Member postings for Jim Newberry 1

Funny you should mention it but yes! Only one small area on the soleplate so it was easy to work around but as it was one of the first things I machined I did find myself rolling my eyes and thinking "Oh here we go!" However, everything else was fine and it was only a tiny bit in a non-critical area so it really didn't matter.

Edited By Jim Newberry 1 on 24/04/2020 22:24:46

Oh thanks, I like the look of the Wide a Wake - a wooden open launch could work well. I had been thinking of something along the lines of Branksome but a sleek design like that would need to be really quite substantial to take an engine of this size.

Thanks for the input chaps, appreciated.

I have been building a ST D10 while in isolation, here are some pictures for anyone who is interested. I'm going to set it up to turn a spit roast on my barbecue but eventually I'd like to put it in a boat so if anyone has any suggestions for a suitable model do let me know!

Don't ask about the goat. Long story...

Edited By Jim Newberry 1 on 02/04/2020 20:27:55

Hi Folks,

I've got myself into a mild pickle with my Stuart Victoria build. Where I've machined the cylinder top I've managed to mess up the bolt spacing such that, rather than forming a nice hexagonal pattern they are a good way off and it looks a mess. I'm pretty confident it's nothing that would affect the running but it's going to annoy me so I'd like to redo it. My plan of attack is to make up a new cylinder cover with the holes drilled in the right places and then re-drill and tap the holes in the end of the cylinder. In the places where the new holes in the cover overlap the old ones in the cylinder I'm planning on filling the old holes with JB Weld or similar.

Couple of questions now - the original cylinder cover is made from cast iron. Is there any reason why I couldn't use brass for this? I only ask because I have a suitable piece of brass in the scrap box whereas I would have to order a piece of cast iron specially. To my mind, I can't see why brass or cast iron would make a difference, but then I'm quite new to all this and there may be a reason I haven't thought of in terms of differential expansion or something.

Second question - is my JB Weld idea going to cut the mustard or do I need to do something else? The alternative that I have thought of is to drill out the holes to a larger size and fit plugs of cast iron (being the same material as the cylinder itself) held in place with Loctite. I saw this method used by Keith Appleton in one of his Youtube videos.

Finally, is there any reason why I would need to plug all the holes or can I leave the ones that don't overlap the new holes? I may get lucky and find that none of my new holes overlap the old ones in which case I am not planning on plugging anything - is this likely to cause any problems with weakening the cylinder wall?

Many thanks for any help or suggestions.

Jim.

Just spotted a mistake in my original post - it's a 4BA screw, not 8 as described!

Thanks Gary, no reason at all other than I just felt like it and thought it would look good and a little different.

Jim.

Thanks Bob. I am thinning of making a twin cylinder version for project number 2. Alternatively, maybe a diesel aero engine, not sure.

Jim.

Thanks all. Andrew… Radial you say…? Hmmm.

Hi Folks,

I am feeling pretty pleased with myself at the moment. I had been looking for a lathe for a little while and faffed about trying to decide whether to buy a new or used lathe. Eventually a Myford ML7 came available and I took the plunge. Since getting it home I have spent many happy hours making swarf in the garage and I have built the engine shown in the pictures as my first project.

It is a single cylinder, double acting oscillator of 12mm bore and 18mm stroke. To say that I built it to my own design is a bit misleading since it is very similar to thousands of other engines of this arrangement, however I did build it from bar stock to my own plan so I suppose I can take some credit for that! I am particularly pleased with the in-built oil reservoir. If you look closely at the top of the frame you can see a CS 8BA screw. This has a 1mm hole drilled in it, into which a tiny tube is soldered to act as an integral dipstick and allow air in. A long hole is then drilled right through to the base with oil ways leading into the bearings.

The engine runs smoothly on either compressed air or steam and, for no particular reason, I have called it Cobweb. The next plan is to build the Double Cobweb.

Hope you like it!

Jim.

Thanks Ketan, I think I'm going to be paying you a visit in the next week or so!

Jim

I went to the Midlands show - just managed to catch the last hour of it on my way home from work. I wasn't quite ready to take the plunge then and didn't want to rush the decision as the traders were all beginning to pack up. Thanks for the tip about ARC - I'll be sure to do that.

Jim

Again, thanks for the input everyone. The Sieg certainly seems to be a popular choice. My concern is that, having read a couple of reviews, it sounds like a strip down and rebuild is - if not inevitable - then certainly highly likely if I want it to perform as advertised. Considering that I'm a newbie to all this, the idea of having to strip down and rebuild my first lathe before I can use it properly seems somewhat daunting. The Warco lathes on the other hand apparently come all set up and ready to go. If the advertising is to be believed then it is simply a case of wiping off the protective grease layer and plugging it in, yet the comments above seem less complimentary about Warco. I live near Leamington Spa and so I reckon the Arceuro showroom in Leicester is about an hour north of me while the Warco showroom is a similar distance to the south so if I may well take a trip to each and have a look before committing myself one way or the other.

Phil,

i should perhaps have mentioned that it was my ring from my first marriage and it had been sitting gathering dust at the back of a drawer for the last five years! I didn't get enough for it to pay for the lathe entirely but it's a good start! It was a 6mm platinum ring.

Jim

Thanks everyone, there is some really useful stuff here and I'll bear it all in mind. The Sandown show is quite an easy proposition for me as it is handy for work (Heathrow) so I'll go along anyway but try to curb my natural tendency to "buy it 'cos it's there" unless I see the right thing. Ally Pally doesn't fit in very well with work dates but if nothing is forthcoming at Sandown I can probably squeeze it in.

Anyway, thanks again for the input, much appreciated.

Jim

Thanks for the tip John. The Super C3 isn't a million miles out of budget so is now officially on the contenders' list! Would you mind me asking what it is that makes it superior? What I'm thinking is whether many of the features that make it superior are features that I wouldn't necessarily need anyway - for instance, I notice that it has a longer bed but I'm not sure I need a bed that long anyway so I wouldn't necessarily want to pay extra for something I don't need. Do any other features fall into a similar category?

Many thanks,

Jim

Ah. Must admit, I hadn't considered that possibility!

Hi all,

I have been after a lathe for a little while now and, after giving it quite a bit of though, I have come to the conclusion that I would prefer to buy a brand new machine rather than second hand so I will be heading to the Model Engineering Exhibition at Sandown this weekend. With the money I made this afternoon selling my wedding ring - no I'm not kidding! - I am hoping to take the plunge there and then.

So - I think I have narrowed the search down to three or four machines and I'd like people's input please. I reckon my first lathe should be something relatively small and simple - I am planning on using it to make smallish steam engines, initially at least, and I think something with too many bells and whistles will only confuse me - knowing me I'll try to run before I can walk and only end up making a mess of everything.

The contenders are - Clarke CL250 (I like the fact that this one can have a milling attachment added at a later date), Warco Super Mini, Sieg SC2. All three are in the order of £500 or so. Also in the running is the Clarke 500 - twice the price but comes with a mill/drill (although see earlier comment about not getting something with too many features - just contradicted myself there!)

So - thoughts please everyone?

Thanks guys, there are some really useful points in all of the above! Nigel - I'm really sorry but you are going to have to explain "pinning" to me. You see, where I come from (aeromodelling) we use dress makers' pins to hold balsa in place over plans, so when you talk about pinning steel bar I can't help wondering if we are imagining different things. Sorry to ask a dumb question!

Jeff - great stuff, all things I need to get to grips with! I will google every word from your third paragraph between the words "fractional" and "good start". I was planning on using copper for the boiler but brass for the support. (Is that the right word? Support? Housing? The bit that holds the boiler in place above the burner.) I should point out that I am the sort of bloke who feels embarrassed walking into Screwfix because I never know whether I am supposed to ask for a cross head screw or a Phillips head screw - I know there's a difference but I don't know what it is. Do you see what I'm up against?

Your help - and patience - is enormously appreciated.

Jim