Nigel Heath Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Those bogies really do look magnificent, awesome scratch building. Nice lathe work too, I often got to bodge things with a file and emery paper on mine. Looking forward to the Wasp build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 LObloomingL Only ten? Only ten har har har... You will make more than ten parts for each crew seat, let alone the BS/RR Nimbus Did you look at the engine in that box, I reckon well see about sixty parts on that too I do like the turney thingys, I neeed a lathe to play with too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Just read through most of this build and truly impressed!! Wonderful work. The few pictures of your lathe makes me think it's a re-branded version of mine (purchased from Busy Bee in Canada). I've seen many other identical lathes on YouTube but with a variety of brand names. I've only had mine 8 months but already had the rotary speed controller replaced twice and this seems to be a common flaw according to Google. Watch for the first symptoms ... the work takes a bit more time to stop rotating after turning the rotary dial to OFF. Over time it just won't stop turning. Still have another year on my warranty but I'll be concerned if it happens again. I'd be interested to know precisely what you did to the gib strips to make them more effective if you have time. I've honed all the edges of mine and replaced those annoying slotted adjustment screws with Allen headed bolts but I still have some play which translates to chatter sometimes. Cheers Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 hi Frank, first off - thanks for the compliments - I've seen some of your work, so that is high praise. Your right - apparently these lathes are all made in China by several factories (mainly SIEG Industrial) to a common design, and rebranded by whoever lays claim to them. I did a bit of reading before committing to purchase and am aware of most of the faults, including the speed controller. (but for that price....) I came a cross a website the other week, where the guy had listed a number of upgrades to the mini lathe, one of which was replacing the speed controller and motor with something a bit more robust. I thought I had bookmarked it but apparently not. I also seem to remember reading somewhere that the speed controllers have improved in the last year or so - I wonder if you got old stock (and if I got old stock!). Time will tell. Regarding the gib strips - I just followed this guys instructions and it seemed to work very well. I started with 120 grit, then 260, 320, then 400. All the lapping was done on my kitchen worktop - the biggest slab of granite I had lying around! The two gibs took me about three hours or more (I had a hangover). When I started I found that both gibs had high spots at each end, so had to remove that first. The work made a big difference. With one of the gibs, (the longest one) I couldn't have asked for a better result as action is now very smooth with no play whatsoever. The shorter gib for some reason didn't give me quite the same result even although the finish looked identical. I'm going to take it apart again and clean it up some more, and also check I didn't get a piece of grit or swarf in there when I reassembled everything. My lathe came with Allen head bolts (cheap black oxide coated - the lock nuts wouldn't fit a metric or imperial spanner) but I replaced those and the lock nuts with stainless steel items. I also changed the tool block holder for a quick change tool post. It took me several attempts at adjusting the brass block under the cross slide (the one with 3 Allen bolts) to remove the play, but I got there in the end. I still have about 3 or 4 thou backlash in the slide going parallel to the ways. I don't see any other adjustment for that so I'll need to do some research to see how to eliminate that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Hi Hendie Thanks for the kind words on my craft works but in all honesty you work to a degree of accuracy that I don't! I've said elsewhere I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how I'm going to make something but not too wrapped up in getting perfection ... a worthy goal mind you but at 78 I don't have time for it LOL. Back to the lathes ... yours definitely is a newer model that I recognise by that chuck guard. Mine is the model before it that was being sold off so perhaps you'll have no issues like mine. Mind you I use mine a lot so the rotary dial (it's a potentiometer) gets a lot of workout. Even if I have to replace it a couple of times a year it's probably not that expensive and an easy fix (I did the first one myself). Thanks for the info on the gib strips. There's six in my machine and I've had it right down to the last nut and bolt. If you ever want an excellent tutorial on this very machine look up "Frank Hoose Introduction to the 7x Mini Lathe" on Youtube. He has 6 or 7 videos on every aspect of this lathe that are very helpful and well presented. Lastly, haven't been able to source that quick change tool holder up here (Toronto area) but could probably get one on Amazon. Can I ask how you like it? Does it have the precision you want? Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 8 hours ago, albergman said: I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how I'm going to make something but not too wrapped up in getting perfection I'm with you on that. With this particular build, because I still have all the original drawings I am going to try and hit the accuracy aspect though I know there are some cases where that will not be possible due to scale effect (and my usual cack handedness). I'm still learning how to take my lathe apart so I'll definitely check out that link. I know there's still a lot more that needs adjusted and tuned to get the best performance from it. There's probably a few more gibs that I haven't found yet. The Little Machine Shop has some quick change tool posts though I got mine from amazon - a cheapy at $40 found here - I had to go for the less expensive option as funds were getting low. It does a reasonably decent job and the precision isn't bad at all. At $40 you can't go wrong - I've spent more on masking tape, so it was worth trying out. The down side is that the tool post itself is aluminum, though the holders are steel. It's good enough for what I need it to do just now, though as soon as I have replenished the funds a bit I think I'll get a better quality one from the Little Machine Shop who have a great selection of tools and accessories for mini lathes. I definitely like the quick change post though - it's a worthwhile investment. Once the block tool heights are set up, it's less than 10 seconds for a tool changeover. Since I am a complete beginner I ordered the set of 6 carbide tipped tool bits to start off with. Now that I am beginning to understand what they do, I got a set of tool blanks and got a bench grinder at the weekend so I can grind custom bits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Thanks for the tip on the q/c tool posts! That's quite a deal. I know I spend more time shaping tools, changing and aligning them than I do machining! I haven't tried the carbide tools as yet. All of my work uses "soft" materials so I just buy blanks of high-speed steel in various sizes. I don't have room for a bench grinder but I find a Dremel (with a flex shaft) and those coloured stone wheels are wonderful for shaping HSS bits. They come in all shapes and sizes and hardness. I appreciate their tiny size when I need to shape a tool that needs delicate proportions. Frank PS sorry to ambush your log. Be happy to take it offline if you like. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 8 hours ago, albergman said: PS sorry to ambush your log. Be happy to take it offline if you like. No apologies necessary Frank. I appreciate your input. This was the carbide tool set that I purchased. I realize now that I could have gone for the 3/8 set, but the 1/4's fit (and were a bit cheaper). The carbide tools are fine for general work like facing off and turning down diameters, but not really any use for the delicate work. For example, in my generator oops, dynamo above, I used the carbide tools to turn the aluminum rod down to the right overall diameter, then I had to use the cut off tool to reduce the diameter in several places to give the appearance of a "pulley" on the end. Thankfully, it worked. I have some ventilators and other assorted fittings to put inside the carriage and I'm going to have to shape my own tools for that purpose. The bench grinder probably isn't going to give me enough control so I'll probably steal your idea of the stone wheels. The bench grinder will be useful for removing a lot of the unneeded HSS to get to the detail part though. I wonder if it''s worth starting a "mini lathe' thread in the "Other Tools" section of the forum. I know of at least two other lathe users on the forum, so it may be a useful place to talk about modifications, tips and tricks etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larchiefeng Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I think that it would be a good idea for a thread in the other tools section! I have a little Unimat lathe that I picked up last year but, I haven't really done anything with it yet but, I plan on using it in the spring when it gets warmer out in the garage. I'm interested in learning about the little tricks and techniques of how to use it when I get to the point that I start to need to make better replacement pieces for the next Pocher project. Let us know if you decide to open up the thread and the link to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 I'll try and get to that next week sometime (unless someone beats me to it) - up to my eyes in the proverbial at the moment as I'm trying to finish decorating, cleaning up, and preparing for a dinner party at the weekend which is why I haven't been on-line much. Though I have figured out how to surreptitiously introduce a healthy dose of haggis to my American brethren here.... Balmoral Chicken ! (I'll tell them afterwards!), by that time we'll have consumed so much Atholl Brose that they won't care. Or if they do care... I won't ! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Nice! About time someone introduced proper food over here. Let's face it, if they can eat Mc-whatever they can eat anything! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordairgtar Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Bit hard to make proper Haggis in the US. Certain ingredients are not allowed to be sold like sheep lung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Scottish Gourmet make a decent haggis. It's not up to McSween standards, but it's certainly reasonable. I think he's done a good job given the constraints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 And you're a haggis enthusiast!! This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship ... as Bogey once said. Next you'll be telling me you're actually Scottish born? As I am. Anyway, I read through that link you put up for lapping the gib strips and it's excellent. Stuff there I hadn't considered so I think I'll pull it apart and do it over again. As for a thread on lathe work ... I'm in favour of it but have little to contribute as I'm just doing stuff by instinct. Haven't used a lathe since I was in high school back in 51 ... remember when they had real shop classes? I'm sure there are qualified lathe-ists(?) on the forum who could help duffers like myself though. I've really ground to a halt on the scratch Lancia D50 project ... as is my wont, I just got tired of looking at it. My usual solution to this kind of malaise is just to start something new!! Why not? I've got shelves full of half-built scratch racing cars. I thought I'd exhausted my interest in steam engines by building a Flying Scotsman but the bug has been there to do a Gresley A4 streamliner so, off I went in a totally different direction. I've promised myself however, that I'll return to the Lancia very soon ... whatever that means. Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 On 2/2/2017 at 11:01 AM, albergman said: Next you'll be telling me you're actually Scottish born? 'Fraid so. I only moved over here in 2008. On 2/2/2017 at 11:01 AM, albergman said: As for a thread on lathe work ... I'm in favour of it but have little to contribute as I'm just doing stuff by instinct. Well, you're already ahead of me then. I don't think we were allowed to touch the lathe at our school (unless you took advanced metalwork). So this is really my first hands on experience with such a machine, and most all of what I'll be doing is instinct and sheer guesswork. Like you mentioned earlier - you like the challenge of figuring out how to make something - That's also what drives me. Thankfully, my meal is now over. Two weeks of house painting, clearing up, fixing all those jobs that had been put off. All done ! My Atholl Brose was a huge success !. One of my buddies arrived a bit early, and we finished off half the bottle before anyone else even arrived! It was such a huge success that no-one really bothered about what the Balmoral Chicken turned out like (though it was fine). I was really disappointed in the haggis though. I've been buying haggis from Scottish Gourmet after sampling a few vendors, and his was the best I could find. When I opened the haggis up yesterday it was completely different from anything he's supplied in the past - this time it was very mushy, almost like a paste, instead of being grainy with lots of texture. Of course by then I had no option but to use it. It tasted fine, but the texture was way off. Anyhoos, now I can get back to some modeling !..... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 So, easing myself in gently so I don't go and do myself an injury... it's been some time since I was ensconced in teasing shapes out of plastic and general household objects. So where did we get to last time around ? Oh that's right - I had stuck a pyramid of styrene on top of the dynamo (I went and rewired it from a generator to a dynamo - can you tell I'm a "mechanical" guy and not a leckie ?) and drilled a couple of through holes for a brass tube. Today's task was to remove the plastic in the middle of the pyramid/triangally thing, leaving two substantial brackets for hanging the dynamo off the underside. After that was complete, I knocked up a small junction box (which is kind of difficult to see clearly at this angle) and fixed that in position. I add 3 Meng nuts to the junction box, which were then drilled out and they will act as glands for the wiring later. - and more Meng bits can be seen on the face of the dynamo - handy stuff that Meng bits 'n' bolts. More bracketry was made up to hang the dynamo. The styrene has started to crack on the top right of this bracket. I added some soup to the gap as I left this evening and will sand it all back to shape when hardened. (This was about my 4th bracket and I couldn't be bothered to remake when this one could be fixed so easily). And if you squint, you can just about see another Meng nut and bolt set on each end of the rod in the middle. Then the last task for this evening was to make a couple of brackets to hold the brackets that hold the brackets that the brackets on the dynamo swings from. This time it was a bit more fun as these brackets are mounted directly to a cross member on the chassis, and transition through 90° to accept a long through bolt. I held the styrene in front of a heat gun for a few seconds at a time and gently twisted the styrene between my fingers until I got it twisted through 90°. As yet, I have not offered any of this up to the chassis so I could well be remaking one or more bits of this in order to get it all to fit together. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Nice work on the generator dynamo looks the part. What stations can you pick up on brackets, brackets & brackets , I just hope it all fits. I know errors can creep when your three pieces removed from where you started from Kev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 15 minutes ago, longshanks said: when your three pieces removed from where you started from I think that was me last night after all that Atholl Brose ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Excellent looking scratch building work hendie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 Thanks Nigel. Those parts were one of the fun things to do. The side frames, not so much and I've been putting them off and putting them off, but the time is getting closer when I have to make a start (again) on them in order to progress. (maybe that's when another side build will start and take my mind off the current problems)... unless I can find something else to make on the lathe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Luverly stuff hendie! Looking at it all it leaves me wondering why there is a #2 bracket at all? Seems like a #1 and a #3 would have sufficed but no doubt there's a good reason. Maybe they just felt it would more fun for a modeller to replicate as 3 parts. Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, albergman said: Seems like a #1 and a #3 would have sufficed but no doubt there's a good reason. I believe it's to clear the dynamo away from the bogie. The cross member that the 90° mounting (vertical) brackets fit to is quite close to the bogie. I think the first bracket allows the dynamo to be swung away from the bogie while gaining some distance, the the other bracket allows it to be swung back towards the bogie. <- I just re-read that and it doesn't make much sense. I have a photo at home that I based this design from so I'll try and remember to post it tonight and that may help explain things. (There's still a few bits and pieces to be added before the dynamo mounting assembly is complete) *edit* I found this page over on rmweb community that shows a few dynamo mounting arrangements - if you look about 1/2 way down the page you'll see the arrangement I've based my model on Edited February 6, 2017 by hendie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Hi Hendie, you may have mentioned where, maybe in your Wessex build, where did you get that drill set? Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 If you are referring to that nifty little fold open pack a few photos back Colin, I am unsure where H gets his but I get them from Asiatic suppliers on ebay Nice though they undoubtedly are they are also as fragile as biggery, drilling then changing course as we do sometimes will bust the tip and leave you holding a pretty little stub Which can be reground if you have a good steady hand and eye I just buy the packs in pairs for a few quid and use more traditional straight drills if there's a risk of bending them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 6 hours ago, heloman1 said: where did you get that drill set? Like Perdu mentioned - I normally get mine from ebay (carbide micro drill bits) - I'll search around for the best deal I can find on there. They're generally in the region of $7 US a set of 6, but there are better deals available. I have a local shop who sells them for $1.99 but the sizes are limited. Amazon have them but are a bit more expensive. They are very good, but the drill bits are very hard so break quite easily - particularly the smaller diameters if you happen to stray from the perpendicular while drilling. I used to buy those micro drills in the blue box, but found that they were pretty much useless. Now those carbide drill bits are the only ones I would consider for the small stuff. I also found it cheaper in the long run to buy in bulk as I tend to break quite a few 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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