Member postings for Paul Lousick

How do you intend to attach the plate to the lathe spindle ?

Why not roughly cut the plate to a circle and then finish it on the lathe ?

Paul.

I think it is going to be a DIY.

Will have to make a cutter the same profile as pinion and a jig to hold a new gear blank. Should be able to hold cutter in lathe chuck and mount gear jig on the cross slide. (a project which I did not plan on making)

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 14/10/2015 13:21:37

The gear teeth are machined into a cylindrical inner part which is bolted to the rotary table. (appears to only be mild steel material and not hardened)

My table is similar to the Grizzley g1049 in the parts list which you called up but does not have ball bearings. Everything else appear to be the same so gear may be interchangeable.

Thanks for your feedback, Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 14/10/2015 11:32:34

Edited By Paul Lousick on 14/10/2015 11:34:57

Has anyone made a replacement crown gear for one of these rotary table. It is a 6" table made in Asia & bought on the internet from an importer in Australia who cannot supply spare parts. I imagine that I will have to machine a new one.  Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 14/10/2015 09:57:14

When I started my career as an apprentice we used feet and inches and fractions of an inch. Then was told that we were changing to a metric system. No problem I thought. 0.5 of an inch = 1/2 inch, 0.25 inch = 1/4 inch. (WRONG !!)

My wife is a dress maker and works in centimeters not millimeters (can't convince her otherwise) but as a mechanical engineer/draftsman, I use metres and millimeters, Mechanical engineering drawings are normally dimensioned in millimeters. Example: 10, 50.8, 50.01, 150, 1250, 20000 (or unless specifically shown otherwise as 20m).

Machine shop drawings should be dimensioned in millimeters not in centimeters. (eg. 100.01 millimeters, not 10.001 centimeters and absolutely never 1.0001 decimeters)

Paul.

Hi Martin,

Your question is not clear. Can you please give more details.

Paul.

When it works, I just call it man made magic !

Injectors are designed to work at different pressure ranges and should be selected to suit your operating pressure. They often do not work when too hot. (turn the water on first, then the steam. Then steam off first and water off last) (unless it is a lifting type injector with only a steam valve). If not working they may need cleaning by dismantling and soaking the cones in vinegar to remove calcium deposits.

Hi Morgans,

A nice looking belt sander. Just make sure that the ways and slides on your lathe are protected when you use it. The dust produced will contain small amounts of grinding grit which could damage sliding surfaces.

Paul.

I recently was searching for CAD models on the GrabCAD website and found lots of useful information like a 3D Solidworks computer model of a 1" Minnie traction engine. The model was sent to a 3D printer.

Models are free to download after registering from grabcad.com.

Paul

Edited By Paul Lousick on 24/09/2015 23:49:28

Hi David,

I had a similar job where my boring bar was too short to machine the hole. My tool holder will hold 16mm wide bars but my 16mm diameter boring bar was too short and would probably flex if it was any longer. The solution was to use a 25mm diameter boring bar and machine flats on the end to fit into the tool holder. You could do something similar by using a 12 or 16mm dia boring bar and machine flats to fit your tool holder. Check to ensure that the cutter tip remains at the correct height.

Paul.

The cylinder surface finish does not have to be mirror smooth but should and have a crosshatch pattern so the cylinder walls will retain oil and provide adequate lubrication for the rings.

Also important is bore geometry. The hole should be as round as possible with little or no taper or variation vertically. Bore distortion caused by deflections in the casting or improper boring or honing techniques will have an adverse effect on ring sealing and blow-by.

Paul.

Hi Jason,

I do not have the history of the model but an interesting display of little engines. I did like the little lathe. Thought it was a model at first but was informed it is full size.

Paul.

Model engines at the Sydney Antique Machinery club Rally, 2015

A great display of antique steam engines, cars, trucks and machinery was a collection of working model engines, including a Galloway Hit & Miss engine, driving a full size watch makers lathe with Action Man at the controls.

Half scale model of a 1911 Domestic engine driving a small grinder.

Engine spec.  1hp, Low tension ignition, side camshaft

Edited By Paul Lousick on 21/09/2015 10:03:01

I attended the Sydney Antique Machinery Club Rally last weekend and found this rare Australian made lathe.

Veem & Premo Lathe

Veem and Premo lathes with the former being listed as built Veem Engineering Services of 14 Whyalla Street, Willetton, Western Australia (later of 22 Baile Road, Canning Vale, WA 6155) and the latter by Tulloch Ltd.* Concord Road, Rhodes, New South Wales. However, even that is not the full story for early Premo-badged lathes had an open, V-belt drive headstock and carried a plate proclaiming: "Designed and manufactured by Brackenbury and Austin, Pty Ltd Engineers Sydney N.S.W.".

Advertised frequently by the agents Goodall from 1949 through the early 1950s, the earliest known publicity for the "Premo" was in the Sydney Morning Herald for the 15th of January, 1949 "Premo 5.25 gap bed hollow spindle screwcutting lathes. For early delivery book your order now" - the occasion almost certainly coinciding with the lathe's introduction. The first version of the lathe (maker unknown) was well built but entirely conventional for the time: 5.25" centre height, 24" between centres, gap-bed, backgeared and screwcutting with tumble reverse and a built on motor/countershaft unit - though the use of flat belt. (article originally published by lathes.co.uk)

Hi Pat,

An aquarium pump may not be large enough. They only supply a small volume of air at low pressure. You may need something a bit bigger like an airbrush compressor or larger. An alternative is a small steam generator as described in a previous MEW post about making a simple boiler. http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=109271

As a guide, a 6 or 8 cfm air compressor will run a 3" Fowler traction engine for a couple of minutes with a tank of air at 60 psi then slow to a few rpm as the pressure falls. We have also used a big petrol powered compressor (used to operate jack hammers) to move a full size 12 ton traction engine under air.

Paul

Hi Joe,

Use a car brake cylinder hone. They are a smaller version of the spring loaded hones that are used to finish a car engine cylinder and not expensive  Available from car accessory stores and *-bay.

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 20/09/2015 23:55:04

Hi John,

I have Eason glass scales which are available in 50mm increments. I chose the next biggest size to my mill's stroke and are about 40 or 50mm longer than I need. This allows a bit of extra travel on each end of the stroke, making the lengthwise mounting easier.

Paul.

Some scales will be damaged if they bottom out. Perhaps why the total travel is 170mm for a 150mm scale. You may be able to measure 152mm. Check the specification for your scale. Also check the actual travel on your mill, it may be slightly different to that shown in the specification. Better to have more travel than you need instead of not enough.

Paul.

Hi Howard, (I drive full size steam engines and have never been called an angel)

Most traction engines and portable engines (full size and miniatures) take the steam from the top of the boiler. The steam chest is often mounted directly on top of the boiler and takes steam thru a hole in the boiler barrel under it. Locomotives have a steam dome on top of the boiler and steam is taken from here. Traction engines are the worst for getting water in the steam because they go up and down hills and the water is not level. Also a lot of sloshing of water inside the boiler because of the movement. Water only gets into the steam outlet if the boiler is overfull or if the boiler is tilted when going down hill and it covers the steam outlet. (this causes priming and can damage an engine). The other way water can get into the steam supply is when you try and use steam at a higher rate than it can produce and water droplets are drawn into the steam instead of turning to vapor (called forcing the boiler), This should not be a problem with the small boiler in this post.

Paul