Gallery, Projects and General > Project Logs

Twin Cylinder Steam Engine

<< < (18/38) > >>

NickG:
Good stuff Darren,

the way I do it is usually in the milling machine, I still use a tap wrench but gripped on the round section of the tap, further down nearer the cutting edges. I then lightly grip the upper part in the chuck jaws so that the tap can still rotate and slide up and down in the jaws, so the chuck is just being used to align the tap but still let it move and allow use of the tap wrench to get the feel. Seems to work for me but it would be a much slicker operation with a proper tapping stand!

Nick

Darren:
Thanks Guys,

Nick what I found with using the mill is that the collet chuck, spindle, pulley and other parts are quite big and heavy. The rotating mass takes away most of the "feel" with such a small tap.
I tried just nipping the chuck (collet in my case) by hand so the tap could slip if need be. Trouble was it was difficult to determine if the tap was slipping because the collet wasn't tight enough or if the tap was getting stuck in the part.

The balance was quite hard to overcome. With a much smaller set up, very small pillar drill in my case, a lot of mass has now gone making it much easier to feel what is going on.

I also held the part with my left hand whilst using the right hand to turn the chuck. By not holding the part in a vice any stickiness gave you feedback and the part had a little give in my fingers. This was the time to reverse the tap before continuing.

You could say a very sensitive setup all round. I'm not saying any other way is wrong, just what worked for me. If you can do it another way, and it works, then that is also the right way... :thumbup:

Brass_Machine:
Nice job Darren.  :headbang:

Starting to get tool envy here! Rock on  :headbang:

Eric

NickG:
Sounds like a good setup Darren, what I meant was, I still use the tap wrench to turn the tap, not the chuck. I leave the chuck stationary, purely there as a guide. Your method is still superior though, think I have an old chinese drill somewhere that could be utilised, however, the quality of the castings / spindle will not be as good as yours either. Nice job.

Darren:
Ah, I see... :thumbup:

Thanks for the clarification Nick, I can see how that would work for you.... :clap:

Why not dig that old pillar drill out and give it a go. You never know it might just give you a little more feedback...

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page