Hello All.! (newbie here)

Hello peoples.

The name is Nick and I live in Warrington.

As the title says I am a newbie. Not only to this forum but to model engineering. ............... So be well prepared for some pretty dumb questions sometime soon.!

I have recently built an area to keep a motorbike under. But while I was doing this I decided to make it bigger than I needed and to kit it out as a small workshop. (Henceforth to be known as my 'man-cave'

I have purchased a small lathe and have been 'tinkering' in said man-cave for hours and hours. ............ Much more useful and satisfactory to my status of mind and sanity than watching damn soap on TV

There is much to purchase I know in the way of tooling, and accessories not to mention a milling machine before I can venture forth seriously. And very little is cheap.

My intention is to produce steam engines. Initially driven by compressed air and probably from the Stuart range of kits and castings.

Anyway, just thought I would say 'hi'

Regards to all, Nick

Allow me to be the first to say hello. This might well be a very long journey for you, as it is for most of us on here! My advise would be beware of buying anything that is cheap - unfortunately in this game if its cheap its usually for a good reason. I try to buy pretty much everything second hand, most;y from fleebay, that way i get the quality and at a better price than new. And like everyone will tell you, theres no such thing as a dumb question on here.

Hello Nick and welcome.

You have started on a most fascinating, enjoyable, rewarding and at times most frustrating journey.

Start simple and progress onto more involved engines thus gaining experience using your machines.

The time in the workshop will fly past, and on many occasions with very little to show at the end - welcome to model engineering!

My first steam engine was the ubiquitous oscillating type, followed by Rob Roy and Simplex with a few Stuart Turner and tools in between.

Take your time over your first few engines, so that you become familiar with your machines, as well as how different metals machine and behave.

You may in fact find you prefer to make tools only as many have.

DO NOT dispair when you make a mistake making/machining a part, and you will, it's part and parcel of the hobby in general and an affliction even the most experienced amongst us suffer from.

Seeing your first project come together is most rewarding and satisfying, as is the first time sat behind the loco that you built that actually pulls you and passenger/s around.

Geoff - Popcorn popper converted to coffee bean roasting ready to test.

Nick: Welcome to the forum; to repeat, there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. Engineering, and machining, are not precise sciences, so ultimately you just have to try things and see if they work. Treat it as a learning exercise.

It would be useful for the forum to know what sort of lathe you have. Then answers can be tailored to suit. I fall into the 'big boy' category, in that I'm building a 4" scale traction engine, so my machine tools are mostly ex-industrial.

Regards,

Andrew

Welcome aboard, Nick,

Neil

Bienvenu from France Neil.

As John said, don't go spending money on things you may not need.

A good place to start is Harold Hall's book, Lathework, a Complete Course. It will not only teach you how to set up and use the lathe but will take you through the process of using the lathe to make accessories that such as a tailstock die holder.

Russell.

Welcome to the nuthouse Nick

Thanks for the replies guys.

I will give you a bit more about myself. Although a newbie to engineering I have all my life been interested in mechanical items of all descriptions and liked to know and find out how they work for no better reason than 'I can'. Even as a kid they interested me.!

I did spend 22 years as an electrician. (photographer now) This gave me familiarity of being comfortable with tools in my hands. I am sure that like me, many of you have witnesses people with all the theory in their heads but look uncomfortable when actually using tools and unable to transfer 'head to hand'.

I do have a strong sense of humor and will often poke fun at myself when I make a mistake. Bizzarly I actually don't mind making mistakes when doing something new. I am a realist and know this is expected. Just so long as I know how I have made that mistake.! - I will then view that mistake as something learned as much as if I had got it right.

I am also fortunate that I have a long standing friend from my rugby days who owns a small 'Jobbing' engineering works. (he is former aerospace) Hell of a nice guy and very free with information. But as he is a busy guy I will try not to pester him to much. As a side note, has a full size static steam engine in the corner of his workshop that for years he has never managed to get round to restoring. (says if he starts it he will go bankrupt as he will not be able to leave it alone until done. lol)

Yes I do as mentioned by somebody on this thread know when it comes to buying tooling. "Buy cheap. Buy twice."

Here is my first question :-

Fitted to the lathe I have is a D1-3 Pratt Burnerd chuck. The chuck jaws are 'bell mouthed' towards the front. Yes I know they can be ground. (I don't have a tool post grinder anyway) but I will also probably need to buy a set of external jaws at some point anyway. Jaws unfortunately it seems are circa £125 a set. So there is £250 for chuck jaws alone. Now I can buy it seems without the back plate (but I have one of those already) a whole brand new standard Pratt Burnerd chuck complete with both internal and external jaws for £225 ish or £325 ish for a high precision one.

To me this is a 'no brainer' - Or am I missing something obvious.?

Regards, Nick

It's a Boxford.

Nick

Boxfords are nice, I have one, but you can get an adequate chuck for half that price from the advertisers on the right of the page. Plenty of other things need your money. Don't confuse cheap and good value. Like the milk in Waitrose still comes from a cow same as the milk in Aldi.

BTW have you joined the Boxford Yahoo group yet?

Hi Nick

Welcome from another newbie! Look forward to seeing your posts, especially if you are going to be building from the Stuart Model range..

Best regards.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 19/04/2014 13:51:40

Welcome to the forum Nick, you will need that good sense of humour to deal with some of the posts on this forum. If you can make it to Harrogate for the model engineering show next month you will learn a lot from the folks there, plus you will be able to view lots of chucks and decide how to spend your hard earned.

Cheers Derek. (like John, another Crewe bloke).

Ah well, not much point in me offering advice then, given I've got a head full of theory.

However, I can thoroughly recommend the build threads by Allan.

Andrew

I saw those.

In fact it was his thread on the Victoria that got me to become a member of this site rather that observing from the shadows.

Nick

I shall bare the chuck advice in mind. Thanks guys.

Nick

Here is a few images of the 'man-cave' construction and its contents so far.

Not finished as yet. Particularly noticeable is the lack of shelves and more importantly 'things' to go on those shelves.

Nick

Hi Nick,

I'd recommend some books:

"Lathework A Complete Course" by Harold Hall

"The Model Engineers Handbook" by Tubal Cain

"The Amateurs Lathe" by L Sparey - some of this has been superceded by modern tooling and practice, but it is still useful.

Once you get a mill, then "Milling - A Complete Course". Harold's books I've found (as a beginner, I'm just 2 models ahead of you) to be excellent.

Stuart engines to start off with for me would be the "Victoria" as per Allans thread or the V10, Harold Hall serialised that build in ME.

My first model was the Nemett 15S which I think is now called the Lynx, this build is supported by an excellent series of articles in ME, which was a detailed step by step account with pictures. A bit like Allans Victoria thread, but in the mag. If you fancy a bit of internal combustion, then you might want to take a look at that.

Regards

Steve

Very nice Lathe. Nice to see the floor has been a priority. So far I have managed to leave the floor until the workshop was fully kitted out on three occasions. I am a slow learner

graham.

Nick,

Watch out for condensation drips from the roof.

My enclosed carport, same roofing as your's, did that sometimes.

I 'double glazed' the roof using plastic sheeting, available on a big roll and held in place by magnets, the carport being of steel tube construction.

No more drips.

Geoff - %#*^$ backache!

Thanks for the advice Geoff. Condensation has been a thought. But the sheets are actually triple glazed. Lets hope this assists. We will see next winter eh.!

Also I have been thinking. Which is not my best asset.!

This 3 jaw that I have is not 100%, but it's not catastrophic either. I do actually have a functioning 125mm 3 jaw chuck.

So I may be better off (for now) purchasing an independent 4 jaw and a face plate. Both of which I don't have but will need. Thinking of making the 4 jaw purchase a 160mm one. ............. Vertex chucks. Any good.?

Your thoughts please.

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 20/04/2014 11:37:22