Member postings for Nigel Bennett

Oh, it'll continue to develop, all right; it's too good a technology for aerospace, F1 and all that not to have lots of money thrown at it, because it can produce all kinds of "impossible" things. Give it time, and Warco will be selling them...

As with all this kind of thing, you need to be able to create the object as a 3D CAD model first, and the rapid prototyping gubbins does the rest. Even then (see the way the propellor is located) you're often constrained by the way in which the model is created on the machine, so it's not simple even then.

Creation of complex 3D shapes on a computer is not simple. I know; I've been trying to do it professionally since 1995. When shapes get curvy (like motor cars, shoes, any kind of arty-farty sculpture), the digital definition of the shape of it becomes very tricky indeed. Modifying what you've created because it "isn't quite right" can be a nightmare - and as for trying to edit somebody else's creation - you'd often be better starting from scratch.

Luckily, most of "our" type of stuff was invented before about 1960, and is perforce usually defined fairly simply as far as 3D digital definition is concerned. Lots of simple flat shapes and relatively easy cylindrical bits more or less define a steam locomotive! Unless you want to re-create (say) a 1950 vintage motor car. Even then, if you have access to the real thing and a 3D laser scanner, you're laughing.

A New Zealand chap on another forum is building a 5"G BR standard 3MT, using 3D CAD to produce wax models of the castings, which are then cast in steel. It is looking absolutely superb - I think his cylinder casting includes some bosses which are not actually used for anything - but they appeared on the real one. And it's all hidden by the cleading afterwards...

The more technology improves, the more ways there are of making "models" or whatever it is you wish to call them. Some people embrace it, and create magnificent things of beauty which would be next to impossible to create using a treadle lathe and carbon-steel tools. Each to his own.

There's no need to turn off the Myford threading on your chuck to fit a D1-3 backplate; I've got such a set-up on my Boxford. You pick up the existing backplate screw holes in the chuck and use longer screws. You need to bore out the adaptor to a good fit on the existing chuck boss. Mine is about 23mm thick. If I need to I can then easily return the chuck to Myford fit.

To be pedantic, it's Billinton (no "g". Apparently when he got wed, his wife-to-be refused to have the same name as the then Chief Executioner. Or so the story goes. Good luck with your loco; I guess you might need to visit the real one on the Isle of Wight.

Hello Neil

If you haven't any certification, then the Boiler Tester will need to inspect the bare boiler and treat it as "new and untested". If you can prove it's been built before the CE marking rule came into place (I think it was 2002) then it won't matter if it was built commercially or as an amateur build. Technically if it was post 2002 and commercially built, it MUST have the CE mark or it cannot be tested!

The Boiler Inspector should be able to examine the boiler easily - on a Clayton it's all pretty well visible to check for correct penetration of brazing - and then give it a 2x hydraulic test. Once it's back on the chassis with all the fittings in place, it can be tested to 1.5xWP and then given a steam test.

If Sunderland are in the Northern Fed, it's likely that they will issue a new boiler ID to be stamped on it for future re-certification.

Good luck!

Looks like a 5" gauge "Speedy" - a GW 15xx Pannier Tank Engine - to the LBSC design.

Allan - it doesn't just bolt straight on to the apron; Myford provide a couple of red fibre washers to space the unit off the apron in order to get the graduations to line up properly with the fiducial mark when the half-nuts are engaged. You need to fiddle about and choose the correct thickness combination of washers to do that.

As Roy & Jon have said, it's 1/4"BSF.

I wanted some round HSS to make some taper reamers for some injector cones. I found some 6mm dia x 100mm lengths cheaply on eBay (from China) and they came quite quickly. I ground up a couple and then found, on withdrawing a reamer after reaming the embryo cone, that it came out all twisted. Hardly what you expect to happen - snapping off in the hole, yes - but can you get hold of one of your Eclipse bits and put a 90 degree twist in it???

So yes, you get what you pay for...perhaps you have to harden them yourself...

We'll keep an eye out in the Classifieds for "Assorted file handles for sale", then... Hope it goes well. +1 for wood handles; you may find sourcing Victorian nylon difficult, though.

My workshop is usually a tip. I've never been able to be a tidy worker; it's just how I am! However, I made a resolution some while ago to ensure that I always leave my lathe spotless and lubricated. I've managed to do that for well over a year now, so it's a goer. What is nice is that when I next go into the workshop, after I've fought my way through the piles of rubbish, at least my lathe is ready for action, with all the slideways with pools of clean oil sitting on them, and pools of the stuff in the drip tray.

My intention was to extend this discipline to the milling machine next, then perhaps one workbench at a time, so gradually I'd get into the habit of working tidily. Not happened yet!

Trouble is, it takes quite some time to clean up, and there must be some happy medium somewhere between spending all your time polishing the floor to actually getting something done...

Don Young did a black 5 in 5"G... published in his LLAS magazine. Probably a lot easier to use existing 5"G drawings at 1:1. LBSC's boiler would also require a good coat of looking at if scaled up.

Get a really good pair of bent circlip pliers for the job. It's a beast to remove the circlip if they aren't just so.

ME 1991 - No.3894, p389. Ron Cockerill was the author. The layshaft provides for a 2:1 reduction in addition to the 4:1 of the Dyer design. I've fitted it to mine (See ME no. 3944, 1993).

Let me know if you can't access the articles and I'll scan and pm them to you.

Adjusting end float on the X10 is relatively simple if nothing is actually broken or badly worn; I did it on my similarly-afflicted machine. The adjustment is achieved by adjusting a screw. If you look at your manual, 03/12 illustration (p.13 in my manual), look for 03/011 top-hat section of sheet steel. A screw hides under the top central hole. If you look at the other 03/12 illustration, showing the internals of the gearbox, on the left-hand side of the illustration find the upper M6 x 12 cheese-head screw . UNSCREW this - it bears against the inside of the top-hat section - to reduce end play. If the top hat section is badly bulged you may need to remove it and batter it flat again. I did!

Hope that helps.

Edited By Nigel Bennett on 01/02/2017 11:26:20

Certification of a boiler would normally be required - certainly if it is to be run in public. If it is commercially built, it MUST be CE marked in accordance with the various UK Federation rules. This CE marking will indicate to the Boiler Inspector that a welded boiler has been welded by a coded welder and that the materials used are traceable and as specified.

If the welding is done "at home" then the Boiler Inspector will require to see test samples of the welding, along with all the relevant material certificates. A Boiler Inspector may consider this to be beyond his experience and may justifiably refuse to test it. Discuss it all with him or her first!

Read the Green Book.

Just bought one from EMS-I for a Newall Microsyn setup for £302. If your encoders are fitted with round plug connectors rather than D type, it'll cost you £18.50 per axis for converters. Very happy with mine.

My first thought is that to achieve the speeds and feeds the OP's Google search produced, you're looking at a big new CNC machine with flood coolant.

With a light hobby lathe like the Myford 7 series, it's a case of adapting the figures to what the machine can physically do. The condition of the slides and headstock bearings can seriously affect metal removing ability - as can the horse-power of the motor.

The amusing article about turning by Michael Oxley in the Christmas issue of ME in the early 1950's is quite relevant here.. It went something like "Twiddle the knobs... twiddle all the knobs in sight...if the metal starts coming off in huge red-hot chunks, ease back a bit..."

So essentially it's up to you to find the limits of your machine (by just going past the limit!) and reducing either the speed or the feed and/or increasing the supply of coolant. And use sharp tools! The DCMT07 tip isn't sharp - it is really much more suitable for BIG machines - say a Colchester Bantam and up. It might be better to try the sharp DCGT07 grade (JB Cutting tools can supply - usual disclaimer). I find that although relatively fragile, they produce really good finishes and I use them a lot, even for materials they aren't' "supposed " to be used for.

See before you buy; I'd get one at an exhibition. I bought a cheap Chinese 3-jaw off (I think) Warco - but it could have been Chester - as a "rough" chuck to save damaging my Griptru. My biggest gripe on the cheap chuck is the chamfers they put on the jaws - particularly at the end so that you can't grip a short length spigot. Otherwise it's fine for most purposes. Arc Euro do Indian Zither chucks and they're a lot better; Ketan sent me a photo of one before I ordered a 4-jaw recently.

I've fitted Newall to both a Myford 7 and a Boxford 280. Expensive, as Raymond says. However, I used an EMS-I display console for one of them as it was a lot cheaper than the Newall one; I already had the encoders. (Note that you need a special display console to read Newall ball scales; not everybody sells them.) The EMS-I version also has a lot more features than my 10-year old Newall console!

Speak to EMS-I and they will help and advise. Machine DRO is another option.

From recent correspondence with Newall, you're looking at about a thousand quid for your Boxford system.

Usual disclaimers.

Andrew - You might consider getting gears of that size laser-cut!

Can you rotate the back gear shaft when it's disengaed - the one below the main spindle? If that's seized on its shaft it could be the problem. It should rotate easily.