Mary beam engine

[richard davis 2Participant @richarddavis2]

I have acquired a set of castings for a mary beam engine. I have not done any metal working since o level at school. What sort of lathe would I need to complete this model (there seem to be so many out there). I realise the fly wheel is the largest part to machine and could farm this out. I am keen to start this hobby and would be grateful for any advice. Thanks in advance Richard Davis,

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Like many other UK startionary engine designs mary was sized to suit being made on the popular Byford lathe. Although only a 3.5″ centre height lathe it could actually swing about 9 1/2″ in the gap between bed and head provided the item was not too thick.

So if you prefer old iron or have deep pockets for a new one then a Myford would be upto the task. It also has a slotted cross slide and vertical slides that can be added which makes it possible to do the milling work on the Myford too.

On the other hand if the flywheel were farmed out then anything from A Mini-lathe upwards would do for the turning if you went the new far eastern route. However at these smaller sizes the cross slide is not so well suite dto milling and would need some adaptation. Although vertical slides are available for this size machine that are a lot less rigid than the Myford offerings. So that leaves either buying a small benchtop mill to do the milling or going up in lathe size to something around the “250” size which will have a tee slotted cross slide with the added bonus that you could also turn your own flywheel and others in the future.

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

If you are starting afresh then there are plenty of resources on-line. My own small offering is available at Journeyman’s Workshop – Getting Started. There are five lengthy pages with lots of images.

Good luck with your new hobby.

John

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Richard,

Welcome!

Any queries, ASK!

Having decided on what lathe to buy, allow for the budget to cover tooling (Centre Drills, Drills, Taps, Dies) and measuring equipment, (Most probably a Calliper – Vernier, Dial or Digital (and spare batteries) and a bench grinder, if you don’t already have them.

An old kit will probably have dimensions in Imperial units (possibly fractions!)

Buy a set of Zeus Charts, and at least one book on lathe operation. “Basic Lathework” by Stan Bray, No 45 in the Workshop Practice Series; “Lathework A Complete Course” by Harold Hall – WPS 35

If you choose a mini lathe, Dave Fenner, David Clark and Neil Wyatt have all written books on it.

And the original “bible”, written around the Myford 7 Series, L H Sparey “The Amateur’s Lathe”

With a book on the shelf, you can always refer to it, at any time.

If buying a second, or more, hand machine, examine and test the machine carefully.  If unsure, take someone with you who is more knowledgeable.

Whereabouts are you located? In case anyone on here would be prepared to offer advice, and help.

FWIW

1) Don’t launch straight into machining the castings. become familiar with the machine, and techniques.

Learn how to take out backlash, and gain experience by just cutting metal.

Make your mistakes on material that you can replace easily, rather than the castings.

2) You can learn by making a few tools, that you can use in the future,

a) Learn, or relearn, how to grind tools.

b) A Centre Height Gauge.

A useful learning exercise and can be used for years afterwards

c) Since you will be doing thread cutting, make a Tailstock Sliding Die holder. You can buy just the Die holders, and refresh your memory by making the body, and the arbor. (Buy the Morse Taper arbor for the Tailstock, and modify it to take the arbor on which the holders slide)

d) Make yourself a Tailstock Sliding Tap Holder (The easiest way is to use a Drill chuck attached to a body, to slide on the arbor for the Die holder)

Foe both these devices, you will need a lubricant for thread cutting, Trefolex or Rocol RTD

e) A Mandrel Handle will be useful for cutting threads with taps or Dies. Easy to make, and better than pulling the chuck round by hand!

Before too long, you will need to relearn how to centre work in a four jaw independent chuck, so will need at least one Dial indicator, (probably a finger clock first) and a magnetic base, on which to mount it.

Above all, DON’T rush.

Learn, or relearn, the basics before attacking castings that you may not be able to replace if you make an error.

HTH

Howard

 

 

 

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

One of the great writers about model engineering was Tubal Cain (Tom Walshaw).  He designed Mary and described his method for making it in a book:

Building Mary. Tee publishing

The various castings are still available from Reeves

Mary castings etc

No excuse not to jump in 😀

Rod

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Looking through TC’s Mary book, I think the only milling he calls for is for the cylinder port face.  This is his set setup:

TC’s method for making Mary uses only a lathe and a drilling machine together with some hand filing.  If you are starting from absolute scratch then I would recommend purchasing a mill rather than a drill because the mill, even a very small one, will make some of the facing jobs easier and provides a drilling function with the added advantage of a coordinate table for accurate positioning.

Rod

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I would imagine he makes a lot of use of a faceplate, angleplate and the 4-jaw than people tend to do now and certainly more filing😉

[Clive Brown 1Participant @clivebrown1]

ISTR Tubal Cain once wrote a series of articles in ME on making a small steam engine without the use of machine tools. Impressive but possibly not everyone’s idea of fun!

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

You can pick up a small drilling machine for £50ish and even when you have much later afforded the £500 for a mill-drill you can still drill holes while your mill is all set up for a milling job.

[Clive Brown 1]

On Clive Brown 1 Said:

ISTR Tubal Cain once wrote a series of articles in ME on making a small steam engine without the use of machine tools. Impressive but possibly not everyone’s idea of fun!

That was “Handmaiden”, a Stuart Turner 10H –  M E vol 148 June 1982 and continued in alternate issues through most of vol 149.

Rod

[Clive Brown 1]

On Clive Brown 1 Said:

ISTR Tubal Cain once wrote a series of articles in ME on making a small steam engine without the use of machine tools. Impressive but possibly not everyone’s idea of fun!

I vaguely remember Popular Mechanics did something similar many many years ago. It was a small oscillating steam engine (“wobbler”) made with two pieces of square brass tube, one that was a neat fit inside the other. One was the “cylinder” with a pivot pin soldered into a hole drilled in one side of it and the other was the piston/con rode combined, a drilled hole engaging with a crankpin on a crankshaft bent from thick wire. I suppose any tin lid etc could be used for a flywheel but I don’t remember the details. Main body could be any piece of flat bar or even angle iron with the ports drilled in it and copper tube soldered on.

I saw another one years ago that a family member made, using a metal lipstick cover for the cylinder, soldered on to a piece of flat brass where the ports went. The lipstick cover had the blanked end standard and must have been consistent diameter along its length. I think the piston and flywheel were turned in the lathe though.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I posted an image of Handmaiden and another of the tools used in this thread

[richard davis 2Participant @richarddavis2]

Thanks every one what a great response. Lot’s to think about. Thanks again.

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