Ah, here's that thread, only one page back. Sorry I didn't realize there were three responses since my last post. Guess I need to pay closer attention.
Thanks Chuck, that means a lot coming from you!
Zee-ster....had I seen those twin pokes I would have moved quicker... or maybe not... ;D
I don't know, Marv, if learning how to get my facing tool on center is the real problem here. It may have more to do with pure laziness. :-[ "Pips", now there's the terminology I was looking for! That's it...for centering the tailstock, I use the
pip alignment method.
I did get some stuff done whilst obsessing over my tractor.
On the Paddleducks I made the two gland pieces along with the packing nuts that go with them.
Pretty straightforward, turning the basic shape and threading the hole for the pack nut before parting off completely.
Also before parting off I screwed in the pack nut and drilled through the whole assembly to ensure the hole was centered, thanks to Bogs for that tip.
Pretty as a picture. Wait.... it is a picture.
For the Upshur Hit and Miss crankshaft I cut a piece of drill rod to the correct size and machined the cheeks out of brass because I like the way they look and they are much easier to machine. I think brass will be strong enough for this application. I cut a couple of small pieces of silver solder and placed them around the shaft. I did bevel the brass around the shaft on the outsides of the cheeks to provide a small trench for the solder.
I intended to solder both pieces of the shaft at the same time but that didn't work out so I ended up soldering just the one joint first. Also, the solder rings were too big causing more solder to leak through to the other side of the joint than desired. That caused me more work on cleanup. Like a DoDo I forgot to add flux the first time I heated it up. Doh! Good thing I caught it before I burned the entire assembly to hell heck. Here it is after proper brazing.
Task completed, except for cleanup.
Spiffed out and ready to go.
I'm almost there! Well....maybe not.
Till next time, fellow modelers... *bang*