SHED MATTERS 2

[Stanley]

You'll be happy to know I have got the editor off my back. Steam chest lids will be butchered this morning!

[Stanley]

This morning's job is to get the lids to fit the steam chests....



I clamped the blued lids to their mating surfaces, adjusted them for square and then marked them.



We have the marks.... Now all we have to do is cut them.



Straightforward job but I decided the cutter could do with a bit of attention.



I can't think how I could manage without the Clarkson T&C grinder. I dressed the stone and gave the cutter a careful sharpening. It made a difference!



The long sides done, now for the ends.



Usual drill, rely on the vice to give me a right angle....



That'll do me for this morning. I am now ready for measuring and marking the stud holes. I wanted to get to this stage because the cylinder covers need drilling as well followed by tapping all the stud holes. I might as well do the whole lot. But everything is covered in brass chips!



So, a big chip chase on the bench, a clean tablecloth .....



And I vacuumed the carpet as well. I haven't touched the lathe because there is more brass turning to be done. Nice and tidy and a clear task tomorrow. Just how I like it. (My shoulder knows I have been winding that traversing handle on the VM!)

[Stanley]

Couldn't resist this pic this morning. All is obviously well. I think I'm getting the hang of making engines at long last!

[Stanley]

Right! Pay attention at the back.... I'm going to go into serious bleeding obvious mode. If you know it already, so be it, but if you are making your first cylinder, take notice. I've made most of the mistakes in the past and believe me they hurt.
Today's task is to drill the holes in the valve face, steam chest and lid in such a way that they don't interfere with any of the drillings and tappings for the steam inlet, the exhaust, the valve rod gland and the steam passages. At the same time they have to be spaced so you can easily get a spanner on them. Above all they have to be perfectly accurate and lined up so that when you come to the assembly the components slide easily down the long studs. Some of the most frustrating times I have had have been trying to do that! If you get it right all your edges will line up and above all the assembly will look right at a glance. One more thing, never put drillings in the corners of the assembly and you don't need as many studs as you think. I use the minimum and have never had a leak.
The first thing to do is to assemble the two cylinders making sure that you have everything oriented properly. Once you have done this, check it again! Once you are sure, put some dots in the approximate locations, remembering to miss the already drilled and tapped holes!



You can laugh but it took me over an hour to get to the stage where I could punch the hole locations and clean the marking fluid off.



I assembled them again and checked and bugger me, if you look carefully and think about it, if this is right the 'D' is upside down! Then I started again and found where I had gone wrong, nothing to do with the marking, I had put the steam chest on the valve face upside down. Once I corrected that and checked again, all is well! It just goes to show how complicated it can get, use your witness marks! Notice also that I have cut some pieces of 4mm silver steel which is the size of the tapping hole for 2BA.



All the drilling we are doing now is 4mm, the tapping size. As each hole is drilled I pop a piece of the silver steel rod in to make sure the location of the parts doesn't shift. I set the depth gauge on the drill after this pic to make certain I didn't break through and hit the base of the vise.



Knocking off time. Half way through this one.... Quietly away, keep it accurate and no cock-ups. (Wouldn't it be a bummer if after all this I have made a mistake....)

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, good progress and the workshop looks spotless I am well impressed As you say you have to keep checking and re checking as its easy to take your eye off the ball for a few seconds and end up with a letter upside down ! As I was reading as was remembering all the trouble you had when doing these types of operations with your eyes not so long back, so glad they managed to sort you out back to full vision.
Things are coming together nicely now so keep concentrating lol.
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Thanks Mick..... Yes it's a lot easier now I can see!
It struck me yesterday that many might wonder why I'm not clamping the whole assembly together and doing the tapping size drill into the valve face as part of the same operation. Two reasons.... First it would be a very deep bore and the last thing you need is a drill broken in. Second, because the steam chest is perfectly square it's simple to make sure the studs are vertical and square in the chest and the lid, this will make it simple to ensure I am accurate when I drill the valve face.

[Stanley]

Sarah's cylinder has the first series of holes bored. Same operation on Deb's.



Both done, ready for poking the drill rights through now we know they are dead square.



Both steam chests set up like this and bored right through.



Ready to transfer the hole pattern to the valve face but I'm not satisfied that I have the cylinder mounted square. That's the trouble with irregular shapes in the vise. It was knocking off time, I'll give it a bit of thought.....

[Stanley]

I had a bit of a think and remembered how I'd done the drilling last time. Use the long drilling through the wall of the steam chest to make sure I had the cylinder square.... I've set the depth gauge to give me half an inch into the valve face.



Using the clamps and pegs to make sure nothing moved while I drilled all the holes in both cylinders to tapping size.



Both cylinders drilled ready for tapping. Next job is to open the bores out in the chest and lid to clearance size for 2BA. A minimum is 3/16" but I drilled them 13/64", you'll be glad of a bit of slack when you come to assemble the cylinder!



Use the pegs again and drill shanks for the enlarged holes to keep the lid located. Watch out when you drill that the bit doesn't grab the lid and pull it up.



Knocking off time. I already have the tapping holes in the end faces of the cylinder bores. What I need now is the lids drilled clearance for 2BA and in the correct positions. That's for tomorrow.

[Stanley]

The good news is that I have been busy and productive, the bad news is that it wasn't in the shed.



Sorry about the dust in the air.... The carpet fitter comes to measure up in the bathroom tomorrow and I thought it would be a good idea to take 3/4" off the bottom of the door so it clears the new carpet and underlay which will be thicker. So the first job this morning was to do just that. Take the door off, shorten it and re-hang it. At the same time I refitted the fitting for the door catch so that it would engage properly, a job that has been asking to be done for fifteen years. No big problems, I had all the tackle I needed but if you've ever done this job you'll know that there is always more to it than meets the eye. It involved a lot of trolling up and down the stairs and fetching tackle up and then of course putting it all away again and cleaning up. By the time I had finished all I wanted was a sit down and a cup of tea, I admit that it had put my lights out. I know my limits so I decided the best thing to do was ditch the shed and have an early knocking off time. I'm in good nick but I freely admit to not being the work horse I used to be! No point buggering myself up, I've done a good job and that'll do me for the day.
Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

[Stanley]

Yesterday didn't do my shoulder any good but I have taken the pills!

[Stanley]

Today I want to transfer the hole pattern on the templates I used to drill the cylinders to the covers.



The first job was to make sure they are matched correctly and put the register mark on the rim that is the centre line of the cylinder on the back of the target plate.



I started off dead simple, I was going to mark the hole positions with a transfer punch but gave up that idea when I found out that the punch was soft!



I decided this was a better way. Note that all the time I am using the templates I am using the 4mm tapping size drill not the clearance size as I want to preserve the accuracy of the templates for when I use them next. I'll open them up when I have the positions clear.



The front covers were relatively simple because they are drilled 3/8" and so easy to hold. Notice that I had to use emery cloth as packing because the diameters weren't quite the same.



The back covers had to be treated slightly differently because they have no centre hole. The dowels come in handy again. This little vise is very handy at times like this....



By knocking off time I had got all the holes done to clearing size. The bad news is that now I have to tap 50 holes to 2BA.....

[Stanley]

Friday morning is always busy and today was no exception, by the time I had done the shopping, read the BET, posted Stanley's View and done the washing it was 9AM before I got in the shed. The first job was to clean up and put tackle away. I can remember the days when I was often stumped for the right tool, the nut and bolt or something else I needed. One of the joys of a long established shed is that this doesn't happen any more and I realise how frustrating it might be for those of you who have only just set out on the road to a shed. Don't despair, grab everything you can and one of these days.......



No need to change the vise, this one will do nicely. I made sure I had a good 2BA bottoming tap and the wrench that fits it, changed the chuck for the keyless one that usually lives with Mrs Harrison and selected one of my longest 4mm dowels. The dowel is used to ensure I have the casting mounted square and vertical.



The tap was started by mounting it in the chuck, setting the mill on and switching off the motor just as the tap entered the hole. The momentum will take it in two or three turns. Than use the mill pulley to get well into the hole before slackening the chuck and using the small tap wrench to feel my way down to the bottom of the hole.



Then blow the chips out and just as a check, try a 2BA bolt in the tapping. Anyone can make a mistake! Now I am satisfied away we go.... Just repetition after that until by knocking off time I had done the first valve face, it's debs' cylinder.



Only one small problem, and I knew it was going to happen. There is a spongy shop in the casting and I knew I'd be pushing my luck. I hadn't tried to mill the casting back to good metal because I had an idea it was fairly serious. Here's the result. It looks bad but don't panic, it is on the underside so nobody will see it. The depth of the valve chest wall means that the stud won't wander and by the time it has jointing compound in it will be steam tight. Trust me, it will be OK.... That's it for today, a solid tapping session tomorrow using the same method.

[plaques]

A good wire brush down and a good quality epoxy resin and you would never know you have had a problem.

[Stanley]

You're right P but it will be OK and unseen..... You're always short of metal in the wall of the steam chest and this is what governs it. The point is that I promise the joint will be steam tight.

[Stanley]

You all know what I'm doing today....



Same process as yesterday, lots of patience, Radio 4 and quietly away.....



The exciting bit was swapping from the valve faces to the cylinder lid holes.....



It took a while but eventually I had them all tapped, no slip-ups and no breaking of taps!



I almost knocked off early but decided to spend a bit longer on cleaning all the faces up, tapping raises the metal a bit round the holes....



After three hours in the shed I got to this stage, all the mating faces rubbed down. I've left the sandpaper stuck to the surface plate because I might do a bit more on the valve face and the outside of the lids tomorrow.

[micktoon]

Looks like you have had a busy few days Stanley everything looking really nice. Glad all the tapping went well without incident. Double time tomorrow anyway Stanley
I am hoping to get to a bootsale tomorrow if the weather is ok so will keep my eyes open for the item you need
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

You're right and I'm paying for it! My shoulder woke me up this morning.... Bugger. I'd like to be with you at the boot sale.... You are looking for so many things for me I've lost count!
I remembered a polishing trick that Johnny used to use and I'll be trying it out this morning for a bit of light entertainment. I want some finish on the valve face, the steam chest lids and the back cover. Thank God I have got the tapping done......

[Stanley]

Not the most usual place to start! Remember me rescuing the piece of scrap 3/8" plate saying that it would come in one day? Today's the day. I am going to try an old trick of Johnny's and the first thing to do is degrease the plate with boiling water and detergent.



A piece of cloth backed sandpaper stuck on it.



On the lathe and hey presto we have a linisher.



Then I spent an hour with a big flat file and the linisher improving the finish on the valve face, the lids and the back covers. I haven't tried to make them perfect, just better, as my shoulder isn't all it should be.



Then an expert paint job! Don't worry, it's deliberate. When the paint is dry and they go on the linisher they will look OK. That's it for this morning, 90 minutes is enough.....

[Stanley]

There you are.... I told you they would be all right!



A bit of history now. This is a slide valve lid off the donkey engines Henry Brown and Sons built until the 1920s.



Newton saved one that survived and for many years used it as a surface plate until I gave him the small one that eventually came back to me with the 1927 lathe. I use it for grinding surfaces.....



I think you get the picture.... The job is to grind the valve face until it's a perfect surface for the slide valve to work on. Use the coarsest valve grinding paste, it will soon rub down through medium to fine as you grind the face in.



Sarah's, on the left has been done and Debs' is still as milled and polished. I think you can see the difference.



Both of them ground down to a good frosted surface. Frosted seals best, far better than polished.



Thinking ahead now, tomorrow I shall be studding the valve faces so we need to get the 2BA studding sorted out.



I shall be using the milling machine to make valves shortly so it seemed a good idea to set the vise up using the indicator to make sure it was perfectly square. The roller bearing trick is good but this method is more accurate. That was enough for this morning.....

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, you are getting on really well there and no mention of the shoulder so I hope that means its getting better. The valve paste grinding of the surfaces is very effective, you can see the change straight away on the photos , no doubt takes some elbow grease in reality. The valve chest covers have come up lovely with the painting then linishing too
The car boot sales were busy , I got some randon bits and bobs but the only engineering related items were some 4 inch grinding discs, a small apprentice made toolmakers vice, the old boy that made it was selling it he has made a good job of it and was glad to see it go to a good home. I also got two new old stock proban cotton navy blue overalls with rubber buttons, very fitting for duties on the steam waggon two pairs for £5 so a bargain too. Nothing on your list so far Stanley but hopefully its the start of boot season now the sun has came out !
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Shoulder is still dodgy but I am ignoring it! When I wrote Richard's new BMW off in 1972 I must have done more damage than I thought.....
Cylinders are coming on OK, no mistakes as yet. I think I'll make the valve rod glands today so I can clean the lathe up and harvest John's non ferocious.....
Keep looking at the boot sales..... Surprise me when you eventually get down here.
Advance warning, I shall be teaching my Carleton Kids week beginning July 18th so I'll be off the radar for a week.....

[Stanley]

The bad news is that I never got into the shed, I gave my shoulder a rest for the day and sat there reading.... Sorry Kids! Today I have to get the bathroom ready for the carpet fitter and so will be delayed again. I'll see how I feel after shifting furniture etc. and will probably go in the shed while he is here.

[Stanley]

Carpet became full time....





I've got everything straight so shed tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

The bad news is that after a review of the matter, I nearly put my lights out yesterday shifting stuff about so I shall have a quiet day, write a BET article and give my old body a chance to recover. I know my limits!

[Stanley]

I have every intention of getting into the shed today but various matters are pressing in on me apart from the shopping. The Gas Man cometh to service the boiler. We shall see later on....