If you are going to do a 4" then forget the Major, its not really got the capacity and yes at that scale a tilting head will be a bonus. I'd be thinking of a turret mill myself.

I went for MT3 on my mill so I could also sleeve down the lathe and use the same tooling on that which has prooved worthwhile.

If you are not already a member of Traction Talk Forum then join us there in the miniatures section and read through some of the build threads there, they will show you lots of machine setups so you will get an idea of want machines and tooling will be required. This is another build, have a look through and see what he does with his mill

Jason

PS the traction engine in my avitar was done without a mill but would not want to try it with a 4"

Edited By JasonB on 25/06/2013 21:01:45

Edited By JasonB on 25/06/2013 21:06:08

Welcome Paul

I think the Warco VMC is worth a look as it's very versatile and has good capacity at a fairly low price.

I have been using this to build my 3" scale TE for which it has surplus capacity. I have not had any problem with my VMC, speed change is however, by changing the drive belts. I assume the major and GH machines you mention have variable speed which is an advantage.

These gears cut in one pass, 7.2mm depth, with no problem.

Nigel

Hi Paul and welcome to the Forum.

I have the direct equivalent to the Warco universal and have fitted DRO 'S etc .
I went through the same sort of i suppose uncertainty as to which mill to buy as i wanted something with more capacity than the SEIG X2
I would have liked a Bridgeport but the funds were not available so i had to stick with an asian made machine – not that there is anything wrong with that !
Having a look at the Warco Website you will notice a few things that may be of importance to you and help you to make an educated decision as to which mill to buy .

The universal has a bigger table with 4 tee slots against the 3 of the vmc and it has more quill to table clearance than the vmc .
It is also has a geared head so no changing belts but that comes at a cost of less speeds .
As for tilting heads i usually set the work up on the required angle and leave the head alone as i detest having to re- tram it although not difficult it just annoys me !
The old Warco Major style of machine has been around for a million years and there must have been millions of models made on them !
They are a reliable unit but the problem is if you need to raise or lower the head it can rotate on the column and you lose your datum where as a dovetail column or turret mill will not .
R8 vs MT ?? I chose MT as i can use it on my lathe as well and if you don't tighten it too much it will come out with a decent tap on the drawbar and as my mill uses tapered roller bearings that i feel can handle the shock loading from tapping the drawbar with a hammer but i have an idea i my head for a cam actuated device to push on the drawbar but that's a little down the track !

There is no such thing as basic questions on this forum everyone has to start somewhere and here you will only find fellow Model Engineers who are more than happy to help if they can !

P.S i would still get a vertical slide for your lathe as there are many things that can be machined without upsetting your set up on the mill – just another option .

Ian.

Paul,

When I started out I wanted to build an Allchin traction engine in 1 1/2" scale. At the time I had a pillar drill a vice and some basic hand tools which I had used for car restoration. I started by making as many parts that I could with these tools such as hornplates etc. I then acquired a Myford ML7 and so i made as many of the easier parts as I could with this gaining experience along the way. I then got a Tom senior M1 which I then produced some more parts, then with a rotary table I could produce some other parts. I finally finished it about eleven years later. I will add a picture to my album. So my advice would be to make a start, then as your experience grows you will be able to decide what equipment you need.

Good Luck

Regards

Graham

Paul

What have you used as a text editor as everything runs up to the sunset and most is unreadable

Bob

Much of the learning process involves developing a strategy for tackling a machining operation, the strategy is often similar on a large or small engine – which cut to make first, which holes to reference and so on. The benefit of working at a smaller scale first is that the cost of mistakes are less (and not one of us hasn't made quite a few along the learning road). That would be my main reason for recommending tackling a smaller project to begin with.

Chris

Paul;

Whatever you decide to do, it will not be the wrong decision.

My first project was a locomotive (small 3-1/2" gauge 0-4-0, "Tich&quot  which is still running 40 years after starting it. Yes, it did take time, but I started it as a young teenager, and then there was University, and cars, and women, and… well, the locomotive took a back seat for a while.

I finally sold the "do a Stuart" castings about a decade ago; no interest.

I used to work on full size locomotives, but now prefer the smaller ones, easily managed, less expensive, and more fun than driving the full size. (well, more challenging technically, and usually without the issue of 1,000 people about giving advice or criticism!)

Yes, you can sub-contract, or get others to help, or what else comes along. So, just do it.

Another JohnS

Edited By John Alexander Stewart on 26/06/2013 18:15:02

Edited By John Alexander Stewart on 26/06/2013 18:15:26

I'm building two 4" scale Burrell SCC traction engines. My lathe is 6.5" centre height by 40" and will swing 19" in the gap; it has easily handled anything I've needed to machine for the engines so far. It would of course be possible to do without a mill, but it'd be really tedious. I have three milling machines; vertical, horizontal and CNC. You don't need a CNC mill, although it does make some operations easier, and allows you to do some things that can't be done on conventional machines, such as machining true bevel gears. Neither do you need a horizontal mill, although I use mine a lot for gear cutting and removing metal in a hurry, as it is more powerful and rigid than my vertical mill. I've got plenty of other toys too, but we won't mention those.

So, in summary, you only need a lathe and ideally a vertical mill, to start with. My vertical mill has a swivel and tilt head, and I've used it precisely once. So it's not essential. Personally I'd go for an R8 taper in the mill rather than MT3. The R8 taper is much more widely used, and is sold by many commercial tool outlets, so there's a wide range of price/quality tradeoffs available. In general I don't swap tooling between lathe and mill, so I see no advantage in having a Morse taper in the mill spindle.

I'm not going to get involved in the new versus old, or Far East versus UK/USA debate. Everybody has their own opinion, and it's just that, an opinion.

One point that hasn't been raised is the drawings. You may be sadly disappointed if you expect the drawings to be accurate. I am redrawing my engines in 3D CAD, to correct errors in the drawings, make changes to allow for metric material where imperial isn't available, and to simplify where appropriate.

I'm also awkward in that I'm making all the parts that I can, including all the gears, rolling and welding my own wheels and making all my own wheel spokes. I'm also looking at making my own pressure gauges, and possibly injectors.

I have a build diary on 'TractionTalk' under the name of 'oly2brf5'.

Regards,

Andrew

PS: If you're ever in the Cambridge area, PM me and drop in.

Another PS: You can tell I'm awkward, because the first bits I made for my engine were some of the gears.

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 26/06/2013 23:19:38

Correct, but not with the equipment found in most ME workshops – Andrew

I have also seen a passable bevel gear for a turret clock cut with a hacksaw and file

Roy