SHED MATTERS 2

[Stanley]

I got diverted this morning. I had remembered this good parting tool holder for which I have plenty of specially shaped cutters and decided it was time it was reduced so it would fit in the quick change tool holders. I cleaned the Harrison off first but then found my Big mistake! When I got it set up and started cutting I found the body was hardened and no way my cutters can deal with it....



So I mounted the cutter in m y original Harrison toolpost which has enough room for it and re-sharpened the cutter.... Thank God for the Clarkson!



My first job on the con rod was to mark the holes for the bots that hold the assembly of rod and bearing together. A bit of careful fiddling and two light pops with the 3/16" transfer punch. I put witness marks on both the rod and the brass to ensure that when I assemble it I don't get the faces mixed up.



Then a careful setup under the pillar drill using the spirit level and once I was sure it was right, two holes popped through with a stub drill. Always handy to have a few of these about, they can be very useful when you're short of room!



Then set the rod up for milling using a parallel to check the level. I milled that side down to 7/8", the same as the diameter of the clevis end of the con rod.



The other side was a bit dodgy as I only had a 1/4" of hold on it but after setting it up with a parallel again, careful light cuts did the business with no slip ups!



This is why I have left the foot oversize. I wanted to get a firm grip on the rod in this position ready for milling the 1/2" jaw in the clevis. It was clocking off time so I shall do this tomorrow. Quietly away with no slip ups! Notice that setting it up like this ensures that the clevis jaw is dead square at right angles to the bearing brass.....

[Stanley]

The task was simple, cut the jaw in the end of the rod to form the clevis.



Once the slot was cut, tidy it up with the file....



John turned up and did this pic of me drilling the clevis for its 1/4" pin....



That was it for this morning, we have historical matters to discuss!

[Stanley]

First job was to mill a flat on the outside of the clevis at each side, this is so the Pin head and the retaining washer will seat properly when fitted.



Next I popped a piece of 1" stock in the chuck. I want a plug 7/16" thick and the same diameter as the crankpin. Squared it off and did a bit of light turning....



I wanted a plug that was exactly the size of the bearing. Here it is fitted and with the bolts tightened up well. The idea is that when we grip the bearing in the vice while I am milling the assembly flat, the bearing will not distort under the strain. Easy to do so don't skip this step.



Here we are assembled with all the witness marks matching and the bolts tightened down. We are ready for a bit of milling.



Levelled up and ready for cutting.



Milled down until the levels match exactly and then reverse it in the vise and do the opposite side..



Next set the rod up and level it to cut the face. This is where the bearing collapses without the plug in it.



Mill the first side down carefully until the cutter is just skimming the brass, then reverse it and repeat on the other side.



Close of play. I must have managed to keep my relationships square because the rod and the bearing have matched well and finished up dead square. First job tomorrow will be a bit of light filing to break all the edges and make it look nice. That was a nice couple of hours, good work and no mistakes!

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, nice work and good to see an action shot too . Is that red hat a festive touch or just your normal drilling cap ? , Sarah approves of it you will be glad to hear but had thought you might have had a Santa hat on
I hope you will be having the day off on Christmas day mind. The project is looking good and nice description of how its getting done too Stanley.
Keep up the good work.

Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

The hat is a genuine Kromer welder's cap, fits better back to front of course.... Get Sarah one, you can find them on the web. I shall be in the shed as usual on Xmas Day, the better the day the better the deed. I shall have to stop when daughter Susan visits, she's expecting me to be in my best suit.... Dream on Kid!
The con rod is a good job and when I've finished it off this morning it will be a thing of beauty.....
Have a good Xmas and give my best to the NE Mafia.....

[Stanley]

It was almost 9AM before I got into the shed. I set to straight away to break all the edges on the con rod and bearing and make it look beautiful! This was how it looked after about 45 minutes of tittivating. Notice that the witness marks are all intact. It cleaned up well....



I cleaned all the dust out of the bearing, oiled it and fitted the con rod to the crank pin. I haven't finished the studs off for length as that will come later when I do all of them.



Then I ran it at 300rpm with the drill. This starts the long process of running in. (And I wanted to check I had the stroke right) Lovely to see it wagging about and looking like a con rod! It runs easily, I have everything square. My general tendency is to fit bearings and bores too tight but I have purposely avoided it with this one. It'll run a treat with some steam on it!



Then into the lathe, we need a clevis pin for the crosshead connection....



Clocking off time, the pin is a nice fit. All it needs now is a collar and a cotter pin fitted. That's a Xmas Day job! I'm suited with progress, everything tight but free running..... Just right!

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , I will pass on your good wishes to the NE squad Glad to see you will not be idol tomorrow anyway, what was once bits of metal in your scrap bin and a few castings are almost a living thing now ! All looking very nice too. I have a feeling sarah will not be talked into the welders cap , I forgot to say she approved of your stormans type coat too.
Hope you have some festive turning tomorrow Stanley, watch you do not get any swarf in your Christmas pudding mind

Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Thanks Mick, give Sarah a big hug for me. Tell her I won't be doing a lot because Daughter Susan is calling in this morning. She is expecting me to be in my best suit and not in the shed, dream on Kid! The shed is part of my Xmas....

[Stanley]

Sorry about this, I know it's the sort of pic that sends the newer shed men into a rage.... This morning's job is to make the retaining collar for the crosshead pin. I needed a taper pin, the correct size drill to make a hole in the collar the exact size and a very particular drill that was exactly the right size for the taper pin. This happened to be a Number drill, 46. Nice to have a full set. This isn't showing off it's an example of what stage you can get to over the years if you keep adding to the collection. Make a list and start now! The collar was a tiddly little job but with a bit of care it came out all right. One thing about fitting the taper pins, in small sizes like this there is no need to make the bore tapered. Size it to the diameter of the centre of the pin. When you drive it home it will make its own taper and never come loose!



Close of play. I stopped when I had the collar fitted as Susan will be here any minute and I was instructed not to go in the shed.... My hands and face are washed and the washing is ready to come out of the machine so I shall be ready for inspection when she arrives....

[Stanley]

A bit of housekeeping this morning and then I looked at the rabbit. Two major tasks left to do, make and fit the eccentric and it's rod and make the flywheel and fit that. As you can see, the eccentric isn't straightforward because the valve rod is nowhere near in line with a sensible position on the flyshaft. I want to have a bit of a think about this....



So I decided to do the flywheel. Swap the jaws on the three jaw, get set up and go looking for two parallel faces and a concentric rim.



This is for fancy, I don't want the wheel to be a boring slab so I am putting some shape into it....



Close of play, I reversed the wheel and finished the cut on the rim while the lathe is still warm and the tool set at the same cut. Then I reversed the cutter and set up ready for doing the face tomorrow, harvested the thick of the swarf and put it in the bin and called it a day.

[Stanley]

I finished putting a bit of shape into the flywheel. I reckon it's starting to look the part. I was considering drilling some large holes in the web but then decided not to.



Next job is to bore it for the shaft. I'm not having any slip-ups here... The digital callipers are OK for most jobs but this has got to be spot on!



I went through the usual progression, centre drill, 1/4", 1/2" and finally a 5/8" drill (the target was just over 3/4".) Now I'm ready to bore it. No heroics, quietly away!



I tried it on the shaft, lovely, just a slight interference fit. I didn't push it on any further, it was hard enough to get off as it was! When it gets pushed on with a bit of shaft lock in the bore it will never move and will run perfectly concentric. I've given up to keyways and set screws, they never look right and I always finish up with run-out. This way it's easy and perfect....



It's time to get serious about the eccentric now. First thing is to measure the throw I need. I already knew but no problem measuring it again! In case you're wondering, the measurement you want is the amount of travel the valve has from steam port fully open at one end to the same event at the other. That's the throw you need from the eccentric.



So, some very careful measuring....



Then into the drawing office and a few fag packet sketches with all the other sizes marked. This gave me the size of stock I needed....



God bless the NE Mafia and Mick the Shed! You've no idea what a difference this has made to my life. A two inch long piece of 2" stock quickly knocked off by Mrs McMaster.



Ready for a start tomorrow. Only one job left to do, put the inside jaws in the 3 jaw chuck and clean up the lathe. I do like a straight edge!

[plaques]

Stanley, I'm not being picky but I've always thought the studs on the steam box look a little on the long side. But there again its your engine so if you're satisfied that's all that matters.

[Stanley]

You're not being picky, just observant. Of course they are too long. At the moment they are all free starting for the nuts because they are rounded at the end, part of the process of making them. So are the ones on the main crank bearing. They'll get filed down to the nuts at the final assembly and will then be all tidy. If I was being picky I would mark them all for length, take them out and round them off but I can't be arsed. Part of the final finishing touches....

[Stanley]

I forgot to mention yesterday. If anyone is wondering how I am going to cope with the misalignment of the eccentric with the valve.... That will be easy to solve once I have the eccentric made and fitted. The valve rod is the last job.

[Stanley]

Today's task, turn this rusty lump of stock into an eccentric body....



Faced accurately, turned down to the major diameter I want, a centre pop put in the end and a circle .29" diameter scribed round it. This is the centre I'll need to make it eccentric and give me the correct throw for the valve, .58".



Reverse it and get it to the right diameter, faced off exactly 1 1/4" deep and the eccentric centre marked the same as the other end.



Not often you see me making blue swarf but I wasn't messing about getting the meat off!



Next, put a centre pop on the circle you scribed, Do a line perpendicular with the centre and then mark a parallel line down the external diameter with my old friend, the shaft ruler. Brilliant idea, it is forced to sit parallel on the shaft, it can't do anything else.



Reverse the stock, pick up the parallel with the centre finder and scribe a line to the centre. Where it crosses your circle is the centre exactly opposite the one on the other end. Put a good pop mark in it.



Cut the groove for the eccentric strap while you have enough meat on the other end to get a good grip on it.



Close of play. The eccentric mounted in the 4 jaw and set up with the centre so that the eccentric centre is running true. We're ready to cut the boss now but that will do tomorrow. No rush..... No mistakes!

[Stanley]

Today is finishing the eccentric. I left it all set up last night but before starting always check that everything is tight. Funny how the gremlins can sometimes slacken things off during the night. Everything tickety boo so away we go....



It didn't take long to get a finish. In case you're wondering why I haven't bored it for the shaft while it was set up. There is always the chance that the boss may not be quite concentric after interrupted cutting. I want the bore at right angles to the eccentric itself.



So I set it up in the VM. This way I am sure it's at right angles to the eccentric....



Bored and fitted with two set screws, it's another step forward. Next job was to take the big 4 jaw off the lathe, have a clean up and put the 3 jaw on.



Then I did a bit of measuring up and went looking for a lump of bronze for the strap.



You might think this is over the top but it's exactly the right material, cast bronze. It's a nice diameter, should do the job nicely and it's big enough to hold securely in Mrs McMaster while I cut a slice the right width. That's for tomorrow. Quietly away and another bit added to the engine, that's how they grow.....

[Stanley]

On the face of it all is well, we're off to a good start. However, there were two problems. First I should have started the saw an hour at least before I went in the shed. And second, the stock is very good bronze which I suspect is leaded. The consequence is that it's self lubricating to the extent it was cutting very slowly. Shortly after taking this pic I stopped the saw and reversed the blade so that the brass was being attacked by sharp teeth! I have the cleanest shed in Britain because it took almost an hour to cut and I filled in the time cleaning up.



Never mind, worse things happen at sea.... I've changed the jaws on the chuck and we are ready to start at last. (I've cut it plenty thick enough!)



Away we go, making clean chips for John!



Well, it took longer than expected but by clocking off time I have a blank the right thickness and some marking done. I need to give a bit of thought to the order of machining.... The Design Committee will have it sorted out by tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

The Committee met last night and have come up with a critical path..... I can start sculpting now.....

[micktoon]

Bring it on Stanley .............. Is there no end to what is hoarded in that chest
All the best for 2016 Stanley in case I do not get the chance to check in later.
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

There will be an end to it one day Mick but I may not be the one to reach it! Happy New Year to you and all the lads who pop in to see what I am up to....



I had a bit of pastry-making to do before I got in the shed but once in there I settled down to some measuring, thinking and marking out. The design committee, looking forward, have reminded me to drill a hole in the stock before I split it with the slitting saw. Before I do that I want to mark out what needs to be cut away before fitting the bolts that will hold the two halves together for boring to exact size and fitting on the sheave....



Into the lathe to drill a hole in it. Usual progression, no short cuts, centre drill first then 3/8" and 1/2" drills



Finishing off with an 1 1/16" drill. Make sure it's sharp and don't forget to back of the cutting edges so the drill doesn't grab.



Then get set up in the VM and start cutting....



No heroics, just a succession of decent cuts.



Clocking off time, all the edges broken. I am ready for fitting the 2BA bolts that will hold the eccentric strap together once it has been split. Quietly away.
Has it ever struck you that all we do is take a piece of metal and knock lumps off it....

[PanBiker]

Elegantly knocked off though Stanley.

[Stanley]

Thank you Ian, I'd like to think so..... I love seeing the 'proper shape' emerging from the rough cast metal..... Let's hear it for being a control freak! ('Cause that's what it's all about really....)

[Stanley]

As it's a new year, we start with a clean tablecloth. Only a small thing but I do better work if things are clean.....



Next job is to drill the holes for the connecting bolts. 2BA so 3/16" gives the clearance. The odd leg callipers are probably one of the oldest tools we have but still the easiest way to find simple centres like these. They're not critical but it looks good if they match!



Set up ready for drilling using the machining marks, if you take a bit of care they have to be perfectly perpendicular and matched.



Nicely matched, so we can split the bearing now.



Set up ready to cut. I've checked for vertical even though the set up should guarantee it.... I've picked a better saw than last time and remembered to take the centre out! It doesn't matter how you get hold of it really but watch out for distorting the piece when you tighten the vise. This way it can't happen.



It's a nice clean cut and I spent a bit of time cleaning the edges up and taking the burrs out of the bolt holes with a rat tail file.



Before I went any further I put witness marks on the two halves and tightened the bolts dead tight. Now I have to think about how I hold it to bore the centre to finished size.



Before I went any further I swapped the drill out of the VM and put the 3/4" cutter back in but sharpened it first. Lovely to be comfortable with the Tool and Cutter grinder, so easy to make sure you have a perfect edge.



I decided the 4 jaw SC was the best chuck for the job. I know that by splitting the bearing with a saw 60 thou thick I have reduced one axis by that amount so I cut two pieces of 30 thou spring steel and packed the jaws with them. It worked just fine, I got a perfect centre first time. I was getting serious here so I got the spring internal gauge and the 1" to 2" micrometer out. I don't trust digital for jobs like this.



By knocking off time I had a perfect fit after a bit of fitting. The bolts are dead tight but you can still turn the eccentric in its sheave. It is a touch tight but that will vanish as soon as it runs a bit. Possibly the best fitting eccentric I have ever made.... A nice morning's work and a good start to the year! Tomorrow we'll thing about finishing the eccentric with a flat and mounting holes for the con rod and some oil holes.....

[Bodger]

re calipers, i knew them as odd legs or hermaphrodite

[micktoon]

Turned out lovely Stanley, a good start to the year. I have spent my first day recovering from last night this morning then visiting an elderly friend who is in hospital.
Cheers Mick