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| Practicalities of lapping |
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| Lykle:
First of all, thanks for the comments, very useful. Now, wood lap, that is a great idea! I will start with that and see how it goes. Only issue I see is that I want to lap the two sides on the same lap, to keep them concentric and together. So I will nee a long lap to cover the 70 mm of bronze. And for lapping compound I think I will have to use valve grinding paste as I can't find lapping compound here and I can't wait for it to come from CTC or such. Do you think that valve grinding paste is a good idea? Lykle |
| vtsteam:
Well, as in anything, there is the ideal, and the real. I've used valve grinding compound. But can't say it's ideal for what you want. Don't know what kind of finish you expect, how fast you want to take off material, or exactly what material you are lapping. I'm sure there are specialty abrasives for any purpose. Remember, lapping is a slow process, and keep the whole lap moving axially back and forth along the bearing. the lap ends should enter the bore to keep the lap wearing evenly, but not so far that you jump out inside of the bearing. housing. Don't expect to take a lot of material off -- this is more of a finishing operation. Not sure how you're going to expand the wood as it wears or adjust it to the bore. I prefer the lead lap. But I'm sure wood is do-able, as people do use it. |
| Lykle:
Hello good people, OK here is a little update. I made a wooden lapping rod. This is a rod cut lengthwise with an angled cut. So by moving the top part to the left I increase the height of the rod. All I need to do now is find the right lapping compound and I can go to work. I need to remove next to nothing in the bronze bearings so it should go fairly quickly. Thanks for all the help. Lykle |
| vtsteam:
Well since you're going home brew materials, old time lapping compound for brass was apparently ground glass -- read a warning in a 1904 Model Engineer that it should be used with that metal instead of emery.. Gingery describes making glass powder by taking a piece of pipe with an end on it, standing it upright, and dropping a heavy length of rod in it as a plunger/pulverizer. Or, you could buy some modern proper compound for bronze....... |
| Alan Haisley:
Since you have very little to remove, try baking soda or Bon-Ami or borax powder or even toothpowder or paste. Not shure what English for Bon-Ami is, only American. It is a milder abrasive than most kitchen scouring powders and the crystals apparently break down after a while. Alan |
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