The Steamboating Forum

And then there were two.

Must be a large pile of cast iron dust round your way.

Mike Rometer wrote:Must be a large pile of cast iron dust round your way.

Yes there is. Luckily I watched a YouTube vid or two about turning cast iron. I did not use any air to bow chips, instead I used the shop vac and sucked them up. There is still a layer of iron dust that stuck to the oil film on the ways and any where else there was a drip of oil. Messy stuff indeed. Next time I do a cast iron piece I'll use some towels or plastic to cover every thing that I can and still be able to use the lathe.


There was a lot of extra material there!

Frank

Another tip then. Don't leave them in the vac, if there is any damp they will solidify again; by rusting together!

Even with the numerous tasks on the "Honey do list" I managed to find a few hours of time for myself. I've found that not only do I get parts made and money made, standing behind the controls of the lathe or milling machine relaxes me, kind of like watching fish in a tank.

So here is what I made today both piston rod packing glands and gland nuts. strait forward turning and threading so just a photo of the finished pieces.

I will cut the spanner notches at work on the mill on Monday.

Been busy for the last 2 weeks but I got around this week and did a bit of machining. I am working on the cylinders.
I HATE 4 JAW CHUCKS!! Ok small rant over.
Roughed in the top and bottom on the mill then chucked up in the 4 jaw. Brought the bottom to dimension and bored the cylinder to 2.997 the last .003 will be honed at an automotive machine shop. last step was to cut the recess. Tomorrow I will be working on the valve face and steam ports. Sun and or Mon I will be drilling and tapping for the top and bottom heads and steam chest.

Three jaw chucks are a modern frippery and quite imprecise! Actually four jaw chucks are sort of a short cut to avoid using the proper setup which is a face plate. Grump.

All that said, I use the damed three jaw and four jaw chucks all the time and just deal with the necessary planning and limitations.

Nice looking work by the way.

Lopez Mike wrote:Three jaw chucks are a modern frippery and quite imprecise! Actually four jaw chucks are sort of a short cut to avoid using the proper setup which is a face plate. Grump.

All that said, I use the damed three jaw and four jaw chucks all the time and just deal with the necessary planning and limitations.

Nice looking work by the way.

I've known guys who would only use a 4-jaw, hated 3s, even for round stuff. Me? I'll use whatever gets the job done easiest!

Lopez Mike wrote:Three jaw chucks are a modern frippery and quite imprecise! Actually four jaw chucks are sort of a short cut to avoid using the proper setup which is a face plate. Grump.

All that said, I use the damed three jaw and four jaw chucks all the time and just deal with the necessary planning and limitations.

Nice looking work by the way.

I thought about using the face plate but the rounded edge, where I would have to clamp, is a bit small and made me nervous . It worked ok in the milling machine, but then it wasn't turning, and it is a bit off balance. I guess the 4 jaw isn't that bad but I use one so seldom it just takes me a while to get something dialed in, and in this case it was an egg shaped cored hole. I did not even use a dial indicator, I used the boring bar an adjusted the cylinder off that until I had it centered.


Thanks for the compliment.


Frank

Nice work, Frank.

When I bought my twin M engine which was a very old failed attempt, practically everything that had been machined needed to be either discarded or repaired. Unfortunately the chap bored the cylinders already. So, I got out my Mitutoyo bore gauge and scoped the bore and although they were well-honed, found that they were .010" over or 3.010" and no taper or eggshape. Both were exactly the same. Right at that moment, one of my steam buddies walked in. I told him about it and he just laughed. He said I was way overthinking the project. He said "10 over on the bores, is really close for a steam engine" I machined the pistons about 4 over and it's been running for years and will still run on 5 psi steam.

Re: Chucks. My first lathe at home only had a 4-jaw chuck and I used it for years like that. Yes, everything has to be dialed in and once gotten used to doing, it doesn't take that long and it will hold practically anything. AND, it's much more accurate than a dirty or damaged 3-jaw for doing repair work where old bores need to be picked up etc. BUT, a good clean 3-jaw chuck with very low TIR is just as good and of course much faster for light production work. An old trick for centering lathe work without a dial indicator, is lightly drag a lead pencil as it's spinning, it will show the high side.

Some of the better 3-jaw chucks have an adjustable scroll for re-centering, and too the jaws can be re-bored. What I've found though is before either of those is performed, giving the 3-jaw a good cleaning will typically put it back right. Small chips get in the scroll and holds one jaw out further and there goes the TIR. When they get difficult to open and close, they need to be cleaned.

-Ron