sagaguy

Hi Stephen, Ermm,I think a mandrill is an Ape with a very colourful backside,I think it`s a mandrel Ray.

Eh!!,I have no problem at all parting off steel with my Super 7,With a properly ground tool & set correctly,it works every time. Ray.

Many years ago,i managed to wreck a Burnerd griptru chuck,This must have been in the late 70`s,to replace it,i bought a Myford screwed body 3 jaw chuck & i keep it for Axle turning Etc.because it only has a run out of 2-3 thou,very useful!!! Ray.

Rear parting tools:-These are some time used when the bearings are a bit loose on the headstock because they exert a downward pressure on the work & stop it climbing over the job.On a bigger lathe,the bearings are much better,incidentaly,never part off between centres. Tool Bits:-carbide tip tools last much longer between sharpening but you can`t grind them to any shapes that you may need,you need high speed steel blanks for that,carbide insert tools are where you buy the shank & fit carbide tips,when they are blunt you throw them away. Half centres are used when you want to turn a wheel seat on an axle & it provides clearance for the tool,look on my pic of my chassis & there is a wheel fitted to an axle & the other end has been turned down using a half centre. Ray.

Absolutly a small lathe & not CNC.Mount the wheel on a small arbour turned in the chuck so that it will be concentric & once you have the first wheel to size,check the cross slide dial reading & if you are only taking off a few thou,lock the cross slide & so long as the top slide is parallel to the job,use that,(not best practice), or if you have a leadscrew,move the saddle so that all wheels come out the same size. Ray.

have a look on here,item no 7554: http://www.gandmtools.co.uk/cat_branch.php?sub=1 It`s a myford ML7 bit garish but it`s still a current lathe & spares & accessories are all avaiable. Ray.

Hi Ozzyo,your wish is my command,to be honest,i thought 1 1/16th scale was a bit outside the usual models that are dicussed on here but here we go!!,it`s all m/c work. Excuse the bench,it`s always like that. The loco is a Harry clarkson of York design,the company now sadly defunct,my wife bought me the complete set of castings for xmas 1984,(ouch).The only castings i havn`t got are the crossheads but i`ll worry about that if i ever get that far.As you can see,on the running gear,there`s 10 or 5 of everything.The cast iron axle boxes have seperate keeps(that was a milling job & a half)& by knocking out two pins,the bottom half of the axle box drops out so that you can remove the wheelset without removing the wheels.I`ve just finished & fitted the crankpins using 601 loctite but the centre driver crankpin has got to have a silver steel key half in the wheel & half in the crankpin tto stop it rotating & putting the valve events out. Cheers for now,Ray.

Hi Ozzyo, As like Bertiedog,my interest lies in 5" live steam,I find that there is much more turning than milling at the moment. I got fed up with constantly regrinding H/S tool bits & now use carbide insert tools,these give a much improved finish & when worn,throw the tip away & fit a new one,saves constant sharpening. The milling will start when i start making the coupling rods,8 of em`,all jointed Been in the garage this morning turning a driving axle but it`s got too hot out there now. Cheers,Ray.

It dosn`t look like a bad m/c but if you can,buy a quick change tool post to go with it,it saves fiddling about with packing the tools to centre height & makes parting off a doddle providing you set it correctly. I`ve used one on my Myford for years & you just change tools by changing the tool holder. Ray

Hi Tony,Chronos or RDGTOOLS would seem to be a good start. This thread seems to have got itself bogged down on milling m/cs.

Hi,I think for starters,forget about milling m/cs until later.I built most of a live steam simplex on a lathe that i bought for £25 & a Black & decker drill in a stand. What you will need for your lathe is a 3 jaw chuck & a 4 jaw independent chuck & a set of carbide tipped turning tools & if you have a bench grinder,a green grit wheel for sharpening & a small tailstock chuck,up to 1/4" capacity,for the smaller scales,these should give you a great start. Have a look at Chronos or RDGtools,Iv`e just started using rdg for some carbide tips & have found their service excellent & more to the point,you get a 5% loyalty discount which i have just used. Happy turning,Ray.

Fair point,list some questions & we will endeavor to answer. Ray.

I would strongly advise buying a lathe,after all,with a vertical slide & an endmill in the chuck you have for starters,the best of both worlds. It also depends on the scale of models that you want to build.I have a Myford Super 7 which has been used for machining parts for "n" scale up to my long running project,a 5" gauge live steam WD Austerity 2-10-0 Although i think that will see me out even if i could lift it!! . Cheers,Ray. .

Hi,try here for HD couplings http://www.dublopartsdecals.co.uk/spares_page_03.html Regards,Ray.