Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

Only one pic needed this morning. I started by reducing the thickness of the webs on my crankshaft, they were a bit too thick. Then I finished mounting the bed on the base, drilling and tapping for the four 2BA bolts. That took an hour.... Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

First job this morning was more refining of the bed and base castings, starting with hand work with files, then drilling the lugs in the bed for the mounting screws (Notice how handy a few long series drills can be.). Next I mounted the bed and base on a temporary plinth which makes it better for fitting. Then a complete change, I started on the refining of the flywheel casting. I made a good start on that, cleaned up the CI dust and left the shed in search of breakfast.

[Stanley]

I finished the first rough turning of the flywheel and fitted it to the shaft. No dramas and this morning I was a sensible lad and wore a mask. The CI dust yesterday was particularly noticeable. No problems this morning..... Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

Ian called in at lunchtime and I made a bronze bush for his electric motor and fitted it. Should be good as new!

[Stanley]

I went in the shed with no clear idea of what I was doing this morning but then realised that it was time for a tidy up, put stuff away and have a deep clean and lubricate of Mrs Harrison so that's what I did and it took me 45 minutes to do it properly so that's how I got to knocking off time. Now I am ready for breakfast and a second sleep.

[Stanley]

The first thing I did was something I have intended to do for a while but kept forgetting. A long time ago I made a tidy little handle for the top of the tool holder and it has served me well but of late I have been noting that I am not getting it as tight as I used to and on heavy cuts it was slipping. So I have replaced the original nut and the spanner I cut down to fit it as it has more leverage. That will have cured that. Then I addressed the matter of cutting the steam chest square and to size including the internal space. That got me to knocking off time and now I am ready for my breakfast!

[Stanley]

Only one image needed this morning. I have spent the whole hour on the lid of the steam chest. It had to be milled all over and on the edges to Match the steam chest and be square and the correct dimensions. Then I put witness marks on both the chest and the lid to ensure their correct orientation when fitting. Finally I marked the clearance holes for the 4BA studs that will used to fasten the steam chest assembly. The lid will be used as a template for drilling the clearance holes in the chest walls and the tapping size holes in the valve face. A good morning and now I am going to have breakfast.

[Stanley]

I was focussed for an hour on refining the cylinder casting and the steam chest. I have bored and tapped the steam port in the chest and drilled the passage for the valve rod with the countersink for the valve rod gland and the exhaust port in the cylinder casting. I also marked and drilled the clearance holes for the studs that hold the steam chest and lid on the cylinder. Half way through I realised that the gearbox on my Progress pillar drill was a bit noisy and so I topped it up with oil. I think that's only the second time in over 40 years!
Now for breakfast....

[Stanley]

Only one image this morning. I have made the steam and exhaust pipes and fitted them to the steam chest and the cylinder. Then I spent the rest of my time refining the finish on the valve face and the steam chest and lid by lots of rubbing down on 120grit emery paper. Lastly I re-stamped the witness marks on the steam chest and lid.
Now the task is breakfast!

[Stanley]

Just one job this morning, mark drill and tap the holes in the valve face of the cylinder, fit the studs and then check the fit of the steam chest and the lid. As you can see it's quite satisfactory! That'll do me, I want my breakfast.

[Stanley]

I worked on the lids. First I did all the necessary work on the back lid and then started on the front one. I have done most of the work on that one and will finish it tomorrow morning. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

I finished turning the front lid and then marked it for the bolt and screw holes using the paper gaskets I have. Here it is ready to be used as a template to mark the cylinder ready for tapping and drilling. That took an hour..... Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

Just one image this morning. I have drilled and tapped the front end of the cylinder to take the countersunk screws and studs that will locate the cylinder on the target end of the bed. Transferring those hole locations to the target end is tomorrow's task. Right now I am focussed on my breakfast.

[Stanley]

One image needed. This morning I marked drilled and tapped the holes for the 4BA studs that will retain the back lid then marked both this end and the front with witness marks to ensure the proper orientation of the lids. Then fitted the studs and the lids. The lid dropped on with no adjustments needed. Not bad for an old fart! Now for breakfast..

[Stanley]

More fitting of the cylinder this morning. As you can see it's bolted on but there is still a lot of fitting to do. I have to put right mistakes I have made which are down to old age and lessening skills! (No point in hiding it.....) I shall address those matters tomorrow. At the moment I am concentrating on breakfast!

[Stanley]

As I said yesterday my first job was to improve on yesterday morning and I am happy to report I did better. I sorted out the confusion, re-fitted the lid and refitted the cylinder assembly on the bed. It all fits now and is square. Next I sorted out a piece of scrap brass for the piston. I found some but it is so short it will take some managing! I bedded the blank in the chuck on top of four small magnets and did some careful turning. At knocking off time I had the size right and the centre drilled and tapped for the 2BA I shall thread the rod. I shall check all that tomorrow before finishing it! Not taking any chances.

[Stanley]

First job was to finish converting the scrap into a piston and then make a piston rod for it. Knocking off time I had that done and now I'm ready to move on to another stage. But first I want my breakfast.....

[Stanley]

This morning the focus was the piston rod gland. It was machined out of the casting fitted to the front lid and then drilled and tapped for the 5BA studs. It still needs some work but you see the result after an hour's careful work. No I want my breakfast!

[Stanley]

I finished the piston rod gland and made and fitted the valve rod gland. The pic is of the result at knocking off time. A productive hour and another error free move forward..... Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning the focus was the crosshead guides. The problem with these is that the stock supplied by Stuarts is too big in every dimension and so there is a lot of very precise milling that has to be done before the guides can be completed. So this morning I measured and made sure I had no stock nearer the size and milled and sanded my way to knocking off time. I shall continue tomorrow. Now I want breakfast!

[Stanley]

Just two tiny cuts to establish the recess that the crosshead will run in but a challenge for me because of the bad state of my vision. Quietly away and I ended up with the guides ready for fitting, notice that they have their witness marks so that they won't get mixed up. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning I measured and marked for the 5BA holding down bolts for the crosshead guides. Once the first two were drilled and tapped I fitted the guides and measured to make sure they are parallel and now I'm ready to drill the other 4 holes, tap them and fit the bolts. Quiet and careful progress. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

I cheated, only 40 minutes in the shed drilling and tapping the remaining four holes in the bed and fitting the bolts to hold the crosshead guides down. I used the holes in the guides for templates and so all of them are in exactly the right place. Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

First job this morning was to sort the stock and castings I need for the next few days making the crosshead and the bearings for the crankshaft. The a careful measure up of the sizes for the crosshead referring to the castings and not the drawings.... That way it will fit. Then square up the stock for the crosshead and mark out the first two cutting sizes. Next I went into the T&C grinder to grind some rake and gullet into my cutter and then a new keen edge. I'm ready to start now but that took 45 minutes, I have to be careful. I know my limitations and I don't want any mistakes! Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

Today started with sawing the meat off the stock for the crosshead and then milling it to size including gutting the channels down each side which fit it to the crosshead slide. As you can see I finished up with it fitted, it's tight and needs easing but that's as it should be. Now for breakfast.....