Member postings for Paul Lousick

Hi Gordon,

Your cylinder is only 150mm long with a 7.5mm wall thickness which should be fairly rigid if held in a chuck. (say 30m inside of the chuck with 120mm extending) Should not be a problem with a decent size boring bar.

I had to make a similar cylinder for my engine but from cast iron not steel and only had a 4mm wall thickness.

I bought a piece of hollow bar and rough turned it leaving the bore a couple of mm under size but left the wall thickness about 12mm. Then let the cast iron age for 2 months to relieve any internal stresses. Because the wall thickness was 12mm, I was able to hold it in a chuck without distorting the cylinder and machine the bore to the finished size. (less a thou or 2 to finish later with a hone).

I then turned end caps with a slight interference fit to each end of the cylinder. These end caps were drilled to allow me to turn the outside between centers.

Paul.

I don't think that lost wax casting would be suitable for making thin walled tube. the wax pattern would require a core to cast a hollow tube. It would however be suitable for casting the ends of the struts.

The suggestion of using glue (Loctite) is not intended for butt joining parts but for joining the tube to a spigot which goes into the ends of the tube. The end pieces would have to be machined from solid, cast or fabricated and welding.

Added strength could be achieved by threading the spigot and tube. Loctite 271 is extremely strong and is used for permanently fixing nuts and bolts. It needs to be heated to 250 deg C if you want you want to remove a nut.

If the tubes were threaded and secured with Loctited to the ends pieces, the tube would probably buckle before the connection failed.

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 24/01/2015 09:14:10

Edited By Paul Lousick on 24/01/2015 09:15:20

You could fabricate it with aluminium tube and glue it together with permanent Loctite (type 271 or similar).

Paul.

There are mini lathes and mini lathes.

Found this one on https://www.facebook.com/Trustmeiamamechanicalengineer

Lots of other great machines and gadgets as well.

Paul.

A good video on Youtube by Tubal Cain about vertical shear tools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUcyHenjkew

Paul.

I have an early model Southbend lathe and this is the original instruction for mounting it on a bench.

A 3-point mounting system seems like a good idea, unless you can guarantee the accuracy of the lathe set-up. Bolting it down at 4 points will twist the lathe if it not completely level.

Paul.

maccmodels.co.uk (advertised in MEW) sells small pipe fittings

I bought 1/4" round head rivets from

Jay-Cee Sales - RivetsOnline.com

32861 Chesley Drive
Farmington Michigan 48336
United States

http://www.rivetsonline.com

[email protected]

Hi Kevin, I am surprised that there is no way of adjusting the belt tension. There is normally some way of moving the drive pulley or moving an idler pulley to tension the belt. My 1948 Southbend lathe has flat belts and a lever that moves the motor.

If you cut the belt you will probably need a new belt clip to match the one on the other end of the belt. (could be hard to find as they are not so common now). And if you replace the clips on both ends the belt could be too short.

I have bought a can of spray for car fan belts from a car accessory shop to prevent slippage of rubber belts. Should also work on leather.

Paul.

The original quote was "would you walk over a bridge designed by an engineer or an accountant" but some of the above posts were talking about scientists. My "oldtimers" disease kicked in and I miss quoted the saying. (scientists and doctors also rule)

I have worked in engineering for 40 years and have been proud to do so. I have always received good recognition for my profession. Without engineers we would still be in the stone age. No cars, internet, mobile phones, etc.

Would you walk over a bridge designed by an engineer or a scientist ? Or fly in a plane designed by an engineer or a doctor ? Engineers rule !!!!!!

The cheap types are just that, Cheap. I have replaced 3 sets in the last 2 years because of failures. (2 different types of scales) They would lose their reference point or display random numbers. This does not make them cheap, just a waste of money.

I have now replaced them with glass scales. Don't waste your money. Buy quality scales. I bought an Eason display with 0.001mm scales (only because they were on sale). 0.005mm scales are all you need for a mill or lathe.

The display unit on glass scales has a lot of additional features for calculating the centre point, PCD, milling a curve, memory points, etc. Makes calculations easier.

Magnetic scales are more compact but cost more.

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 18/12/2014 06:21:19

Thanks Jeoff.- Your auto-eject drawbar and the one posted by Stub Mandrell have given me an idea for my SX3 mill.

Jason - Yes, the plate shown in the photo is part of the boiler for my 6" Ruston & Proctor.

Saw one demonstrated at our local "men's shed" where an artist was using flat bar to make steel sculptures. Very easy to bend and roll steel flat bar.

A good bender is supplied by “Metalcraft”. Check out their videos at

**LINK**

Hi Tim,

I cringe every time I have to whack the drawbar. Not sure how much damage it does to the bearings. Would like to add a removal tool for releasing the cutting tool but have not worked out how to do it yet. I have a Sieg SX3 mill which has a slot in the side of the spindle for removing chucks that have a tang but not much use for tools with a draw bar.

What I do is support the mill spindle with a wooden block and hit the drawbar with an aluminium mallet.

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 16/12/2014 09:00:24

I had a friend who worked for SKF bearings in Australia who told me that they gave different discounts to customers, depending on who you are. Big companies who were good customers received a massive discount and mugs off the street who were first time customers were charged full price. Shop around for the best deal.

Paul.

Hi Ian,

There is normally only a shoulder on the inner race to locate the rollers and not on the outer race.

I would not like to guarantee what type of fit you would get if you used the old outer race. It may not match the new rollers and is probably worn. Regrinding is probably not an option.

Paul.

Hi Derek,

The pressure relief valves should be set at the maximum working pressure of the boiler. They can be set lower but should not exceed the working pressure. The Australian code only allows 100 psi. I think it is higher in the UK. You need to check your boiler code or ask your boiler inspector.

Paul.

Hello Ricardo,

The quality of drawings for models from well known suppliers is one of my main gripes. After working for more than 40 years as a professional draftsman in the mechanical engineering industry I am very critical about drawings. "Proper" drawing techniques and standards are no longer taught and many of the young draftsmen that I have worked with in the recent years do not have the skills of the old generation.

Drawings for model engines are either copied from the original engine drawings or measured from existing parts. Often the components are simplified for making parts for models. Different scales for drawing parts is acceptable on drawings but they should be labeled if different from the overall scale of the drawing shown in the title block. (This is often not done).

Even if the drawing is drawn to scale, it may not print correctly and could be out of scale unless the printer has been calibrated. The X and the Y (width and height) dimension on the drawing may print at a slightly different scale and the paper may shrink/expand after it has been printed, so drawings should never be scaled to measure critical dimensions. Always calculate any dimensions which are missing.

I have received a set of drawings for my 6" traction engine which contains many mistakes and I double check all dimensions before making them. (Dimensions on some parts do not match the dimensions on mating parts.)

They say that you only get what you pay for. It only cost me $150 for a set of 25 drawings which is very cheap. If they had been drawn by a professional draftsman and checked by another they would have cost many thousands..

Paul.