Building a loco in 3.5" or 5"

Hi guys I am in the process of sorting out a lathe for my workshop and I was wanting to know if any body is making a loco in 3.5" or 5" gauge using a mini lathe 7x14 if so what are you building and is the lathe up to the jobs Thanks Andrew

It should be up to a small 5" loco but the lathe would want to be optimally set up. Have a look at this:

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/machineguides/C3-Mini-Lathe-Dismantling-and-Reassembly-Guide.pdf

Others who own a mini lathe will be along to advise before long.

I have just retired and bought a Sieg C3 and SX2P. Just started making a 3 1/2" Evening Star, as well as a gauge 1 loco. Having gone through the plans there is nothing that can't be made on these machines. It will take longer on these light machines but that is all I have room for, and it is just a hobby.

Howard

The largest piece you will have to machine is the wheels so you will need a lathe or model that will cope with the diameter. I have a Chester Super Conquest lathe and was able to machine the 3 1/2" Northumbrian driving wheels by using a set of soft jaws machined to suit and a jig to hold the wheels in the 80mm three jaw chuck.

In principle you can turn anything on a mini-lathe that you can turn on a Myford, except you don't have a gap in teh bed making the practical limit 7", so as long as you don't want to make a Stirling Single you should be ok.

You will need some ingenuity and fiddling to turn parts greater than about 5" in diameter - use a RH tool held sideways in the back of the toolpost for example. Facing large surfaces may need multiple too settings.

I have also turned the outer diameter and grooved the sides of the rim of a 6" diameter laser-cut steel flywheel on my mini lathe.

Neil