So, today the weather was back to warm and calmer winds, so the silver soldering of the worm wheel got done outside this morning. Then some time soaking it in the pickle solution bucket (just fit in the 2 gallon bucket) to clean it up. The joints all looked good, the solder flowed well enough to hold all of them. There were two where the screw didn't get solder wicked through to hold them, but I could see that the edges showed they had wicked well enough to hold so I didn't re-do them. If this had been a boiler needing to hold pressure, I would have. While waiting for it to cool and clean up, spent time outside enjoying the weather!

So, after cleaning the blank up, I set up on the mill to mount it to a 4" faceplate. First drilled/tapped holes in the faceplate (moving just the rotary table 180 degrees for the pair of holes, to ensure it was centered correctly without lots of checking). Then clamped the blank to the table, eyeballed with a couple measurements to make sure it was centered well enough. drilled close fit clearance holes to hold it in place.


A quick check to make sure things were centered well enough to get the wheel out of it (I don't care if the center hole is perfectly centered, it will be enlarged out with an end mill while rotating the rotary table, that will center it best)

Then used a small end mill to trim off the excess material on the corners, took a number of shallow passes to release them,

 followed by a cleanup pass to final diameter:

The blank is a little thicker than needed, so I took a facing cut across the top with a wider end mill. To get under the screw heads, it was clamped back down and one screw at a time removed, I want to keep it centered for a few more operations

So, steps remaining: drill the holes near the perimeter to hold the side plates on, and use the end mill to center and bore out the center hole to final size. Then I can move on to cutting the worm teeth in the perimeter. Given the diameter of it, I'll have to put a riser under the vertical rotary table, or maybe hang the wheel off the side of the mill table - that is more likely to get clearance and reach for the gear cutter. After the teeth are done, I'll take it off the faceplate, turn it around, and face the other side to clean it up and take it to final thickness. So far so good!  For now, back outside to enjoy more sunshine...
 

Great video Krypto - that 22-B is the slightly newer version of the 19-RB that I am modelling, also its the Bucyrus-Erie branded version, as opposed to the Ruston-Buscyrus branded ones from England (though both are right-hand-drive!    )  I also notice there is a Lorraine-Thew shovel in the background, that looks like it is a bigger one. Both have the same style booms that I am doing.


Great to get confirmation that some owners actually did swap the configurations back and forth, from the operator manuals it sounded likely, but great to know for sure.   

With the pieces cut to length it took several more steps to complete them. First the rocker shaft holes were drilled and reamed. Next setup was to drill the mounting holes. Third step was to reduce the width and last to put the radius on the corners. The brackets, and rocker arms are complete no just have to finish the remaining rocker shafts. These are drill rod with a .02 wide by .015 deep groove cut in both ends for the E clips. The push rods are made in two pieces. The short side threaded 1-72 and the long side with the external threads. This will be for adjusting the valve clearance. I made a forming tool to put the radii on the ends.

Back years ago when I was working at the quarry, it was common to switch the front ends around for seasonal work.  The small Koehring crane was setup in the winter with a clam bucket for stockpiling sand at the concrete plant.  They would truck it over to the quarry during production season, remove a section of boom and attack a hook for maintenance work around the plant. This was a cable & clutch crane.

They also had an ancient, small Northwest shovel they would occasionally use for the loading haulage trucks when the main loader was down. It was a size similar to this Bucyrus Erie:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugSn9vtQuCc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugSn9vtQuCc</a>

Imagine trying to load a Euclid R-35 with this dinky thing!  From what I remember the operator built himself a little "table" of material for the shovel to sit upon to gain a bit of height.  Another thing, on most of the videos I've seen the operators are really slow and rarely show the shovel running properly.  I realize the equipment and operator are getting on in years, but if you ran that slow during production you were getting an ass-chewing from the supervisor!

They also had a Bucyrus Erie 88B setup with crane boom as a dragline for dipping settlement ponds. The shovel front came with it, but was never used while I was working there and was rusting in the weeds. The 88B was a much bigger cable/clutch crane than the Koehring & Northwest and had air assist.  Much easier on the operator.

At the moment I could not commit to a specific day or even any one day so will have to pass.

Not even sure if I will be able to make a last minute decision to visit or now, will just have to wait until nearer the time. Old people falling over scuppered my plans last year.

If the situation changes and I could make a firm commitment then I would consider arriving early to bring a model or three in to display and leaving with them at the end of the day.

Hello Jason

Sorry to hear about the Old people falling over, they must always take priority.

Quote. " I would consider arriving early to bring a model or three in to display and leaving with them at the end of the day". That's what we need to hear. If a few more members can step forward and offer the same, we may be able to convince Avril to provide us with a display table for the whole four days of the show, and that would give her the continuity she needs.

Any more offers of help? Arrive early, bring a model or two to display and leave with them at the end of the day

Cheers

Mike