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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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 Posted -
25/11/2004
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14:20
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I've always been fascinated by the things people do in their spare time when they can do exactly what they want to do. Men and sheds are a particularly fertile field. Women tend to do their thing in the comfort of the house.
I was delighted to see Andy's picture of the clock movement he has made.
It struck me that we could perhaps start a new topic devoted to spare time skill. So Andy starts it off and my contribution is this:
It's a small steam engine made from scratch and is based on the Stuart 5A but a longer stroke. One of these will drive a 14 foot boat with steam at 250psi. By the way, we don't like to call them models, it's exactly the same construction and materials as a full size engine, just smaller. So come on out there, let's hear about what you make in your spare time. I reckon we could be in for some surprises!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 11/01/2007 : 18:29
On the bright side, the foreman seems perfectly relaxed about everything!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk  |
belle
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Posted - 11/01/2007 : 18:36
I do commissions, BIg Kev!?
Life is what you make it |
TOM PHILLIPS
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Posted - 11/01/2007 : 23:56
Iam sure you'll sort it Stanley,maybe a bit quicker if the foreman didnt just lie there sniffing his tail,and they call it a dogs life.
"Work,the curse of the drinking class" |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 00:21
Stanley. It appears your quite the engineer. Lathe, boring and milling machines. What is the machine to the left in the picture? I can just see a handle.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 07:00
Robert. Vertical mill next to a tool and cutter grinder. To the left of the horizontal mill is the Pickles 1956 double spindle lathe. The handle in the foreground is a 6" Parkinson Perfect Vice on the bench with a large surface plate. I am a frustrated ironmonger not a fitter..... Thanks for that Tom, I like having Jack in there. He just wants to be near me. There will be nothing quick about the mandrel. I lay in bed thinking about it last night and decided it was more likely to be a blow on the middle of the mandrel, on the gearing. I'll have to strip it out and have a proper measure up. Whilst doing this I am going to sort the growl in the bearings and remake the bearings in the overhead gear shaft. I want it to run like silk and be accurate.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
belle
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 09:42
I haven't got much of a clue what you're talking about but I love the new words I'm learning, and Mandrel is by far my favourite, it conjurs up Indian birds with long feathers or soft stringed medeival instruments, what exactly is it and what does it look like?
Life is what you make it |
djfbug
Regular Member
90 Posts
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 11:26
quote:
belle wrote:
I haven't got much of a clue what you're talking about but I love the new words I'm learning, and Mandrel is by far my favourite, it conjurs up Indian birds with long feathers or soft stringed medeival instruments, what exactly is it and what does it look like?
I think you may be dissapointed to find out what a mandrel is Belle.
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 13:21
What's the name of the TV programme were they took unusual words and three celebrities gave different definitions, and then a contestant had to select which one they thought was correct?
You could have some fun with this one.
1. a male borer.
2. an exotic birds bill.
3. a fixture in a machine tool.
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melteaser
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 13:30
Call My Bluff Inver.
Could be 1 or 3 by the sounds of it
Edited by - melteaser on 12 January 2007 13:31:18
Mel
http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk |
djfbug
Regular Member
90 Posts
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 13:33
LOL
quote:
Invernahaille wrote:
What's the name of the TV programme were they took unusual words and three celebrities gave different definitions, and then a contestant had to select which one they thought was correct?
You could have some fun with this one.
1. a male borer.
2. an exotic birds bill.
3. a fixture in a machine tool.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 12/01/2007 : 16:45
The mandrel is in simple terms an axle on which other things are mounted. In this case it is the steel shaft through the headstock that has the work-holder (chuck) mounted on the front and inside the headstock it carries the gearing and driving pulleys. The accuracy of the lathe as a whole depends (amongst other things) on the accuracy with which this is made and fitted. As soon as I started the motor I saw the chuck was wobbling like a bent cycle wheel. Not good, but it is a challenge I like and I shall make a new one with the ghosts of Newton and Johnny looking over my shoulder....... I hope I don't disappoint them!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 16/01/2007 : 07:53
I've been working quietly away on the lathe. I decided to leave the mandrel for a while to let my mind wander round it. I have found another motor in me nits and pieces, a one sixth hp with the right speed. Doesn't sound much but this lathe is designed for delicate cuts so plenty of power. 100 years ago this lathe and bigger were driven by a treadle like a sewing machine! No wonder they were experts in getting tools really sharp. The motor is fitted now and I have found the reason why the line shaft in the overhead gear runs out of truth. The shaft is bent slightly and the pulley is cracked, the lathe has had more than one clout..... I think I'll make a new shaft and pulley and mount it on ball-bearings. Still mulling this over. Leaving the mandrel 'til later was a good idea. I have come up with what could be a very simple cure. More about that later........
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 16/01/2007 : 12:41
Had a nice morning.... I stripped the shaft out and took the pulleys off it and mounted it between centres in Johnny's 1956 lathe as it is the only one long enough to take it. I found that the problem isn't in the shaft as it is only very slightly bent, it was in the centres at each end where the shaft runs on hardened points. The ends of the shaft are hardened so the first job was to heat both ends to bright cherry red and let them cool slowly. This is the standard method of softening high carbon steel which I think this shaft is because it rings like a bell. In 1927 they didn't have our modern ranges of steel and had a very simple method of describing different steels, they called them after the number of tons a piece one in square would take before snapping under tension. I reckon this is 70 ton steel, a good grade in 1927. It softened nicely and so I refaced the ends and bored new, accurate centres with a Slocombe drill. This has the added advantage that the pilot on the drill leaves a recess which acts as an oil reservoir for the point. The shafy turns nicely between the centres in the 1956 lathe. Now I need to grind and harden the points to suit. We shall have a perfect shaft before the day is out. Then for the pulleys......... The four step pulley for the drive to the mandrel is OK but I think we'll have two new ones for the overhead drive and the motor drive. I have a variety of cast iron loom gears and I reckon I can find two the same size for blanks.
Here's the shaft in Johnny's 1956 lathe which isn't as rusty as it looks, I didn't check the red balance!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
belle
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Posted - 16/01/2007 : 14:33
Have you ever seen a lathe made from the branch of a tree? I found it fascinating when a friend of ours set one up... not too sure about the finer points of it, but the springy bough was pulled down and it was the spring in this wood that turned the cutting tool...you will explain so much better, Stanley.
Life is what you make it |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 16/01/2007 : 15:43
That's a pole lathe Belle, a very ancient tool, there is good reason to think they pre-date christianity. Archaeologists have found spindle whorls with the piece cut out from the middle made of soft stone and there is no doubt they were made on a crude lathe. The pole lathe reached it's zenith in England with the chair bodgers in the South of England working with green wood making components for the classic windsor chair. The only cut on the return when the springy bough connected to the rope wrapped round the spindle is spronging back up so it's an intermittent cutting action. Have a look at http://www.mallinson.co.uk/
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Shed culture
