Author Topic: Textile Mill Diorama  (Read 112206 times)

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #405 on: July 03, 2018, 10:07:03 PM »
Hi Larry,

Thank you for your kind words. However, some of them are unwarranted. I am truly an amateur when it comes to machining precision. I have a digital vernier calliper that reads 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" etc.

Decimal accuracy? I turn a crank on the milling machine, take a cut  and stop to check the thickness!

Computer assistance? You've got to be kidding.

Nevertheless, things have been working out with the engines in the dioramas.

Having those engines do work in a realistic setting is what turns my crank.

Thanks,

John

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #406 on: July 03, 2018, 10:34:28 PM »
Thank you for your kind words. However, some of them are unwarranted. I am truly an amateur when it comes to machining precision. I have a digital vernier calliper that reads 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" etc.

Decimal accuracy? I turn a crank on the milling machine, take a cut  and stop to check the thickness!

Computer assistance? You've got to be kidding.

Yet, you seem to be one with the machines. My machines don't seem to know I'm here.  ;D
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline J.L.

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Rotary Vice
« Reply #407 on: July 04, 2018, 09:57:31 PM »
Tomorrow, I want to try something new with my rotary vice. When I bought it, I couldn't really see much advantage to being able to move the jaws other than 0 degrees or 90 degrees to accommodate the milling table. There are rotary tables.

Now I can.

In this photo, the heavier vice is able to hold the valve chest firmly while half of it sticks out quite far. On a rotary table, the part would have to be clamped. But here, the robust support allows the diamond/oval shape to be progresively milled to shape by changing the angle of the vice.

I wouldn't want to be without the rotary table to cut concentric circles, but for liniar cuts like this, the rotary vice seems to have come into its own.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2018, 12:37:10 AM by J.L. »

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #408 on: July 04, 2018, 10:18:23 PM »
I use my swivel vise for that sort of thing all the time, John. Very handy! Limited only by the imagination...

 :cheers:

Pete
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Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #409 on: July 05, 2018, 01:34:24 PM »
 Hi Pete,

The things you learn by the seat of your pants.

Old hat for you, but a new learning experience for me.

Thanks.

Rotating that vice certainly allowed the cutter to nibble away some of the metal.

The 1" belt sander finished the profiling.

That's glazing and spotting putty on the spots that were marked up in the process.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2018, 02:44:40 PM by J.L. »

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #410 on: July 05, 2018, 01:40:55 PM »
Looks great John, quite a transformation from the rough casting too!!

Bill

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #411 on: July 05, 2018, 07:32:07 PM »
Thanks Bill.

Some of the cast iron castings are quite generous with extra 'meat' on them. Almost half of the cover for this valve chest was milled away!

Not so with all of the gunmetal ones as we have seen with the crosshead.

The cover is clampled on the chest now as a template for the 8 1/8" stud holes.

Note:
In the second shot showing the drilling setup, the top edge of the recess looks a bit ragged. Rather than mess with the overall texture of the cast, I have left it alone. Interestingly enough, when looking down on the cover as it will be set up vertically, you don't see that roughness.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2018, 07:53:04 PM by J.L. »

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #412 on: July 05, 2018, 08:36:47 PM »
Now that's what I call spot drilling... ^-^

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #413 on: July 05, 2018, 09:52:10 PM »
Nice John, one more task out of the way now!

Bill

Offline J.L.

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Securing Valve Chest
« Reply #414 on: July 06, 2018, 08:26:30 PM »
Thanks Bill.

This practice may be nothing new to the serious builders of slide valve engines, but it is the first time I have seen the valve chest secured to the cylinder face without the aid of the studs that secure themselves in the cylinder face and run up through the valve chest and the cover.

It greatly simplifies observing the movement of the valve later in the build. On Victoria, removing the cover compromised the alignement of the valve chest unless you put bolts back on to hold the chest firmly.

This setup will also ensure that all 8 studs can be spotted with a drill without any fear of the chest moving.

The securing bolts are hex headed cap screws.

Online crueby

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #415 on: July 06, 2018, 08:37:27 PM »
That is a bit different than usual, nice idea as long as the bolt holes dont interfere with the exhaust passage out the side of the block.


 :popcorn:

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #416 on: July 06, 2018, 09:02:13 PM »
Hi Chris,

Exactly right. The drill depth was carefully checked on the exhaust port side of the cylinder block before the tap hole was drilled.

Here is the face of the cylinder dimpled for tap drilling by using the secured valve chest as template.



Offline 10KPete

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #417 on: July 07, 2018, 05:52:56 AM »
SWEET!!  Now that's the way...

 :cheers:

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #418 on: July 07, 2018, 01:42:51 PM »
Thanks Pete.

Offline J.L.

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Re: Textile Mill Diorama
« Reply #419 on: July 07, 2018, 03:53:24 PM »
Time out for some eye candy.

I have been waiting for some 1/4" strips of .016" brass that have been backordered for some time. It turns out that the Canadian distributor for K&S metals went out of business. I believe the company that took over went bankrupt!  :facepalm:

But my hobby store did have some strips of .016 2 inches thick on hand. Hmmmm...  :thinking:

My table saw has a carbide blade that can be used on thin non-ferrous metals. You know where this is going...

The trick was to cut the material safely without tearing itself apart or slipping under the fence.

Here's the setup.  We'll see how things go.



 

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