In this video I begin the machining of a pair of cast iron cylinder covers for a 5" Gage steam locomotive I am building. The lathe shown is a Myford ML7. For more engineering and maths visit Joe Pieczynski - / @joepie221
Thank you for the video and also for the great laughs. You've not only got a firm grasp on your machining skills, but also on the finer points of British humor. I especially enjoyed your "apology" @ 16:05, LOL! Aloha...Chuck
I've only just started watching Crispin's video's & watched the newer ones first. I didn't realise he'd started his channel when he was 10 years old!!!
You got my attention with, it starts to bell mouth the hole, so many cnc machinists have no idea to produce anything without a robot machine to do it for them! Just discovered your site will be recommending!!!
As always a pleasure to watch a real model loco engineer at work, my guess is that you all came out of the same mood. Visited a young model loco engineer south of Leeds back in the 1960s, he was building a larger loco to the same standards as your self, only difference is he only had one arm. After all these years, watching you reminds me of him. I am a crude self taught DIY machinist who builds big reflecting telescopes for astronomy research etc. I learn so much from watching fellows like you, my machining quality has improved a great deal. Shevill Mathers ex Leeds, Tasmania Australia 42 south. A Google search under my name has many links to my various projects. My background is in surgery and pathology, astronomy is a parallel scientific part of my life. Thank you for sharing your work and knowledge.☺
Well done Crispin, another great video. Love the idea of threading OUT from the chuck, no more "Brown Trousers" you have all the time in the World to stop the tool. Starting to look like proper Loco Cylinders now. Keep up your excellent videos, suppose I will have to wait several weeks for the next one. You have me 'Hooked' now. Best wishes from Dave.
I agree about the hooked part! The videos don't come around soon enough. Out of all the youtube channels I watch, this one is by far the best! It combines my love of steam locomotives (all be it 7 1/4") and watching an excellent craftsman going about it the right way! No short cuts.
I really enjoy your videos. It is almost like working in the same shop, you on your projects, me on mine. Thanks for sharing. Very nice work indeed. Glad you have found Joe Pieczynski. He also has a nicely done and informative channel on YT.
Nicely shown as you progress. Just love good size locos. Nice idea using the milling cutter - must use that sometime. How beautifully quiet that ML7 is :) A thread like that I do cut conventionally (forwards) but - using indicator and a spindle handle, do it the slow way - it does avoid crashing. Great video.
Thanks for the comment. Bad news on the mandrels Im afraid. Got the the jiffy bag home yesterday and the mandrels have escaped on route. Looks like they punched their way out at the end of the jiffy bag. Thank you for the effort anyway and sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Cheers Crispin
Thanks again....slowly going through your videos in a mad rush to catch up...it has been a while sense I have single pointed backwards...I saw the 2 inside locking screws loose with your boring bar and thought that you had developed a certain locking style to help prevent chatter...than I saw your notation....ha....GREAT WATCHING YOU MACHINE !!!....Jeff
Nice job Mr. Crispin. I'm never disappointed when I stop by. I do have a suggestion to assure higher quality of your finished product. When you indicate a part in a lathe, you must always indicate a known face to run true first before you indicate the diameter. Without indicating 2 locations on a diameter, you can not guarantee the part is actually concentric. Indicating a face square first, then a diameter concentric, is as good as it gets. Keep up the good work and thanks for posting a link to my channel in your video description box. Keep up the good work. Regards from Austin Texas USA....JP
Hi Yes I agree totally, Bit of a long story but when I first flipped the part round I wasn't too bothered, I just pushed it up to the jaws as the concentricity would have little effect on the second part. Then once I had parted them in two it became obvious that now was the time to face the first one and finished it off. I did check the face with an indicator before it was too late. Anyway thanks for watching and look forward to your next video. Cheers
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Andrew. And what is all this gobbletgook all about. I hope it is not a derogatory mark against Joe ? if so then please say why, as he is a very intelligent guy, and has probably forgotten more about engineering methods than you may ever know about machining.
Thanks Dave. I think Andrew really liked what he saw, but just couldn't bring himself to give me an 'A'. Either that, or his cat danced on his keyboard when he left the room. No harm no foul.
Well presented video and excellently machined. I have subscribed for more of your clips. I can only try to emulate your machining skill and tips - there's something about 'old dogs and new tricks' but even at my age (retired electrical engineer) I'm still learning! Well done and keep up the tutorials! John
critical error if you wish to ensure concentricity of locating boss and piston rod clearance!!! creating the finished piston rod thriugh BEFORE flipping in the 4-jaw. taking it out then relocating and finally drill and bore of rod hole introduces unknown error(s)..great series
Sir, if you will take the time to go back and watch the video from around the 13 minute mark, you will see Crispin cleaning up the drilled hole with a boring tool, before reaming. ALL operations were carried out at a single setting, so all bores, threads, location bosses and outside diameters are concentric and are running true. He had already machined one side complete, off camera, except for the locating diameter, which he showed how to machine at the start of the video. If you have time, please go back and watch the whole video, then you will see that you were misinterpreting what was actually being done.
Hi Crispin, Technically you had your compound at the wrong angle, you should advance the tool so it cuts almost entirely on the leading edge. Since you're cutting away from the chuck, your leading edge is on the right and the compound should be angled that way. Having said that, I cut 90+% of my threads with radial infeed and no chatter or surface finish problems. For coarser threads I advance the compound by 50% of the infeed increment which has the same effect as setting it to a
Hi Paul, I was waiting for someone to comment on that! It only came to my attention when editing the footage. I had been doing some conventional external threading and I had just left it where it was with out really thinking about it. Cheers
You're one smart young fella, if only there were more youngsters that make good use of their time. What we're all wanting to know is did your brother notice his Toothbrush missing?
Nice work Mr. Crispin, i'm sure your brother won't mind you borrowing his toothbrush! I have noticed other machining videos where they go to great lenghts to keep cast iron chips from getting on the lathe ways, i see that you where not concerned with this, and i wonder why some feel it is so critical. As an auto mechanic, i have a dedicated brake lathe, and have never had an issue with cast iron chips as long as the machine is kept clean. Keep up the good work!
Hi, Generally it is because most people on RU-vid have bigger machines and use flood coolant. Coolant and cast iron dust can very quickly cause corrosion. I tend to just use cutting oils when required on that machine. Cheers
Very well explained and shown. Far too many don't seem to think high accuracy in there machine tools and measuring equipment is required while doing M.E. work. For a lot of it there quite correct. But for some areas the best you can wring out of it is required as this video clearly shows. And a very good example of how a drill won't produce a round straight hole at the correct location as well. Still a bit to go yet with the pistons, valves, connecting and valve rods to do, but your getting close. :-) Castings for the wheels, or are you going to machine those from bar stock? If so that really will be a great deal of work.
Crispin has already started the wheels from solid bar stock, he is cutting the spokes using a CNC milling machine. I have not seen them yet, but if they are to the same standard as all his other work he has done so far, they should be excellent and look the part.
Dave Ticehurst I hope Crispin will show plenty of video from start to finish (and explanations) on wheel turning as I think that is one of the most daunting jobs. So I have always had them CNC'd but have some 6" blanks I would like to machine.
Hello Steam train builder, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have just had a 1 hour chat with Crispin. I mentioned about your inquiry about the machining of the loco wheels on video. Unfortunately they were completed before he thought about starting a RU-vid Channel , the only machining you may see is when he machines the holes for the crank pins. I stand corrected, the spokes were not CNC Milled,, they were CNC EDM wire cut. Good luck in machining your wheels. I enjoyed machining mine for a 3 1/2" Caribou, back in the 1980's. Please ensure you do the slight bevel on the outside of the flange as per drawing. I did not, and found the loco would keep coming off the track when going round curves. The sharp edge dug into the Ally rails and would ride up. Once the bevel was machined on, all was fine, could not say how many miles my loco has done since without fault.
G'day Mr Crispin she is shaping up to be a very fine locomotive, very interesting video and showed how it's easy if you know the mathes. Thank you regards John Tasmania PS interesting how you are not using castings.
Hello John, when Crispin first started this build, he was a 17 Year old RR apprentice and hence had no cash for castings, which for this loco are expensive. He had access to plenty of bar stock, and as he needed machining experience, he decided to make items from solid, making a excellent job by the way. I have actually seen these cylinders and they look even better when they are in your hand. He is also making the wheels from solid steel, with the spokes cut out using CNC. If he continues the build to the same standard, it will probably run like a Rolls Royce too.
The only other downside I can see in threading away from the chuck would be if you pulled the work loose from the chuck, ditto for making turning cuts.
Nice work there, were you worried about the chuck coming loose running in reverse or were the cutting forces not enough to worry about. Cheers for the great educational videos.
Had the cutting forces been larger then yes I would definitely be concerned but in this case they were very light. A problem along these lines could however, have been caused in the event of a mishap or accidental heavy cut.
Abom79 had a video where he discusses aligning things in his six jaw chuck, and he makes it look like the simplest thing in the world. You might want to take a look.
