The Garden Railway Workbench

[Martin Shaw]

Well it's a slight misnomer, oval of track behind the garage would be more accurate, but what's in a name. After two years of virtually no attention, and for various health reasons none at all last year I decided this summer would be an outdoor one, and also the great nieces and nephews were starting to complain, egged on by their parents, that they weren't allowed to play with grandad's train. The Accucraft Countess needed an overhaul, oil was literally dripping off the running gear and the bottom tapping of the gauge glass was furred up, indeed I think it's been like that since I acquired it, and the radio gear was also showing its age. Whilst all that's in hand, the director of the company has dipped into the childs inheritance and purchased new trains. A secondhand Roundhouse Harlech Castle has transformed the motive power department, although it does need a complete radio overhaul, new parts have arrived from Fosworks for that, and some titivation to the paint work. This does allow small children and inexperienced adults a chance to play without the danger of 3rd degree burns or expensive empty boiler mistakes. Also arrived in the C&W department some emigre rolling stock from the IoM, an investment the comptroller of finances was informed.

Meanwhile the PWay has also been in the process of upgrading, new more solid fishplates were deemed necessary after the predations of the local fox population, basically a copy of the Accucraft unit but home brewed on the milling machine, ultimately probably not much cheaper but some sense of satisfaction even if a tad boring after a while. The railway has 32 rail joints, a satisfactory trial pair were made and this is nos 3 to 12 underway, probably finish them tomorrow depending on the weather. I though I had a decent pic of the new train but apparently not, so again, tomorrow if it's sunny. Nothing very serious or finescale here but it's fun and when the wains turn up next, Grandad's going to be super popular for a change.
Regards
Martin

 

[michael080]

Martin,
you can even try 4.0. drill diameter. All metric threads tolerances are a loose fit in the range h6, g6, f6 or e6.
Michael

 

[Martin Shaw]

Thank you Michael, I will shortly resuming work on these this afternoon, the one finished last night is drilled at 4.2mm and is loose although it won't impact on usability, I will try your suggestion. Meanwhile two pics showing the functional if unpretty first attempt at track joining and the new prototype "fishplates" installed.





The directors of the company were keen to show off their new train and explain the dramatic drop in share value, best be careful here, it is all RTR.




Regards
Martin

 

[MarkR]

Hi Martin
I am also accumulating a small collection, just a couple more items of rolling stock and a loco, plus of course planning permission!
Mark

 

[Martin Shaw]

a small collection, just a couple more items of rolling stock and a loco

Hmm, I was there once, it seems to have grown without restraint beyond the limits of the bank balance. The civil engineers had a possession today, stainless screws and a smear of copaslip should mean that it will all easily undo when necessary, and also easily relaid as desired.
My next door neighbour whose garage is the terracotta wall behind the border, is planning to rebuild it so the border and my low wall have to go, the arrangements pre date both of us and when you consider the largely timber garage dates from 1930 it is somewhat past its "use by" date.



I now have to make a further 20 pairs of plates, prior to which I'm going to make a jig for machining the stock on, by far the biggest bug bear was setting up each 100mm length of brass with the DTI, if I can do it once on a jig rather than 20 times I will be pleased. My thanks to Michael for his suggestion about clearance drill sizes, duly followed and noted for other applications.
Regards
Martin

 

[Martin Shaw]

I'm slowly progressing various bits and pieces, one of which is the overhaul of the steam locomotive. A steam test on the boiler showed the leaks around the gauge column cap nut and the pressure gauge banjo.


The gauge glass is connected to the boiler via the turret (LH side) and the top nut thread allows a M5 glass to pass through, what I can't determine is whether it's M5.5 or M6 fine. Either way there isn't much thread and not wanting to horse it up I've used thread sealant pro tem whilst finding out happens. The banjo (RH side) is held by a through drilled screw but the fibre washers had disintegrated and the replacement copper washers are somewhat thicker again resulting in a limited amount of somewhat worn thread, again precluding adequate tightening, so I made a new longer one.


Steam test again tomorrow which will demonstrate how good or otherwise I am at repairs.
Regards
Martin

 

[Martin Shaw]

The gauge column leaks no more but there is a bit of fizzing around the head of the new screw, I think it might be a tad over long so I'll make another slightly shorter and try again. If it was a full size locomotive you would just make a note on the repair sheet and live with it, oh the joys.

Martin

 

[Martin Shaw]

Well hallelujah the boiler leaks no more, another screw 1mm shorter did the trick. In trying to refit the smokebox components, the handle, originally a brass casting decided to snap,

so I had to make something, starting with some 7/16" EN1A bar, freelance turning and a couple of pieces of 2mm wire silver soldered in. It's not too pretty close up but will I think do when its all painted black.


This was only supposed to be a bit of a clean up, probably best left alone till it went wrong.
Martin

 

[Martin Shaw]

I made a start this evening on the jig for manufacturing "fishplates", which gave me an opportunity to use two new workshop toys. Firstly a 25mm 2 flute end mill fitted with 1604PDFR inserts which I am using to cut a 6mm wide rebate in 12 x 1mm steps, these are visible on the vertical face of the cut. As you might surmise the finish is not perfect nor am I surprised, it was done for speed, this type of repetetive cut is pretty boring at the best of times. I will finish it to size 6.35 x 12.7 (1/4" by 1/2") with a traditional slot drill.



The other new toy was this which allowed me to easily measure the cuts at 5.95 by 11.995,
I'll be honest the last decimal point is an estimate by eye, I have no need of three decimal point resolution for my measuring equipment or the things I make. Never the less I like Mitutoyo verniers and micrometers, whilst they aren't inexpensive, using them is a tactile joy and they'll see me out. Buy cheap buy twice someone wise once said.
I'll be at Pollokshaws tomorrow, if you're there and recognise me please say hello, it's been a long time.
Regards
Martin

 

[Martin Shaw]

The jig has been finished, two 10mm vertical holes allow it to be bolted down to the mill table and two M4 tapped holes provide a means of holding stock onto the jig. I would acknowledge that it has taken a bit of tima and a modest cost to produce the jig but I set it up with the DTI,

an alignment of 0.015mm or 0.0006" end to end is more than good enough for my ability and the needs of the job and the beauty now is that having done it once I can do all the slitting saw cutting and top lip revettment just by fitting the stock to the jig, otherwise it would need setting up twenty times, no thanks. Ten pieces of stock bar were cut to length, each one provides 4 fishplates, and drilled for the jig and the first fitted onto the jig.


I am pleased to say that it worked first time and I have slit sawn seven of them at about 5 minutes each so the relative painlessness of it fully justified the effort to produce the jig. High fives to me, something worked first time for a change.
Regards
Martin

 

[ceejaydee]

What milling machine do you have Martin?

 

[Martin Shaw]

"40 brass fishplates sitting on the bench", err sorry about that. It's over as Roy Orbison once memorably sang, the drilling and tapping was extremely tedious but had to be done and fortunately it was raining for some of the afternoon so a perfect excuse to hide in the workshop and finish this. Having said all that I am very pleased with the end result and you will all be pleased to realise that I forgot to take any photos mid execution so only the finished product to show, I have no wish to do this again any time soon.



Christopher and anyone else who might be interested, firstly I am so glad that tonight of all nights I cleaned the mill and tidied away all the tools that normally live on or by it, it looks tolerably well cared for. It is a Sieg SX2.7 that I bought from ArcEuroTrade in Syston Leicestershire in Nov 2018, and frankly despite the model engineering world being a tad sniffy about Chinese manufactured machines it works perfectly well and nor can you get a similar sized machine of western origin at any where near the price, if at all. Top spindle speed is 2500rpm, the biggest cutter I have is a 63mm 5 insert 90deg face mill, and so long as you don't get carried away with a too generous DOC it's quite happy, it will do all I need and it is about as big as I want in the attic. It's not a Bridgeport and doesn't pretend to be. Tucked away just visible is a 6 drawer cabinet where all the cutters, face mills, drill bits, taps and dies, etc live and out of sight is a repurposed Ikea shelving rack for heavier bits, vices, rotary table , collets and so on. For scale the Welshpool van is 235mm long by 150mm high, for those who have reverted to or never left imperial measurement that's 9 1/2" by 6". A paraphrased letter in the paper today " the governments announcement of the reintroduction of imperial weights and measures might well benefit from a return of the scruple, of which there seems to be a dearth in Downing Street", it made me laugh.
Regards
Martin

 

[ceejaydee]

Christopher and anyone else who might be interested, firstly I am so glad that tonight of all nights I cleaned the mill and tidied away all the tools that normally live on or by it, it looks tolerably well cared for. It is a Sieg SX2.7 that I bought from ArcEuroTrade in Syston Leicestershire in Nov 2018, and frankly despite the model engineering world being a tad sniffy about Chinese manufactured machines it works perfectly well and nor can you get a similar sized machine of western origin at any where near the price, if at all......

Thanks for the info Martin

Looks like a tidy little machine and regardless of badge or the colour of the paint, if the bit of kit suits your needs and can do what you ask of it then it is the right machine

 

[mickoo]

The DRO looks interesting, is it just for read out or does it drive the table, it looks like some sort of longitudinal table speed control module on the left hand end. Who makes it and was it hard to fit.

I've got a Sieg C3 lathe and have been happy with it over the years, it just plods along doing what lathes do. When it dies I'll probably replace it with the newer SC3 they now have.

I do need a mill at some point and the SX2.7 would be the go to model and the DRO package would be a nice addition.

 

[adrian]

The DRO looks interesting, is it just for read out or does it drive the table, it looks like some sort of longitudinal table speed control module on the left hand end. Who makes it and was it hard to fit.

I'm sure Martin will provide all the details - however the left hand side seems to be the powerfeed option from Arc Eurotrade.

Powerfeed for SIEG X2.7 and SX2.7 Mills - Arc Euro Trade

The powerfeed fixes to the left end of the worktable and engaging with the drive slot in the end of the X-axis feed screw. For SX2.7 and X2.7 mills.

www.arceurotrade.co.uk

 

[Martin Shaw]

Prior to the SX2.7 I had a SX2P which was ok, a bit smaller but it didn't have a quill so Z axis was all in moving the head. Whilst it worked I wouldn't recommend it if you can afford the larger one. The DRO package is a 3 axis one I got from Machine-DRO of Hoddesdon using magnetic scales and whilst it was reasonable value for money it plays no part in operation of the table other than accurately measuring its movement. I wouldn't now though go back to reading handwheels , this is much more reliable and saves an awful lot of errors. The mill has a motorised X axis which is what the black box on the left is. It is manufactured by Sieg and is therefore easy to fit, and although it does work it doesn't really go slow enough. I might yet replace it with a rather better made home brewed unit. From memory the dro was a tad under £500 all in and the X axis motor around the £200 mark so not insignificant.

I also have an SC3 lathe which I have had to do some improvements to, its biggest problem is lack of rigidity in the tool post, an inherent design problem that isn't easy to fix. Some users replace the top slide with a block of iron which improves things but brings usability issues. I would, perhaps in hindsight, rather go for the SC4 which if funds and space permit is probably a better buy. There is no doubt that Sieg mills are generally speaking better than their lathes, probably because they just copied the original Emco design which had similar limitations.

If you would like any further info I'll do my best if you ask.
Regards
Martin

 

[mickoo]

Martin,

Cheers for the info.

You're right on the SC3 tool post, it's just rubbish, I have a quick change set up and never use it and the tip of the tool will dive down with larger cuts. I keep the tool as short as possible to reduce the leverage and also wind compound slide back as well to stop that twisting.

Generally I'm just cutting brass, usually all dry, odd bit of steel, nothing to heavy duty for it so it's probably a bit over kill for the general stuff I use it for.

What I hate the most is the hidden locking nut for the swivel slide buried under the compound slide, having to remove the compound slide to access the locking nut underneath is a right pain.

 

[mickoo]

I'm sure Martin will provide all the details - however the left hand side seems to be the powerfeed option from Arc Eurotrade.

Powerfeed for SIEG X2.7 and SX2.7 Mills - Arc Euro Trade

The powerfeed fixes to the left end of the worktable and engaging with the drive slot in the end of the X-axis feed screw. For SX2.7 and X2.7 mills.

www.arceurotrade.co.uk

Trees for the wood spring to mind, I looked at that and skimmed right past it

 

[Martin Shaw]

Totally agree with all you say Mick re the lathe, it's a bit of shame since the rest is tolerable for the money. There is a market for a decent 4" by 16-20" hobby lathe with a single phase to 3 phase inverter drive and back gear to solve the low speed torque issues. Brushless DC motors are all well and good but! I guess a modernised Myford/ Boxford/South Bend or similar but there isn't an obvious answer why not other than sales probably wouldn't justify the investment. I don't I hope have a prejudice against Chinese manufacturing, it is the only thing out there, some serious competition would improve the breed all round though.
Regards
Martin

 

[Martin Shaw]

Two or so weeks ago the railways solitary steam locomotive was in pieces, having sorted the boiler and it's leaks I persuaded the new radio control gear to fit over the weekend. A steam and load test was held today and it passed with flying colours, certainly steamed to the red line with a heavy enough train. In another development the management announced the imminent arrival of another steam locomotive, bought from a Mr Daley of Barnstaple, to be delivered in due course.
Martin

There is a visual paradox here, the locomotive, a model of a 2' 6" gauge prototype is to 16mm scale (1:19) whilst the train is 3' gauge to 15mm scale (1:20) and whilst the difference is noticeable it doesn't, at least to me, jar as much as I expected it to or think it should, strange.