The Workshop Progress Thread

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

The best competitive dovetails are the secret dovetails used on a mitre joint. Used them on a 24" sideboard made many years ago in Mahogany, sorry cannot show them, they are glued inside the mitre

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Posted by John Stevenson on 09/10/2015 22:45:09:

I have a penchant for wooden toolboxes, engineers type that is.
I have many, all donate prior to or after death by some very skilled men I have had the fortune to work with and learn from. It's one way of remembering these men and their skills.

So enough waffling about the past and fast forward to today.
Thinking about doing some nice boxes I must admit I like to see the dovetail joints but other than using CNC and spending more time than I have it's not going to happen. So what about fudging it. The laser can cut as well as engrave where wood is concerned, so what about engraving the lines of the dovetail joints whilst still using a quick half lap joint ?

Three examples [ one didn't come out, weird font ] top and bottom are cut letters at low power, third one down is engraved or scanned.

This is just a bit of crappy ply packing case sprayed afterwards with a rattle can of easing oil to get a uniform finish.

Certainly looks promising and needs a bit more input.

John

I think this must be your first post where you have resorted to true bodging!

In all your previous posts processes you have described as bodging, have actually been repairing, modifying and making things, by practical, expedient, ingenious, and clever engineering. These fake dovetails are completely at odds with your normal methods.

Good dovetails are only visible by the differences in wood texture and grain direction, the joint lines might be undetectable otherwise. Etching thick lines with a laser is highlighting something that should not be there (and certainly not on the drawer face).

Indelibly marking the drawers contents is OK if the contents are never going to change but if you are going to put text on there at least use a clear font. As a more engineering alternative you could laser cut the text deep enough to fill with epoxy loaded with bronze powder which could then be sanded flush so it looked like metal inlay.

If you are going to make drawers why not comb-joint them (stack of slitting saws or indexed slots)? They would be visible on the front face but at least they are strong and look good, or at least look 'engineering like'

On the other hand, maybe I got the wrong end of the stick and your fake dovetails were meant in jest?

Ian P

[Michael HornerParticipant @michaelhorner54327]

Finished my lever tailstock today only to find that when applying pressure to the drill bit the thing twists. The clamp bolt is tight. Looks like I will have to redesign the linkage so that the force is along the bed.

Had more luck with my lantern chuck!

Cheers Michael.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Michael,

Change your linkage over and put the link at the back.

I originally had mine like yours and experienced jamming etc.

John S.

[Michael HornerParticipant @michaelhorner54327]

Thanks John.

I will try that.

Cheers Michael.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

For anyone wanting a lever feed this is JS original post on his design. Final version of lever connection is quite some time later. Note a page or two earlier is what drove him to it, the annoyance of the taper ejecting before the barrel is fully retracted.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I bought a secondhand tailstock to try and make a lever action ram but found it too hard work when drilling larger than 6 mm or so…too much force needed so back to the drawing board and a BL mini steering rack was put into service as a sort of capstan drive

Works well.. lots of feel on small bits and lots of power with larger ones

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

This was my lever action unit made the block that screws into the casting so it was just a modification to mount the steering rack

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Having got off to a bit of a false start when my propane bottle ran out half way through soldering the Tidman valve chest together I got it soldered OK with some new gas. Then treated it like a casting by facing off the mounting flange and poping a few holes in here and there. Also made tha governor butterfly valve, spindle & gland nut plus the Valve rod, nut, gland and pivot pin & washer. Chest is 2.5" x 3.75" x 1" thick with an unusual integral cover.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Jason

That is immensely depressing to we mere mortals !

Nice work – very well done.

Norman

[Chris DentonParticipant @chrisdenton53037]

What's the purpose of the lever? Quicker drilling?

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

At last, I finished fitting the Z-axis glass slide to the VMC mill. Used the DRO to make new tee nuts for it so that I can use the clamping kit I originally bought for the old, somewhat smaller lathe. I won't clutter up the thread with a photo – it looks just like the other two, only turned round 90°, not surprisingly. If you really must see, there's a photo in the album.

John

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well, last couple of days I've had a few tries at replacing the little metal clip that pulls the piston up on a 2-ton trolley jack.

The difficult bit is that it needs to be flexible enough to fit over the end of the piston to locate in a groove without unclipping, and made so it doesn't distort under the strain.

Vesrion 1, complete failure. version 2 worked, but I made the hole too small and it was taking the downforce so it partly collapsed and let go. I've schemed out version 3, but it will wait.

I still can't figure out how the original failed.

Neil

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

Made the indirect mandrel indexer from an old 120 toothed wheel I was given. I turned a 10 TPI worm to fit it and mounted it on a bit of ally angle.
The wheel grips inside the mandrel, just tighten the knurled knob.
One turn of the handle = 3 degrees.
I shall scribe 12 lines to give 15 arc min divisions.
I only want it to put the flutes in the Lady Stephanie columns.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

LS.. column fluting – my setup, note packing under tailstock.

As they are brass when you break the round nosed 1/16" end mill you can grind up a replacement from the stub

Neil

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

thanks Neil, I know what I'm doing tomorrow :-/

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Decided to saw down the middle of this bit of bronze about 1"x"x3" to see what was inside

With a bit more poking about I found an eccentric strap

Edited By JasonB on 24/10/2015 20:23:27

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

John Thorne, how did you go about the bores on your drain cocks please? I want to make some for my 4" Durham cylinder, the ones available commercially are too small.

Brian

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> With a bit more poking about I found an eccentric strap

That's how Jason doies it – he get model versions of these:

[NJHParticipant @njh]

No no no Neil

Eccentric strap NOT Eccentric scrap !

N

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Neil when you said you hoped to have a couple of bits ready by September that is not what I had in mind

I like that Norman

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Never one to pass up the opportunity to flog a dead horse, I've just finished version 3 of my tool post spindle. I hope I have combined the best bits of the previous two designs and come up with the final article. More by accident than design, however, is the fact that I ordered the wrong size toothed belt for the combination of pulleys that I selected. This, however worked to my advantage as I was able to juggle the collection of pulleys in my stock and, by re-ordering a belt 15mm longer, was able to mix and match belts and pulleys to give various ratios with the same centre distance. The results of my labours are shown below:

Front view with alternation pulley/belt combination. Rear view – ditto.

With the exception of the largest/smallest pulley combo, swapping the pulleys from driven to driver, as well as combining with the crude electric speed control, an useful range of speeds can be obtained. The spindle mounts in the QCTP on the lathe either radially or axially.

Following a brief period of navel-gazing, it occurred to me, that with suitable mountings, I could also use the unit as a basis for a tool grinder/sharpening device. A quick rummage for some boxes and the addition of a Harold Hall grinding rest resulted in this mock-up:

Just when I thought I'd finished – another project looms!

John

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Made the crosshead for the Tidman engine over the weekend from a block of CI, size is approx 1.375" sq x 1.875" long. Pressed in bronze bearing, 3/8" stainless piston rod and 1/2" hex locknut.

[John ThorneParticipant @johnthorne49048]

John Thorne, how did you go about the bores on your drain cocks please? I want to make some for my 4" Durham cylinder, the ones available commercially are too small.

Brian

Hi Brian

Sorry it took so long to get back to you but did not see your post till today. The tapered bore was done with a small boring with the top slide set over and the cock plugs were turned at the same setting. I first drilled the bodies and used that as a guide to set them up in a 4 jaw chuck. The body shape was formed after so as to avoid jaw marks on the finished job. I can PM you the drawing if you require and you can scale it down

John

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Plodding on with my small gyroscope build… have machined the flywheel & lightened the centre, having drilled the holes using DRO co-ords as the first attempt indicated an out of balance somewhere. For those interested I set up on the ally sub table I made last year, held in the vice…

Simple enough from drawing but lets see if it works this time…?

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