SHED MATTERS 2

[Stanley]

I don't know enough about drawings to comment P. All I can say is that I find them very confusing!
I wrote my third article yesterday and never got in the shed but today I shall definitely be in there!

[Stanley]

The first job today is to fit the exhaust flange to the cylinder.



A bit of careful marking, drilling and tapping 8BA and we have a fit. I put a witness mark on both the flange and the cylinder.



I still had the 3/4" bronze stock in the lathe so I made the mating flange, drilled and tapped it for the 3/8" copper pipe that will eventually be the exhaust and out came the lovely parting tool John and Mick gave me.



No problems at all!



I had to make a tiny centre punch out of silver steel to mark the holes. This may look like a clever little solution to holding the flanges in line while I marked them but it is in fact an admission that I slipped up! I should have drilled both flanges together with the tapping drill for 8BA and then opened the holes up in the outside flange later. Never mind, I got it marked and drilled 2.3mm, clearance for the 8BA studs.



Watch making!



I got the holes matched up after a bit of a fiddle and put nuts on the studs to hold the assembly together. It's in a plastic bag because it can go on one side now until needed. I put a note in to remind myself that the tapping is 3/8" X 26TPI.



The next job is to bore the steam passages in the casting. The first part of this is to mill a recess in the end of the cylinder to give both access to the bore by the steam and also to give a flat starting point for the steam passage. This involved a good clean up and swapping the ordinary vice for the angle vice. I got set up ready to start milling. By this time I had done almost three hours so I knocked off for the day. Not a bad morning, quiet steady progress and no mistakes. I can't ask for more than that!

[Stanley]

On with drilling the steam passages. First stage is to mill an aperture to give a flat surface for the drill to start and also to allow steam easy entry into the cylinder.



Then pop a drill through into the base of the steam port. This end wasn't too bad as it is a steep angle with the port being near this end of the cylinder. I didn't mess about with multiple holes, just poked a 3/16" drill through.



Here you have evidence that I make mistakes. I went a touch too far and broke a small hole in the wall of the port into the exhaust port! So I mixed up some Araldite and plugged the hole.... It will never move and nobody will ever know unless you tell them!



Here's a view of the passage. The first time you drill one you'll be horrified by how far the oblique angle has sent the bore down the cylinder. Fear not, the only time it can cause any problems is if it extends beyond the piston seal and that's a long way down the hole!



Then I set up to do the other steam passage which is at a far more shallow angle and realised I was in trouble. I had to flatten the end of a drill and re-sharpen it as a slot mill because none of my cutters is long enough to reach before the chuck fouls the vise.



I managed to mill a small ledge and found a long series 1/8" drill which I could reach the site of the passage with but found that no matter what I did I couldn't get it to start, it was deflecting too much. There was only ten minutes to go before knocking off time so I have left this for tomorrow. The Design Committee can have a bit of a think about it overnight! If I crash on I will make a bee's knees of it and we don't want that!

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , You seem to have the bit between your teeth now. Looks like good progress now too. It really showed how small the thing is on the photo where the nut drivers are in shot !
Keep up the good work, nice to see you enjoying yourself and I am glad that parting off tool is doing the job. Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

I think the Design Committee has worked out a fix. I shall have a very careful think later this morning. I want to go for the 3/16" steam passage which makes it more difficult!

[Stanley]

I shifted the scene of operations to the Progress pillar drill. Never intended for milling but it has a nice tight quill and I could partially engage the quill lock to make it even less liable to chatter so I put a little milling cutter in and cut the land to start the drill from.



I changed horses in mid stream and put in the 3/8" drill I sharpened as a slot drill yesterday. Then I started the hole with an 1/8" slot drill on the correct angle.Once I had a good start I swapped to a sharp 1/8" drill and very carefully drilled down to the port. This was where I made my mistake, I should have sharpened this drill as a slot drill to cut a square bottom but never thought about it because everything was going so well. Was it heckers!!



Here's what happened, the drill wandered and even though it was still on a good angle, it broke out! You see, I keep telling you I'm just a bum fitter...... I decided I needed to Find a piece of brass strip to cut to size and fix over the damaged surface, sealing the leak.



I dare say you'll wonder what this has to do with the cylinder. While I was grinding the edges of the brass strip to size I dropped it and as is always the case it vanished between the stuff stacked below the grinder and the bench. In order to get at it I had to shift everything so while I was at it I had a good vacuum and clean up of the grinding dust. It struck me that it's a long time since I showed you what is in this box. It very seldom comes out to play but when it does, believe me, it's your best friend! What we have here are two Sykes Pickavant pullers, one of them a 30 ton one. This doesn't give up when you have it set up, I have stretched 2" shafts with it before now and never missed winning with it. I then found the little piece of brass and put everything back. Hard work!



The next job was to put the ordinary vise back on the VM bed and dial it in with John's ball bearing trick.



I milled the strip to shape and size.....



And here it is cleaned up and ready to be fixed on the cylinder. I haven't made my mind up whether to sweat it on or used Araldite. On balance I favour the Araldite, it will be just as good as solder and less chance of any distortion of the casting by heating it.... I'll decide tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

I decided that I will sweat it on and possibly silver solder it if I can find the right flux. For years I have struggled with an El Cheapo blow lamp but this morning went mad.



£66..... I know, it's ridiculous at my age but it works perfectly. I shall go and try it out on the cylinder!

[PanBiker]

That's big enough to melt it down Stanley!

[Stanley]

I think you're right Ian. It was more than adequate on the lowest setting. I'm sure it will be hot enough for brazing!



I'm not the best man at soldering in the world but I do know the basics, absolute cleanliness the right flux and the minimum amount of solder. I started by poking an 1/8" drill into the breach in the cylinder to make sure that when this lid is soldered on there is still an adequate steam passage. Then I cleaned both surfaces and gave them a thin coat of flux. Simply a matter of running some solder on the cylinder surface and then placing the lid on top of that and heating with pressure on the plate until all the excess solder had run out of the joint. There wasn't much. I had been careful. I wire brushed the casting and carefully filed back the edges of the plate until it blended in with the cylinder. Quite pleased with the result. As my dad used to say "A drunken man on a galloping horse will never notice it". By the time it has had a coat of paint it will look like part of the original casting. You can see a clear passage right up to the valve. I was late in the shed this morning, someone has to cook my dinner! So I knocked off and will give some thought to where we go next. I think its going to be the lids......

[Stanley]

Later last night I picked the cylinder up and examined it. Even I had a job to see the join in the repair. I am well pleased with it!

[Stanley]

The decision of the design committee was that it's time to attend to the cylinder lids. I was a bit late in the shed, someone has to do the cooking! I find that as usual I have to spend a lot of time trying to understand the drawings. It isn't just me.... they are obscure to say the least! I've identified one of the causes of my problems. The drawings are for an engine that is a perfect replica of the original engine. Hence the fancy shapes on the cylinder covers and the drain system. I am building a small version that will run and so I shall do it my way, I am not a stickler for historical accuracy! With this in mind I set to and did exactly what I would do with any other cylinder cover castings. First get them true and concentric and see how much metal I have.



Here's where I finished up after several chuck and jaw changes to find the right combination. I have two cover blanks that are concentric and parallel and have just enough meat in them to finish them off. That's a good result.

[Stanley]

I watched John's film of Stanley's Shed again last night and was struck by the enormous size of the cylinders I used on the two engines for Debs and Sarah. It's all relative isn't it!

[Stanley]

Sorry for my absence from the shed yesterday Kids! Household matters took precedence. Some of us have to manage our own sky!

[Stanley]

The good news is that I got in the shed today.... The bad news is



that I got sidetracked by a small repair that was needed on this Comoy copy of a Zippo lighter. The thread was stripped in the flint tube. I soon found that there wasn't enough metal to do a proper repair so I cut my losses and ditched it!



I got on with the lids. Before I do anything else I want to get the holes for the lid bolts in their proper places. First thing was to scribe the pitch circle in the lathe.



Then I went into the front room. I always welcome any chance to use Johnny's 1927 copy of the Birch Lathe, it's such a lovely thing to work on. I want six holes in each lid, no problem because I have a 12 hole pattern on the face of the bull wheel so I can use the detent and every second hole. I stretched a point and sharpened my little centre drill, set the overhead gear up and in short order had my holes perfectly marked and aligned.



Then I had to retreat into the drawing office. The drawings recommend 3/32" Whitworth but I have no time for nonsense like that. They are thin on the ground these days. I did a bit of comparative measuring and decided that 5BA will do nicely especially as I have plenty of 5BA set screws!



it was easy then to drill these holes tapping size for 5BA, 3mm. So I can use the lids as templates for drilling the tapping holes in the cylinder and then open them up to clearance in the lid afterwards. That was enough for this morning. Quietly forwards, I can now address finishing turning the lids.

[Stanley]

I like my Taylor chuck but I have to admit it's a bit hard bitten. The jaws are quite narrow and it can badly mark brass or bronze. So I decided to swap back to my Polish 3 jaw. Notice I am being a good lad, a protector board on the lathe ways.....



I just happened to have this piece of copper sheet about my person......



Out with the new Gilbows and some heavy duty snipping, it's quite heavy sheet and not long afterwards I have some jaw protectors.



I had to go into the drawing office and get it into my head exactly which lid was which because only one has a boss and gland on. This one is the plain one. What I wanted was a good register in the bore.



The boss has to come off yet but here's the lid with a perfect register.



A bit later I had two registers. This isn't quite as snug as the first but perfectly acceptable.



Next thing before I went any further was to put witness marks on cylinder and the lids to make sure I don't get them mixed up! They are numbered one and two.



I swapped for the outside jaws and very carefully turned the boss off and put a good finish on the lid. I have ignored the little fancy bits that the draughtsman has copied from the original. I have enough trouble doing the simple things.



Here's the end result, ready for some drilling and tapping.



Here's the second lid set up for shaving. There was only ten minutes to knocking off time and I have to do some careful drawing reading to get the sizes for the drillings and the piston rod gland. By the way I am not going to follow the drawings which again adhere to the original. I shall use the well tried Newton pattern! But that's for tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

A trip into the drawing office first thing and checked all my measurements before I started butchering the other lid. I am going to make my gland differently so I had a look at the video as well to check how much clearance there is at what you could call the crosshead end. I found I'd made one error but soon rectified that.



I soon had the cover tidied up, drilled and tapped for the gland and the 3/16" hole poked through for the piston rod. Then I set to to make the gland nut. You'll see why I swapped chucks in a minute.....



I've always said you can't have too many chucks! (Or lathes for that matter!) I went to a lot of pains this morning to get this lid running true and so by swapping chucks I avoided disturbing the set up. When I made the gland nut I didn't drill it for the piston rod but waited until I had it screwed into the boss. Try as you may, threading is never dead central. Now I can finish the exterior and drill for the piston rod and be sure that everything is concentric.



I did a bit of overtime and here's where we are at closing time. The lid and gland still needs things doing to it but we are another step forwards!

[Big Kev]

Coming along nicely, well done.

[Stanley]

Thanks Kev. It's coming along OK but the cylinder casting is a bit short of meat at the flanges. I haven't taken any metal off at all and the cylinder cover is slightly bigger but I can live with it. A coat or two of paint when it is finished will cover a lot of small flaws! I find I am being very patient with this engine. I am taking it very slowly and being content with steady progress. Everything is so small and complicated.

[Stanley]

I started the day with my favourite lathe in the front room. The first thing I had to do was disconnect the overhead gear and revert to normal turning. I checked the centre height but it was fine.



What I wanted to do was check that everything was concentric and break the edges that I couldn't get to because of the size of the jaws in the Polish chuck.



Once I had that done, back into the shed and the first thing was to drill the tommy bar holes in the gland nut, three of them.



The next job was to run the 3mm tapping drill for 4BA through all the holes which had been partially obstructed during turning. Both lids done.



Both lids ready for drilling the cylinder 3mm for tapping.



I made a 2BA stud which conveniently fits nicely in a 3/16" bore for the piston rod. Made a back plate and fixed the lid we are working on firmly in place after checking I had the holes aligned properly, template way.



I only had a tenuous hold on the cylinder so I went to a lot of trouble to set it up so it couldn't slip from vertical while I was drilling into the casting.



It didn't take long to get them all drilled and they didn't act up at all. All of them through the flange and clearing the cylinder wall. I tapped the first hole. Note I am tapping the lid as well but will drill for clearance last thing.



Time to knock off. As you can see a full range of tackle was used! It amazes even me that I almost always have just what I need. Don't ever stop collecting stuff, it will all come in sooner or later! This lot has taken over 40 years so don't despair.

[Stanley]

I started by finishing tapping the holes I started on yesterday.



Then I Bored the holes clearance at 3.5mm and got set up for the other end. No hole for the stud to hold the lid so I had to have another approach. The toolmaker's vice was just right.



It was easier to stabilise this set up and I managed to drill three holes.



Leaving the vise in place I tapped the three holes and put bolts in them.



Now we don't need the vise any more...



Easy to set up in the mill as well.



I soon had the holes tapped and the bolts in.



Knocking off time. I need to drill the holes in the lid for clearance tomorrow. I am not going to reduce the bolts to the right length, that can wait until we are almost finished. Tomorrow, once the clearances are put in I can do some serious measuring for the steam chest, lid and the valve because that's the next phase. I'm doing them because they are all brass and I shan't be contaminating John's chips! Making the piston involves the steel piston rod.....

[Stanley]

The first job was to tidy up yesterday's work. I wanted to pop the 3.6mm clearance drill through the lid I had done yesterday. Now for something entirely different! (I have had enough drilling and tapping for a while.....)



I popped into the drawing office, checked on some sizes, did a fag packet drawing and then got my plastic sweet jar of bronze down off the shelf. One of the good things about watch-making is that you don't need big expensive lumps of metal. I was looking for stock to make the steam chest (I am ditching the one that came with the kit) the lid, the valve and the driver bar. (It's interesting but search as I may I can't find a drawing of the valve anywhere. No problem because I'd rather design my own and use the Newton approved method. It has never let me down yet!)



I changed the cutter in the mill for a 13/16" sharp multi flute, left the speed on the high setting it was on and did light cuts looking for a finish. I'm not milling to size, all I want at the moment is true square faces. Remember these are lumps of scrap!



I used my Roebuck parallels as I was looking for cuts as accurate as can be expected given the mill's capabilities. In practice, this is within about a thou of tolerance.... That'll do me!



I only did the faces of the blank for the lid as I can go for the size at the same time as I square it up because I will be making to reference the chest.



At closing time I had my chest and the lid blank done. I shall leave the valve and the driver bar until I have the crank throw measured up which will give me the size. Another nice morning, no mistakes and some accurate machining. I am happy!

[Stanley]

Today's job is getting the blanks for the lid and steam chest to size. I'm not going to bore you with lots of pics of milling apart from this one of me working on the lid. It gives you some idea of the scale. The cutter is 13/16".



Knocking off time, the lid is to size, the steam chest blank is finished for length and width but needs adjusting for depth. I would have got more done but important communications have continually interrupted me. All good news but it doesn't help production!!

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , Good to see you have survived black Friday without buying anything I did the same and did not join in with the idea. You are making good progress, it even looks fiddly on the photos and then things look even smaller when you see them in real life so even better you are doing so well. Glad to hear your interuptions are all good news. Its all frosy here tonight already so hope your shed is keeping up to temprature.

Cheers Mick.

[Stanley]

Thanks Mick, yes, it's fiddly, I have had to adjust my brain. The shed is so important to me at the moment as a safety valve that I haven't lit the stove so the CH is taking the strain. That means the shed is warm. I'm having to aim for half a thou accuracy and this has thrown up the fact that my VM is perhaps slightly out. What I really should do is spend a couple of days tramming it in and adjusting it. I suspect the fault is fundamental, the relationship between the pillar and the bed which can't be adjusted. I may have to fly cut the table.... The castings may have moved slightly over the years.....

[Stanley]

The first thing I had to do was complete the sizing and finishing of the blank for the steam chest. That didn't take long and here we have the chest and the lid ready for more operations.



My steam ports aren't exactly on the centre line of the cylinder so I had to do some measuring, bluing and careful marking ready for cutting the aperture for the valve. There isn't a lot of meat to play around with and I need some overlap for the valve to seal efficiently. It worked out to 3/8" wide and just enough meat at each end for the studs.



Some very careful setting up (my eyes are just about good enough for this, but only just!) and then some very careful milling with a 3/8" slot drill.....



A bit later and I have a slot that isn't too bad but of course it has rounded ends....



Only way to deal with this is about 30 minutes careful work with a file.....



It's very hard to see the edges of the aperture, the flash has blown some of the detail out but here we have a very acceptable aperture. The valve is going to be tiny but I have room for it!



Knocking off time, the chest and the lid ready for the next move. The extra length on the right hand end of the chest is to make sure I have enough meat for the gland. I'll have to measure up but I suspect I shall be putting an old style gland on the valve rod as there isn't really enough meat for my usual Newton pattern. I'll decide on that when I have had a bit of a measure up tomorrow.....