SHED MATTERS 2

[Stanley]

Into a clean shed. Check on the setup and hone the cutter and then away we go, 20 thou cut each pass on the pin and make sure that the shoulder is cleaned out each time.



I was in the shed at 07:00 and by 08:30 I had the pin finished to 2 thou under the target, .750". No problems about a small variation because the bronze bearing will be bored to be a perfect fit. Then a few minutes with the hacksaw to separate the shaft from the ends which are now redundant.



Then a good clean up of Mrs Harrison. Take the 4 jaw off and put an accurate 3 jaw SC on. I want to finish the ends of the shafts, properly faced, centre drilled and the shoulder chamfered.



No slip ups at this point in the proceedings. Even though they are firmly held in the chuck, the shafts aren't very rigid so out comes a little used accessory, the travelling steady. I can't remember when I used it last but it's just the job for making sure that the cuts on the end of the shaft don't lead to a grab and a bent shaft. Far too easy to do at this stage and what a waste of time and effort. So, overkill if you like but absolutely safe!



All four shaft ends faced, accurately centred and chamfered. A bit of final polishing with emery....



One last job, cut a chamfer on the inside edges of the web of the crank I have just finished. I did the other when I finished it.



A nice group of ornaments on the sideboard.....



A bit of light entertainment now, I have these four slugs that were the ends on the shafts and I have promised Mrs Faulkner that I would make her some map weights....



Nothing fancy, just a good clean up and chamfer. The smoke isn't from my pipe, it's the oil that has soaked into the marking paint on the slug.



By closing time I had made two, the other two will be finished by 9AM tomorrow Wendy so call in whenever you are about, you know the times I am active.....

[Wendyf]

Wonderful! I'm busy tomorrow morning but should be able to pop in on Thursday. I'll bring half a dozen eggs...my new pullets have started laying.

[Stanley]

Bring a strong shopping bag as well, they are a fair weight. When Col sees them he'll be finding a use for them!

[Stanley]

Wendy's map weights finished by 8AM



Then a good clean up and a bit of lathe maintenance because while I was finishing Wendy's weights I thought the gearbox sounded different. When I checked I found the oil level was down below low, god knows when I looked at it last. I have some headstock oil so a quick top up.... It sounds better now!



I'm going to make sure the bed plates are flat and as they're 4" wide I need the big vise in the VM. it's a weight! Checked for parallel with the ball bearing trick.



I put the big fly cutter in, slowed the VM down and took a pass across the first plate. It's a bit shy on one corner but I can deal with that.



I cheated and wiped it's face with a soft sanding wheel on the angle grinder. I started cutting the next one but it's a bit further out than this one so I'm leaving it for tomorrow....

[doubleboost]

Hi
Stanley
I had a half day of work today
Mick came & temperd the casting sand
I made & cooked the cylinder cores
Be casting this week end

[Stanley]

Wonderful John! I have asked Mick to make tapered plugs for the bores for centre finding and a couple of plinth boards. Let him clear the wood turnings up!
Any chance of you and Mick delivering the castings? I have the belt guard for the Progress drill and a bag of non-ferocious turnings for you. Fell free to pinch any pics from Shed Matters if you want to explain what's going on. Click on them to enlarge and then save the image off the site, they are all a fair size.
Is Debs watching the build? I hope she enjoys her holiday....
Not happy with the was the bed plates are shaping up at the moment. I might have a rethink this morning......

[Stanley]

Things are moving! John and Mick have been busy preparing for a casting session.



First the sand had to be conditioned.



Cores made.



The cylinder pattern titivated and the casting boxes cleaned.



Then the cores had to be baked. All is ready for a melt and pour, they need some good weather!

Meanwhile.... at the Barlick end we've had a full and productive morning.



This is where I started this morning with a very unsatisfactory cut on the bed plate. I did a bit of inspecting and decided the fault was min, I hadn't given the cutting bit enough rake so I took it out and re-sharpened it.



A great improvement and a clean cut. This plate is a bit shy at the far end but I can live with that so I've called it finished.



The plates have been flame cut and while they are tidy I want all the pieces dead square and matched to each other.



Once I had the long edges straight I squared the ends of both plates and then broke all the edges with a good file.



I treated the smaller plates the same way, broke the edges and put a punch mark in the centre of both of them.



Next job was to take the big vise off the bed, have a good chip chase and put the normal vise in place properly squared up with the ball bearing edge finder.



I want to clean up the long side of the gussets. The other two sides don't matter because they are both to be prepped and welded.



First job was to grind the rags and slag off the gussets so I could chuck them accurately.



Check the edges are level and then mill them off. I took a minute or two the resharpen the 3/4" cutter. Never wasted time.



Knocking off time, all four gussets milled and the edges broken. Chips chased up and only one more task, stick the sole back on my sheepskin slipper! I tell you, it's been a busy morning.... No sign of Wendy yet.....

[doubleboost]

Hi
Stanley
I used car body filler to "plug" the ends of the cylinder fore marking out .
Once the port face was machined flat

Bored mine on the lathe saddle

Regards
John

[Stanley]

We all have different ways of achieving the same thing John. No tee slots on the Harrison saddle so not as easy to mount a cylinder on it. Pity because that's how all the big cylinders were bored. Car filler would be OK for centres but less mess and expense for me to drive a plug in, same result. I have a slightly different method in mind for these two which theoretically should be a a foolproof setup..... Nice to experiment!

[Stanley]

One more little job to do on the bed plates, I wanted the corners off the gussets where they will be welded to their mating surfaces.



That didn't take long....



Next job is to get some finish on these six pieces of hot rolled black bar which are very rusty. I shall do it by first setting the cutter to the correct height, locking it and skimming two adjacent sides on each slug. Once I have that done I shall resharpen the cutter, rust is an abrasive, and do the same again with the rest of the sides. That way they will be self referencing and all the same size and dead square.



Half way through a complete sharpen, backed off and a new edge. Never time wasted....



By knocking off time I had all 24 sides cleaned up and squared off. Only the ends to do tomorrow. Well worth sharpening the cutter, the last 12 cuts were easier! I washed up and went to take Jack for a walk and do a bit of shopping.



When I got back I checked my safe place, the recycling bin in the yard and my welding screen had arrived! Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow if it's fine! Having a bit of a practice.....

[David Whipp]

Pleased to see they had it in a plain colour...

[Stanley]

I had to report to the kids that I had been spending the Burial Fund. Margaret mailed to say I'd look like Darth Vader.... Exciting isn't it!

[David Whipp]

Big improvement, Stanley!

[Stanley]

What did I tell you.....



I was in the shed early and started by finishing off squaring the six billets. Did them two at once and finished up with clean square ends and of course all the pieces the same size.



This is what I was looking for. It was spotting with rain and so I settled down to milling, forget playing with the welder until it's decent weather. I want to do it outside. I don't like welding in the shed, the spatter gets in some funny places!



Two of the slugs are going to be the crosshead slides and so they need a tee slot milling in them. That means starting with a 5/8" slot to full depth and then open out with the slot cutter. So I set up to mill the deep slot in both pieces. I usually do this on the horizontal mill but decided to do them like this because I had a sharp cutter.



By half past nine I had one cut to full depth and all the edges broken with a smooth file. The cutter is fine and so all I had to do was bang the next piece in and start cutting. I'd set the depth gauge on the final cut on the first so I don't need to do any measuring. Just keep cutting until I hit the stop.



I started cutting and then realised that I was getting a bit tired, I'd done over three hours and besides, the motor on the VM was getting a bit hot so I stopped for the morning. Good progress and a straight start tomorrow morning.....

[Stanley]

I might break a rule and do some welding in the shed. I want to make sure the screen is functioning properly before destroying the packaging.....

[micktoon]

Good morning Stanley, watch where that welding splatter goes Hope the new screen works well and make welding a pleasure for you. Its a blue sky out there today Stanley so the cylinders should get cast today fingers crossed all goes well.
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

I wouldn't describe it as a pleasure but read on.... Good news about the castings, I hope it goes well.
I started this morning by cutting away at the slot until it came light and then I turned my mind to welding.....



I've had this flame cut blank about me for a long while. It's 10.5" across so I can turn it in the Harrison but it's a question of getting hold of it so I decided to weld a boss on it, might as well be doing something useful if I am setting up for welding.



I turned a sensible boss up first.



There was already a centre pop in the disc from the flame cutter so I scribed a circle to guide me and stuck the boss on with some Loctite so it would be firmly in place for welding.



This pic is out of sequence, before I went back to the slot I did a complete gulleting and resharpen on the cutter.



All set up on the bench outside for welding.



At this point I slipped up.... I welded the boss first and did my practice welds afterwards! Stupid. Never mind, the screen works OK and I can see a lot better. I found I could lay a reasonable bead down where I wanted it. I'm not going to show you the mess I made of the boss. It will do but it's horrible! Never mind, I'm a lot more confident about welding the beds now....



I put all the welding tackle away. Playtime over! And got back to me onions. Soon finished the slot.



Then I set the tee slot cutter up, took a deep breath and started into it. I hate this job! Full cut of course all the way through and at the very limits of what the mill can stand. Note that I made sure the quill was extended the least possible amount to give the VM a chance.



One slow continuous cut.... Notice I haven't tried to come right through because I know to my cost that at the end of the cut the mill can't hold the cutter rigidly enough to stop it grabbing. I've only got one cutter and they are very expensive!



The big mill men will laugh at this but I filed most of the excess out of the unfinished end of the cut and than replaced it in the vise and took a pass with the cutter in the opposite direction.



One cross head slide cut without any cock up. That'll do me for this morning. I'll cut the other tomorrow.....
I was thinking, the tee slot cutter diameter is 1" and the column of the VM is 4" diameter. Bit of a miracle that it did as well as it did!

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, looks like you had a better day than we did casting , sorry to say both the castings did not turn out any good, same problem with each one, it looks like the riser was too big so the casting fed the riser rather than the riser feeding the casting. Both ended up having a void sucked away from the core towards the riser. So annoying as they did look ok at first anyway, so will need doing again but John has remembered how he did Bobs castings that worked so there should be a better chance of success next time, which may be one night through the week or will be next weekend if not.
As John says if it was easy everyone would be doing it

Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

No worries, I have nothing but admiration for anyone who can add casting to their shed skills. I considered it myself once but then decided I was better off letting my mate Geoff Smith do them for me. John is right, if it was easy everyone would be doing it!
I need to do more practice welding, I have an idea I can improve on yesterday. The new screen is a BIG IMPROVEMENT (bugger caps lock!) but I haven't explored it properly yet. I have plenty of work I can be doing on the individual parts before the castings become essential but it struck me yesterday how much I have got done.... Just one more tee slot to finish and then I have got the tricky milling out of the way!

[plaques]

I need to do more practice welding

Whenever my pal did any arc welding in his shed he zapped the TV reception to all the surrounding houses. He never knew he was the culprit until his wife started complaining and then he put two and two together. I wonder whether this affect still applies?

[Stanley]

No, it's a very good oil cooled welder properly installed and doesn't affect TV reception. Thank you for your concern.....



It took 90 minutes horrendous cutting to get the tee slot cut, the cutter is dull I think, but I soldiered on.



Both slides with all the edges broken and tidied up.



Then both bored 1/4" for the holding down bolts and counter-bored 3/8" for the socket head caps.



A full morning's work! But the pile of components is building nicely....

[Stanley]

I'm going to decline machining today and concentrate on sharpening my tee slot cutter, far better than waiting until I need it again. This entails a different set up on the T&C grinder so I will have to get my brain in gear! Mick will no doubt be watching with interest.....

[Stanley]

This was the starting point, the grinder is set up for sharpening end mills.



And this is the task, to sharpen the tee slot cutter. This involves sharpening the face and then relieving and sharpening the bottom of the cutter. The first demands a straight grinding wheel and not the cup which is fitted at the moment (Remember that the spindle for the wheel is left hand thread and don't overtighten the nut. We will also need to alter other settings and adjustments to get the correct cutting angles. I can't give you a road map, all I can do is show you what I did. Best to read the instructions first and make sure you know where all the adjustment possibilities are and what they do!



The fixture for holding end mills at the correct angle has gone and been replaced by a simple pair of adjustable centres. The cutters all have a centre in each end.... Make sure the main body is at 90 degrees to the wheel, you'll find a register mark on the turntable. Make sure that you take the included angle off the cross slide so that it is moving parallel in relation to the face of the wheel. Correctly set up, the finger that is the locating rest for the cutter will follow the shape and automatically give you the spiral cut. Notice that the grinding wheel is not in the correct position.



Then drop the axis of the grinding wheel until the point of contact is giving the correct angle of cut. There must be a way of measuring this but I don't know it, I set it by rack of the eye. Check that all your adjustments are tight and then go ahead and dress the edges....



Once you have done the face you need to relieve and sharpen the bottom cutting edges. This is basically the same as sharpening and end mill but with more relief behind the edge. I slipped up here... I forgot that I had two tee slot cutters to sharpen!



The result. Only using it will prove I got it right but it looks OK to me.



Having forgotten this smaller cutter I had to reset everything to do the faces. If I'd had my wits about me I could have done them both on almost the same setting.



Once I had the faces sharpened I had to alter all the settings again and set up for end mill sharpening so I could sharpen the bottom edges and re-establish the relief.



The last thing was to reset the grinder for straight end mill sharpening which is of course what I do most often. I sharpened this 3/4" end mill to make sure I had everything back as it should be. That was it for this morning, I think I did good, the tee slot cutters are certainly sharper than they were. Everything cleaned up and that's it for the day. The T&C grinder is one of the most useful accessories in the shed, I don't know what I would do without it. I've never regretted the £600 it cost me....

[sister sarah]

Hi Stanley,

How are you? I continue to watch your progress in the shed and I'm amazed at the skills you are sharing with everyone. Im sorry the castings didn't go well and I know the boys were frustrated at the weekend but hopefully this weekend will prove more successful.

Keep up the good work, big hugs and love,

Sarah
xxx

[Stanley]

I think I'm OK Sarah but it doesn't do to be too cock-sure! I watched the video of the casting yesterday and yes, I can understand them being frustrated. Never mind, these things happen and the thing to remember is that they are operating at the further reaches of shed work! They'll crack it and then I'll slip up and bugger one of the castings..... We have to take these risks to get results! Some of our finest work is done retrieving mistakes.
How are you? Are you gradually getting back to being able to eat properly? I want to hear you have put weight on!
Sorry to hear that Debs isn't so well but I liked her comment that it was nice to be 'normally unwell', I can see what she means!
I haven't made my mind up what to attack next in the shed..... I'll have a look at the rabbit later in the morning.