Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

I carried on with the bed casting and this morning started by cutting the beds for the crankshaft bearing brasses then facing all the lugs that will take the holding down bolts. Then I cleaned up and removed the vise before dressing the bed with a diamond hone to make sure there were no interfering dings. Then I clamped the base down onto the bed and put the correct cutter in so I am now ready to mill the top surface of the base tomorrow. A productive morning with no mistakes. I have been to the Co-op as well and the shopping is put away. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

I carried on with the base and bed. First of all I milled the top face of the base flat. Then a clean up of the mill. Next I drilled the holes in the lugs on the base for the screws that will fasten the engine down to the wooden plinth. Once that was done I drilled the 2BA clearance holes in the bed casting and then transferred two of them to the base so I could drill and tap for two of the 2BA bolts that will hold the bed down onto the base. I fitted them so I am ready to mark the base for the other two but that's for tomorrow. That was a good and productive hour and a quarter.

[Stanley]

I had decided to live with the fact that I had put the bed on the base in the wrong way but when I looked at it found that I couldn't cut that corner. I found that only a tiny bit of one of the holes would show so I drilled and tapped all the holes and fitted the bed oriented correctly. Then I mounted the two castings on a temporary bed for subsequent fitting. Next I cleaned the mill and replaced the vise on the bed using my ball bearing indicator to check it was square. I am ready to go forward now and I think the next stage is making the cylinder lids and fitting them.

[Stanley]

The first job was to grind out the aperture in the target face of the bed to a size that will accept the casting for the piston rod gland. Then start on the process of making the two lids for the cylinder. Good progress and I am ready now for turning the inside face and the external rim. But that's for tomorrow.

[Stanley]

Only one image needed this morning. Both lids are fini9shed and ready for fitting.

[Stanley]

More work on the front cylinder lid and the steam chest. They both need glands making for the piston rod and the valve rod. Both needed drilling for the rods and the pockets for the glands themselves. I have reached the stage where the cylinder lid gland is made and fitted tomorrow I shall do the same for the valve rod and both of them will need drilling and tapping for final fitting. A good hour and a quarter with no mistakes.

[Stanley]

Still on with the glands. I finished turning the valve rod gland and then measured and marked both of them for drilling the holes for the studs that will hold and adjust them. A good hour and quiet steady progress.

[Stanley]

I set out to fit the studs and nuts to the two glands for the valve and piston rod and completed the task. I've also been to the Co-op and done the early hours shopping and put it away. This makes it a good morning!

[Stanley]

This morning I invested more time in the lids. They both needed the holes drilling in them for the studs and, in the case of the front lid, the countersunk screws that attach them to the cylinder. I used the packing gasket to mark the hole positions. Quick and easy and accurate enough. Tomorrow I shell transfer these drillings to the cylinder....

[Stanley]

More work on the lids and their fitting. I've made enough mistakes in my time in fitting cylinders to beds to know how easy it is to get the orientation wrong so ai spent the best5 part of half an hour checking and marking the orientation of the lids. Then I drilled the holes in the target ends and made sure these holes had room for the nuts on the back side. That took me to just over an hour. Tomorrow I shall carry on by marking and drilling the tapping holes in the cylinder. Slow but extremely careful work. (And I hope accurate!)

[Stanley]

I continued with working towards fitting the cylinder. This morning I have drilled and tapped for the studs and screws on both back and front faces of the cylinder. I shall install the studs tomorrow and find out if I have got them right!

[Stanley]

Onwards with the fitting of the lids. As expected, all the studs had to be rethreaded and the tapped holes cleaned out and in some cases extended. I enlarged the clearance holes in the lid slightly and ended up with the lid an easy fit and all the nuts down tight on the rim. That took an hour of careful work but we got there. Tomorrow I'll do the same for the front lid and the fit to the target end on the bed.

[Stanley]

As promised I set to to fit the front lid to the cylinder and the cylinder to the target end on the bed. Despite all the care I took in marking the holes I had to elongate the clearance holes in the target end to get the valve face perpendicular to the bed. I'm at the stage where I have to modify the front face of the target end to allow the nuts to fit the studs. Patience is the watchword when you are fitting!

[Stanley]

I started the morning working on the seat of the nuts on the back side of the target face on the bed. Then I rethreaded all the studs because they had been damaged at the end during fitting. Next I turnewd my attention to the piston and rod. I found the 1/4" stock for the rod and as usual discarded the cast iron blank supplied for the piston, I got a piece of cast bronze scrap out of the treasure chest and started to make the piston out of that. Thank god for indexed carbide tools as there was a glass hard inclusion in the bronze that had to be got rid of. I ended up at closing time with the stock to size, I can finish the piston tomorrow.

[Stanley]

This morning was a quiet and productive hour finishing the piston, making the piston rod (Stainless steel so a bit tough!) and making sure it was a fit.

[Stanley]

This was a morning of refinement of small things. I adjusted the size of the piston making sure it was a good sliding fit in the gland and the cylinder. Then I polished the valve face and the steam chest and lid to get a good seal. Finally I harvested the non-ferocious metal and put it in the dedicated bin and oiled the lathe. It's so easy to keep putting running maintenance off but if you do you always pay for it in the end. Another good morning.....

[Stanley]

Straightforward job this morning, mark the lid of the steam chest and drill it for 4BA clearance, then use it to drill the steam chest 4BA clear and finally transfer the drillings to the valve face and then drill that No 32, the tapping size for 4BA. Tomorrow I shall tap the holes in the valve face and fit the studs, steam chest and lid. A nice quiet hour and good progress.

[Stanley]

I started this morning under the pillar drill using it to tap the holes in the valve face to make sure they were perpendicular to the face. When I had done that I invested in a new sheet of 120grit emery, taped it to the surface plate and rubbed all the faces down. Then a blow out with compressed air to get rid of all the grit and I built the cylinder up with all the nuts just finger tight. All the holes lined up and faces seated. I finished with the cylinder ready to mount on the target face for a trial fit up. There shouldn't be any surprises but that can wait until tomorrow. A nice trouble-free hour!

[Stanley]

Slow going this morning, partly down to me, I wasn't seeing properly but also because there are so many little matters to get right. The cylinder fits and the piston is in line, there are a couple of small refinements that need doing but I left them because to do them the cylinder has to be stripped down again. I went on to doing the measurements and doing the fag packet drawing necessary for making the cross head guide bars and fitting them. I finished up ready to proceed......

[Stanley]

I started by stripping the cylinder off the bed and the bed off the base ready for fitting the crosshead guides when they are ready. In the process I fixed a couple of matters that needed attention. Then I marked the guides for the next operation and cut one by closing time. I shall do the other tomorrow and carry on with fitting. I have done the early doors shopping and put it all away. Another good morning, slow but good progress!

[Stanley]

I cut the rebate in the other guide and cleaned both of them up for a last measure and mark before doing the final cut for overall width. Before I started on that I sharpened the cutter again. As you get down to the end of a cutter they don't hold their edge for as long..... Then I got set up again and started the final cut but it was knocking off time so I shall leave that until tomorrow.......

[Stanley]

More refinement of the crosshead guides..... First I reduced both to the required width and then spent a while rubbing them down on emery taped to the surface plate. (How long do you spend polishing?) I stopped myself and went on to mark the bed and the guides with witness marks to identify the hand. Then measured and marked for the holes for the six 5BA bolts that will hold the guides on to the bed. I finished up with the guides finished and ready for attaching to the bed. That will happen tomorrow.

[Stanley]

As promised, only one item on the agenda. Drill and tap the crosshead and fit the two guides. It took an hour of quiet careful and accurate work but as you can see, we got there. Now I can think about making the bearings for the crankshaft or making the crosshead itself. That's for tomorrow!

[Stanley]

Today I have shifted my attention to the bronze bearings for the crankshaft. I did very careful measurements and marking. I find it very easy to make bad mistakes when visualising three-dimensional components. I think it's all summed up in the last image, I am ready to go over to the 5/8" cutter to finish the bottom brasses. A good hour of steady progress!

[Stanley]

This morning was all about refining the crankshaft brasses to get them ready for fitting. First I worked on the top brasses and then I measured and marked the bottom brasses and cut them. I have finished up with a full set of brasses that need some final adjustments and then they can be fitted. This morning was a quiet hour and we got good progress.