snitzl

On 16/04/2021 at 18:19, Johnson044 said:

I hesitate to use the term "Steam punk", but that's possibly the right genre - is well worth a read.  Please let us have some more updates. Have you had the little beastie running yet?

Hi Johnson044, It's nice to know that there's interest in this thread, "Steam Punk" genre has been mentioned a few times in my postings and I think it's a fair classification. The design and building of the uncoupler mechansim for 'De Snitzlton' has been a real headache for me and two further failed attempts made on the uncoupler have not been posted here for fear of boring everyone to death. Time has also been been spent making jigs and index mechanisms for the lathe to improve concentricity of those tiny 0.15 module gear's used in the mechanism. De Snitzlton has been run by connecting wires directly to the motor, the drive mechanism and coupling rod's work fine.  I will post an update in the next few weeks, but in the meantime, for those with an appetite for more, check out similar projects in my RMweb blog, there's the Jules Verne Tower for instance.

Bye for now.

On 09/04/2021 at 19:07, John Besley said:

This is pretty cool... any more updates?

Hi John, I'm trying to resolve uncoupler design on De Snitzlton and thought maybe I should find a solution before posting, I'll have an update in the next few weeks, just waiting for some milder weather and then I can start work in my workshop.

On 16/02/2021 at 15:52, halfwit said:

Another item to look for if you own a U3 is a watchmakers collet adaptor. The business end is hardened and ground and fits in the end of the spindle, with a drawbar which fits inside the spindle and clamps the (threaded) 8mm watchmakers collets. One of the advantages of this accessory is the availability of stepped collets, very useful for holding small wheels and gears for facing/boring etc.

Here's a little additional information regarding 8mm watchmaker collets (stepped collets).

The above, is a list of 8mm collet manufacturers with thread and body details, notice the two variation's in thread diameters, I have both types i my collection and therefore also require two draw bars.

The stepped collets are numbered 1 to 5 with a range of approximatley 4.0mm dia to 22.0mm dia in 0.2mm increments.

Here's a small bogie wheel mounted in a stepped collet. The one negative learned so far is that the crankpin on driver wheels, get's in the way when mounted as illustrated above.

The collet dimensional nformation listed above was obtained from Sherline's site, the PDF can be obtained here :  Sherline PDF.

Hope this snippet, is of use to someone.

Regards Snitzl

Hi All, The weathers been so nice here in the UK this last couple of day's that I decided to get out into the workshop and make another index plate ( yes I've got more gears to make for de snitzlton locomotive) .

Here's the new 39, 45,50 and 55 hole index plate made as previously described - drilled and countersunk with a centre drill.

After recounting the number of holes in the first plate virtually every time I needed to make a new gear, I decided to engrave the plates with a Taylor Hobson 2D pantograph.

After engraving, the numbers are given a dose of felt tip pen, and then lightly rubbed with emery paper / cloth.

All done, not bad for a couple of day's work. Now perhaps I should spring clean the workshop.

Regarding AdamsRadial's sound advice on machining the jaws, it's also worth noting that if there is excessive wear on the scroll threads or jaw threads of the chuck, then you are unlikely to get the jaws true, you may improve concentricity to within a few thou. Also, many jaws are hardened, if so, you will need to attach a grinder and cover the lathe bedway surfaces with some form of protection.

Here's a link to a step by step guide that should in the least provide food for thought....

Tile that Roof..

11 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

Thanks for sharing. An interesting sequence of explanation as is usual from your posts. 
 

I also bought a Pultra cross slide this year, without knowing what the graduations were. Quite unsurprisingly it has the standard divisions (not metric). If it saves you the effort and is convenient would you like to swap? I would prefer a metric one. 

Hi richbrummitt, Thanks for the offer of a swap, but after sleeping on it, I prefer the metric thread over the much courser imperial thread on these small watchmaker slides, my favourite slide has 0 - 25 thou dials. I probably don't need to redo the dials either, as long as I remember that 10 on the dial is 0.1mm. 

Decided to post a bit of a tutorial on using the new index plate, vertical slide, milling spindle and compound / cross slide assembly and I must say that it was quite an enjoyable experience without any concentricity fustrations. This was the first time I'd used any of these items, all of which were purchased earlier this year. The only surprice was the Pultra 1750 compound / cross slide, the dials read 0 - 100, which I presumed to be 100 thou per revolution, in fact they are both 1.0mm per revolution, so it's either new dials, or new screws and bushes. A job for the warmer months next year.

Here's a few gears I made earlier, mainly scrap......

Thanks for Looking..

19 minutes ago, -missy- said:

Hi.

 

I have been working on making a gear cutting machine. It uses a slightly different approach in that it uses a gear hob instead on a series of involute cutters. The mechanics are done, I just need to work out the arduino control for it now.

 

 

Missy

Not seen anything quite like it, looks very interesting and unique, I see that you are using two stepper motors and timing belts. Can't imagine getting my head around the arduino code though. Look forward to seeing more.

12 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I haven't got a scooby what you are doing, it's going way over my head, but it's absolutely fascinating.

 

Mike.

I'd love to illustrate the process of making gears for anyone interested, but I'm not sure from reading the intro pages of Lathes and M/C Tools that this would be appropriate for this topic. The topic seems to cover lathes and machine tools with a liitle advice on how to use them.  What I intend to do is turn a gear blank on a lathe in the usual way,  then remove the drive belt and lock the lathe spindle into 26 equi spaced indexed positions. A vertical slide / spindle is then attached to the lathe bed, in effect, converting the lathe into a mini milling machine. One gear tooth is cut, then the lathe spindle is rotated one hole position on the index plate, this is repeated until all 26 gear teeth are cut.

Pete

Hi All, Managed to complete the indexing components, not cut any gears yet, I'll do that in the next couple of days.

Didn't fancy parting off 70mm dia steel in the colds of my workshop, so I did a search for steel discs on the bay and bought 20 off, 70mm diameter, 3mm thick mild steel discs for £13.00.

Set up the BCA jig borer with an Emco dividing head for drilling the holes in the index plate.

Holes are drilled and countersunk at the same time with a 1/4" centre drill.

With all the parts now complete, its time to assemble.

Index plate mounting bush is pushed onto the spindle and held in place with a 3.0mm dia grub screw, the index plunger / spring assembly, locates in the original indexing hole designed for use with the holes on the back of the pulley. The pulley has 60 holes and is not suitable for the 26 tooth gear that I plan to make.

The plunger aligns with the 26 hole divisions in the new index plate.

Fully assembled on the lathe, its now time to remove the index plate, turn a gear blank, and try some gear cutting with the new spindle.

Thanks for Looking : Snitzl.

Here are a few images of the installation of a Wolf Jann watchmakers vertical silde and spindle for the lathe workbench. Although I have a milling machine which is very handy for cutting gears, I wanted the ability to cut very small gears ( 0.15 module ) on the lathe. I've had repeated problems with concentricity when moving components from lathe to milling machine and four jaws and dial gauges are not an option due to lack of space.

The vertical slide is mounted on a spare Pultra cross / compound slide assembly.

Some additional Gibraltar drum rack and clamps are used to secure the new adjustable sewing machine motor which will use the same speed control unit as the lathe spindle motor by exchanging the plugs.

With ths motor mount method, the belt will tighten / loosen as the cross slide is adjusted, but I'm not to concerned as the amount of movement will be very small and can be adjusted by the rack clamps.

The Wolf Jann vetical spindle takes standard 8mm watchmakers collets which are the same collets used in the lathe spindle.

Next job is to make a simple indexing plate / attachment for the lathe spindle and give the thing a tryout....

Thanks for looking

Snitzl

Hi All, Here's another update on 'De Snitzlton' - I've been doing a little work on the animated steam assisted uncoupler operator and also a non animated driver / fireman to replace the retired robot ( yes, I had second thoughts about the robot ). Both these figures have been made from brass bar using dental burs and a Minicraft handheld drill for the sculpting. Making figures has always been a bit of a challange for me as I don't make them that often and this is also a first attempt at making figures in brass.

The steam assisted uncoupler operator has joints at both shoulders and elbows, the two cams that provide the movement can be timed to provide out of sync movement.

Another view on the uncoupler guy.

Here's the fireman / driver. Both figures are soldered to the footplate.

Our retired robot man heading for the Horse and Groom.

Thanks for Looking : Snitzl.

Hi All, Managed to do a liitle more on De Snitzlton by adding some of the uncoupler mechanism at the front of the loco and also adding a non animatde driver / stoker.

The uncoupler cams and lifing beam are hidden inside the front buffer.

Here;s the uncoupler in its uncoupled state.

The robot driver / stoker  is a 4mm scale model loosely baised on Rodney Copperbottom, but unlike Rodney, the legs and arms on this model are symmetrical. The indiviual components are turned from mild steel on a small watchmakers lathe and soldered together.

Copperbottom fooling around on the foot plate.

Here's an animated gif of the uncoupler, operated by turning one of the rear buffer's by hand.

Thanks for Looking : Snitzl

Bought this 67mm dia four jaw chuck some months ago from the bay and thought there's no way that I can use it without making a backplate, so here's a few images taken during construction.

The backplate has been made to fit a watchmakers lathe that accepts 8mm collets, initial heavier machining was done in the wokshop on a much larger Boley & Leinen lathe.

Used mild steel for the backplate, the thread on the collet section of the backplate is 6.85mm x 40TPI, shank is 7.99mm dia.

The mating face and location ring on the backplate is machined on a watchmakers lathe.

Lathe machining now complete.

Standard  6mm screws have the head machined to fit the chuck.

Job Done, time for some real modelling.

Thanks for Looking.

19 hours ago, hendie said:

Love it. I absolutely love it.   In some respects it reminds me of a Tim Burton set.  

Would it be possible to take a few overall shots of fun town and take us on a walk through the metropolis?    I can't be the only one who's drooling in anticipation of seeing more

Hi Hendie, it's so gratifying that you want to see more of Fun Town  but most of what exists on this small micro layout appears in the intro of this thread.  Your reference to Tim Burton and his unique work just might spark off a whole new approach to railway modelling.

Thanks Snitzl

Hi All. Investigated this small N20 type motor / gearbox unit because I needed some tiny gears for a project I'm currently  working on. The gears are obviously not up to Portescap standards, but even so, they are very usable and as other's have already mentioned, the complete unit is an extremely affordable option for the small locomotive.

Regards Snitzl

Hi All, Here's an update on the steam assisted uncoupler for ' De Snitzlton '.

The gearbox has proved very problematic with regards to gear fits, concentricty of the gears and getting the correct tooth form on the home made cutter's. After modifications, the gearbox was complete, but because of inefficiencies in the gearbox design, that little 4mm dia motor proved inadequate. I've not given up on the steam assisted uncoupler gearbox, but I do feel the need to make some progress, so I will switch to working on the body and wheels and spend some time rethinking a gearbox solution.

Motor is now mounted above the bunker on a small bracket.

............

On test, the motor would not acheive it's ideal speed and would stall often.

Motion from the gearbox is transferred to the front cams to operate an uncoupler mechanism and the operator.

Thanks for looking : Pete

11 hours ago, Isambarduk said:

Well, I cannot compete with that lot but I do manage to keep my milling cutters under control:

 

 

David

What a great way to store milling cutter's, here's my very out of control stash, this is most definitely not the ideal way to store milling cutters with all those sharp edges clashing with each other.

Regards Pete

Hi All, At long last, I have a new collet rack for my lathe collets, been thinking of making one for years, nothing special, just a quick milling job.

Made this old thing back in the early 80's, it's looking a little neglected.

That's not lens distortion you see, it's had a hard life in one or two damp workshops.

Decided on 6mm thick polycarbonate for the rack, which was machined on a milling machine.

The new rack mounted to the lathe bench with a few additional collets.

Thanks for Looking.

Pete.

10 hours ago, brack said:

On my unimat SL I used a 12V speed controller from china with the scooter motor. Just be careful to find one rated for the required power. They only cost about a fiver.

I've also read on some forum that the motor and electrics from an exercise treadmill ( walking machine ) can be an alternative  option, bulky heavy item though.