Tiny Vertical Based On G. Britnell's Design

[b.lindsey]

Looking good Stew!  Not sure my eyes are up the such small work these days but I love seeing it and will be following along.

Bill

[stevehuckss396]

Damn that's tiny. Great job, I know how hard it is to work that small.

[Stilldrillin]

That's a bit Tiny for me, Stew! 

Watching. Appreciating. Quietly...... 

David D

[gbritnell]

Hi Stew,
Boy that looks familiar. For parts like the slide valve and others I machine them on the end of a bar and then cut them off. That makes it easier to hold them rather than trying to clamp them into something.
gbritnell

[Roger B]

Those are indeed some small pieces  I will be following along 

[sbwhart]

Thanks for your support Chaps

Thanks for the tip George.

I scrapped a base and I scrapped a support  before I got one right 

To make the support first I turned up a blank on the lathe



Then I mounted it in a ER32 square index block

zeroed the DRO on its centre line and front face then proceded to mill out the fillets it was just a mater of indexing it round and repeating what I did to one side to the other.



When it came to doing the angle I just swivelled the vice first one way then the other.



It was then just a mater of cleaning it up and sculpting to shape with a dremel and some Swiss files.





Then it was a mater of putting it back in the lathe to ream the bore 6mm and part off.



All that remained was drill the base and the four holes at the top:-

This what it looks like with my little helper Jack. 



Stew

[NickG]

Wow the mini figure looks huge compared to the engine!

[b.lindsey]

You are making some nice progress Stew. Its fun to watch as well !!

Bill

[Johnb]

That would slip in the pocket nicely. Don't let Jo see it. You know what she's like!

[sshire]

Beautiful job, Stew. Looks so casting-like.

For small holes, I've gone exclusively with form taps. (2-56, 1-72, 0-80) No chips to bind anything.
The part stays in the mill and is tapped following drilling. Lightly chucked in the mill spindle and I never use the handle; the knurl on the tap wrench provides enough grip.
The engineers at Balax are very hobbyist-friendly and extremely helpful and the make beautiful form taps. The hole is, of course, a bit larger than for a cutting tap.

[sbwhart]

Thanks Chaps

Stan they call them thread roll taps over her, I've never tried them may be worth a go so far I've not broken a tap, but I have seen off a couple of drills 

On with the cylinder:- First a turned up a blank in the lathe then transferred the chuck over onto my spin indexer on the mill and proceded to mill the valve port face and to sculpt away the shape of the cylinder by indexing 1 deg steps until I got the finished shape.



Then it was a mater of drilling the valve ports and the drilling and tapping M1 for the steam chest.



Then everything was moved back onto the lathe whilst every thing was nice and secured I finished off the shape



Then drilled and reamed 6mm the bore 6mm



I just parted it off to length



Centred it under the mill



The drilled and tapped m1 for the covers and drilled and milled the air passage at both ends.



I've also made the top and bottom covers.

Heir's all the bits assembled to date.



I'll be having a rest from this for a couple of days has we have visitors stopping.

Stew

[b.lindsey]

Your little helper seems to be getting shorter Stew   Seriously though, nice work on the cylinder!!

Bill

[arnoldb]

Very good going Stew

Kind regards, Arnold

[Roger B]

Excellent job    I get scared tapping M2 although I do have some smaller stuff for when I am feeling brave.

[sbwhart]

Thanks Chaps

On with the next bit I seem to be settling into a routine of scrapping the first attempt for various reasons and getting it right with the second.

Fist op was to turn up a blank in the lathe and drill and ream the valve bore 3mm.



Then keeping the blank in the chuck transfer the whole lot over onto the spin indexer.



Then mill it up into the oblong shape.



Then to centre the mill up on the part in the x and y and using the indexer to manipulate it to proceed to drill and tap the part to the required sizes.



The transfer the whole lot back on to the lathe and part it off to length.



That it job done.



As the assembly is getting a bit bigger Jack has enlisted the help of his apprentice Liz.

Cheers

Stew