Advice for a beginner

[peter]

Hello everyone I need advice about how to machine the underside of the combined bed & soleplate for a Stuart S50 engine.

I only have a Myford ML10 lathe, which is 3.25 inch centre heifht & no hap in the bed.It has a cross slide travel of 6 inch & the casting is 8.5 inch long.

I am not sure if I should try and mill the base on a vertical slide.which would give the problem of relocating the work and trying to get the same depth of cut.

Or to flycut the base. The only experience I have is from building a Stuart V10 from castings.

All advice welcome.

Peter

[lancelot]

Hello Peter,
I think that I may be going to have the very same problem.I have just finished the Stuart 10 vert/
and with no mill,it was tricky enough.
Al
My next build is probably going to be the ''SCORE'' which is a horizontal bed.
Now I have a Myford Speed 10 with a vertical slide and the lathe has the long cross slide,so until I see the kit and know what length the bed is I will not know if I can do it on the lathe.''no milling m/c as yet''.
If I find that it can not be done on the lathe I will resort to the use of ...FILE...ENGINEERS BLUE MARKING...SURFACE PLATE...HEIGHT GUAGE...ELBOW GREASE...O}}.
Stuart and Turner castings have fairly tight tolerances [casting] so if you are careful with your filing and height checking ,you CAN do it.
All the best for now,
John.

[steammadman]

Peter and John,
your sole plate castings CAN be squared up with
a file.Start off with as big as one as you can get your hands on, and file the underside first, once you'r through
the skin take it easy until you can stand it on a flat suface without any rocking,( a peice of plate gkass willdo fine.).
Then check the top side for high spots with your scribing block, if you have one,(if not a very simple one is very easily made,if your unsure give me a shout.)
take your time with the top, a little and often is the order of the day.With a little care you will get your base plate both level and parallel. Go for it and let us know how you get on.
REMEMBER WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU IF YOU GET STUCK!!.
GOOD LUCK. .
(remember the tongue position is critical)

[Tel]

Yep SMM I did the 10V that way, way back when....

'course these days I just throw jobs like that onto the trusty Douglas shaper.

[the_viffer]

There is a series on making the S50 by Tubal Cain in Model Engineer in (I think) 1992.