Looking for help and advice

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Nick, THAT'S the idea! Time does fly when you are enjoying yourself.

The suggestion to make accessories for the lathe is a good one. You learn, and you end up with something that is useful. Have to admit that I do not machine my Morse Taper Arbors; I buy them from Arc EuroTrade. (They are near Leicester, so about an hour's drive from me, on the edge of Fenland, although their despatch of an order is usually same day).

There are other suppliers who can supply such things, but prices , and sometimes quality, can vary

(Had a bit of a discussion this morning persuading AET to DELAY despatch for a couple of days, so that I can be at home next week to receive. Otherwise I have a few miles to drive to collect from the sorting office).

A Tailstock Die Holder is a very good item to make, pretty straightforward turning. The only difficult thing about the tapping is the correct angular spacing for the grubscrews in each holder, the middle one is easy!.

If making, I would buy an arbor, (COWARD!) and then fit it into the Lathe Mandrel to bore it to take an extension (Look at various sites for a picture of what you should end up with). Having fitted the extension into the MT arbor (use the "heat and freeze" technique with a suitable interference – less than a thou, and with SHMBO permission to use the freezer) With the extended arbor back in the mandrel, the extension should be skimmed to just under the size of the bore in the basic Die Holder. This will allow a little "float" and reduce friction.

A stud screwed into a tapping on the side of the holder, rests against the toolpost to prevent rotation. Don't try holding it under power, in case anything jams. You can replace a broken die or tap, but broken fingers take a lot longer to repair, and no one stocks replacements. (Another thing that you could make is a Mandrel Handle to allow you to turn the Lathe Mandrel by hand for cutting threads with Taps and Dies. BUT DO NOT forget to remove it before you start the lathe under power).

Take a look at various sites, to see what a Tailstock Die Holder, and other useful things look like.

I made a Tap Holder to use on the same arbor. Found out the hard way that a 40tpi thread will not pull a big Tailstock along without stripping. At a pinch, a drill chuck on a sleeve will do the job, but uses more space than the ER 25 Collet holder that I made up..

You will be surprised just how tightly a tap has to be held. to prevent slipping. A useful safety factor that probably saves a lot of broken Taps. Once at that stage, you can always take the job out, hold it in a bench vice and complete tapping using a Tap Wrench.

I've rambled on for far too long. Fellow club members will tell you and show you similar gadgets.

Howard

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Hello Nick

Taking up model engineering seriously is a major challenge for most people who have no experience of the hobby. The cost of kitting out a workshop can be enough to put most of. If however, you can afford to tool yourself up you may need to face up to the fact that you know FA about engineering. You have several choices here if you ever want to do "good stuff" – you can:

Study in classes in engineering fitting and machining.

or

Join a model engineering club and learn from the old hands

or

Join the hard school of knocks and plough your own furrow. (Tough and not recommended unless you are quite young and can afford the time to learn from your mistakes
To get the most out of your new hobby you really need to get answers to your questions frequently and fast – how do you do that? That's for you to work out!
Rik

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Where does someone like me start?

First you buy an old lathe for 120 quid

Then you spend upwards of 3 grand on other bits and bobs over the next few years

Welcome to the nuthouse

I would recommend The Amateurs Lathe

Edited By Ady1 on 30/10/2013 22:06:52

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Why does it always have to be "Build a steam engine " ?

Was everyones mother frightened by a traction engine whist carrying ?

[NJHParticipant @njh]

| " Why does it always have to be "Build a steam engine " ?"

Well of course it doesn't ! What a steam engine has going for it though is that it can be reasonably straight forward, it is forgiving of "less precise" work and will produce a working model reasonably quickly. Many builds are well documented which will be helpful to a raw beginner and there are a lot of "off the shelf" designs – many of which will use easily obtained castings ( or, indeed, will not need castings) . To be able to complete a project in a reasonable time span and have something which works at the end is pretty motivating and will be a firm foundation for later ( more taxing!) projects.

John, as an experienced professional, what is your recommendation for a first project for Nick ?

Norman

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Is someone confusing a 'steam engine' with a steam locomotive?

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

> | " Why does it always have to be "Build a steam engine " ?"

Because it is the easiest prime mover to make and get running, and you can use compressed air instead of steam, so it's the most reliable way to get started?

Neil

[IanTParticipant @iant]

"Why does it always have to be "Build a steam engine " ? (JS)

"First you buy an old lathe for 120 quid – then you spend upwards of 3 grand on other bits and bobs over the next few years" (Ady1)

I was doing a "NVQ" at night-school and once I finished most of the 'plumb bobs' and similar exercises on the course, I got bored and wanted something "bigger". So I started on my first steam loco (and choose something far too big and complicated!).

The NVQ courses were 'dis-continued' (perhaps because they realised that all the elderly gents using the machines didn't really need an NVQ in retirement) and I needed something to work on at home. I saw a near 100 year old lathe advertised locally (a Lorch Schmidt AB for much less than a £120 quid) and went and rescued it from the back of a greenhouse where it was quietly rusting away. I couldn't cut a thing on it to begin with (you couldn't have confused it with a Colchester!) but eventually I did manage to turn something roughly round and reasonably smooth and I was over the moon! I still have the Lorch by the way although it's not my main lathe these days..

Nor have I finished my first steam engine yet (or several others I have) but I have finished lot's of (much smaller) projects, most of them tools and/or improvements to my machine tools (most of which would not look out of place in a Museum by the way).

I used to feel quite guilty about this but on reflection – I've had tremendous pleasure from my machines and this hobby over many years now, so worry much less about my "lack of productivity" than I used to.

So (as the OP doesn't seem to have a preference or urgent need) my advice to him would be to get an in-expensive lathe (old or new) and start to make some simple tooling for it before he jumps into anything larger/longer term. Much will be learned along the way and he won't worry so much about screwing up either his machine or that expensive casting. He will gradually discover what aspects of the work deliver the greatest joy/satisfaction for him personally – and how much money, time (and love) he wants to invest in it all.

Start simple and enjoy what you do – the rest will take care of itself over time

Regards,

IanT

[MadMikeParticipant @madmike]

Nick, I am in Leicestershire, near J21 of the M1. If you want to come and dabble with some metal cutting just let me know. HTH.

[Author]

Posts