Need a bigger machine?

Well this guy managed with what he had.

I came across these today on another forum and thought you may find the setups entertaining educational. The parts concerned are the crank brackets for an early Fowler ploughing engine. Click for larger image.

I hope the mill is well bolted down as there is a lot of weight on the table.

Never mind you can always use the table from another machine for added support.

The above straight cuts were easy, what to do when you need to machine the curved surface where the casting mounts onto the boiler. Answer, use one mill to hold and move the casting and knock up a horizontal borer using a mill and some RSJs, add a smokebox former for some weight to stop it all jumping about

Finally a closeup of the flycutter

Quite amazing what can be done with limited tools and a bit of ingenuity, I should also add that the same guy made his own patterns for the castings and is doing a very good job of his restoration.

J

Edited By JasonB on 26/12/2013 20:18:09

Necessity is the Mother of Invention. Never a truer word said and my father once said to me, when all I had was a 1/4" router and really needed a spindle moulder, "Mend and Make do". This event changed my thinking and I always try to look at what I can do with what I have, not what I think I want.

Saved me a good deal of money over the years and certainly contributed to me looking for creative solutions rather than buying my way out of a problem.

This chap clearly "thinks outside of the box" and good on him.

graham.

Just shows what can be done.

nice find.

Bri

One place I worked we had three Bridgeports, two were side by side with a decent gap between them so they never clouted tabled and the third was set in between but facing the other way.

This way we could spin the turrets and have 3 heads over 2 tables for long jobs like drilling long channel sections.