Author Topic: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine  (Read 428670 times)

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #165 on: November 09, 2016, 08:26:16 PM »
Chris, I think you are right to go with tumbling rather than sandblasting. If you get aggressive enough with the sandblasting to remove burrs and tool marks you will likely be rounding over some sharper edges you want to remain. The tumbling may do a little of that too depending on the media but it takes longer and you can stop the process at any point. I prefer bead blasting for just adding a nice matte finish to metal and not to remove metal. You may well find that the tumbling is enough on its own.

Bill

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #166 on: November 09, 2016, 08:27:54 PM »
Chris, I think you are right to go with tumbling rather than sandblasting. If you get aggressive enough with the sandblasting to remove burrs and tool marks you will likely be rounding over some sharper edges you want to remain. The tumbling may do a little of that too depending on the media but it takes longer and you can stop the process at any point. I prefer bead blasting for just adding a nice matte finish to metal and not to remove metal. You may well find that the tumbling is enough on its own.

Bill

Good to know - I will post some pics after some experiments tomorrow.

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #167 on: November 10, 2016, 09:36:20 PM »
I was able to lay my hands on some ceramic tumbling media, this is a 3/8" triangular shape media, here is what it looks like:

It may not be the ideal size for the small openings in the parts I am doing, but it is what I could get quickly. If anyone knows of a better size/shape/etc that is available in small quantities (some places sell it in barrel sizes only), please let me know. I put it in the machine (a vibrating style tumbler that I have for reloading brass) for a while, after an hour it was looking quite good. Most of the burs are gone, and the surface is looking much more even. Here are a couple of pictures of the before (bottom) and after (top) parts - the overhanging burs are gone, and the surface finish is much more pleasing, more like a bead-blasted finish.




I have the second half of the parts in now, making a nice racket down in the basement. Also, the round stock for the bushings and the washers arrived a little while ago (my UPS guy is used to bringing heavy tubes/boxes of metal, when loading the truck and gets to a really havy mailing tube, he knows its for me!), so I will be able to start knocking out piles of those parts too.

« Last Edit: May 31, 2018, 08:21:56 PM by crueby »

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #168 on: November 10, 2016, 09:41:44 PM »
Quite an improvement in the looks department after tumbling  :praise2:

You are on quite a streak here with another great long build - only problem, I'm using way to much  :popcorn: because of you ;)

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #169 on: November 10, 2016, 09:44:17 PM »
Quite an improvement in the looks department after tumbling  :praise2:

You are on quite a streak here with another great long build - only problem, I'm using way to much  :popcorn: because of you ;)
Because of this forum I've taken to buying the popcorn kernels in bulk bags - keeps very well in the fridge till needed! 
 :cheers:

Offline Johnmcc69

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #170 on: November 11, 2016, 12:13:13 AM »
Looking real good Chris! I think the finish looks really good. I like the way you created the center "lug/Grouser" with the ball end mill. It's definitely worth the time spent making good jigs & fixtures. You'll have quite the collection of them when this project is complete.

 Really nice work!  :ThumbsUp:

 John

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #171 on: November 11, 2016, 12:17:39 AM »
One other background task that I FINALLY brought up to (one of) the front burners is actually sitting down and going through the tutorials to learn the Autodesk Fusion 360 CAD package, and got my first part made in it. Here is a render:

Amazing what can happen when you actually RTFM.  I had been poking at the package for a while without going through thier tutorial videos, that was a mistake, wasted a lot of time. Still a bunch to learn about making assemblies and whatnot, but so far so good - this part took about 1-1/2 hours, intermixed with the videos, so actually pretty quick to do. I had a lot of experience with a commercial animation package years ago, so the modelling in 3D this way was not too bad a learning curve.

This should make the dimensioned drawings for the rest of the parts much better than the way I had been doing it. Still some more things to get comfortable with, but its a pretty decent package.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2017, 08:45:10 PM by crueby »

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #172 on: November 11, 2016, 12:21:30 AM »
Looking real good Chris! I think the finish looks really good. I like the way you created the center "lug/Grouser" with the ball end mill. It's definitely worth the time spent making good jigs & fixtures. You'll have quite the collection of them when this project is complete.

 Really nice work!  :ThumbsUp:

 John
Thanks! There is a collection box of jigs/fixtures/etc that these will join, the finger plate for the tracks should be useful for all sorts of parts - I've seen others here using simaler ones to hold all sorts of odd little bits for machining.

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #173 on: November 11, 2016, 12:39:23 AM »
Chris, I think you found the perfect method for finishing the track parts. They look really good and the details remain very well defined!!  Excellent result!!!

Bill

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #174 on: November 11, 2016, 12:59:43 AM »
Hi Chris

The tracks sure look good after a trip through the bowl. Are you running them with some soap; and for how long?


Dave

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #175 on: November 11, 2016, 01:27:20 AM »
Hi Chris

The tracks sure look good after a trip through the bowl. Are you running them with some soap; and for how long?


Dave
They ran about an hour per batch. Looked at them after 10 minutes and a half hour, after an hour they looked good so I stopped it. The parts and ceramic bits were rotating up and down the bowl nicely.

No soap - what would that do? Like liquid dish soap? I just ran it dry, rinsed the parts off when done to remove the fine particles. When running the brass cases there is polish and brightening solutions that you can add.

Offline Flyboy Jim

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #176 on: November 11, 2016, 03:35:48 AM »
Chris, those tracks look great! Although I'm not sure it'll make much difference when they're all mucked up with mud from running around in your backyard!  :ROFL:

I'd love to see a picture of your tumbling setup if you get a chance.

Jim
Sherline 4400 Lathe
Sherline 5400 Mill
"You can do small things on big machines, but you can do small things on small machines".

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #177 on: November 11, 2016, 03:45:45 AM »
Chris, those tracks look great! Although I'm not sure it'll make much difference when they're all mucked up with mud from running around in your backyard!  :ROFL:

I'd love to see a picture of your tumbling setup if you get a chance.

Jim
Here it is, a Lyman tumbler, with the ceramic media. Add a handful of track parts, screw down the cover, plug in for an hour, all done.

Offline Flyboy Jim

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #178 on: November 11, 2016, 04:25:17 AM »
Thanks Chris.

Jim
Sherline 4400 Lathe
Sherline 5400 Mill
"You can do small things on big machines, but you can do small things on small machines".

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris' Build of a Lombard Hauler Engine
« Reply #179 on: November 11, 2016, 04:49:01 PM »
Got rolling on making the washer discs for the track pins this morning, made up enough for the ones to be rivetted onto the inner ends of the pins for both tracks, started with 5/32" rod, drilled and parted off on the lathe:

At the bottom of the picture you can see some of the bits that were left by the parting tool as it broke through that had to be clipped off the discs with an end cutter.
With the discs made, I started rivetting them on to the ends of the pins, using the split plate tool that I had shown earlier:

At this point, one tracks worth of pins are rivetted:

Next up will be to make another batch of the washers for the outer ends of the pins, then make the thicker bushings that go in the middle of the track plates. After that, drill the ends for the cotter pins, and I can assemble the tracks for real.

« Last Edit: May 31, 2018, 08:22:31 PM by crueby »

 

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