Member postings for Ramon Wilson

Hi Guys

This will be my final post on this project this year and I'm afraid it will be quite a while before the next. Quite a bit of progress has been made this month though not as much as hoped but I now need to set it aside for a while whilst I deal with something else.

I did remove the engine with the intention of doing as you suggested Derek but having cut some wood for cross bearers decided against it due to the potential of not ending up with a flat structure and potential wringing of the bed plate. So the bearers were squared off and I carried on. I have shortened the base and glued a new end piece on which now looks a bit more in keeping.

With the conrods made it and the gudgeon pins to suit it could at last be turned over - slight draggy friction but no specific tight spots so well pleased with the overall alignment considering all the potential for error.

The original drawing calls for two, spaced apart, radial plates to form the expansion link but I decided to change it to the more usual slotted link and the straps milled rather than turned which made things easier when bending the offset.

Pleased to tell that with a jury rigged air line pushed in the inlet it ran quite readily on the HP cylinder only - the only tweak a slightly thicker washer under the piston valve to even things out. Even with the short running time the slight friction soon eased and the engine turns over reasonably smoothly with just a slight resistance

Still a long way to go of course but it bodes well for the LP side.

Here are some pics of the current state of play as of today

Well that's it for a while - I have a plastic project that needs to be worked on for my clubs annual comp in March that will take the weeks before then to finish.

A Happy New Year to all who look in - see you next year - sometime

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 29/12/2022 22:16:57

Thoroughly agree with Jason here Peter, you can buy an awful lot of decent, lovely to machine, homogenous cast iron for the price of a set of castings - without all the attendant risks of hard spots, blow holes and misalignment issues that is always possible.

I can recommend M Metals as a source - no connection save a satisfied customer and they will cut to size too.

With the aid of some standard JB Weld and some thought it is relatively easy to make convincing 'castings'.

My Marine Condensing Engine thread will give you an idea - any questions just ask

The ME beam engine is a nice subject that would lend itself to this approach - worth considering maybe?

Regards - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 29/12/2022 16:23:41

The first reply to the OP from Rod Jenkins answered the query correctly. The lead screw is 8tpi - unless since the demise of Myford at Beeston I'm pretty certain there was no such thing as a totally metric Super Seven.

I converted my original imperial S7 to metric many years back and tried to source a metric leadscrew at the time - obviously to no avail. I have the 21 t gears as Noel suggests and they have proved more than satisfactory when metric threads have been cut (not often it has to be said!)

Rod has it in one

Tug

Peter

En3b is much the better for parts that are to be case hardened as opposed to through hardening carbon steels,

In my experience it does not machine badly but no where as well as En1a.

Tug

Yep - Jason beat me to it but my set up is the same - chuck to plate, plate to table. Plate has locating spigot to fit table bore, chuck has locating spigot to fit a recess in the plate and the chuck bore.

Ditto with the four versus three slots - four allows more versatile clamping of parts when using table alone. Buying a three slot just so the chuck can be mounted is limiting the versatility for something that is not used that often - well not on the R/T in the fashion shown. Both Jason and I have R/T's larger than the chuck body but you can still have a plate interposed even if the diameters are the same.

Though I do use a chuck as shown its rare in comparison to sub plate set ups and four slots are definitely more favourable there.

As said I made this R/T over forty year ago from a set of castings supplied by MES if I remember right. It has a 90 tooth wheel - four degrees to the rev each degree split into four. It has served me well over those years and is still used when required - just a week or so ago I made the expansion links for the marine engine using an ali sub plate to extend the diameter. It's done a six spoke steel flywheel in it's time - it carries out milling ops well if used sensibly. Most of it's use has been on IC engine crankcase profiling so it's been well used enough to base advice on.

Those large tee slots however were cast in originally - anything but smooth so took a fair bit to clean up. I later added the degree ring and the stops - if there is one thing to improve an R/T it is to fit some kind of adjustable stop set up as they take all the worry of, and potential for, over movement to occur, something that's easily done on a R/T

As always - "yer pays yer money" etc

Good luck with yours which ever you chose Vic

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 24/12/2022 22:24:45

Vic - providing it does not interfere with the handle you can always extend the surface area with a disc of mild steel or even aluminium. drilling and tapping it for hold down bolts. and counterbored holes for cap heads into tee nuts to keep it in place.

Though I have yet to use it, I have done this on an 8" table with an ali plate to hold a flywheel rim.

Best - Tug

Here's an example (though smaller in diameter than the table) on the MES but the same principle. BTW a set of small clamps using cap heads for bolts are invaluable on RT set ups where space is at a premium

Excellent coverage on there Michael - a good link indeed

Vic - As a regular user of R/T's the only thing I would add is look to a vertical and horizontal mountable version if possible and definitely choose a four slot table as opposed to a three. The four slot are much easier to set up on if the table area is small.

A very useful addition to the mill - I used my home made MES version only this last week.

Tug

Merry Xmas to you and all who make this a fine site to frequent Neil and the very best for a New Year that may see some hope for improvement in all our lives

Tug

And the same to you Brian

Now that you say that, that could well be what it is - I have a small amount of rectangular Manganese Bronze bar which usually I only make bearings from. I don't find the machining of it - milling, boring difficult however. I can't recall the object made from it that refused to Silver Solder, possibly a valve body (?) but it did surprise me at the time.

Though I silver solder less since discovering the virtues of JB Weld I still have occasion too - albeit small parts I've done both steel and cast iron on my latest project.

BTW I've a fair bit of SS accumulated which is rapidly approaching 'surplus to requirement' status - if any of your guys are looking for some get in touch.

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 21/12/2022 18:56:28

I don't think so Hopper, - I've used quite a variety of brass and bronze over the years but whilst this has the appearance of a yellow bronze and machines as such soldering is a completely different matter to all the others. I don't recall it's source so it could be anything but leaded 'it aint' as they say - too hard for that.

Theres not much of it but it's clearly marked as such - no point in using it again only to realise later which is how I discovered it in the first place

Best - Tug

Bob - if the steel is of the leaded free cutting type you may find that is the problem.

You should have no issues with silver soldering mild steel generally but the leaded versions can prove problematic.

Strangely enough I have a piece of unknownium 'brass' that simply will not silver solder at all. I have no idea of its heritage but the solder, as in your experience, just sits in balls on it no matter what the approach. Takes soft solder without issue though.

Best - Tug

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 21/12/2022 10:46:37

Ordered a plastic kit just yesterday from Models for Sale. Expecting it to take a week or so due to the current circumstances - just come home to find Parcel Force about to leave the area. Order to delivery less than 24hrs so yes, Parcel Force were delivering in this area today for me

Who's a happy bunny then

Tug

Thanks for taking the time to do that Dave.

Unfortunately I'm just in the throes of being taken out shopping - you know how it is - but will look into this when I get back.

Cheers - Tug

Stuart -

I have a 14' x14' wood built workshop that is insulated on the walls and roof (Apex) and is double glazed. It sits on slabs spaced apart on a sand base to allow airflow through underneath

The one thing I have often wished I had done however was insulate the floor which is just the original planking on 15" spaced joists with hardboard on top as a covering. Apart from just in front of the mill that has proved more than adequate from a wear point of view. The area in front of the mill is wearing with the imprint of the plastic matting but still has a way to go and that's after 40 years or so. It certainly stands up to to swarf but then I don't do anything on an industrial scale

I spend a lot of time in there so consider heating cost as part of the hobby. I have a 3Kw '9 fin' oil filled radiator set to 1 Kw on all of the time - no condensation issues and no rusting experienced. It's a very rare occasion indeed to switch it to the 2Kw setting.

Good luck with yours - enjoy yourself

Tug

No nothing like that Bruce, I don't store anything anywhere other than on the PC relevant file.

I just open a new file - draw the relevant part - say for example to establish rotary table movement on a component and hit Save - everything's fine. Once saved though it's automatically 'Write Protected' so any additions to that file have to be copied and pasted to a new file and so on.

I will keep trying when I use it so if I do manage to find a solution I'll report back.

Best - Tug

Yes Dave but that hardly applies in the home workshop. If you take that literally then you either need the means to sharpen to a finished degree - for the most part which isn't necessary - or have new drills for every time one gets blunt.

Sorry mate but can't agree with that principle from a home perspective at all.

That may be fine in highly commercial enterprises but in the myriad of support jobbing shops - without CNC machines - not really a viable proposition. Not many without CNC these days I grant you, but then how long have they been round in comparison to previous machining practices.

For the last couple of days I've been making small 'castings' from solid for the valve lay shaft on the marine engine all drilled with hand ground drills and milled with cutters that have had hand ground radii on them.

As Mick says learn something worthwhile and it stays with you for life.

Best - Tug

Thanks once again Bruce,

When you referred to 'Folder ' I was thinking you meant something specific in ACad.

Well, following your helpful advice, I've had an interesting tour around the various menus in AC and yes, have found the menu you describe amongst many new to me. The Read Only box is unticked - ticking just to see brings up the file is administer protected unticking ,applying and closing changes nothing - still have write protected files. I've been through all these other menus too but nothing seems to be relevant to this particular issue.

I'm sure I'll find a way at some stage but it seems pretty entrenched on this PC at the moment.

As said my major drawing is done on another computer where this doesn't happen (same version of ACad) - I only use this PC now to do quick drawings of parts for machining purposes so though annoying it is liveable with.

That said if it can be fixed it would put a smile on my face

Thanks again - Tug

Thanks Michael but having followed your suggestion it's still a mystery to me.

Surely there must be an ACad 2002 user on here who knows how to do this?

Tug

I don't know how many times I've used the phrase 'Horses for Courses' on here in the past but where any machining is concerned it doesn't - shouldn't - take much to realise that whatever you do has to be within the limit of the machines at your disposal. Andrew's ability to use his larger machines is a whole world from a mini lathe. Likewise using kit at work. Watching blue chips hit the back of the lathe tray like bullets is one thing there but forcing the Super 7 to emulate it is not, in my mind, a viable option.

Let it be said clearly 'I am not a toolmaker' - nor would I ever claim to be but I have been machining both at work and home for many years. I do grind my drills by hand and I do get results. Like anything else though - practice makes for better results. I was fortunate to be shown early on in my ME 'career' by some one who was a highly respected toolmaker and though those first results were pretty poor if it didn't cut I reground it till it did. Grinding the end off a perfectly good drill to drill a flat bottom hole and then repointing it was the only way in early days.

Like any other workshop practice learning how to do something pays off in the end. For instance it's handy to be able to grind one flute longer than the other to aid drilling phosphor bronze to head off the inevitable seizure then return it to normal. No of course it isn't 'machine ground' accurate but certainly good enough for 95%+ of the holes required.

As has been stated if an accurate sized hole is required then it requires reaming - if an accurately sized and positioned hole is required then it needs boring after drilling too as a reamer will always follow a drilled hole.

I don't have, nor keep, separate sets of drills for anything - just work what I have to suit the occasion.

Agree with the gauge plate issue though - not an easy material to work at the best of times so I I always keep the speed well down on any cutter including drilling.

Best - Tug

Samuel,

As you have found in your search a drilled hole is not a precision item per se but it can be improved considerably with care and the right approach

Whilst I agree that step drilling brass with conventional drills is fraught with 'pull in' simply stoning the cutting edge to a very slight negative angle will improve matters considerably. Drawn Phosphor Bronze is another material to be aware of when drilling. That material and some stainless are those I steer clear of if possible.

I don't possess anything 'fancy' when it comes to drills only a set of jobbers drills in 1-10mm in .01 steps, a set of Number drills 0- 80 and 1/16 - 1/2" in 64ths and a set of letter drills. Though I used them at work I don't possess a spotting drill of any kind just conventional centre drills 1/8 - 1/2". All, when required, are sharpened by hand on a bench grinder. Centre drills are quite difficult to resharpen and not always successful.

I think it would be fair to say I've drilled a few holes at home over the years - never felt the need for anything more 'esoteric'. At work, of course, it was much more different

Best - Tug