thanks for the kind words guys

it helps a project move in the right direction.
bernd you are 100% right about the steady rest, but i don't have one for my lathe ...........yet.
after sharpening the boring bar the finish turned out perfect, now all i have to do is lap the bore and it will be finished.
stew, it is indeed a 9" south bend. i have had this lathe for the last 10 years and i have had very few problems with it.
darren, the engine has 8" diameter flywheels and the whole engine stands about 13" to 14" tall. it is a 1/3 scale of a 1903 domestic engine.
yes i have a model to copy, i bought it from a guy about 8 or 9 years ago. he worked on the engine but half way through the build he just gave up on it............so i got it for about $25.00.
i finished building the engine and now i would like a second one (no idea why but i do)
so i thought i better show some more pictures of what i have been doing.
after all the lathe work was done i had to machine some cut outs where the cylinder mounts to the base.
i mounted the cylinder upside down on my rotary table and used the boring head and cutter to machine the cutouts.

while it was in the mill i drilled the four mounting holes, these will allow the cylinder to be bolted to the four columns that hold the cylinder to the base.

now that i have finished the cylinder i will show it sitting beside the original that i copied. the cylinder is aprox. 3 1/2" tall with a 1.312 dia. bore.



i also made the valves but i only took a picture of them when they were finished. they are one piece and started out as a lump of 3/4" round bar.
after about half and hour of machining each, they were finished

well that does it for tonight, hope to get more done tomorrow night but i think the wife has other ideas for my time..............

chuck