Northumbrian Build Thread

[peteh]

Another quick update tonight. Due to an early wakeup call (2:30am to get my wife and daughter to the airport!) I was pretty tired this afternoon so just got the filing buttons made from an offcut of 1 1/4" stainless! My brother-in-law gave me an old boats prop shaft.

[peteh]

First cylinder is now shaped correctly but clamped and ready to go for the ports - once the postman arrives with my new, small endmill

[peteh]

Well it has been a very busy week this week with my wife and daughter in Singapore, picked them up this afternoon (and under gone the traditional 'ordeal by photo') so hoping that we may get a warmish evening - double digits would be nice! However my club mate came good on Friday and I have managed to fix up the castingwith the blowholes.
This cylinder however still needs to be filed down to the correct end profile.

[peteh]

The weather is getting colder! I received my new slot drills and mills yesterday - 1.5mm and 2mm. However I am now lousy with flu! A sustantial scotch (with a little coke) helped me get some sleep last night - I can't stand the taste of scotch but it always seems to help the recovery

[doubletop]

Pete

You live in Oz its supposed to be hot, deserts, snakes and kangaroos. What's this cold you are on about or have you gone soft since you left Blighty? It was only a few months ago you were complaining it was too hot.

I've just checked it was 19degC over there today. Harden up man and get on with that build !!

(After you've got over that "man flu" of course)

Pete

[peteh]

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your concern about my health - it was 1.2C this morning, at 4pm my boss told me to go home and take my germs with me - and don't come back tomorrow!

Not being one to argue with my boss I will take his advise If it's warm enough I might hear the siren calls from the shed

[steam4ian]

Peter

If I drank the Scotch would that help you recover? I'll keep trying, let me know if it works.

Regards
Ian.

[peteh]

Thanks for the offer Ian - however medicine should not taste good ;D. A little warmer this morning at 1.8C! Should be getting up to near 20 later however so still hoping I can think straight. Muddled with a cold/flu and workshop machines is probably a good recipe for an accident.

[doubletop]

Pete

Read your post on the way home on my phone and thought I'd seen a decimal point in there.

Anyway less of a couple of poms talking about the weather. productive day at the 'office'?

Pete

[peteh]

Well it's been a long time - I've been crook, the weather's been crook and my lathes'been crook - but all sorted now (apart from the weather that is ;D

First off is a new machine for the shed, a decent bench drill! Replaces the ryobi that couldn't drill straight regardless of setting up. roughly AU$400 including a set of 1-6mm x 0.1mm drill bits.

Only problam so far is I had to build a lower bench to suit.

The lathe has been running for quite a while with decidedly 'lumpy' low speeds. It uses a toothed belt for the initial reduction and a standard V-belt for the second stage reduction. Replacing the toothed belt woked marvels (the old belt was basically missing most of it's teeth due to my early inexperience. Want to replace the 2nd belt (stated as a 3L300 in the manual) and can't get one locally - even from the machine shop I brought it from. Tried the supposed bosch equivalent and it is too tight Will have to order one from overseas.

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[peteh]

Actually also managed to get some ME done as well. Both cylinders have been hand filed to size and the ports cut. Only problem here was I got carried away and cut too much out of the exhaust port. Soldered in a piece of brass and remachined so that got sorted out OK.

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[peteh]

Final job today was the drilling of the exhaust and transfer holes in the first cylinder. All went well but extremely nerve wracking.

Just got to hope no. 2 cylinder progresses as well.

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[doubletop]

Pete

I'm glad to see you are recovered and back onto this. I've been checking in regularly to see if there are any updates. Those cylinders are a bit scary but a great feeling of progress once they are done.

Pete

[peteh]

Can't help but agree with you there Pete, very scary stuff 'drilling into the unknown'! Once I have got the second cylinder drilled I have to find out what I did with the steam chest castings. I remember on your thread you had the wrong ones sent so I double checked mine - and now I can't find them - bu**er. If all else fails I do have some 1x1/2 brass though.

[peteh]

After a nice invigorating swim to the shed on Sunday I finally completed the drilling on cylinder No. 2 - very happy that that bit is over ;D

Spent some time looking for the steam chest castings with no luck so will have to use the brass. Havn't been able to find any 3/32 brass at all so I will probably use 1/8. I have some 1/16 but assume that won't be thick enough for some reason (otherwise why didn't they specify 1/16 instead of 3/32?)

[Shawki Shlemon]

I am confused here , you say steam chest castings and then you talk about 3/32 brass , to me that is the cover and if so brass sheet will be fine , much easier than machining the casting , I always use brass covers even if I have the castings , I have few lying around and I use the material for other purposes .

[peteh]

My bad Shawki,

The 1/8 was for the steam chest covers as you rightly assumed. I think my brain was ahead of my fingers there.

I have however misplaced the castings for the actual steam chests, so will have to use some 1"x1/2" brass for those.

Pete

[peteh]

A little more maintenance this week, the mill has been very hard to get started. I know a little about electronics and worked out it was the switched potentiometer failing. I finally tracked down a new switched pot and replaced it and the mill is working like new again. For those interested I got it from Futurelec at a good price. It is smaller than the original unit so a new hole had to be drilled for the anti rotation tab.

I managed a little more time in the shed today just getting the blanks for the steam chests and covers cut to size. Tomorrow all being well I will work on the two steam chests. Soon be time to play on air

[steam4ian]

G'day Pete

I'm enjoying your progress.

A question about the pot (note the definite article ). You mentioned Futurelec and a switched pot. My little mill has a switched pot which has the switch close when the pot is fully counter clockwise and opens as the pot is wound clockwise. This arrangement is contrary to the usual switched pot used in appliances with closes as the pot is rotated clockwise.

The idea of the closed when CCW is that you can only reset the trip when the pot is in minimum speed setting, stops the drive taking off when you reset the red button.

What arrangement was your pot?

I recently put a VSD on my lathe and used such a pot as the speed control and to stop the lathe driving off when power was applied; I have to put the pot in minimum position before the contactor closes.

Little Machine Shop in the USA sells the switch pots for my application.

Regards
Ian

[peteh]

Hi Ian,
Glad you are enjoying the build. My pot was switch open when fully ccw, open as turned clockwise, increasing speed.