farm boy 439 build start

[texta]

i have started builing farm boy number 439 . this is probably going to be a very long time in the making going on my current rate of progress ( could be years ), but at least i have made a start .
it is testing my very limited ability having only ever made a wobble plate engine and a flame licker ( which i have yet to get running ).i am not a machinist so i am teaching myself as i go along ( dad was a marine engineer so i have a the right blood line i hope ).
turning out to be quite costly too because i have to buy tools as they are needed not having a heck of a lot of tooling yet . i do have a mate who live not far away who is an engineer and i can borrow the odd tool if i need but i dont like doing that, though i have his boring head at the moment ( one is on my shopping list ) i am waiting at the moment for some ball nose end mills to arrive in the post .anyway this is a pic or 2 of the start i have made so far not much but there is a lot of work in this bit for a rank novice .

jojhno

 

[Herbiev]

Off to a good start. Looking forward to the build.

 

[texta]

front frame progress held up while waiting for some ball nose end mills to arrive so i made a start on the hopper today .
it is just to hot in my shed to spend to a lot of time in there lately ,
but i am getting a bit done

 

[texta]

a few more bits part made still have a lot of drilling and reaming to finish these parts off ( now that i have the reamers ) currently working on the crank shaft.
some of the parts may be a bit rough but i am only a learner,
johno

 

[Heffalump]

great work from someone calling themself a novice!

 

[dalem9]

Very GOOD start and nice work . Dale

 

[texta]

got the crankshaft done all bar the keyways . i will leave that for later.
i have found out that i can hold my breath for a few hours no probs at all .
there are a few minor faults in most of the parts i have made so far but they are non critical sizes so i am not that worried about them .
also working under stress at the moment , i am to be pall bearer for a very very close friend next week and it is getting to me ( 61 years old , fine one day and gone the next), i am trying to keep busy to keep my mind off the loss but its not working very well at all.

 

[texta]

by far the hardest part for me to make so far has been this . scrapped 2 before i got one i thought was good enough , this one aint perfect it has a couple of minor errors but nothing that matters much so i have decided it will do as it is .
one thing that has gone onto my must get list is a DTI , DRO would be nice too but a DTI is realy needed .
johno

 

[texta]

just like to add that i have been looking very hard for the gear cutters that i will need and am not having a lot of luck at all .
it says in the plans that they can be had for $20 each i think that bit is out of date now .
i did find the cutters for 37 bucks at one place over there in the states but then later somewhere on the forum i read that those cutters were rubbish.
so it is starting to look like i will have to study up on making my own cutters and have a go at that option unless some thing pops up before i get to the stage where i need the gears ,

johno

 

[Swifty]

Hi Johno, I bought my Mod1 gear cutter set from CTC tools last year. It cost me around $100 the set of 8. The exchange rate has certainly changed now, but it may pay to check.

Here's a I link to their page. http://www.ctctools.biz/servlet/the-629/hss-involute-gear-cutter/Detail

Paul.

 

[texta]

yeah thanks , but i have looked at thier sets and they dont have DP (imp)cutters only module ones .
i was thinking i could change the plans to mod .5 but i am not sure how much that would matter , i think that mod .5 is close to 48DP .

johno

 

[texta]

yeah i know i am not much of a poster . but a bit of an update .
i have cut the gears and made a fair few of the other parts .
i ended up using a mod.5 gear cutter set and cut 74 and 37 teeth to get the required diameter and 2:1 ratio.i thought the cam was going to be a challenge but was easy to do .
i am just starting on the flywheels now and taking it very slow and carefull dont want to make a mess of these blanks they were a bit hard to aquire ( grey cast iron ).
i am learning a lot as i go along ( i am only a half skilled woodturner that has for 40 odd years wanted a metal lathe ).
wish i had got these engineering type tools while dad was still alive he was a marine engineer and the knowledge i could of gained from him would of been volumes .he trained in smiths docks UK building steam ships and sailed on merchant ships in the 50s , anyway i am veering off on a tangent here .
a few pics of where i am at the moment and the start of the first flywheel.

johno

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Your work looks fine to me. I am looking forward to following your progress.---Brian

 

[Herbiev]

That goes for me too

 

[texta]

a few pics on the progress of flywheel number 1 .
this realy tested out my grey matter to the point that my ears were almost bleeding . still learning how to use the mill and the dividing plates .
i dont have a corner round over bit small enough so it will be smoothed off with files and an elcheapo copy of a dremel tool .
cutting the keyway was done with a piece of 1/8 HSS tool steel in the tool post on the lathe , not the greatest but ok for my first and it will do what it is meant to do .
on my to do list for the near future is to make a slotter .
any way one wheel done with no major disasters one more to go .

johno

 

[texta]

thought i should add to this post , i am hopeless at doing a running commentary . anyway made a few more bits , oiler ( proud of that bit ) and i cant remember what else but i know i have not put my fuel tank design up yet so i have included a few pictures of it looking from each end and with the engine frame for scale with the oiler on and one coat of paint that i put on this morning . i have probably painted it a bit early but i want to see what it looks like in ( lister ) "mid brunswick green ".
old mate that lives up the road was dissapointed that i am painting it at all he rekoms i should of left it bare machined metal to show off the craftsmanship , but me i rekon paint it to hide the lack of craftsmanship .
still learning how to use the mill but getting there still make the odd silly mistake like today i forgot to add the diameter of the mill cutter when cutting the keyways in the crank shaft so i went 1/8 to long , but only for the first trial cut which as luck would have it only a few thou deep .ill shut up now before this turns into a 4 page essay .

johno

 

[texta]

oh yeah forgot to add i ordered the left and right hand pair of the diamond tool holders today after doing a fair bit of reading up on them i think they will suit me well , mainly because i dont like using the insert type tools only time i use them is if i need to turn off a heck of a lot of material or if its some thing a bit on the hard side .
anyway i like getting new tools its a sickness i think .

johno