Chris's Holly Pumping Engine Build

[crueby]

Plugging away on the railing parts - got all the vertical posts cut using the little Proxxon chop saw I bought secondhand, with a twirl against the grinding wheel to take the burr off the ends that the abrasive wheel leaves. Also got about 70 of the top pieces drilled and parted off, thats almost half of what I need. They are going quick, about 35 an hour with lots of breaks for reading outside.

It doesn't show well in the picture, but the top pieces are all drilled on the end to fit the posts and cross drilled for the rails. The bar stock for the pump plunger tops came today, as well as some sheet aluminum for the catwalk decks. The boxes and tubes the aluminum came in (yes, they split the shipment into three containers, all from the same location 60 miles from here) weighed more than the aluminum inside!

[Don1966]

Dog did you say plugging away now come on man your not plugging your jetting through is more like it..


 
Don

[crueby]

Dog did you say plugging away now come on man your not plugging your jetting through is more like it..


 
Don

   The loop-de-loops in the jet are fun...   
 

[ddmckee54]

They PROBABLY just want to "borrow" the mixer to mix the next batch of mash for their still.  I'm told it has a distinctive aroma so you'll know when they use it.

Don

Just great. Who told the elves about the show Moonshiners? Thanks a LOT!   

Wasn't me, maybe it was the other Don?  Yeah, Yeah - that's it, it was the other Don.

Don

[crueby]

Today I got the rest of the top caps for the railings drilled and parted off, then as we discussed I made the first form tool to shape the very top of the caps to a dome. A very small radius, I started to cut it into the end of an old HSS cutter, then finished it using a diamond dental bur in the high speed rotary tool. Hard to get a decent picture of bits that small in the lathe, here is the best one that came out. It took a few tries to get the cutter positioned right, very sensitive to height since its right at the center of rotation.

I'm going to go through all the parts and round over the end like this, then will grind the shape in for the lower end of the cap where it curves back in towards the post. Will take a while, looks like I'm shaping two a minute with this setup, and there are 156 to do...!

[EricB]

Today I got the rest of the top caps for the railings drilled and parted off, then as we discussed I made the first form tool to shape the very top of the caps to a dome. A very small radius, I started to cut it into the end of an old HSS cutter, then finished it using a diamond dental bur in the high speed rotary tool. Hard to get a decent picture of bits that small in the lathe, here is the best one that came out. It took a few tries to get the cutter positioned right, very sensitive to height since its right at the center of rotation.

I like to grind several profiles into the same tool to save time.

Eric

[crueby]

Today I got the rest of the top caps for the railings drilled and parted off, then as we discussed I made the first form tool to shape the very top of the caps to a dome. A very small radius, I started to cut it into the end of an old HSS cutter, then finished it using a diamond dental bur in the high speed rotary tool. Hard to get a decent picture of bits that small in the lathe, here is the best one that came out. It took a few tries to get the cutter positioned right, very sensitive to height since its right at the center of rotation.

I like to grind several profiles into the same tool to save time.

Eric

Wow - some fancy turning there! I was thinking sort of along those lines with this one, though just in reusing the tool blank, there is enough on the right side to cut in the shape for the bottom shape. Thinking that I would turn in one at a time though, so I could set the depth once and just run the tool side to side, given how many will need to be turned. This is the first time I've made a form tool for anything other than gear and ratchet teeth, for one-off shapes I tend to just use needle files on the spinning part. Guess thats the sculptor in me showing through!
 

[crueby]

Got all the post top parts shaped at the outer end today, and have made the form tool for the lower end, here is a picture during the refinement process on that.


Given the shape of the area to cut away, and how small the post is, it worked out best to have the part out from the chuck about 1/8" and run the tool in at the left end, then move it in sweeps to the right, going in a little deeper each time. Otherwise it puts so much force on the part that it bends the post. Think I have the shape of the cutter dialed in now, and have got the first 20 parts cut. Lot of work for such tiny parts, but in the end the railings will be a great detail to have at the correct size.

[cnr6400]

 

[Kim]

Yeah, tough to do much turning on such a little part!  Nice work Chris!  20 done, 200 to go!
Kim

[crueby]

Yeah, takes as long to start/stop and swap parts s it does to make the cuts,  making batches of 20 or 30 then taking a break, coming back in later for another batch. Only had four so far that didn't have enough loctite in the hole and popped loose. They are re loctited for next day, none ruined so far. The holes are only .100 deep so not a lot of surface area.




Then, after all these (160) top caps are done, bases to make! Those are simple flange plates, will be quick to make.

[crueby]

The top caps are all done, so on to the base flanges for the railings. These are much simpler to make, all on the lathe with drill and parting tool. Drill a hole in the end to match the railing post diameter, then cut a step in the end and part off. Repeat 155 more times (60 done so far, these are going quickly)

[Kim]

You're a machine, Chris! 

Kim

[crueby]

You're a machine, Chris! 

Kim

A chocolate-powered machine!   

[Mcgyver]

wow, what a great build!  36 pages in and I just notice it! talk about asleep at the switch