SHED MATTERS 2

[Magnu420]

Another way to center a drill bit is to use a steel rule
Put in the middle of the round stock and place your drill bit onto it.. if the rule dips or raised its not in center.. also this method is used to find your height centre line on lathe for your tools

[Stanley]

Two good tips and useful. I use both of them occasionally.

[Stanley]

Sorry lads, an article has got in the way and for the next week the shed will be hit and miss as we have a big social event on and there will be many distractions!

[Stanley]

If you were to accuse me of playing out this morning I wouldn't argue with you but I finished up with a shed improvement. Here I am turning a lump of scrap down to below 3/4" to act as a mandrel.



Here's what I wanted it for. I wanted to mount the Jacobs Ball Bearing chuck on the lathe and decided to do some cleaning and prettifying first. The first hopeful sign was that when I tightened it on the mandrel and spun it up the Morse taper was running concentric even though it is so far out from the chuck. This means that I can rely on it being on centre when it's in the tail stock. I polished it with emery strip, did the chuck key as well then cleaned it thoroughly and lubricated it with then oil.



Here's the result, a clean, concentric heavy duty chuck mounted on a clean lathe. Not bad. This chuck is 3/8" to 3/4", that's no problem because I have the keyless chuck for small drills etc. This chuck is only used when I have a heavy application like using a milling cutter, the chuck I used before only went up to 1/2" and was not a ball-bearing chuck. So, playing out or not, we have an improvement, a heavy duty chuck and best of all I'd forgotten I had it and it's nice to bring a good tool like this back into use.
That's it, resting now and waiting for the next visitors!

[Stanley]

Sorry for the lull lads but I am having to do a lot of resting between engagements! I was out until the early hours of this morning..... But today is a rest day and as soon as the gas man has serviced the boiler I shall be off to bed!

[Big Kev]

Just thought I'd show my latest project. The Windsor chair had been painted with a satin finish acrylic paint, along with the two spindle backed chairs. There's no age to them, I uncovered a manufacturer's stamp on the bottom which shows '88', but they are in good condition and too good to go into the recycling. The person throwing them out was replacing them with a new set.

A lot of paint stripper, a heat gun and a few hours graft and the Windsor is back to bare wood. A few more hours of sanding and a few coats of wax will make a world of difference.

[Stanley]

Isn't it amazing what people will do to wood to 'improve it'. Nice to see you bringing them back to life Kev.....

[Stanley]

I decided I could stand an hour in the shed without falling over.....



I had to cut the cross bar to length and turn it down to a press fit in the body. All went well until I came to aim for the size.... You're going to laugh at this but after deploying every measuring method I know I managed to get it slightly undersize.... old age I suppose. No matter, the cure was to knurl it, pop a bit of Loctite 638 on and hammer it into place. In case you think this is cheating, knock the handle out of any Jacob's chuck key and you'll find they routinely cut splines in the part of the handle that is the press fit into the key so that when pressed in it can never rotate.



Here it is ready for the indicator.





This is what I've been looking for. I can't tramm the bed properly because you need an accurate surface you can mount on it to do a sweep. However, what I could do was check the longitudinal travel and the other axis in and out. I was quite pleased with the results. Remember this is a cheap mill and despite looking after it over the last 40 years there are some slight witness marks on the surface. Longitudinally there was less than a thou in the travel end to end including the slight aberrations. Across the lands, the two middle ones were dead on but the outside lands fell off over a thou. As the vise is clamped down on the middle of the bed I doubt if it suffers but tomorrow I shall be tramming the vise as well. I'm not too bothered about doing a sweep because I know from experience that the trailing edge of my cutters kiss the cut and this is a sign that you are dead on right angles with the orientation of the bed.
Not a bad result. I've always said that considering it's an El Cheapo mill, I think it cost me about £300 brand new, it has always done good work as long as the cutters are sharp and you're not greedy. I watch the heroic cuts others make on Youtube videos and gnash my teeth! But it's a bit late in the day now.....

[Stanley]

I was up late this morning lads and might not get into the shed. Sorry, you can dock my pay......

[Stanley]

I slept in a bit this morning as well but I braced up and was in the shed by 8AM. I wanted to finish my vertical mill maintenance. I started by rubbing the face of the bed down with a coarse Carborundum stone. Despite my care over the years there are dings and bruises and worst of all, the chance of an embedded piece of hard steel.



Then I followed up with a fine India stone that has never been used for anything but plane irons and is reasonably flat.



I didn't forget to dress the base of the vise as well.



Then I got this piece of ground stock out, it's probably the most accurate long piece of steel I have. The result wasn't bad at all but I wasn't really satisfied.



While I had it in I checked the alignment of the vise.



I ditched the ground bar and tried again with two genuine parallels and got more consistent results.



I did a check on the level of the jaws and got surprisingly good results.



Then, remembering how castings can move over time I took a very light skim over the internal base of the jaws. This ensures that it will be exactly aligned with the cutter path. It was about half a thou out. Remember that this surface is the register whenever you mount a workpiece. I apologise for the fact that on one very bad day I milled into it!



Here's the end result with the jaws back in.
So, how did it all shape up? The bottom line is that for an old and well used El Cheapo mill it is very accurate. In all the important planes it's within a thou of truth and in some instances inside half a thou. Remember that errors can be generated by many other factors, tightness and truth of the ways and flaws in the surfaces you are measuring, you'll never get a perfect result. I know the head is as near as possible to vertical from the cutting pattern left by the cutters. The only way to improve it would be a complete strip down and adjustment of the ways and gibs by scraping and you have to draw a line somewhere! As I keep saying, this is a cheap tool and I am satisfied it's accurate enough for the work I do. I am very pleased with the results and it is certainly in better shape than it was when I started! A good outcome.

[Stanley]

About 6 Years ago I made 4 of these. I already had one that I made many years ago when Newton first started to make a reasonable turner out of me. I finished up with one apiece for my daughters and made the other two into a big compound. Any of you familiar with Stuart engines will realise that this is very similar to the 5A. Newton liked the 5A and wanted to build one but he thought it had too short a stroke, he was a great believer in the old engine makers rule of a con rod that was 2.5 times longer than the stroke so he made his own patterns. It was these same patterns that I took to the foundry many years ago and got them to do six sets of castings. One set went to Newton, one for me and the other four sets into the treasure chest where they sat for many years. At that time Newton was in a bad way after the death of his wife so I made him build one and I'd follow him. That did the trick, he never came out of the shed until he died. So about six years ago I set to and machined all four sets of castings. This one is Margaret's but it has never travelled to Oz and has been sat on my shelf ever since. I decided to get it out this morning and give it a bit of TLC.



An hour later and it had been run and cleaned and I shall let it sit in the kitchen for a while, I like looking at it, it has so many memories for me. In case you're wondering, it ran fine just like it did the day I first made it.



Next I decided to do the same for my marine engine. Newton had a set of patterns for this and I got a couple of sets of castings made when we cast the 5As. They too sat in the treasure chest for many years but about 4 years ago I got them out and made two engines, Susan has the other at Earby. Newton's father Johnny made these patterns after seeing a similar engine in the Model Engineer but felt it could be improved. I think this is probably my favourite engine, especially when it's running, compounds look so busy!



It got the same treatment, a good cleaning and oiling and a run on compressed air. Like the Stuart, it runs fine. I have put it back in the front room. I'd like to give the big compound the same treatment but I have to work out how to lift it and get it into the shed! That's satisfied my shed instincts for today..... I shall have a think. I have a feeling I'd like to make a cannon on a naval carriage and I have all the materials to hand so it will cost next to nothing!

[Big Kev]

I'd like to give the big compound the same treatment but I have to work out how to lift it and get it into the shed!

I can probably come and shift it for you, it'll have to be Friday though...

[Stanley]

That would be good Kev, but are you sure? Come and have a look at it and see if you can manage it, no shame in saying no!

[Stanley]

There won't be a lot of hard news from the shed today because I have decided what I am going to do next, I'm going to make a cannon on its carriage. The main reason for this is that I have the materials in the treasure chest and as those of you who watch Energy Matters will know, I am being hit today by an enormous gas bill so economy is the household mint!
I've thought about a cannon before but basically they are boring. I have been reading up my gunfounding recently and was reminded of the Carronade, a revolutionary design of cannon that was immediately taken up and became very popular.



Here's what I am looking at. I need to find some better information so I can do a fag packet drawing.
Another matter is that Kev says he will come round tomorrow to carry my big compound into the shed, it's a bit too dangerous for me! If that happens I want to give it its five year service, run it and perhaps make a few modifications.....



The big compound, it's a fair lump and awkward to carry.

[Stanley]

A bit later..... Tinternetwebthingy is a good resource. I've spent an hour on there and have a good idea of where I'm going now with the Carronade. Now for a fag packet drawing and a bit of scaling.....

[Big Kev]

Another matter is that Kev says he will come round tomorrow to carry my big compound into the shed, it's a bit too dangerous for me! If that happens I want to give it its five year service, run it and perhaps make a few modifications.....



The big compound, it's a fair lump and awkward to carry.

I'll have my Weetabix and come take a look, I'll let you know when I'm on the way

[Stanley]

Don't bother to let me know Kev, as long as you arrive before about 11AM I shall be in attendance..... [Have three Weetabix this morning.....}

[Stanley]

I had it in my head that I was going to make the carronade out of bronze bar, I have plenty of it. But then I had another think, why make a cast iron gun out of bronze? So I got a lump of 2" black bar out and cut a lump off it. Once again, Mrs McMaster is a blessing, best £150 I ever spent! Thanks lads..... (I still say that one of the most comforting sounds in the world is the clunk clunk of a saw doing all the hard work!)



I put the big 3 jaw on because I wanted as much depth in the jaws as I could. It's going to be stuck out this far when I am turning so it will need a centre in. I was only cleaning the end up so it would be firm in the chuck but started as I mean to go on and poked a centre hole in it. Just for a laugh I used a 1/2" Slocombe drill in the super chuck. It's lovely to use.....



Ready for reversing in the chuck.....



Just then Kev turned up. I cleared the big surface plate off for the engine and we went in the front room. He picked it up and remarked that it was lighter than he thought! I thanked him..... Kev said he'd come back when I shout to put it back but I might put it in the kitchen for a while, I like looking at it! We'll see.....



Back to the stock.... I faced the end and took the exterior down to a size where it cleaned up, black bar can be a bit uneven and have pits. One good cut with the door open to let the smoke out then a light clean up cut.



Closing time. We have an engine to look to and a piece of stock ready in the lathe for my carronade. A good morning!

[Stanley]

Before anyone complains about me finishing half an hour early, I was in the shed at 06:30! The job was simple, clean the compound, run it and get it out of the way. I did this and gave it a good run, the last one with a good dose of oil through the stop valve until oil was coming out of the exhaust. This engine has cast iron rings and there is moisture in compressed air. Many engines have been permanently seized up by rust in the bore. Only one surprise, for some reason the flywheel was loose, set screws nowhere near tight so I rectified that. The engine ran well.....



The scenery has changed in the kitchen. No need to worry about shifting it into the front room Kev, I have put another engine in there. I could manage the shift to the workshop because the workbench is higher and so I didn't have to actually lift it. No damage done to my back.



Back to normal on the bench and while I was at it I gave Mrs Harrison a bit of a sweep up.



Next I went into the kitchen and did some more serious drawing. I wanted a full scale drawing of the carronade so that I could make a template. While I was at it I measured the taper angle and got a fair idea of what was needed.



Then I made a cardboard template to give me a rough idea of where I am going when I'm putting a shape into the stock. Not a bad morning......

[Big Kev]

]


The scenery has changed in the kitchen. No need to worry about shifting it into the front room Kev, I have put another engine in there. I could manage the shift to the workshop because the workbench is higher and so I didn't have to actually lift it. No damage done to my back.

Good stuff

[Stanley]

I missed the shed yesterday because of housework but I shall be in there today!

[Stanley]

First thing was to sharpen a round nose cutter.



Set the tool on centre and get the top slide set up for turning. I measured the angle at 4 degrees but set it for 3.5, we all know how tricky measuring angles can be....



Then the boring job of small cuts and no power feed! Not looking for finish at the moment, just form.



I had to turn the top slide round to get at the end taper. It would have fouled the tail stock otherwise.



Not sure why but I was getting horrible chatter so I swapped to a more rigid cutter and things went a lot better.



Closing time. I'm going to hit problems soon but as usual I shall have to surmount t\hem! Just one thing that caught me out. When I reversed the top slide I found that the side nearest me hadn't a register mark for the angle so I had a bit of a fiddle getting to see the backside but I managed. I know what I am doing tomorrow!

[Stanley]

I knew where I was going this morning..... First thing I did was check the setup because I wanted to get my knuckles as far as possible from the chuck! You might have noted that I'd already slid the tool post towards the job in the top slide. I gained a bit more by moving the cutter out a bit more. If you remember I had chatter with the round nose cutter, that was because it wasn't rigid enough. This toolholder is as big as I can get in the tool post and so it's less liable to chatter. As it worked out this was right...... I also gave the round-nose cutter a bit of attention, I breathed on it with a fine diamond hone just to make sure I had done everything possible.



45 minutes of 10 thou cuts later and a good clean up of horrible stringy chips off the lathe I had my shape. I was going to take more off but I got to the stage where it looked right so I stopped. Doing all right so far, no problems with chatter as long as I kept the cutter into the job.



Now is a good time to do the bore. One of the characteristics of the carronade is that it uses a small charge of powder compared to the size of the shot, they are only for short range work. At this scale that means a 4" deep 1/4" bore into the breech and a 3.5" deep 1/2" bore for the shot. 1/4" X 4" deep is OK as long as you have a really sharp drill, woodpecker action and plenty of cutting oil. Last thing we need is a broken drill! So I sharpened this and the 1/2" drill. Note the high tech depth gauge.



Quietly away and no problems. I have a big aerosol of synthetic cutting oil designed for use on big thread dies and I used that. It's good stuff, really helps cutting.



Same again but with a taper drill. One small point, I don't like watching machining videos where the drill point wanders when it hits the centre or an existing pilot hole. If you have got everything right this doesn't happen but it's no accident. The time spent checking the alignment of the lathe and its constituent parts pays off here. No wander at all with either drill.



Same result, easy cutting and no problems.



This was knocking off time. I have reduced the size of the body at the muzzle, countersunk the start of the bore and tidied up my edges by breaking them. I've set the cutter up for finishing the bigger taper and I'm ready for tomorrow. Nice morning, good work and no surprises.

[Stanley]

When I started this morning I knew I had to work on the breech end of the gun so I repositioned it in the chuck to give me maximum access. Then it became a muck-shifting job. Note that I was trying, I was bringing blue chips off.



There were two ways of doing the spherical part, do a lot of calculating and measuring or rely on my eye and do it freehand. Guess which way I chose! First job was to cut a series of steps with the parting tool. I was aiming for 3/4" for the spigot on the rear end but changed my mind to 5/8". I can always take a bit more off if I have it wrong but I think I'm going to need it, there's a lot of work to be done here.



A bit later..... It looked OK so I decided to do some cleaning up, file first then various grades of emery. I'm going to paint it black I think but I want it something like.



I got to this stage and knocked off. I need to do some thinking about the way forwards. Not sure how I am going to go about it so I'll let it sit there overnight while I have a think. I have an idea that I am going to need all the length I can get for the spigot. I shall let the Design Committee have a look at it!

[Stanley]

The design committee came up with a scheme. The first thing is that I need all the length I can get on the spigot at the back of the breech so I need to turn that down on the same centre as the existing metal. I could have made a mandrel for the bore and used that to grip the carronade when reversed but I decided it would be far simpler to extend the muzzle a bit and use that so the first job was to do that and give myself enough to grab hold of. I think you can see the difference.



I could have used the big 3 jaw but decided that this 4 jaw had the best shaped ends to the jaws, it's newer so I changed it over.



I already had a centre in the back of the stock so I set it up using that. There was a slight discrepancy of course, you can't expect to swap from one SC chuck to another and be dead accurate. I could have used the 4 jaw independent of course and dialled it in but concentricity isn't that big an issue, as it was it was very close. Lots of light cuts and I reduced the stock to the diameter of the existing spigot.



A short while later I had got there. I polished the spigot before talking it out of the chuck.



From here on in there is no heavy cutting, it's going to be small jobs. I always work better in a clean shop so I took the time to clean Mrs Harrison and vacuum the floor. Newton used to laugh at me but horses for courses!



Then I washed my hands and went into the drawing office. Everything has grown a bit while I have been turning freehand and I needed to get some sizes for the next parts I have to make and fit. This process also lets me make some decisions about how I am going to fix the parts on the body of the cannon. As usual with starting from stock metal we suffer from not having the advantages of being able to cast certain parts like the trunnions and the recoil rope anchor. But, I have the advantages of being to machine the metal without these getting in the way of turning. I can get over this.