably pushing it skill wise building a Webster engine so trying to make my own cutters would be a nightmare but thanks anyway for having faith in me lol.

As DC31K mentions you can find them at £100 each but I can't go to those high prices. If I can't find a no 3 at the price RDG sells gear cutters for (£25)I will resort to buying the ready made gears. These are a reasonable price but I like the idea of trying to make the whole engine myself.

About six months ago I bought a 32 DP no 5 gear cutter from RDG and also asked for the no 3. They were out of stock of the no 3. I wanted to learn gear cutting for building the Webster ic engine. I tried again yesterday and still no no 3 anywhere, even on the chinese sites. What has happend to the no 3, have they stopped producing them? any info appreciated

This afternoon I did what a few recommended . I bought some longer mounting bolts and added a 18mm thick piece of ply inside the cabinet ceiling. I retried the offending piece of un-turned steel and all was well.

Martin, Although I mentioned putting a heavyish piece of stock in the chuck that really caused a wobble, I did not actually need to even put anything in the chuck or even run the lathe, you could see the flex by just pushing the lathe backwards and forwards.

Thanks for all your help on this chaps, now I have ironed out all the teething problems I can have fun turning.

It is the stand as pictured, it's very smart looking. I have read many reviews on Warco being spot on with problem solving and help. I had a email from them just now saying they would get a carpenter to make me a strengthening top I have told them that I will sort it but how nice is that of them, they have lived up to their reputation again.

Ray

Hello Dave, I must admit that it copes with light stock in it and I did try a unturned round bar in it to test further. When reading reviews on the lathe I did come across some metioning that it is best to make your own stand as they are flimsy but I wanted a whole new kit. After reading the advice on here I have told Warco that I will sort it myself and so will strengthen the mounting by putting 18mm ply inside the ceiling of the cabinet.

To give an exaggerated example of what is actually happening: if you mount a thin flat piece of steel sheet, say 4 x 2 to a frame and mount a 180kg lathe in the center with 3 bolts, if you pull the lathe you see the steel sheet buckle. If you did the same with a 1/2" sheet of steel it would not bend. 

I love the lathe and have no complaint with Warco I only contacted them in case some sort of strengthening plates may be missing.

Edited By raysal on 15/11/2019 13:12:48

Edited By raysal on 15/11/2019 13:13:30

I did think of adding a sheet of ply between the drip tray and stand top but I think I will try as advised, to put ply on the inside of the cabinet.

Ray

Hi All, After degreasing the lathe and setting it up level etc I gave it it's first try. I noticed that the lathe wobbled backwars and forwards. I put a heavier piece of stock in and the lathe wobbled really badly. Due to the top of the stand and drip tray being so thin for the weight of the lathe if you push and pull it by hand you can see it flexing at the mouting blocks. Please note it's nothing to do with the lathe not being bolted to the floor, that part does not wobble.

I phoned Warco to report this and they said they have never come across this before and never had any complaints? If the lathe was second hand I would strengthen up the top with plates but why should I modify it if it is supposed to fit that lathe. I used my boxford for many years on a heavy wooden frame and it did not move.

Am I really the only one to have this problem?

Ray

Thank you chaps for the promp help. I have in fact read Journeymans excellent review on the WM250 and probably bought it on the strength of that review. Nice to know that the lathe will run nice after bedding in. I probably sounded impatient asking questions before I have even used the lathe but as I had to strip most of it down for degreasing I though that if there were any adjustments you recommend I could carry them out while cleaning..

Ray