The Workshop Progress Thread (2017)

[Jon CameronParticipant @joncameron26580]

Hi Sean thanks, it's taken me over 6months before I've taken my first cut. It was sat in the shed for 3. Then I bought a bench set up for it, and even then it just sat. I've been working at it for 3months, and been told off too when i do daft stuff like nearly crack the head stock. (Now has a layer of drinks cans made up to take up the space thats left in the headstock casting, bearing clamp).

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

Today I finished putting together my chop grinder. Made from rexroth (grown up meccano), some (nasty) aluminum plate I had lying around and an angle grinder.

You'll see my first cut in picture 2. I think I need to make a handle to hold onto the grinder with, but it seems to work!

In the interests of feeling pleased with myself I didn't venture into any more challenging cuts (my immediate target is a piece of 50mm steel bar – but I'll work up to that) in case it all fell apart.

Oh – despite appearances it's not intended to cut any foot wide plate, it's just that that's the size of the ally I had.

Iain

[David TaylorParticipant @davidtaylor63402]

I'm plugging away on a 5" gauge NSW 24 class mogul. I got it running on air earlier this year so have been working on the boiler. I decided to get the smokebox to the point it can be used to help level the boiler barrel.

A friend tack welded the wrapper on for me.

Regards, David.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I have completed the steam manifold and governor parts for the Popcorn engine.

I even managed to get the Swanee whistle to work but I was not wrong when I thought this aspect of the engine would be tricky. The lower section of the governor took 3 goes to get right and the top another 3 before I decided to accept what I had; the manifold was going well until I foolishly held it in the vice after silver soldering the connections which softened the brass and crushed the threaded end .

Anyway, all it needs now is painting, polishing and getting running again then its on with the next project.

Jim

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Jim.
​Looking good. Haven't spent any time on my vertical cross lately, spent a lot of time, & money, on redoing the bungalow, painting walls & ceilings, new carpets throughout, new furniture. Must get back to sanity & get back into man cave, but Xmas is fast approaching so…?

George.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

It's been a while since I posted here but I have not been Idle and have done quite a bit on the 1/3rd scale VJ Monitor as I need to get some more parts drawn up for the Otto and Ruston before they can progress further, this is the state of play at the moment.

This weekend I have been working on the hopper which also incorporates the inlet valve seat and a tapered socket that the exhaust valve seating fits into, not too hard you may think but this has to be turned with the work off ctr by 1.25" and the inlet valve seat is a long way from the toolpost if things are not going to crash.

Section of hopper

Main cylinder was not too hard to do except chuck jaws were not really long enough to be safe

So I made use of the 3/8" BSP hole to take a stud and made a plate to fit the back of the 4-jaw

The same hole was then used to hold the casting onto a metal plate that could be clamped to the faceplate so the tapers could be machined. The male part was done prior to this and the topslide not disturbed, cut on the back side running in reverse using a boring bar.

After that the smaller 11/32" cavity was done and the 45deg vale seat taper turned which needed the extended tool holder to keep the work away from the topslide

Finally the valve guide was drilled 3.0mm and reamed 1/8" and I was rather pleased that the hole came out just about spot on in the middle of the cast guide

Finally a video of one of the early cuts on the larger taper – bit uneven feed due to doing it one handed. It does come into focus

 

Edited By JasonB on 19/11/2017 16:30:58

[Mark DickinsonParticipant @markdickinson21936]

Finally finished fitting DRO and 3 phase motor to my Boxford. My it's very quiet now when it's running

. Just need to tidy the wires up .

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by Mark Dickinson on 19/11/2017 17:27:55:

Finally finished fitting DRO and 3 phase motor to my Boxford. My it's very quiet now when it's running

. Just need to tidy the wires up .

That's one seriously sweet lathe.

Michael W

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Today I wanted a quick hit, something I could achieve in a couple of hours. The depth stop on my drilling machine is like many others a bit of threaded bar with 2 locknuts which you have to screw up and down to set the drilling depth. Not exactly convenient. I've replaced the threaded bar with a bit of 1/2" bright, and made up a clamp like the ones you have on DTI stands only scaled up. Result! I will find a ball handle someday, but it works perfectly well with a brass wingnut so no hurry. The only issue was screwcutting 1/2" BSF on my metric lathe, but that's another story.

Edited By duncan webster on 20/11/2017 16:26:51

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Posted by duncan webster on 20/11/2017 16:26:08:

Today I wanted a quick hit, something I could achieve in a couple of hours. The depth stop on my drilling machine is like many others a bit of threaded bar with 2 locknuts which you have to screw up and down to set the drilling depth. Not exactly convenient. I've replaced the threaded bar with a bit of 1/2" bright, and made up a clamp like the ones you have on DTI stands only scaled up. Result! I will find a ball handle someday, but it works perfectly well with a brass wingnut so no hurry. The only issue was screwcutting 1/2" BSF on my metric lathe, but that's another story.

Edited By duncan webster on 20/11/2017 16:26:51

Excellent idea, why didn't I think of it?

Now going out to modify my mill/drill.

Just had a thought, when I was working, some jigs had a thumbnut with a clearance hole at an angle to the thread. This meant that you could back the nut off, tilt it and it would then slide up and down to place it in position and then tilt it so that it then acted as a normal nut.

Has anyone else come across these?

Brian

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Brian Hutchings on 20/11/2017 18:06:57:

Just had a thought, when I was working, some jigs had a thumbnut with a clearance hole at an angle to the thread. This meant that you could back the nut off, tilt it and it would then slide up and down to place it in position and then tilt it so that it then acted as a normal nut.

Has anyone else come across these?

Brian

.

Yes, Brian … excellent devices

Several varieties available from WDS **LINK**

http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/product/3347/quick-action-thumb-nut-steel-imperial-bsw-wds-669/

MichaelG.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Those are pretty neat, never seen them before. I suppose they would be pretty easy to make – just run a clearance-sized slot drill through a std nut at an angle (15 – 20 degrees?). Might be forced to have a go some day….

Murray

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

Duncan – really like that idea, think I will do likewise. Simples!

Chris

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Last Saturday I picked up a cylinder casting for a 1/2 scale Robinson X-Type "Chippy" engine from Graham Corry of Alyn Foundry Fame. It was a "reject" that he had kept hold of from the days when he was selling casting sets so I was keen to see if it was going to be usable before I invested time in making the other parts of the engine from scratch.

Well all I can say is this "reject" is better than some castings I have paid full price for! One small pocket on the top that can easily be filled and a very small void where I have yet to mill the exhaust passage which should see it disappear. As an Idea to size the flat base is 5.25" long.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by mechman48 on 18/11/2017 21:49:42:

Jim.
​Looking good. Haven't spent any time on my vertical cross lately, spent a lot of time, & money, on redoing the bungalow, painting walls & ceilings, new carpets throughout, new furniture. Must get back to sanity & get back into man cave, but Xmas is fast approaching so…?

George.

​Finally got back into my man cave, after a decorating break of 8 weeks or so, finished making up the cross arms & ends for my Vertical cross engine, just need a bit more polishing up & another bit done…

​George.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

George

Your photo looks like one of those optical illusions where you know that all the items are the same length but the picture makes them look different

Did you silver solder them?

Jim

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

This is what happens when a silly old duffer tries to turn a slotted ½" square aluminium rod down to 6mm diameter. I should have expected trouble with this horrible interrupted cut but things have been going well for me recently.

It doesn't jump out from the photo but in addition to the obvious damage the whole square rod is bent by about 10° at the jaws.

This cock-up is the result of a powered 0.5mm deep cut at 2200 rpm with a small ArcEuroTrade carbide insert (the sharp silver type for non-ferrous metals). I noticed the far end of the rod cutting rough due to slight chatter and was wondering what to do about it next time round. Bang – too late! Despite the spectacular bending resulting from the dig in the insert survived. I thought the sharp tip at least would be gone but it's OK.

Lessons learned:

• cut the slot AFTER turning the rod.
• don't dither if something complains whilst cutting.
• carbide is tougher than Aluminium.
• Eek! that could have been a finger.

Dave

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

Dave

I'm sure most of us have "been there, done that" in some form or another, I know I have. The only thing is that I felt so stupid for not forseeing what was inevitable that I kept it to myself. Thanks for showing your "lesson".

Jim

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by Jim Nic on 03/12/2017 16:39:22:

George

Your photo looks like one of those optical illusions where you know that all the items are the same length but the picture makes them look different

Did you silver solder them?

Jim

Hi Jim, IIRC it's called parallax error; no I didn't solder them, the rods were a push fit into the ends & Loctited in which should be tight enough for a air operated display model.

​George.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

No one sees what you chuck under the bench. (Unless of course you post a picture)

regards Martin

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Jim Nic on 03/12/2017 18:34:54:

Dave

I'm sure most of us have "been there, done that" in some form or another, I know I have. The only thing is that I felt so stupid for not forseeing what was inevitable that I kept it to myself. Thanks for showing your "lesson".

Jim

Hi Jim,

My brother-in-law is an excellent photographer. It's something of an illusion – he achieves quality by secretly destroying any photo that's less than perfect. In practice that's almost all of them! Is he a failure or a success?

When I first started with a lathe in my garage I didn't know what quite what to expect. Judging by what you see at shows, in magazines and on the web, everyone else effortlessly does impressive work. Actually there's a lot to learn! Mistakes are inevitable and are probably far more common than most people admit. Especially if you're self-taught.

I don't want to mislead anybody about my metalworking skills. I'm in the hobby for fun, utility and learning rather than a desire to impress. So I'm happy to share my blunders – errors are very educational. And the fact that they happen is all part of the game.

Perhaps the forum needs a new topic devoted to errors and mistakes. It could be called 'What's the Clown Done Now?' 🙂

Dave

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

George

I'm sure your cross arms will be fine, mine are and I used Loctite.

Jim

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Finished the mechanics of my CNC Myford dividing head. Pinched the design from John Haine who kindly sent his drawings, and will be pinching the elctronics design off Silly Old Duffer, but some other jobs to knock off firts.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I had a delivery from Ringwood metals in the week which includes a 1.0m length of 35mm bar to make a between ctrs boring bar for doing the Otto Langen cylinder so this afternoon I cut it down to 675,, and reduced one end so I can hold it in a 3/4" MT3 collet which will give me the most room between spindle nose and live ctr. This also happened to be about the most I could face off as the carrage and topslide would not move any further to the right.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

After a short break while life got in the way of workshop time it was on with Popcorn.

Having completed the parts of the engine I broke it down for painting and looked at the amount of brassware I had decided needed to be polished up. My conclusion was that I needed a buffing wheel! As luck would have it during my "life break" I aquired a domestic Stuart Turner shower pump with a faulty, vastly overcomplicated, switching module but with a very smooth motor. Said motor looked to be just the thing to power a buffing wheel and after a bit of bodging and the addition of a pigtail and buffing wheel and an NVR switch it turned out to be so.

Just some of the shiny bits

Whilst wood butchering for the Buffer I also made the plinth. My first attempt at engine turning on the base looks OK as long as you stand well back, which I recommend when viewing my efforts.

Jim

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