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DavyD

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Mar 17, 2018
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Good morning all,


My father used to make steam engines years ago. He had a small lathe in the garage, but nobody has used it since he passed away 18 yrs ago.

Last week I got the idea of making miniature engines in remembrance of him. And I must admit I am also very interested in making these fabulous little engines I see here on the forums.

Do you guys/gals have ideas of enines that can be made with only a lathe? I do not have a mill at the moment, I need to save some money first (and convince the lady). I have no preference for steam or IC.

Kind regards,
Davy.
 
Welcome Davy. My first engine was built only using a lathe, pedestal drill and hand tools. http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=26834
You will find a few more on this site who also only use a lathe. This is quite a good site to source ideas on how to complete many tasks using jigs and fixtures with a lathe. A bit of research and you will be amazed at what you can achieve.
 
Welcome Davy. Dot forget to post pictures of your progress. The choice of engine depends on how much experience you've had on the lathe. Lots of info on this forum from a simple Wobbler to V12 IC engines.
 
If you only have a lathe at the moment then you will need a vertical slide as a minimum. First upgrade then will be to get a mill
 
Thanks for the welcome and the usefull tips. I'm really looking forward to start off with a small project.

I really like the idea of starting with a vertical slide. Nice link to the "minilathe" site too. Thanks a lot for this hint!

At the moment I still need to source some tools to use on the lathe. Is it better to use tools with replaceable cutters or not? And what kind of tools are needed to start with?
 
Davey- Greetings

If you still have your late father's lathe, it might be a help if we knew what sort of lathe that it is.

At present, I'm fitting a Myford vertical slide onto an Axminster Sieg C4 lathe.
I'm doing a bit more than that because I want to be able to fix a rotary table, a versatile dividing head and a rear parting tool post at the same time.

So let us know, please?

Norman
 
Good morning,

Yesterday I went to take some pictures of the lathe. In case the pics won't upload:
the model is BV20; it has been made in China by Bengbu Household Machine Tool Factory.

It has a max. RPM of 2000 RPM; min. is 120 RPM.


Kind regards,
Davy.

WP_20180319_18_59_04_Pro.jpg


WP_20180319_18_56_58_Pro.jpg


WP_20180319_18_57_05_Pro.jpg


WP_20180319_18_57_21_Pro.jpg
 
Thank you

Amongst other suppliers in England--- perhaps for spares, I would try Warco. However, the lathe itself seems to have a good reputation and there is a lot of information both in the UK and certainly the USA.

It now remains for you to find out what accessories remain to be discovered in your father's workshop.

Prior to this, I think that you have a very useful machine

Regards


Norman
 
Hello Davy,
I'm new to this my selves and I started with a Stuart 10V from castings. However, I had mixed experience with that even if it became quite fine at the end. Some of the castings where scaled/hardened at spots. Destroyed the tools and made me wonder what was going on. Not easy to handle by a beginner. Another consideration is that if you go wrong on a part you must order a new from Stuart. There is no spare material in the kit.
So, I would consider building entirely from bar stock. If you go wrong, just cut a new piece and do it again. There are hundreds of free plans out there. You will certainly find something you like.
The Stuart type of engine can be built from bar stock and entirely in a lathe. You will probably need a surface plate and a 4-jaw chuck too.
I’m building a Farm Boy Hit’n miss engine from bar stock now and I like that approach much better.
Wish you luck.
Rudy
 
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