Member postings for Steve Rowbotham

Hello Scott, sorry I'm a bit late to this thread, only just seen it. To answer your question 'has anyone else come across the 11/16 vs 5/8' issue, the answer is yes I did earlier this year. I am new to Model Engineering, this was my second engine and I had the same dilemma, so I decided to make machine the base casting and bearings and measure the width between the inner faces, and found it to be 11/16 as per the pic below (bit of interpolation needed!). I then made the crank to the 11/16 dimension, it was a tight fit between the bearings and needed a little easing. I would be interested to hear how you got on with this. I finished the 10V a few months ago, and am very please with how it runs (on steam). I have now bought the reversing gear which which I will tackle after my current project, the Stuart Beam which I am currently half way through. Steve

Thanks folks, I trawled through the Keith Appleton '504 boiler renovation' videos and he uses red Oxide and then sprays with an unspecified paint. I had a quick look through his 'making a 504 boiler' series, of which there are a very many parts, and couldn't find reference to the paint used but will have another trawl. I will also ask Stuart for suggestions tomorrow.

I purchased a Stuart 504 boiler kit at the Warwick show last week and am keen to assemble and see my Oscillator (project #1) run from steam rather than air. I am ready to paint the end covers (Cast Iron), and steel side plates and chimney and am considering using high temp paint in aerosol form from Halfords or similar, but have the following questions:

1) High temp paints I have used in the past need to reach a high temp to harden. Given I will be handling the parts to assemble, this isn't ideal. I could just put them in the oven when my wife is out, but wondered if anyone is aware of a high temp paint that hardens at room temp?

2) I'm not sure how far down the chimney I will be able to paint with aerosol - is it better to brush paint? If so I may as well brush paint the ends and covers also.

Hi Garry, I have started from scratch this year and found 'Lathework, A Complete Course' by Harold Hall to be brilliant. Also 'Lathework For Beginners' by Neil Wyatt (as advertised on this page!) is a very informative guide. I spent several months working my way through the projects in Harold Hall's book (and the same for Milling) before launching into my first project (Stuart single cylinder Oscillator) - I found it to be time extremely well spent, giving great insight into setting up and using the lathe; there is also the added bonus that you will end up with some very useful items such as a tailstock die holder. Best of luck, Steve

PS thanks to Speedy Builder5 for the reference to CupAlloys, much better than any web site I had found on this topic.

Thanks all for your most helpful responses, I will purchase 1.5mm2 rod and HT5 flux. My other questions regarding crankshaft fabrication were related to pinning, but all fully answered in a 2015 thread initiated by Ferrum - what a brilliant resource this forum is for a beginner.

I've just got to fabricating the crankshaft on my Stuart 10V and need to buy some Silver soldering bits as have never done before. I'm not sure what size wire / rod to purchase for this task that will also have wider utility for future use - 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5mm2? Advice welcomed please before I order.

Further to my request a few weeks ago to purchase any unwanted Universal Pillar Tool (UPT) castings, forum member Tug (Ramon Wilson) very kindly offered me a set of castings he wasn't planning to use.

Not only would he not take any payment - "I have found the castings so will pack them up and send them if you let me have your address. I don't want anything for them - someone on the forum did me a great kindness recently too, works all ways" - he also posted them at his own expense.

It turns out that the great kindness referenced was that of forum member '10ba12ba' who sent Tug a spare digital readout he had, even asking his brother to find it in his workshop and send it while he was in hospital. Again the forum member wanted nothing in return.

Being new to ME and to this Forum, I have been amazed at the willingness of forum members to help and support - I hope I will be able to help others in the same way some day.

Having tapped the few threads in the Oscillator 'freehand', with slightly questionable results in terms of perpendicularity (though it does run very well!), I was a bit daunted by the number of threads on the 10V. Using the advice given in this thread, and a direct message from Thor, I have now tapped the exhaust port mentioned at the start of this thread and am delighted with the result, and now feel ready to tap the remaining 20 threads in the cylinder. Thanks once again, till my next question, Steve

Edited By JasonB on 15/08/2022 15:41:15

I didn't realise what I was starting with this thread, but now have more information on tapping than I could ever have imagined, no doubt the above will be of great value to others starting out. Jason I appreciate your comments on progress since the UPT design was published, but it does seem a good learning project which will also produce a useful piece of kit. Ramon thank you for your very kind offer, will look out for your PM. Steve

Thank you for sharing the above wisdom which is all complementary and absolutely addresses my concerns of achieving perpendicular threads, some into blind holes, whilst also minimising the risks of stripping and tap breakage. I will definitely be making a circular tap holder for small taps, and am giving very serious consideration to making a UPT as a starter project, it does look like a very useful piece of kit. I have established availability of UPT castings from Hemmingway, but if anyone has unwanted castings I would be happy to purchase them. I have now asked several questions on this forum as a novice and been overwhelmed by the knowledge of forum members. There is a wealth of knowledge in the above thread alone, and there will likely be further contributions. Just a thought, but has anyone thought of collating the responses to beginners questions, which are in the main based on practical problems, into a publication of some form and so capturing the massive knowledge of forum members?

Thank you all for your very helpful responses, I will put your advice to use in the morning. The lack of sensitivity via the chuck was what originally worried me, I have practiced on other materials but don't presently have any bits of CI to practice on. I love the slipping clutch suggestion.

I am seeking advice on tapping a 1/4" 32TPI thread into cast iron. I have just completed my first engine, a Stuart Oscillator, for which I tapped the same thread into the Brass standard using a set of HSS taps purchased from Tracey Tools for the task, and achieved a good result. I have now embarked on a Stuart 10V and have just drilled the cylinder for the exhaust and now need to tap the 1/4 32 TPI thread. I have not moved the cylinder since drilling and plan to fit the taps into the drill chuck and turn by hand whilst applying pressure via the quill. I have not drilled CI before, and now have a lot of holes to drill and tap down to 8BA and am nervous about stripping the threads. The 1/4 32 TPI taps are nice and sharp having been used once only into Brass. My questions are a) is using the drill chuck to hold the taps a sensible approach or would I be better off by hand, and b) should I use cutting fluid - there seems to be mixed views on this matter on the web. Any advice gratefully received before I press on.

Thanks again for the tips chaps, I'm on quite a steep learning curve! I will certainly keep you posted Hopper, I decided to have a break from facing & boring tonight having completed those operations on the Boxbed, Soleplate, Standard & Cylinder, and decided to start on the steam passages. I have just milled the recesses and then calculated the drilling angle (which isn't on the drawings), though will check my trig again in the morning - I have now invested a lot of hours in this cylinder!

Thanks all for your very helpful responses, which have enabled me to complete the cylinder machining satisfactorily with all of the tooling marks caused by the angle plate shifting thankfully being removed in the process. I started with the angle plate mounting approach as that is the method recommended for beginners in 'Building A Vertical Steam Engine From Castings' which details the manufacture of the 10V. I did think about using the 4 jaw but thought it may be difficult to achieve correct alignment due to the jaws getting in the way of the square, so went with the recommended approach. My problem was a small angle plate and large faceplate; locating the angle plate such that the cylinder was central to the faceplate meant that I couldn't bolt it directly so ended up clamping, and the bolt securing the clamp ended up closer to the spacer than to the angle pate as pointed out by Clive. I knew this wasn't ideal but thought it would hold - a key learning point here! Further to the above suggestions I had a go at setting up in the 4 jaw, inserting paper on the flange faces as suggested by Clive and having first ground off the hard skin as suggested by Hopper. I haven't yet drilled and tapped any of the castings as I decided to complete all of the facing and boring of the castings first so couldn't use the method suggested by Martin, though I do appreciate the effort of producing the drawing. I am very pleased with the end result, all square and dimensionally correct. I am now moving onto machining the flywheel casting, so stand by for more beginners questions!

Having machined the 2 flanges and bore of the cylinder I now need to machine the port face. I set the cylinder up on an angle plate as per attached photo, and attempted the first cut, with the result that the angle plate moved and caused the tool to mark the face (I have circa 1/16 to remove so not a problem). I had thought to bolt bars either side of the angle pate to ensure it couldn't move but decided that would be overkill. So now my plan is to bolt the bars either side, but I am now worried that the cylinder could rotate on it's axis when the tool makes contact, and potentially cause damage I wont be able to rectify. Any advice before I proceed would be appreciated!

Edited By JasonB on 10/08/2022 10:43:50

Thanks as ever for your informative responses, I have managed to establish that the recommended oil is Astra 68 slideway oil - the manufacturer being Morris lubricants! It may have been easier to just buy from Warco, or plump for an engine or hydraulic oil, but at least I now know what spec. the manufacturer intended (and it's not golden syrup). Good to hear from you Thor, you will be pleased to know the Stuart Oscillator is now complete and running merrily on compressed air, and I have today unboxed a Stuart 10V set of castings - a bit more daunting than the oscillator so expect more requests for advice!

I have a new Warco WM280V lathe which is now due it's first gearbox oil change. The manual specifies Mobilgear 627, which is now obsolete, and the equivalent is Mobilgear 600 XP 100 which I can only find in industrial volumes (25L). I am contemplating purchasing 2L of gearbox oil from Warco, but before I place the order I just wondered if anyone else has been round this buoy before, and if so whether a regular gear oil from Halfords could be recommended.

Being new to ME it never fails to amaze me how many different solutions there are for a given problem, or how knowledgeable and helpful the folk on this forum are - this is the 4th time this year the forum have helped me solve a problem, and with multiple solutions to each. I decided to start with the slit bush method using the square stock provided with the Stuart kit, and got pretty good results as per pic. The accuracy achieved was such that there seemed no point switching to the 4 jaw. I now intend to try the other methods suggested as part of my learning process, and also to purchase a smaller diameter 4 jaw as I intend to focus on small modes initially and the need will clearly arise again. John, I subscribe to MEW print and online so will lookout for your article, though as you say the screenshot is self explanatory. Thanks again, will no doubt be back soon with another question!

Thanks all for suggesting alternative methods, I shall experiment!