SHED MATTERS 2

[Stanley]

I started where I had left off yesterday, filing the slot out in the top finger of the fixed steady so that I could hold the stock properly.



That was soon done and I made sure it was accurate with the clock....



Then I faced the end but alarm bells started to ring in my head. For a kick off it was as tough as old boots. Always a problem with scrap, you never know what it is. Secondly, after reviewing my measurements I realised just how much I was going to have to reduce this to the size I was after. So I went back to square one, got on my knees with the torch and the callipers and dug into the treasures.



Good job I did! I found some inch and three quarter bar I'd missed and it was nice and rusty! Set it up in the steady....



On the right track now! Only a couple of light cuts needed to get my finished size. Well worth starting again!



The last time I did this I had a right cock-up and shattered a good slitting saw so I approached this very carefully. Took two opposing cuts....



and left a sliver to cut with the hacksaw. Cowardly I know but I got there and there is no rush!



Close of p[lay. I have the material for my blanks without a mountain of swarf to get rid of! Not the best morning's work ever but no mistakes.... Tomorrow is another day.

[Stanley]

I started as usual with a good clean up, taking the steady off, making sure my carbide cutter was sharp and then mounting the flywheel on it's shaft into the chuck.



That was a false start for a simple reason. When I started cutting I got chatter. I'd forgotten to engage the centre to take the vibration out of the shaft!



After about half an hour of careful fine cuts the wheel is fully concentric with the shaft, polished and looking good. There's a good historical precedent for finishing the flywheel like this on its own shaft. When a full size engine was being made the wheel was built up and staked onto its shaft and the shaft mounted on its own bearings over a pit. Wooden blocks were shaped and fitted over the shaft so that some drag could be put on the shaft to steady it as it was driven by the shop shaft or a small steam engine. A cross slide was fitted up in front of the wheel and it was turned just as though it was in a lathe.



Now we move on to the eccentrics. First I sharpened and honed my favourite HSS tool and got set up to face the end after popping a centre drill in.



Coming up to close of play. A light cut to make sure the stock is concentric and I'm ready for making my eccentrics tomorrow. Quietly away!

[Stanley]

I sat the wheel and shaft on the top in the kitchen just so I could have a gloat.....

[Stanley]

It all started so well.... Simple task, reduce my stock into five inch long slugs as blanks for my eccentrics. A sharp parting tool properly set, a slow speed and very fine feed. It started cutting like a dream but then jammed up and broke the parting tool. I am rubbish at parting off! So back to Plan 'B'.



Into the HM and saw them on two sides leaving just a sliver holding them on and finish with the hacksaw in the vice....



Five slugs and one broken parting tool.



Almost close of play. The last one being faced. So I finished up with what I was aiming for but the hard way! That's it for this morning, we aren't on piece work! A clean up of the swarf and off for a walk with Jack.....

[Stanley]

Start of the day, five blanks for four eccentrics (One spare in case of cock-ups....)



First job was to mark each one with a circle on the line of the centre needed for the boss to give me 3/8" throw.



Then pop a centre drill in on the circle. A magnifying glass job.....



The big four jaw was a bit clumsy for this so I got the small 4 Jaw off the 1927 lathe and held it in the 3 jaw. This worked OK but I had a hell of a job getting the blank mounted properly. Big problem was seeing the centre hole but big does and little does...... It was at this point I made a silly mistake.... I got the bright idea of popping a 1/8" drill through so I had an accurate centre on the other side, forgetting that I didn't need to do this, all I have to do is grab the eccentric boss in the 3 jaw and it is automatically in line. Silly, then I made it worse by snapping the drill off in the hole... I know! But we all have these moments.



Close of play, two eccentrics done and the next one ready in the chuck for turning. Not sorry to see the backside of this morning actually.....

[Stanley]

Yesterday's frustrations have been nattering me. Not up to usual standards! Instead of just blaming my eyes I have been thinking..... A different approach today I think!

[Stanley]

I started this morning by getting the Verdict clock out that Arthur Entwistle gave me. It was far too sensitive and not a big enough range so I want on to Plan B.



I decided a simple pointer was better and got on a lot better.



This set up was working well so I stuck with it.



Not long after I had all the eccentrics ready for boring. I discarded the one with the broken drill in it. I told you I might need five in case of cock ups!



What I should have realised yesterday, when the eccentric is chucked like this I automatically get my other centre. So I started with the centre drill, then 1/4", then 3/8" then 1/2", finished up with the same 3/4" drill I used for the flywheel and the same reamer. That should make them exactly the right size bore.



Which turned out to be right. By closing time I had three of the eccentrics bored and on the shaft and was ready for the last one but I am not rushing. They are a very good fit....

[Stanley]

I just had one eccentric left to bore so I knocked that off, tidied my drills etc away and gave the lathe a clean. Newton would laugh but he always had a labourer following him round!
The job this morning was to face the eccentrics and adjust their length to fit between the wheel and the bearing journal. All this could be done in the 3 jaw so I put the small 4 jaw back in the front room. It's done its job OK and I can manage cutting the sheaves in the big 4 jaw because I have a face to locate the eccentric in the jaws, more of this tomorrow.



Close of play, All four eccentrics faced both sides, parallel and sized to exactly fill the space on the shaft between the wheel and the bearings. Tomorrow I need to cut the sheaves and drill and tap the bosses for their location screws.
No dramas, no slip ups, just careful turning and fitting. My sort of a morning!

[Stanley]

Off with the 3 jaw and on with the most accurate chuck.... Relatively easy to chuck the eccentrics because I have a flat face for them to land on. I have difficulty with using the clock to get my sheaves running concentric, partially because I can't see and also because I have difficulty getting my head round plus or minus readings, However, a bit of patience, a sharp parting tool with plenty of oil and I got going.



Come closing time I had the third eccentric set up and ready for cutting. I know I'm slow but there have been no slip ups....



Two eccentrics with sheaves and mounted on the shaft. All they need now is drilling and tapping for the set screws.... As I said, slow but effective.....

[Stanley]

There will be no activity in the shed today. Terry and I are going to visit a slightly bigger engine....This was how it looked 8 years ago....

[Super_7b]

Hi Stanley,

Looking at the picture of that engine, it looks like the main bearing brasses are skewed round from the vertical. I've never noticed that before. Was it common and what is the reason for it?

BR

Mick

[Bodger]

A quick guess, being an horizontal engine it removes the thrust from the split line to an arced section giving more solid bearing surface ?

[Stanley]

Well spotted Mick. Bodge is right, you often see it with a simple split circular bearing which is what the Jubilee engine has. On an engine with the usual configuration of a bottom step and two side pieces which are adjustable by wedges the thrust (both forward and back, remember the engine is double acting) the pressure is always on a solid bearing surface with no splits. In the case of the Jubilee it didn't stop all the wear going into the bottom brasses which were completely worn through and cracked and had to be replaced. That's why, on smaller engines like donkeys, they didn't split the bearing but had a simple bush (like the ones I fitted on the last engine), dead easy to replace with a new one if wear was excessive. The three piece steps seemed to last forever. I have never seen any that needed replacing simply because of normal wear.



The Jubilee engine looked good yesterday. All the hard work and expense on Robert's p[art have paid off! A credit to him and Gissings who moved and re-erected it. It's in better nick now than it was in the latter years of its work at Padiham....
[Also a bit of a miracle that despite all the attempted break-ins at Padiham and arson attempts we managed to keep all the shiny bits!]

[deebee]

... and it's just been featured on today's edition of "Bargain Hunt" on BBC 1.

db

[Stanley]

Yes, Robert told me that Tim Wonacott had been there filming....
Haven't touched the shed today, I gave myself permission to have a rest after yesterday, I know my limits! Just been watching a bit of Abom79 for light entertainment. That lad is a marvellous turner and you can learn so much from him. Mind you, watching him plunge a tipped parting tool 1" deep into a blind radial cut for a bearing housing made me want to weep!
Normal service tomorrow God willing....

[Stanley]

No work on the eccentrics. I spent my time flueing the stove, cleaning all the clinker out of the grate and getting ready for winter.

[Stanley]

In case you'd forgotten since Wednesday, the job was to finish cutting the sheaves in the eccentrics. It didn't take long to do the last two and fit them. Then guess what I did next....



You've got it! A good lathe clean, vacuum the carpet and get the 4 jaw off, cleaned and put away. I'm going to have a change and cut some non ferocious. The eccentrics themselves need to be made.



It seems ages since I was on the mill.... First thing was to put a sharp cutter in, I knew the present one was a bit tired. Usual task, looking for square faces.



At closing time I had the third face finished on one eccentric so I tried all three faces for being square just to check the method. All is well, spot on. I know where I am starting tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

The first job this morning was completing the finding of my square faces. If you get these right, all your other set ups will fall into place.



I soon had the faces and using them, milled one side flat.



Once I had one clean size I found the thinnest casting and set the mill to get a clean cut right across the face and having found that, left the mill on the same setting so that all four castings will be the same thickness and milled the rest.



Next job was a coat of marking ink and some swearing and magnifying glass work as I measured up and found a centre. If you've been careful about your settings all the measurements are the same. These weren't too bad.



The two jaw came out of hiding, just the thing for this job! Centre set up using the tailstock centre. Made sure the casting was flat on the chuck face and sharpened a boring bit and got that on centre.



Set up ready for boring.



Some time later.... All four castings have a hole in the centre. No particular size, I just bored until I had a concentric hole. Tomorrow I'll measure up to see where I am and bore them all with whatever I decide. I left this until now because I want them all the same size and wasn't sure what they will take. I should explain that this is nothing to do with the finished size. It's getting the right sized hole to accept a bush with a 3/8" hole in it so I can mount the castings on the rotary table and mill the curve at the bottom instead of doing it by hand. At the same time I can use that setup to mill the square faces where bolts have to be put through. The finish boring to the correct size for the eccentric bodies can't be done until after the bolts are fitted and the castings split. Then they can be sized for the sheaves.....
Nice productive morning and no mistakes, always makes for a good day!

[Stanley]

At close of play yesterday I had all the eccentrics bored. I measured them up this morning found the largest and settled on a bore of 1 1/4" for the bushes to hold them on the rotary table. The eventual finished size will be done later when I number the sheaves and make each eccentric the right size to fit exactly. As you can see above, no problem registering them in the chuck using the big centre.



I found a one and a quarter drill, ground a negative rake on the edge to stop it grabbing and soon had all of them to the same size.



All we need now is the bushes. Decided on the sizes and found a piece of stock.



A change of chuck and get the stock to the larger diameter. I'll draw a veil over what followed because I broke two parting tools.... I know, I can't understand it either. It might be something to do with my eyes.



It took a lot longer than it should and I was annoyed with myself but at close of play I have the bushes made, all the eccentrics de-burred and the bushes are a good tight fit in all of them so I got there in the end. Ready for the rotary table tomorrow.....

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, looks like you are keeping nice and busy, sorry to hear about the parting tools but glad to see you got there in the end. I am looking forward to tomorrow update with the rotary table. Stanley I had forgot about you drill bit again , jog my memory as to the size/s you need and I will write it backwards on my forehead then I will be reminded every time I look in the mirror, saying that the weather has scuppered any boot sales the past few weeks but I might have a spare anyway or Bob or John might.
Keep up the good work .
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

I think the parting tools is down to bad setting height and sharpening mainly. Both sight connected. Drill is 7/64" but no sweat....
Have you got a rotary table? If not I have a spare I will give you..... A good one that fell into my hands a long while ago. Nobody needs two rotary tables!

[Stanley]

Machine vice off the VM, clean up and pop the rotary table on. The left hand one's yours Mick if you want it....



Find the centre line with the pointer and then lock the table.



Set up and off we go.



This is what I'm looking for. I must have got my centres right, they cleaned up well, two of them with only one pass.



Careful and quietly away. All four with a nice concentric curve on them. Rotary table can come off now and another little clean up.



Then some careful measuring to make sure I have enough meat to get the final bore on the castings once they are split. All is well, they are working out nicely. Then, before I go any further, dig in the treasure boxes and find enough 4BA threaded rod and nuts. I'm ready to reduce the thickness of the castings now to a quarter of an inch but that's for tomorrow....

[Stanley]

All the castings blued and marked using a 1/4" parallel.



The machine vice re-installed on the VM and squared up with the ball bearing trick then one by one the castings popped in the vice and cut down to a shade over .250"



All reduced. I got a bit too enthusiastic with one and took a bit too much off because I couldn't see the mark. I checked the rest with the 1/4" parallel. I*n case your wondering I hadn't any parallels deep enough to use two for levelling.



Then I gang milled all the shoulders to get them square and equal.



Close of play all the right thickness and with square shoulders. Next job tomorrow is drilling for the bolts before a split them ready for final boring. Slow but steady and no slip ups.....

[Stanley]

First job this morning was a bit of tidying up of the castings. Two corners on each needed filing, all the edges broken and a quick light polish of each face on the side of the grinding wheel.



Once they were all reasonably tidy a good measuring up to find which castings matched best with each eccentric because I knew there was a slight variation between the sheaves.



Once I was sure of my sizes I matched each casting up with its eccentric and numbered them so that I can keep track of which goes with which during the final boring. The numbers are stamped twice on the castings, one on each side of the cut I have to make to split them so that I can keep the two halves properly matched. At the same time I put some marking pen on them and found the centre lines for my cuts and scribed them on the face. I shall be cutting by hand and they will vary slightly particularly with my eyes!



Then I set the VM up on a higher speed and put a 3.5mm drill in as bare clearance for the 4BA studs. I want them as close fitting as I can get them. Here they are all gang drilled under the VM. At least I know that they are in line! Getting them central on each one was largely guesswork as my good eye doesn't see straight but the end result isn't too bad.



Then they all had to be split. High risk again! Thanks to Mick for the little LED lamp he gave me. As I get older I don't try to make hacksaw blades last forever while there are new junior hacksaw blades in the treasure chest, so a nice sharp blade which made the cutting easier.



Now for the repetitious and boring job of fitting the studs to each casting. I didn't do myself any favours by drilling the clearance holes tight. The rat tail files have had to come out and the rest of the tackle as well. I am always surprised how many tools you need to do a relatively simple job. I got the first casting started and knocked off. You know what I'll be doing tomorrow!

[Stanley]

I ordered a brand new 6" Starrett hook rule off Ebay yesterday from the US. Always fancied one. How come it would cost well over twice as much, £50, if I bought the same thing on Amazon?