I have started to in line bore one of the Seal main cylinder block castings and some 6 months later than expected, used my tool setting fixture for the boring bar (the making of which is on mikes-models.com and the plans for the fixture are available from me if you want a copy - no charge!) which I am please to say works well.
I was a little apprehensive that the movement and positioning of the fixture each time could cause an error but each time I mounted it for the next tool advancement, it read the previous setting exactly. I have long hankered after a set of slip gauges and have scanned eBay for many a month and was fortunate enough to get an imperials set there recently. So I brought these into use when sorting out the packing required between the cross slide and the casting base.
You may well laugh but I had to get my digital calipers just to check whether there marked dimension was width, length etc. Putting that to one side I was able to make two stacks up for the casting to sit on whilst I compared the tapered centre in the headstock with the scribed line on the front of the casting. Armed with this information I then sort out material for the casting to bolt to, giving me the least amount of work. I nearly came a cropper though when I was using a piece of aluminium I thought was the same width only to find on checking it was quite a bit out so it was fly cut in the mill and an extra piece of material sought (ended up as some sheet copper I have) before it was bolted down and the position checked.
After that it was just a case of making sure it was in line (used a dti to make sure) and then mounted the boring bar between a live centre in the tailstock and a half centre (only other MT2 I had) in the headstock. The bar is driven by a dog and home made brass pillar bolted to the faceplate. After checking that I had sufficient movement on the cross slide I had to reverse the bar to allow the full travel.
My next error was forgetting to make sure the tool was in the right orientation (it cut, but not cleanly!) and after I got over the disappointment of the quality of cut, I saw my mistake and put the tool the right way around. From then on (I have yet to complete the task....) everything went as I had hoped and the tool advanced by a known amount. I may live to regret this, but I think it should work fine. Fortunately Edgar T Westbury tells us the diameter is not too critical................we shall see..... Some photo's................
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Imperial Slip gauges bought on ebay
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Packing to size from gauges
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Using the home made and designed tool setting fixture
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Checking on the first cut
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The set up for inline boring the Seal engine
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!
£60.00
