SHED MATTERS 2

[chinatyke]

Lobster back ventilators on Amazon: £250. I couldn't believe the price!

[Stanley]

China, of you saw the work that goes into one you wouldn't be surprised. Les, the tinsmith at REW, once told me it was the peak of the profession. If you could make a good job of one you could do anything!

[Stanley]

In limbo this morning waiting for the delivery of the transformer. I decided to do something I have been considering for a while, getting the chuck of one of my Metabo cordless drills. It has lost its drive to the jaws and I found that this means that the normal methods of removal (I looked on Youtube) don't work. I suspect the only way to get it off is to physically destroy it! I know when I'm beat! I gave up to the job, I have a back-up which is OK.
I hate waiting for deliveries!
Later at 11:35. The transformer is here, wired in and the grinder performs perfectly. So my diagnosis was right. Only one small problem, there's a bit of minor damage to the casing but not serious so I have ignored it. We're all set for some serious work tomorrow!

[Stanley]

Ready for action. Tested and all is running OK.



Later.... No dramas at all. All my 60degree points nicely cleaned up. The transformer is fine. Now then, what to do next?

[Stanley]

Biggest and most hazardous job was replacing all my boxes under the big OT lathe. A bit of a back twinge after dinner but one Ibuprofen saw it off.

[Stanley]

Into the shed and make a quill lock for the Progress pillar drill.



Some measuring up, a fag packet drawing and a furtle in the treasure chest for this piece of bronze, almost exactly the right size, no waste.





Turn it to size and mark the PCD of the offset hole for the tightening bolt. Easily measured using the cross slide.



Drill it tapping size for 1/4" Whitworth.



Then tap it. The hole is deep enough to be a marker for the clearance hole in the other end.



Almost finished cutting it in two when a dear friend rang and that put a stop to progress....

[Stanley]

You may have noted I was AWOL yesterday.... too much cooking and shopping to do!
I went in this morning and finished chopping the stop in two, I finished the threading and clearance hole, fitted a cap screw and I am ready to cut out the recess that will grip the quill.



I set it up in the mill and cut a recess with a 3/4" cutter but it was obviously not big enough so I put it back in and cut a bigger recess after this.



The bigger recess was OK so I fitted the stop and tested it.



It's OK, does the job perfectly and being bronze it won't damage the quill. Job done! I had a quick clean up and chip chase and retreated to my chair!
I've decided what the next job is but I'm going to keep quiet until it is done.....

[Stanley]

Ever since I ceased work on the engines for Sarah and Debs something has been nattering me. I got the orientation of the cylinder mounting on the target end of the bed wrong and the cylinders weren't dead level. Same mistake on both of them. I did some thinking.....



After a bit of thought, I popped into the shed yesterday afternoon and using a bit of lead to protect the rod, tried unscrewing it from the crosshead.



Ten minutes later I had the rod detached and the eccentric strap split. All I have to do is take the six set screws out that hold the cylinder on and I can lift the whole assembly off without altering any of the settings. I can then use to original lid template to adjust the orientation of the holes in the target plate. Only a small rotation, they will never notice off the Ribble!

[Stanley]

My first move was to protect the thread on the piston rod gland nut and re-finish it in the lathe, it had got marked during fitting.



Once that was out of the way I undid the set screws holding the cylinder assembly to the target plate and split the engine in two.



I set the engine up in the vice so that it was held solid and at a nice height to work on.



Then I mounted the template I made for the lid and set it firmly in what I thought was the right position and drilled it and the target end. I soon found I had not rotated the template enough and spent a long time enlarging the holes until I had it right. I shan't make the same mistake next time!



A while later after several trial fittings and adjustments I had the cylinder mounted and all the set screws started. If anything I have gone a touch too far but that can be adjusted when I have it built up again.



Built up again, just before I did the final tightening of the set screws I tapped the valve chest with a hide hammer until the top face lined up exactly with the flyshaft. Then a final tighten up of everything. You wouldn't believe how much better it looks to me. Twice the engine it was!



Sarah's engine is back in the front room and looks wonderful. It's not often I am perfectly happy with what I've done but today is one of those rare occasions. I put this shot of the bench in to show how much tackle I use.....

[Stanley]

The view from my seat in front of the TV. Lovely!

[Stanley]

Debs' engine set up ready to operate on. You can see the problem. It looks all wrong.



The same sequence of operations as yesterday on Sarah's engine but with this addition. I wasn't satisfied that the set screws were free enough in the threads on the cylinder. Some taps are bigger than others. So I picked my newest 2BA tap and re-tapped all of them.



All done and running free!



A short while later.... All laced up again and I think you can see the difference. Notice the air line... I tested it and it runs fine on hardly any pressure at all.



I brought Sarah's engine back in and tested that as well. Runs fine on 10PSI. That's a good morning's work! All tools tidied away and the lathe cleaned up.

[Stanley]

Being a skinflint at heart, but wanting two non spill pots for lube in cutting operations I have resisted paying out tobacco money for something I can make for myself but of course have never got round to it. This morning I decided to make two out of these empty Swarfega pots and some scrap plastic conduit.



The easiest way to put a hole in the lid of the small pot was a wad punch. However, it didn't go well! I had to have a rethink. I decided the cardboard liner of the lid would be fine..... Notice the old trick of the scrap lead melted down and moulded into a block. By far the best surface for punching into without damaging the cutting edge....



That's better!



The larger pot had a push out section in the lid. Problem was it was too big for the plastic conduit. I found a piece of bronze pipe and made a collar for it so it would mount on the lid.



A mix of Araldite and some gluing and by closing time I had two non-spill lube pots, the small one for the mill and the larger one for the lathe.

[Stanley]

I started the morning with a bit of cleaning up and this involved getting the upright vacuum I use for the shed out of the little shed in the yard. This led to a re-examination of what is sitting in there and the first Item on the agenda was to empty the remaining contents of a ten gallon drum of 10/40 engine oil into my ready use gallon oil supply for the oil can in the shed which was getting low. Then I looked to remind myself what was in another ten gallon drum in there and realised I had ten gallons of new straight cutting oil so I'm all right for that for a while! Next for shaving was a small steel butane container which I knew was empty but I drilled the safety valve on it before putting it in the recycling so it was obvious it was safe. That was it except for a 100 metre roll of coaxial TV/FM cable I have in there. It's marked 0.75 ohms if that means anything to anyone. If anyone wants it give a shout otherwise it goes in the recycling bin.
Then I decided to scratch an itch I have had for years. I brought Newton's cylinder down and the associated parts, I wanted to examine it properly and try to work out why he never went any further with it. He told me once that it was because Johnny, his dad, criticised it.



My dad always said that if some bugger can build it I can take it to bits..... So I started with the back lid. All 3BA studs and nuts and very closely fitted. I had to start it with a very sharp blade.



Bore one and three eighths inches and stroke two inches. Very closely fitted in a good bore and no rings or packings fitted. I put it back together again....



Then I went a bit further.



I took the lid off the regulator chamber. The lid carries the twin safety valves. The regulator is a bit short of stroke but otherwise nicely finished.



Then I took the lid off the steam chest and got a bit of a surprise because Newton hadn't got round to making the slide valve. Nicely made again and note the twin steam passages from the regulator box.



I've given you a view of the saddle that mounts direct on the boiler. You can see the twin bores that carry steam at boiler pressure up to the regulator box from where it goes via two more passages to the steam chest. Looking at the brass supports that go with the cylinder, Newton had in mind an overtype engine where the engine and motion are mounted on top of the boiler. He built one later in life....



Next I had a look at this beautifully made surface condenser which came to me from a workshop clearance. Lovely workmanship and very complicated. I was going to dissect this as well but then decided to let it rest. Its all 8BA nuts and studs and smaller and I would almost certainly do some damage somewhere. If anyone wants a condenser for a marine engine, get in touch......

[Stanley]

Sorry Kids but I am AWOL because I have to read Joseph Stiglitz's new book on the Euro......

[Stanley]

Good news this morning from the NE Mafia that they had a successful casting session this weekend. Here are the castings for the cylinder that I hope to use in the next project. This brings the prospect of a visit with exchange of goodies closer! Looking forward to it!
I shall have a short visit to the shed this morning but only to clean Mrs Harrison. She is sat there with non ferocious chips sitting on the bed and they need cleaning off because eventually they promote corrosion cells due to dissimilar metals. Can't have that! I am still absorbing economics from Mr Stiglitz.......



True to my word, I want in and cleaned up a bit and then something else struck me which has been on my mind for a while.



One of the chucks that came with Johnny's big OT lathe was this small Taylor. Taylors of Birmingham always had the reputation of making one of the best three jaw chucks in the world and I hardly ever use this one. You can't have too many chucks for a lathe and so I got the chuck down off the shelf this morning and put it where I would trip over it. My next job is going to be to make a chuck back for this and use it on the Harrison. As you can see I have both sets of jaws for it. It will be interesting to see how accurate it is, I suspect it hasn't done a lot of work.

[Stanley]

It's been a morning of honest endeavour! Three and a half hours and loved every minute of it. I started by looking to see what I had that would make a chuck back. I found this Johnny Pickles leftover, he'd evidently started making a base for something, probably to mount on the cross slide of the big OT lathe but never finished it. The holes are no problem, I will lose them as I turn the boss.



The first job was to mount the big 3 jaw and get the blank chucked up. It's been finish turned and is a very accurate shape so it chucked well. I changed the toolpost and set up a big carbide cutter.



Then I spent an hour and a half breaking the Taylor's chuck down, cleaning it thoroughly and measuring up for a fag packet drawing. Interesting to see the blue on the chuck back Johnny made for it, that explains how he got the hole locations in the back plate and it was reassuring because that was how I had decided to do it. This chuck is very tight, I think it's hardly done any work, no signs of wear on it anywhere, only rust where it has sat on something damp for a long time. I made a half hearted effort to get the scroll and gears out but it is as fast as a thief so I contented myself with flooding it with thin oil, working it and blowing it out with compressed air. One interesting thing is the notice stamped into the back of the scroll housing, "Do not fit plate touching this surface". I knew that of course but have never seen this stamped on a chuck before.



Away we go!



Quietly away, no rush, 30 thou cuts are fine! Not surprisingly it's a lovely bit of cast iron. Homogeneous, no hard shops and turns beautifully. I know it's mucky stuff but I love CI.



I did this pic to illustrate something. If you're turning CI and getting a shiny surface the tool is dull and rubbing. You can see the difference, the cut on the right is after I touched the tool up.



The holes in the casting are going to vanish OK.



Knocking off time. Ready for boring and threading. I have taken the boss down to just below the ideal of 3" because I want room for the heads of the bolts that hold the back plate to the chuck body. I think I have it just right. I've vacuumed the CI chips up and left myself a clean start for tomorrow. Nice morning, I like making chuck backs, getting them just right is very satisfying. By the way, note that the 3Jaw is plenty accurate enough for this stage. The face and the register will be turned with the plate mounted on the nose of the lathe, that's where the accuracy comes from!

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, looks like a nice chuck and lovely cast iron to work with too, shame you just cleaned the lathe mind . Good point with the dull took causing a shiny surface, I have come across that before too.
We are rounding all your swag up for the visit, is there anything else you think you are short of ? The set of castings all look ok , only thing I did think of is the S on the valve chest cover is the horizontal way around, does that match your plans ?
Good to see you getting all the little jobs done in the shed .
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Mick, always clean the lathe before turning CI and make sure the ways are dry. This tends to stop the CI dust sticking to surfaces and it's easier to clean off.
Orientation of the 'S' is OK and castings look good. Better in fact than the last lot, the valve face looks cleaner.
I was thinking the other day that a .0001 indicator would be nice.... Looking forward in particular to the Noga stand and arm....
I shall be interested to see whether this Taylor chuck is as good as all the reports I have had suggest. Despite the fact it is clean and lightly oiled it is very tight, no backlash at all in the gearing to the scroll plate and the jaws are a very close fit in the slides. Apart from the rust damage I reckon it is a new chuck in terms of wear. I'm taking extra care to get the back well fitted, I shall be interested to see how a test piece clocks in it when I have finished. Johnny always said that the ability to do a good job on a chuck back was a sign of a good turner......
When you come, bring the camera then John can post video of the engines running!

[Stanley]

I had a few jobs to do so I was later in the shed. You might well ask what's he wasting time with here? This is the Potts milling head that Johnny converted to a dividing head for his gear cutting. I made a new nose for it so it would take the same chucks as the Harrison. This meant I could turn a gear blank on the lathe and transfer it straight to the gear cutter without taking it out of the chuck, ensuring concentricity.



I wanted the nose so I could use it as a check when cutting the threads in the chuck back.



Once I had done that and another little job I got on with it. The usual sequence of centre drill, pilot drill and then the biggest drill I have these days, one and three sixteenths of an inch. The target is 2" bore.



I got set up and started boring. I stopped at about 1.5" because there were other things pressing in on me.



I noticed something and did another pic. I've been singing the praises of this casting and look what I found! Some bad voids and inclusions in the bore. I have another half inch to take out so hopefully I shall get rid of them!

[Stanley]

The other job I did yesterday was glue a very powerful magnet on the back of this indicator. It already had a heavy steel case and the magnet, though powerful, doesn't seem to affect the internal workings of the indicator. It's for using on the lathe when I need a very accurate reading of travel on saddle and cross slide.

[Stanley]

First job was to run a 3/8" whit bottoming tap down the holes in the chuck body to make sure the set screws were a finger fit.



Then a final check I had all my dimensions and thread counts right. Micrometer and internal telescopic gauge out, we are getting serious!



Then bore out to a shade over 2". No rush, 30 thou at a time. By the way, I lost the inclusions in the bore in good time, a clean finish when I had finished to size.



Then I got a stubby threading cutter out, resharpened to 55 degrees inclusive and set up ready for threading. I'm cutting 6TPI and the purists would say I should be cutting on an angle but I'm going for a square set up, a sharp cutter and small cuts.



A while later I have it to the stage where my nose screws in easily, you don't need a tight thread.



I cut the internal bore that sits on the register on the nose and had a trial fit without taking the back out of the chuck so that I could pop it back on and have another bite at it if necessary. It was, I needed to make the recess slightly deeper and this is where we finished up, a nice easy fit.



Knocking off time, lovely fit on the nose, now we have to turn the register and the outside diameter but that's for tomorrow. I have to admit I did a bit of overtime because this was where I was aiming for this morning!

[Stanley]

I'm sure that anyone following this job will have noted how slow I am, this is one job where accuracy is key to the performance of the chuck. Also you will have realised that now it is on the nose and properly registered the accuracy is absolutely repeatable. There are only a couple of light cuts to do now and that's important because all castings move when you are machining them as you relieve stresses. This casting is ideal because it is so old, there will be very little movement. However I have been thinking.... I know I'm tight with the clearance of the bolt heads to the boss and this morning, before I do the final cut on the face I shall reverse it, put it back in the chuck to take the boss diameter back a bit more, I have plenty of meat....

[Stanley]

First job was to turn the periphery down to the diameter of the chuck.



Some careful measuring and turning and we have an accurate register. Remembering the message in the back of the chuck I gave the register 25 thou clearance.



The chuck united with the back. Callipers are still by far the best way to measure the register.



Next I ground out the end of the thread where it peters out. This way it can't get damaged and leave a broken bit of CI in the thread....



The marking blue stuck the faces together so well I had to use a knife to split the back off.



Usual round of centre, pilot and finish drill for each hole.



The chuck on the lathe. I'm not satisfied yet, I want to make absolutely sure the bolt holes aren't affecting the centring. That will do for tomorrow.

[David Whipp]

Apologies for my ignorance Stanley; why did you need to make a new back? (Is it to do with the chuck being for a different lathe Taylor/Harrison?)

[Super_7b]

Hi Stanley,

Looks like the fixing holes are not regularly spaced. I'd have expected them to be every 90 degrees for a four hole patttern, but the spacing just looks "strange". Is this an optical delusion or is there a good reason i'm not getting?

BR

Mick (Ossett, not Toon)