The Steamboating Forum

I thought I would start a thread showing what tools and machines are used in workshop.

1. Air Compressor - Not as good as a steam boiler but faster to test an engine:



2. Boring machine - probably the best thing I bought off Ebay:



3. Lathe - of course you need 3 or 4 but this is our main one:



4. Using a Bridgeport milling machine to drill holes:

No pictures from me but here are the things I use (some of them not very often):

10" swing South Bend gunsmith lathe with a 1 3/8" headstock opening. Often
Index vertical mill (a Bridgeport clone) Often
South bend drill press. Every day.
16" Walker Turner band saw, 1938 vintage. Often
17" swing lathe circa 1917. Used seldom. (Keeps the building from blowing away)
Large air compressor. Every day
Wirefeed welder. Regularly
Abrasive cut off saw. Regularly.
Acetelene welding setup. Once in a while. Mostly for brazing.
Bench grinder. Often
Small (1" belt) belt sander. Very often!
Bandsaw welder. Occasionally and then I really need it!
Foundry facilities. Rarely.
And a bunch of odds and ends.

A good lathe is the center of any machine shop. You buy it and your don't have to spend very much more on it.
A mill is financially evil. Like marrying a young good looking woman, you have only begun to spend money on stuff. The accessories and tooling can really add up!
How I got by without that little belt sander is a mystery. Always deburring and sharpening something.

All this must sound like a lot of stuff. Remember, lots of great engines have been built with only a lathe. From there, you just keep an eye out and accumulate. I'm 68 so I've had a couple of generations to pile up this much iron.

Finding people like me nearby to share equipment is important. You don't need most of this stuff most of the time.

I have an annex with the electronics and computer and optical stuff. Sick!

15" x 40" YMZ lathe w/ VFD
16" x 96" 1920s South Bend - project lathe
Bridgeport variable speed head & VFD, 10" rotary table
bench drill press
14" abrasive cut-off saw
4"x6" bandsaw
6" x 42" belt sander
2 grinders
oxy-act. torches
MIG welder
250A Lincoln Idealarc
air compressor
granite surface plate & height gages

- Bart

I have similar to most of the above, though probably a little lighter on size than some, but I will add to the list a Shaper, it will cover a lot of jobs that are done with a mill (leaving the mill for more important/fiddly stuff) but unlike the miller it is cheap to buy and run, no real need for loads of extra equipment, and only single point tools, easily sharpened by hand. Yep, it's old fashioned and out of favour in many quarters, yep, it can be a bit slower, but all that can be turned to advantage as it's an easy machine to have running while working on something else, just keep a 'weather ear' open for the end of cut, reset and reverse direction.

One 4 lb hammer
One 8 lb hammer
One 10 lb hammer
If I can't fix it with these it must be electrical! Den

My machines and use...

Harrison L5 4.5inch long bed lathe (lots)
Adcock & Shipley 1AD horizontal mill, with Bridgeport J-type vertical head (I grafted on) (lots and lots)
Rhodes 7-inch shaper (some)
4&1/2 inch Warco bandsaw (lots)
Eastern Euro 12-speed drill press (tall) (lots)
B&Q disk and belt sander (the best thing I ever bought) (every day)
Oxy-Propane (brazes just fine, and saves me a fotune in Aceteleyne Bottle hire) (occasional)
Sivert tourches (Some)
Old Oxford Arc Welder (occasional)
Quorn tool cutter grinder (self made) (Makes the milling machine a cheaper pleasure!)

I think the old fart who built my hull willed his tools to Den.

Occasionally someone wanders though my door with some mangled bit and says, "Can you make one of these?" I pick up my biggest hammer and smile.

It is said that one should not watch sausage or legislation being made. I would add to that, watching me remove broken easyouts, taps and bolts corroded into aluminum outboard motor casings. Not beautiful or quiet.

Perhaps add to that watching me make my welds beautiful with a disk grinder. Needless to say, I do NOT allow myself to approach my boiler with a stinger in hand!

I was in a box store hardware section recently and noticed a person looking at easyouts. I introduced myself as a machinist and told him to buy the smallest one he could find and to be sure and drill a blind hole so that he couldn't drive out the predictably broken easyout. That way I would make lots of money off of him later. He smiled and accepted my card.

Experience comes soooo hard.

Sorry for wandering off topic but I have always found that fittings should be wound in just enough to prevent leaking because ,when they break, they will come out easily even with the most inexpensive easy-out! And when it is cold and you are lying in the mud under a broken logging truck you need all the help you can get! Den