I managed to get out into the workshop today, and spend the morning there. The two bushes for the left hand or gear end of the leadscrew were turned, bored and parted off to size with little drama.
When looking for material to make the shaft that fits the left hand side of the leadscrew, I could only find a piece that I had set aside for my boring bar! I will have to order some more stock for the boring bar as finishing the Myford refurbishment is my highest priority at the moment.
After setting the bar to run true in the four jaw chuck, with just enough showing to allow the DTI to sit on, it was faced off then centre drilled to allow the revolving centre to be used for turning. The 4 jaw was then opened enough to take the bar far enough out to turn the outside diameter to size over its length. With the live centre in place, the 4 jaw chuck was then tightened and set to run true again with the DTI.
Once the shaft was running true I started to make the first cut but couldn’t get the speed and feed to run without chatter. So I did the same as when turning the contra shaft, and ran the lathe very slowly at 90 rpm and the leadscrew at its finest setting. The length to be cut means that this is a slow job. Fortunately there isn’t a lot to take off and I do get a good finish using this method.
Whilst the Turner lathe was doing its bit I spent some time tidying up some of the outstanding jobs on the Myford, such as replacing oil nipples and removing the belt tensioning shaft, so it can be drilled and a new roller pin fitted. I did take the opportunity to also clean the parts and then apply metal adhesive, so it won’t need to rely on the roller pin to take the strain.
The gears that came with the lathe were checked against the sizes for turning the leadscrew at its finest feed (0.0018 from memory) and sorted the gears out ready to attach when the leadscrew is complete. I seem to have some additional sizes, 2 x 80 teeth and a 127 tooth gear! I am however missing a 75 tooth gear so will have to seek one out.
The gear guide was placed into the gear cover and secured and one or two other small jobs done reducing the work left after the leadscrew shaft is completed. I am hoping to complete the complete refurbishment by the end of next week subject as always to health issues. It will be nice to get back to building the seal engine and I am looking forward to making the camshaft using Steve Huck’s method and cutting chart. Look back and see how I am getting on.
About Mike Freeman
Hello, my name is Mike Freeman and I am a retired Chief Fire Officer from the United Kingdom with a keen interest in model engineering, silver caddy spoons and sea fishing. I live in the pretty fishing port of Brixham, South Devon, in the United Kingdom.
I am a sufferer of degenerative osteoarthritis, which impacts on the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, and is the reason why you will see seats and a stool in some of the photo's. I have only recently added the above sentence after a discussion with one of my Doctor's from the excellent pain clinic, based in Torbay. This does affect concentration one of the reasons why I double then re-double my measurements and set ups.
Before completing nearly 30 years of public service I and my wife Sandy, owned and ran, a small restaurant in Okehampton Devon. Prior to marriage I worked for my father in his various businesses, in the early days these were garages, which he bought in a run down state, then built them up before moving on, to start again.
I took every opportunity in those early days, to work in his workshop's
learning 'on the job' rather than as an apprentice. This, I suspect, is the reason why my building various model's in the early days, turned into model engineering, when funds allowed the required equipment to be bought.
My workshop comprises one half of a detached double garage. It has a
stud wall separating the two halves and unusually perhaps, its own
shower/toilet/washbasin compartment! (the true reason for buying the
bungalow - don't tell the wife!!!)
It is fully insulated with a ceiling and fluorescent lighting supplementing the one window. Several double electrical sockets are dotted around in
relevant positions.
Equipment consists of 2 lathes (1 Myford ML 10 and 1 Chinese variable
speed motor with etched glass DRO's), 1 milling machine (RF25 far East) floor standing pillar drill, Proxxon bandsaw, Warco bandsaw, 6" wire brush and polishing mop motor, 6" coarse and fine grinder, Proxxon mini drill, various benches and an engineers vice. I have just acquired a third lathe, a Myford ML7 which I am at present evaluating so I can decide which of the Myford's I will keep.
I have only just bought the Chinese lathe and had it fitted with DRO's prior to delivery. And what a bonus they are! So good in fact that I decided to buy another set for the Milling machine. Whilst my engineering experience can only be described as limited, I find the use of DRO's has affected my accuracy levels which have improved tremendously (although that's not saying much!) and would recommend their fitting to any model engineer.
Prior to retirement I built for my son's 17th birthday a Locost car. This
was a tremendous project and a great feeling when it passed its test. The book it was based on suggests it can be built for £250. Ours was nothing special in the sense of all new parts but still cost about £900 to build!
