This is going to be a great series, Dave. Remanufacturing a steam engine in a steam-powered machine shop has probably never been video-documented before! It'll certainly be unique on RUclips (which is not easy to do). I can't wait to see that engine running again! Best of luck!
Where there is a will, there is a way. Thank you David for caring about these old forgotten machines. How very fitting that the resurrection should take place in a 1925 period job shop. The knowledge that is imparted about the rebuild, will surely live on well beyond our time. Cheers.
Thank you Dave really enjoy youre channel and shop never have really cut or single pointed threads on a manual lathe much and enjoyed watching youre set up and how it was done 100 plus years ago.Thanks again for sharing and preserving history
Being a steam enthusiast from the UK I'm looking forward very much to see this series unfold; nice to see a piece of steam technology being saved for future use.
I think I might also have seen you on a RUclips video trying to get a steam engine running at the East Broad Top workshops, perhaps with slightly darker hair!!
Yeah that was the "Civil War eara" main engine that ran the entire shop complex at EBTRR since the early 1880s. It was set up from rain water running through it for 50 years. We got it loose and ran part of the shop with it again on compressed air....Dave
Thanks for taking the time to showing and explain each part. As a kid, my summertime was spent at my grandparents farm. After harvesting we would bring our grains to the gristmill that was water powered. The Miller had other machines as well as electric generator. My grandfathers didn't pay money he paid in grain.
Thanks, great comment. There was a water powered mill at one time in this town, I'm sure they would have ground customer's grain "on shares" also.....Dave
I just watched this video and realized I haven't tried to cut threads without a quick change and thread dial in almost 60 years and that machine looks just like the one I learned on then except it had a motor mounted on it by the war dept. during WW2 or so the tag said. Thanks for reminding me how it is done. I have become really spoiled with modern machines.
Good job I started on steam engines when I was your age good luck. Also if you go to flea markets and yard sales you can find steam engines I bought a model for $20.00 good luck.
Thanks for a great video. But a special thanks for finally clearing up for me the gear train for threading/feeding on a lathe. It was one of those "boing" moments when all of a sudden it all made sense !
The onlyest elves around here are in my head...your setup is right...I got confused about 8 and 10. Ten is bigger but 10 threads per inch are smaller, so the ratio should slow down the lead screw. My apologies. Just love the photography!
Dave, Quite a find to get a complete governor for the engine! Hope you can find the valve. Also, thanks for showing the tread cutting gear set up. This is quite an ambitious project, but lots of fun and frustration to come!
Thanks for the explanation of how the lead screw thread pitch is used to figure the ratio of the gears needed for desired number of threads to be cut. whew..Harvey
Parts in a box are a challenge. Left out in the woods for years? But they cleaned up pretty nice. Look forward to seeing it all come together. Admire the engineering on the lathe. Thanks for showing how to set it up for threading. Thanks for posting Dave.
Thanks for the new video. Very enjoyable to see vintage machinery used to restore other lost and forgotten equipment. Please add some background info about this engine maybe some photos as found.
Hi David, Thanks for seeing the potential in what others see as a pile of rusted parts. When I bring home things like that, my wife calls them rusty treasures, and that they are. I'm glad you are sharing this resurrection with us and saving another piece of history. Looking forward to the next episode. Thanks again. Joe
Nice tutorial on the gears. I have an old Logan lathe that uses the same system. Fortunately it came with the original brass plate illustrating the gears and all of the gears! Love the old machines. It is a huge part of my little ole home machine shop and is still working well after eighty years.
Very accurate after a tuneup. Almost no runout even with the three jaw chuck. Since it's all cast iron it takes a lot to get any chatter. On top of all that, these old machines can often be purchased for scrap price.
Great episode Dave! I found the info on small lathe gearing very useful. My Logan has a pile of gears that make more sense now. This channel is a wealth of info on steam engine mechanics! Look forward to the next one.
Hi David I believe you have found the remains of a “steam donkey.” Basically mobile Steam-powered winches for heavy haulage, mostly in the logging industry. Logging involved some truly bizarre machines in the steam area. Often home-made and maintained.
i bet it is a logging winch that pulled big logs whole they would anchor it to the biggest tree they could find and some times things would let go or shift and that very well what happened to bend the crank thanks so much for doing ,,,,,all of the stuff you did to recreate the shop you guys have built i can not tell you how impressed we are from your efforts the world is a better place with folks like you guys in it god bless you for all the things you have brought back from dead history to live history. wow wow wow t/y
It seems like it would work, might have to engage the half-nut manually and then apply power. After showing us how to figure the gears, would be nice to be able to really use that great old lathe for threading. Interesting about the pointer, hadn't thought of that.
Thanks for the great explanation on choosing and installing the proper change gears on our South Bend lathes! I have a 1919 South Bend lathe with standard change gears and it took me a while to figure out that I had to get rid of the compounded gear for most threads, and your confirmation that I'm doing it right is fantastic. I have the old "How to Run a Lathe", but the directions aren't as straight forward as yours, Thanks!
Thanks again for watching, most manuals are written by engineering staff, not shop people that run the machines. Not to be critical of engineers at all, but it's a different kind of thinking.....Dave
G'day Dave it's going to be a really interesting restoration job and I look forward to watching it's progress. Tom did a nice job on the pin and that's something that remains a bit of a mystery to me threading but I will get there. Considering the engine was lying out in the bush for so long it's not in bad shape thanks for all the info on it kind regards John Tasmania Australia
To make your shop cooler in the summer wrap the boiler in insulation with a sheet metal cover As you were swapping the gears to give you the correct feed speed I'm sitting here thinking shame he doesn't have the original open end wrenches to use to have less chance of rounding off the nuts on the lathe Nice to see a machinist taking it old school. Yes there are more modern ways of making parts with computers But the greatest computer is in the millions Our brain properly trained and instructed its like when I was a kid hanging around a blacksmith shop To the untrained eye It looks like brawn over brains but it's actually both. The brawn come from assisting the blacksmith and repetition and from day one the brain is being cultured by the.blacksmith so that one day the blacksmith has someone to carry on the business Nowadays the blacksmiths are basically wrought iron fence builders capable of making far more then fences.
What a great project, can't wait for further installments..! 😀 Amazing workshop too, as a novice amateur working with a 1936 Myford lathe, interesting to know that some of the old school techniques you've shown in your videos I've intuitively employed myself... 😋
that brings back memories of my first lathe, a 12 inch atlas with a babit bearing spindle and change gears.i did have a thread dial.i learned to thread on that machine.it was a great learning experience this steam engine project should make for some great videos.
I'm really looking forward for this "Steam Engine Series"! I'll be nice to see the old engine restored back to it's former glory. Thanks for the video! ....13
Dave love your shop and videos, an easy way to lock the lathe spindle when changing gears is to engage the back gear handle without undoing the direct pin. Keep up the fantastic work.
Looks like a challenging project, should be fun. I'll have to take another look at the 9" south bend at the shop, I think it's a newer model than yours.
I found the picture you referred to but there are five big differences. 1. The column frames are rounded instead of square. 2. The gear is on the same side as the flywheel instead of on the opposite end of the shaft. 3. The frame is mounted on top of the base with no room for the crank instead of the crank extending below the base. 4. The gear is smaller (about 20-24 teeth vs 30 teeth). 5. The pulley spokes are ribbed instead of oval shaped. The same company could have made both. There would need to have been a drastic redesign between the two engines and probably time between them. It will be interesting to get it back running at any rate. If you need to adjust the inlet and exhaust openings just add braze and re-machine.
Very interesting and challenging project Dave, looking forward to this one. Your explanation of gear cutting is easily the best and simplest I've seen...but then you're a shop floor man, not an office bod or teacher etc. At work, years ago obviously, I did thread grinding. Crushed the grinding wheel with a former of the correct pitch and angle, set the gears for the pitch and once you got the depth (each job had it's own go/nogo gauge) it only took one pass. Hardly done any thread cutting with a lathe, but did have to make a prop shaft for a boat I had on a friends old lathe about 10 years ago. But by far the most difficult was doing the log splitter thread a couple of years ago. On another friends lathe, no pitch or angle to worry about, but had to wind the crosslide in by hand as it went along. A steam engine rebuilt in a steam shop, about as cool as it gets :)
Had to pack up work in 1990, lower back wore out so long time ago. Only on the thread grinder for the last couple of years. 16 years in the place and did external and surface grinding. It was only when they got a CNC grinder that I did internal as well. Gave the job to my workmates, leaving me to do all the work. My face fitted in a factory the worst of any. Just so you get the picture. However we made turbochargers, mainly for trains, but also up to really large ones. One job though had 5 threads. A shaft about 3ft long, starting about? 3 inches in the centre, stepping down to around 1/2 inch at the ends. There were 2 course threads on the ends, and a fine thread of about 2 1//2 inch next to the centre. These were only about 1/2 to 3/4s long. A bit like the thread you've just done. Fed the wheel in by hand for about 1 turn, then the first groove was cut by the wheel. It used cutting oil, not soluble oil. To change threads you had to dress the wheel flat, then re-crush it.......Malc.
I'm was watching one of your other thread cutting operations the other day and thought to myself, I'm sure I remember changing gears for different TPI but then I thought I must be mistaken. This one proves I remembered correctly. I also remember running the lathe backwards so not disconnect the screw. Another thing I remember was putting a chalk mark on the belt for certain operations but can't think why.
Hey Dave, thinking about the old lathe not having a threading dial. This might be a workaround. Get a two piece shaft collar to fit the od of the lead screw. Position the carriage to the right of where you are threading, engage the half-nut, hand turn the spindle so the half-nut fully engages and the carriage just starts to move. Stop turning the spindle. Slide the shaft collar up against the right side of the half-nut and clamp. It seems like on the next pass, you would now have a reference of exactly where the first pass started. You could run the carriage over to the right until the open half-nut hits the collar and when you engage the half-nut it seems like it would drop into the same thread as the first pass. Maybe... Really like your channel!
Dan: seems like that should work. Or even with the collar tightened down anywhere on the lead screw with a line and pointer, but it would be moving too fast to do on the fly.....Dave
Wait a minute, it would have to be your way because a simple pointer would locate the lead screw position but not the carriage position along it. Your way, coming back to the collar, holding it there and then dropping in the half nut, would locate both, right?
That's the best explanation of how to set up gears for threading that I've ever heard! Thank you 😊. A friend told me about you and I can say that I have found a new favorite channel!
I was a farmer and a truck driver. Been pretty much everywhere in Canada and US except the eastern edge. But now I'm retired (I'm 66) to a little quarter section hay farm in NE Saskatchewan.(Mistatim) I'm presently working on an old Butler lathe that was probably built during or before the first world war. They call it an 8 inch gap lathe but that is 8 inches from the center of the chuck to the top of the ways. It will swing 34 inches in the gap, so it's not small. It's also a line drive and I'm hoping to set that up and run it with a large single cylinder stationary engine (like what they used to use on oil wells). Then to make it interesting, I'm planning on running a generator on it as well and run it on Syngas (wood gas) since we live at the edge of the forest. So your setup and your videos are very interesting to me. I've always enjoyed fabricating and machine work but this is my first lathe and doing things the old school way is much more my speed than these CNC type channels! So Thank You for going to all the trouble to make this channel, it's much appreciated. I started at the beginning of your video list so it will take me a little while to catch up but I don't want to miss any! Lol The details about the line drive are especially interesting to me so I hope to learn more about that...speeds, pulley sizes, power requirements etc. Thank you for the reply, hope everything is going well for you during all this covid craziness! (yeah, we've got it here too).
Hello David, I really am amazed at your skill at using these great engineering machines, years ago after just getting married, with the mortgage and bill etc, well I went to work for Rolls Royce aircraft engines. Filton. Bristol. That was in the early seventies. I was a trainee miller on jet engines, large titanium turbo blades. Well all was going well but remember this was early seventies Britain, it seemed at every other day we were called out on strike. After a while, it was inevitable that my mortgage payments were falling behind. and so I had to find other work. I then went to Newman Industries, the UK biggest exporter and maker of electric motors.as a grinder of very large shafts. Then that great company really suffered, its great quality could not compete with being undercut worldwide by cheap imports. I would think the USA suffered the same.any way I drifted out of engineering as did most Brits. hope I haven't gone on to much. but all the best to you and keep up the good work.Colin,uk.
When I was an apprentice way back when,40 years ago, the old mate had me put a cigarette paper between the gears to have that slight clearance on the teeth of the gears,but yes I have cut many a thread by hand turning,usually internal up against a shoulder . Cheers Ross in Australia
I really enjoy your videos. I learn something from them every time I watch them. The way you explain the job you are starting makes it easy me to understand and learn from. Thank you sir and keep up the great work.
I've got two old Atlas lathes, one with a quick-change gearbox and one without. I'm VERY interested in the math behind the thread cutting, and your explanation is the best I've seen. Thanks very much.
That engine is in amazingly good shape for something that sat out in the open since ??. One good thing about Babbit bearings is that they can be replaced, see Keith Rucker's channels. Big problem is the valve. Never knew how those things are calculated. And if you are cutting threads by hand-spinning the chuck, might pay to make a crank that fits the rear end of the spindle. Thanks for posting, I was missing my fix of steam-powered shop!
Awesome video! So very interesting! The build quality of the machines from yesteryear is truly incredible evidenced by your ability to restore them to functionality.
Another great video Dave! As to the make, Morris Machine Works ( Morris Pumps ) in Baldwinsville NY made engines of the "marine" style very similar to this. I don't know of an example to compare it to, but the engine looks very similar.
I think you have "nailed it". I found some photos of their vertical engines and some of the design features are definitely the same. Do you know if they ever made any winches or anything that would have driven with that large pinion gear".....Dave
@@davidrichards5594 tengo un museo en la patagonia Argentina. un lugar que se llama Trevelin. significa en idioma gales pueblo del molino. mi museo se llama MOLINO NANT FACH. tengo tambien maquinas a vapor en marcha, herreria antigua completa. y estoy por armar la carpinteria y aserradero a vapor del museo. con una caldera vertical similar a la tuya . con sus ejes de transmicion correas maquinas. espero que con el tiempo vengas a conocer. Y un locomovil MARSHALL de 7 HP que funciona perfecto. saludos.
Bonjour David What a project ! I am sure you will succeed, and I also discover, thanks to your videos that you have to plan everything because the steam power is not the electric power, you can not just light it on / off for one little work then stop, then come back... And I did not know how to make a thread with your lathe, or to play with the gear box, very interesting (I just have to improve my technical English). I hope you do not expect to earn money with your workshop :+) Amicalement, Raphaël
Fantastic video Dave. Your knowledge of steam engines and identifying the various parts on this one is just amazing. Also I am blown away with your knowledge and skill with your vintage machinery. Please keep these videos coming. I am assuming that you will run the engine when you get it restored.
I found some pictures and sent them to your engine shop e-mail. They made dredges, so hoisting engines were probably part of the deal. I haven't found any catalog cuts of one, but I bet there's one out there. - Jim
I absolutely love this video series! One bit of constructive criticism, the audio on your lead in's is much louder than the audio when you are speaking...other than that, very informative and much appreciated!
yes, there is no reverse so not marine. I got a knock in my big end so gotta fix that. Thanks for your videos and your genius machine skills so necessary to keeping the steam fleets running. thanks.
This is going to be a great series, Dave. Remanufacturing a steam engine in a steam-powered machine shop has probably never been video-documented before! It'll certainly be unique on RUclips (which is not easy to do). I can't wait to see that engine running again! Best of luck!
Thanks, keep an eye out for abandoned steam engines and parts ...Dave
Where there is a will, there is a way. Thank you David for caring about these old forgotten machines. How very fitting that the resurrection should take place in a 1925 period job shop. The knowledge that is imparted about the rebuild, will surely live on well beyond our time. Cheers.
Love to see you bringing that old steam engine back to life! Looks like quite a project, and I'll enjoy seeing it unfold.
Great stuff as usual Dave , thank you , can't wait to see it running !
Great stiff, thanks for sharing. A rust bucket special, should be a joy to watch you guys rehabilitate that nice old steam engine.
Cool, now I can figure out how to cut threads on my 1918 Dalton #4 lathe with your formula
Thank you Dave really enjoy youre channel and shop never have really cut or single pointed threads on a manual lathe much and enjoyed watching youre set up and how it was done 100 plus years ago.Thanks again for sharing and preserving history
Being a steam enthusiast from the UK I'm looking forward very much to see this series unfold; nice to see a piece of steam technology being saved for future use.
Thanks Colin, I'll be getting serious with the rebuild in a week or two...Dave
I think I might also have seen you on a RUclips video trying to get a steam engine running at the East Broad Top workshops, perhaps with slightly darker hair!!
Yeah that was the "Civil War eara" main engine that ran the entire shop complex at EBTRR since the early 1880s. It was set up from rain water running through it for 50 years. We got it loose and ran part of the shop with it again on compressed air....Dave
Fantastic. I love that you are restoring this old steam powered equipment.
Thanks for taking the time to showing and explain each part. As a kid, my summertime was spent at my grandparents farm. After harvesting we would bring our grains to the gristmill that was water powered. The Miller had other machines as well as electric generator. My grandfathers didn't pay money he paid in grain.
Thanks, great comment. There was a water powered mill at one time in this town, I'm sure they would have ground customer's grain "on shares" also.....Dave
I just watched this video and realized I haven't tried to cut threads without a quick change and thread dial in almost 60 years and that machine looks just like the one I learned on then except it had a motor mounted on it by the war dept. during WW2 or so the tag said. Thanks for reminding me how it is done. I have become really spoiled with modern machines.
Thanks for taking the time to film this, as a BSA lifer I am really enjoying the steam models.
Looks to be a great project. I never thought about it but the FIREMAN gets to set the pace better keep him happy.
Tom is a great fireman. always keeps the steam in the working range but not "blowing off" and always has the water level right.....Dave
Mr. Richards, please keep up the good work. Your steam powered machine shop is absolutely awesome!
I am only 10 years old but I really like old stuff so much I know a lot about them
Good for you Jake, are you building model engines?...Dave
Good job I started on steam engines when I was your age good luck. Also if you go to flea markets and yard sales you can find steam engines I bought a model for $20.00 good luck.
Same here but I’m 12 I love old iron and metal working tools.
Thanks for a great video. But a special thanks for finally clearing up for me the gear train for threading/feeding on a lathe. It was one of those "boing" moments when all of a sudden it all made sense !
I don't have any elves in my shop who fix my ratio mixups...yer a lucky guy! Wink Wink....Love the steam education.
The onlyest elves around here are in my head...your setup is right...I got confused about 8 and 10. Ten is bigger but 10 threads per inch are smaller, so the ratio should slow down the lead screw. My apologies. Just love the photography!
Dave, Quite a find to get a complete governor for the engine! Hope you can find the valve. Also, thanks for showing the tread cutting gear set up. This is quite an ambitious project, but lots of fun and frustration to come!
Thanks for the explanation of how the lead screw thread pitch is used to figure the ratio of the gears needed for desired number of threads to be cut. whew..Harvey
It's really simpler than most explanations make it out to be...Dave
great video!
the manual threading was icing on the cake- sometimes you gotta get it done anyway you can!
Parts in a box are a challenge. Left out in the woods for years? But they cleaned up pretty nice. Look forward to seeing it all come together. Admire the engineering on the lathe. Thanks for showing how to set it up for threading. Thanks for posting Dave.
Thanka Dana, We'll get this one going by this Fall....Dave
Very cool engine job, fun to follow along.
Thanks for the new video. Very enjoyable to see vintage machinery used to restore other lost and forgotten equipment. Please add some background info about this engine maybe some photos as found.
Hi David,
Thanks for seeing the potential in what others see as a pile of rusted parts. When I bring home things like that, my wife calls them rusty treasures, and that they are.
I'm glad you are sharing this resurrection with us and saving another piece of history.
Looking forward to the next episode.
Thanks again.
Joe
Thanks Joe, always looking for derelict steam engines and parts....Dave
Nice tutorial on the gears. I have an old Logan lathe that uses the same system. Fortunately it came with the original brass plate illustrating the gears and all of the gears! Love the old machines. It is a huge part of my little ole home machine shop and is still working well after eighty years.
That's good, through the years and owners, the gears and countershafts get lost, and the builders tags get stolen. ...Dave
I'm very lucky to have the complete setup. Works wonderfully.
Very accurate after a tuneup. Almost no runout even with the three jaw chuck. Since it's all cast iron it takes a lot to get any chatter. On top of all that, these old machines can often be purchased for scrap price.
Great episode Dave! I found the info on small lathe gearing very useful. My Logan has a pile of gears that make more sense now. This channel is a wealth of info on steam engine mechanics! Look forward to the next one.
Hi David I believe you have found the remains of a “steam donkey.” Basically mobile Steam-powered winches for heavy haulage, mostly in the logging industry. Logging involved some truly bizarre machines in the steam area. Often home-made and maintained.
Thanks for the nice video. I know that had to take a lot longer showing and explaining. It is appreciated.
This is a REALLY ambitious project!!!
Great video, thanks! I look forward to the rest of the videos during the restoration.
Thanks for stopping by, and your comment....Dave
i bet it is a logging winch that pulled big logs whole they would anchor it to the biggest tree they could find and some times things would let go or shift and that very well what happened to bend the crank thanks so much for doing ,,,,,all of the stuff you did to recreate the shop you guys have built i can not tell you how impressed we are from your efforts the world is a better place with folks like you guys in it god bless you for all the things you have brought back from dead history to live history. wow wow wow t/y
Thanks Marie, I enjoy making the videos....Dave
Very good .Thanks for doing this. From an old steam power plant Guy.
Thanks Ed, the comments are worth it....Dave
Neat project, one part at a time is less overwhelming to think about rather than the whole project.
How true....Dave
Poor little engine has had a hard life with the weather. It will be good to see it get going again.
Wow, this is an exiting project that I'm really looking forward to following.
Great project ,it looks challenging.
I will enjoy all the videos on the steam engine rebuild ....I liked seeing the thread cut by hand ...Thanks for showing how it is done
Can't wait to see the finished engine! Love the Shop! :D
It seems like it would work, might have to engage the half-nut manually and then apply power. After showing us how to figure the gears, would be nice to be able to really use that great old lathe for threading. Interesting about the pointer, hadn't thought of that.
The best awarded w shop i love most great with all tools cutters shapers, every thing to cut lathe
interesting project can't wait to see more you need to make a crank handle for the headstock really handy for those short threads
I have gotten to the point where I just click like whenever you post a video then I watch it because I know it's going to be good!
Dustin: you are a true steam fan and don't know it.....Dave
At least you are doing the job for yourself so you don't have any deadline to worry about. Keep on keeping on.
Thanks for the great explanation on choosing and installing the proper change gears on our South Bend lathes! I have a 1919 South Bend lathe with standard change gears and it took me a while to figure out that I had to get rid of the compounded gear for most threads, and your confirmation that I'm doing it right is fantastic. I have the old "How to Run a Lathe", but the directions aren't as straight forward as yours, Thanks!
Thanks again for watching, most manuals are written by engineering staff, not shop people that run the machines. Not to be critical of engineers at all, but it's a different kind of thinking.....Dave
G'day Dave it's going to be a really interesting restoration job and I look forward to watching it's progress. Tom did a nice job on the pin and that's something that remains a bit of a mystery to me threading but I will get there. Considering the engine was lying out in the bush for so long it's not in bad shape thanks for all the info on it kind regards John Tasmania Australia
To make your shop cooler in the summer wrap the boiler in insulation with a sheet metal cover
As you were swapping the gears to give you the correct feed speed I'm sitting here thinking shame he doesn't
have the original open end wrenches to use to have less chance of rounding off the nuts on the lathe
Nice to see a machinist taking it old school. Yes there are more modern ways of making parts with computers
But the greatest computer is in the millions
Our brain properly trained and instructed its like when I was a kid hanging around a blacksmith shop To the untrained eye
It looks like brawn over brains but it's actually both. The brawn come from assisting the blacksmith and repetition and from
day one the brain is being cultured by the.blacksmith so that one day the blacksmith has someone to carry on the business
Nowadays the blacksmiths are basically wrought iron fence builders capable of making far more then fences.
Beautiful project Dave!!!! Your explanation of the threading setup was perfect.
Thanks for the video Dave!!! Can't wait to see this old girl run again! :-D Thanks for taking the time.
Another great video and the start of a super project.
nice new old project. It would benefit greatly if the work of your " trusty apprentice" Tom could be included in your videos.
What a great project, can't wait for further installments..! 😀 Amazing workshop too, as a novice amateur working with a 1936 Myford lathe, interesting to know that some of the old school techniques you've shown in your videos I've intuitively employed myself... 😋
Richard, Awesome video really enjoyed watching great content and thanks for sharing your knowledge, skills, and talents.!.!.!.
beautiful.. so many beautiful things on this channel
Thanks Pete, hope you check back regularly.....Dave
Hey Dave! Good to see you back in the saddle again. Missed you and the shop. Now you can make up for lost time.
that brings back memories of my first lathe, a 12 inch atlas with a babit bearing spindle and change gears.i did have a thread dial.i learned to thread on that machine.it was a great learning experience this steam engine project should make for some great videos.
I'm really looking forward for this "Steam Engine Series"! I'll be nice to see the old engine restored back to it's former glory.
Thanks for the video!
....13
Dave love your shop and videos, an easy way to lock the lathe spindle when changing gears is to engage the back gear handle without undoing the direct pin. Keep up the fantastic work.
Looks like a challenging project, should be fun. I'll have to take another look at the 9" south bend at the shop, I think it's a newer model than yours.
Glad I'm watching the second time around. Very informative. Thank you.
Good stuff, thanks.
I found the picture you referred to but there are five big differences. 1. The column frames are rounded instead of square. 2. The gear is on the same side as the flywheel instead of on the opposite end of the shaft. 3. The frame is mounted on top of the base with no room for the crank instead of the crank extending below the base. 4. The gear is smaller (about 20-24 teeth vs 30 teeth). 5. The pulley spokes are ribbed instead of oval shaped.
The same company could have made both. There would need to have been a drastic redesign between the two engines and probably time between them. It will be interesting to get it back running at any rate.
If you need to adjust the inlet and exhaust openings just add braze and re-machine.
Very interesting and challenging project Dave, looking forward to this one. Your explanation of gear cutting is easily the best and simplest I've seen...but then you're a shop floor man, not an office bod or teacher etc. At work, years ago obviously, I did thread grinding. Crushed the grinding wheel with a former of the correct pitch and angle, set the gears for the pitch and once you got the depth (each job had it's own go/nogo gauge) it only took one pass.
Hardly done any thread cutting with a lathe, but did have to make a prop shaft for a boat I had on a friends old lathe about 10 years ago.
But by far the most difficult was doing the log splitter thread a couple of years ago. On another friends lathe, no pitch or angle to worry about, but had to wind the crosslide in by hand as it went along.
A steam engine rebuilt in a steam shop, about as cool as it gets :)
wow Malc, that's pretty heavy grinding to do in one pass, what size threads mostly?...Dave
Had to pack up work in 1990, lower back wore out so long time ago. Only on the thread grinder for the last couple of years. 16 years in the place and did external and surface grinding. It was only when they got a CNC grinder that I did internal as well. Gave the job to my workmates, leaving me to do all the work. My face fitted in a factory the worst of any. Just so you get the picture.
However we made turbochargers, mainly for trains, but also up to really large ones.
One job though had 5 threads. A shaft about 3ft long, starting about? 3 inches in the centre, stepping down to around 1/2 inch at the ends. There were 2 course threads on the ends, and a fine thread of about 2 1//2 inch next to the centre. These were only about 1/2 to 3/4s long. A bit like the thread you've just done. Fed the wheel in by hand for about 1 turn, then the first groove was cut by the wheel. It used cutting oil, not soluble oil. To change threads you had to dress the wheel flat, then re-crush it.......Malc.
beautiful video! thanks
I'm was watching one of your other thread cutting operations the other day and thought to myself, I'm sure I remember changing gears for different TPI but then I thought I must be mistaken. This one proves I remembered correctly. I also remember running the lathe backwards so not disconnect the screw.
Another thing I remember was putting a chalk mark on the belt for certain operations but can't think why.
can't wait to see this old timer running again. I need to find a engine for my shop so I can get my machine under steam.
Hey Dave, thinking about the old lathe not having a threading dial. This might be a workaround. Get a two piece shaft collar to fit the od of the lead screw. Position the carriage to the right of where you are threading, engage the half-nut, hand turn the spindle so the half-nut fully engages and the carriage just starts to move. Stop turning the spindle. Slide the shaft collar up against the right side of the half-nut and clamp. It seems like on the next pass, you would now have a reference of exactly where the first pass started. You could run the carriage over to the right until the open half-nut hits the collar and when you engage the half-nut it seems like it would drop into the same thread as the first pass. Maybe... Really like your channel!
Dan: seems like that should work. Or even with the collar tightened down anywhere on the lead screw with a line and pointer, but it would be moving too fast to do on the fly.....Dave
Wait a minute, it would have to be your way because a simple pointer would locate the lead screw position but not the carriage position along it. Your way, coming back to the collar, holding it there and then dropping in the half nut, would locate both, right?
That's the best explanation of how to set up gears for threading that I've ever heard! Thank you 😊.
A friend told me about you and I can say that I have found a new favorite channel!
Glad to have you along Jim, what is your background?....Dave
I was a farmer and a truck driver. Been pretty much everywhere in Canada and US except the eastern edge. But now I'm retired (I'm 66) to a little quarter section hay farm in NE Saskatchewan.(Mistatim)
I'm presently working on an old Butler lathe that was probably built during or before the first world war. They call it an 8 inch gap lathe but that is 8 inches from the center of the chuck to the top of the ways. It will swing 34 inches in the gap, so it's not small.
It's also a line drive and I'm hoping to set that up and run it with a large single cylinder stationary engine (like what they used to use on oil wells). Then to make it interesting, I'm planning on running a generator on it as well and run it on Syngas (wood gas) since we live at the edge of the forest.
So your setup and your videos are very interesting to me. I've always enjoyed fabricating and machine work but this is my first lathe and doing things the old school way is much more my speed than these CNC type channels!
So Thank You for going to all the trouble to make this channel, it's much appreciated. I started at the beginning of your video list so it will take me a little while to catch up but I don't want to miss any! Lol
The details about the line drive are especially interesting to me so I hope to learn more about that...speeds, pulley sizes, power requirements etc.
Thank you for the reply, hope everything is going well for you during all this covid craziness! (yeah, we've got it here too).
@@dieselgypsy1100 Thanks for the great conversation...Dave
Hello David, I really am amazed at your skill at using these great engineering machines, years ago after just getting married, with the mortgage and bill etc, well I went to work for Rolls Royce aircraft engines. Filton. Bristol. That was in the early seventies. I was a trainee miller on jet engines, large titanium turbo blades. Well all was going well but remember this was early seventies Britain, it seemed at every other day we were called out on strike. After a while, it was inevitable that my mortgage payments were falling behind. and so I had to find other work. I then went to Newman Industries, the UK biggest exporter and maker of electric motors.as a grinder of very large shafts. Then that great company really suffered, its great quality could not compete with being undercut worldwide by cheap imports. I would think the USA suffered the same.any way I drifted out of engineering as did most Brits. hope I haven't gone on to much. but all the best to you and keep up the good work.Colin,uk.
Great comment Colin, I guess exactly the same happened here in the states. ...Dave
nice job on fixing that old engine
Excellent.
When I was an apprentice way back when,40 years ago, the old mate had me put a cigarette paper between the gears to have that slight clearance on the teeth of the gears,but yes I have cut many a thread by hand turning,usually internal up against a shoulder . Cheers Ross in Australia
Thanks for the comment Ross, I think turning threads by hand also helps develop a "feel" for what the tool is doing...thanks for watching....Dave
I really enjoy your videos. I learn something from them every time I watch them. The way you explain the job you are starting makes it easy me to understand and learn from. Thank you sir and keep up the great work.
Thanks Noel, I must be on the right track....Dave
Very nice work..thank you..:)
I've got two old Atlas lathes, one with a quick-change gearbox and one without. I'm VERY interested in the math behind the thread cutting, and your explanation is the best I've seen. Thanks very much.
Great, I'm glad it works for you....Dave
love watching your videos can't wait till the next one
That engine is in amazingly good shape for something that sat out in the open since ??. One good thing about Babbit bearings is that they can be replaced, see Keith Rucker's channels. Big problem is the valve. Never knew how those things are calculated. And if you are cutting threads by hand-spinning the chuck, might pay to make a crank that fits the rear end of the spindle. Thanks for posting, I was missing my fix of steam-powered shop!
Actually I need to make a thread dial for it, then "hand threading" wouldn't be necessary.....Dave
Yes, better idea, specially on a lath with no instant start/stop. I will await your video.
Neat project! You've got a great shop! Thanks for sharing it.
Super interesting Dave, really a change of pace from other machinist channels.
Awesome video! So very interesting! The build quality of the machines from yesteryear is truly incredible evidenced by your ability to restore them to functionality.
You're going to need a big tub and a lot of washing soda to remove all that rust with electrolysis.
Another great video Dave! As to the make, Morris Machine Works ( Morris Pumps ) in Baldwinsville NY made engines of the "marine" style very similar to this. I don't know of an example to compare it to, but the engine looks very similar.
I think you have "nailed it". I found some photos of their vertical engines and some of the design features are definitely the same. Do you know if they ever made any winches or anything that would have driven with that large pinion gear".....Dave
Felicitaciones por su taller
Gracias por mirar y comentar
@@davidrichards5594 tengo un museo en la patagonia Argentina. un lugar que se llama Trevelin. significa en idioma gales pueblo del molino. mi museo se llama MOLINO NANT FACH. tengo tambien maquinas a vapor en marcha, herreria antigua completa. y estoy por armar la carpinteria y aserradero a vapor del museo. con una caldera vertical similar a la tuya . con sus ejes de transmicion correas maquinas. espero que con el tiempo vengas a conocer. Y un locomovil MARSHALL de 7 HP que funciona perfecto. saludos.
Most interesting project, I look forward to seeing you making progress with this.
Keep up the great work looking forward to seeing this one to the end , thank you again .
40:54 "we as primitive as tread cutting gets" - lol
nice video
I love these!
Bonjour David
What a project ! I am sure you will succeed, and I also discover, thanks to your videos that you have to plan everything because the steam power is not the electric power, you can not just light it on / off for one little work then stop, then come back...
And I did not know how to make a thread with your lathe, or to play with the gear box, very interesting (I just have to improve my technical English).
I hope you do not expect to earn money with your workshop :+)
Amicalement, Raphaël
Wish I could get the DVD of this project, great project Dave.
Looking fwd to this series of engine rebuild, Welcome back.
I've seen models of a smiler design.
I think that the Steam show in Portersville Pa has an engine just like this .
thanks , glad to see a new vid
SO COOL!!!
Fantastic video Dave. Your knowledge of steam engines and identifying the various parts on this one is just amazing. Also I am blown away with your knowledge and skill with your vintage machinery. Please keep these videos coming. I am assuming that you will run the engine when you get it restored.
It will get run...Dave
Great stuff Dave! Glad to see a new video and this looks like a really great project.
Jim
I found some pictures and sent them to your engine shop e-mail. They made dredges, so hoisting engines were probably part of the deal. I haven't found any catalog cuts of one, but I bet there's one out there. - Jim
That email might be defunct. Use enginedrdave@gmail.com Thanks .....Dave
Cool!
I absolutely love this video series! One bit of constructive criticism, the audio on your lead in's is much louder than the audio when you are speaking...other than that, very informative and much appreciated!
this looks like a marine engine reworked to work in a mill. I have a similar one just a little bigger. I like your channel.
It's very much like a marine engine, in fact Morse used them as marine, I've never seen one with a reverse though......Dave
yes, there is no reverse so not marine. I got a knock in my big end so gotta fix that. Thanks for your videos and your genius machine skills so necessary to keeping the steam fleets running. thanks.