I would like to thank you for all you do for this community. I bought my first Atlas lathe on Sunday, it is a model TH54, he sold me all the tooling, attachments, instruments, tools and some materials to get me started on my journey. He ever gave me the original manual for the machine. I looked over the whole lathe on your advice given in previous posts. it is in immaculate condition for the age of it. Again I would like to thank you for your knowledge that you freely give all of us!!!!! Cheers, Charles
Caught my eye, too. Along with the bushing in the tailstock. It's a little surprising arrangement, though it would look perfectly normal in any old watchmaking picture.
Remember (mentioned in earlier videos of this same series) that he is using a lead alloy that is harder than pure lead. He just melted tire balance weights, if I remember correctly, as the alloy they are cast from makes it sufficiently hard for this project.
Another excellent video.....I am going to do this with aluminum. I love the wood shim idea, that solves a lot of issues that I was struggling with. Also painting the wheels first is a nice touch. Thanks again.
When you have a problem with chucking up something like this try putting a .030 piece of plastic shim stock on each jaw.As you tighten the piece check the shims and you will find one tightening up more than the others. You can then put some additional shim in the others or reduce the one that is impinging.
I'm a bit surprised at the lack of hysteria in the comments section regarding the safety of working with lead. As we know, lead is not very toxic in it's elemental form (as is mercury) but regardless, it has become a bit of a panic-word in our times. The US Coast Guard canceled some live-fire exercises on Lake Michigan in 2006, because a mayor in one of the neighboring towns was creating hysterics about "lead poisoning in the lake from the bullets." In reality, there is zero risk of lead-poisoning from the exercises of course, but the current trend in modern thinking seems to disregard all sense of proportion in risk-assessment, and to err excessively on the side of panic and hysteria. I feel sorry for all the electronics builders who have been forced to use lead-free solder because of someone's hysteria. The poison is in the dose, not in the name.
I enjoy waking up to your calm, collected, intelligent, polite persistence...I would like to feel the same about our political leaders...Hands with experienced callouses are becoming hard to find....Thank You Lyle....Jeff
I have read that chilling lead before machining improves surface finish; Most posts I have read on the subject the mention putting the material in the freezer overnight.
Hi, enjoyed the video as always, i have a vague recollection from my dim and distant past that the green kitchen scourers are good for polishing soft metals such as lead rather than files and cloth. I might be wrong but you could try it?
Very interesting. I copied your flywheel mold just to be doing it and have some flywheels for which I have no use. Have you tried to super glue the flywheel to the steam engine shaft instead of using a set screw? Keep on keeping on.
I had a shop teacher once tell me that if you're set up to do aluminum, you can do brass as well, you would just need to make sure you use a finer grade sand and be sure to pack it very hard, and cut gas channels..... Would finer grade sand be beneficial for casting lead as well? or would you need to use some sort of plaster investment & lost wax type process?
Curiosity has the better of me! Is it possible to make a compound wheel by first casting in aluminium with a hefty recess in the outer circumference, then use the aluminium casting to accept a cast lead weight band? I alway enjoy your vids!
I'm not one to be overly bothered about working with lead, but I tend to avoid abrasive work on it. It bothers me when I blow my nose afterwards, and turn the handkerchief dark grey! I suspect you may achieve a good finish on lead by using just a plain cloth and firm pressure, perhaps with some light oil.
Perhaps, it might be worth a try, to cast a flywheel out of aluminum, and finally glue or press only a outer ring of lead onto it. So, you have the stability of aluminum, also for machining, and the weight of lead.
Enjoy all your videos, thanks. Would any carbide tooling work for machining lead? Or is there just not enough relief? I have a business proposition coming up to machine some lead in my home shop for maybe pouring and/or machining some lead ballasts that go in the wings of AG airplanes. I don't have a way to grind HSS tooling yet but plan to soon. I'm lazy I guess, I usually just buy the carbide stuff. Sounds like I could end up with about 70 lbs of scrap lead from these runs (that would be nice for other projects)
@mrpete222 I'm not a safety Nazi, but I am curious if you do any lead dust mitigation. I don't think you could get lead dust fine enough to remain airborne very long to worry about inhalation (I could be wrong), but perhaps accidental ingestion if the dust is fine enough to stick to fingers.
Of course. But, uf nothing is done, or what is done is inadequate, you can end up not realizing you contaminated your hands on a later date. Was just wondering what was done.
That's true but you get a better grip with soft jaws than you do with the hard ones because you typically grip on a larger area, which prevent the workpiece from sliding. But as the saying goes "there are many ways to skin a cat"
1. Because both materials are lead they will deform under the pressure, because the pressure is essentially applied to the same pointed area of the three steel jaws. 2. Soft jaws will grip on a larger ares of the outer diameter simply because they are not pointed at the grip surface and because they have been bored out to the approximate diameter of the flywheel. However, if you had 1000 flywheels to be done with precision you would make a backing plate smaller than the finished outerdiameter of the rim with an indent in the center for the hub, and then grip the spokes with a couple of screws with large washers or snap fasteners. The work procedure would then be: 1. Face off and chamfer the riser end of the outer rim and the hub 2. Turn the faced off side inwards 3. Rough face the other side of the flywheel 4. Drill, chamfer and ream the center hole 5. Turn the outer rim to measure 6. Face off the end to measure and chamfer It sounds like a lot of work but in reality isn't that bad once you get going. If you had a small manual turret lathe I bet that you would even be faster than a CNC toolcenter in total production time because you avoid the time for programming, and you keep the backing plate for the next order thus saving even more time. I used to do a lot of this type of work, finishing castings, in my apprentice time back in the day.
MrPete222,I've wanted to ask if you are setup to make money from the advertisement views on UA-cam.?The reason I ask is if a channel is setup that way I try to always hit a add or two to help.I know it's not much but if everyone hit at least one a visit its a help.Otherwise I just hit skip like most people do.
mrpete222 Thanks,I know its not much but if everyone did it I'd think it'd make a difference.I'd like to do more but we just had another little one and my wife really tightened up the purse strings.But if my side work picks up I'll be sure to add you to the list of the few channels that I toss some money in the hat for.
I would like to thank you for all you do for this community. I bought my first Atlas lathe on Sunday, it is a model TH54, he sold me all the tooling, attachments, instruments, tools and some materials to get me started on my journey. He ever gave me the original manual for the machine. I looked over the whole lathe on your advice given in previous posts. it is in immaculate condition for the age of it. Again I would like to thank you for your knowledge that you freely give all of us!!!!! Cheers, Charles
Thanks-----Sounds like you found a great machine-have fun with it
It's always great to see your design turned into a finished product. Great Job!
I like how you used the lathe dog. Nice job.
Merry Christmas & Thanks for watching.
Caught my eye, too. Along with the bushing in the tailstock. It's a little surprising arrangement, though it would look perfectly normal in any old watchmaking picture.
I tried turning some lead a few years ago. No matter what I tried, the finish was terrible. I am impressed at how nice yours turned out.
Matt
Remember (mentioned in earlier videos of this same series) that he is using a lead alloy that is harder than pure lead. He just melted tire balance weights, if I remember correctly, as the alloy they are cast from makes it sufficiently hard for this project.
Look in his playlists for the vertical shear tool. That might do the trick for you when nothing else seems to work.
Nice casting and final product. I like the bearing idea in the chuck.
Another excellent video.....I am going to do this with aluminum. I love the wood shim idea, that solves a lot of issues that I was struggling with. Also painting the wheels first is a nice touch. Thanks again.
Merry Christmas & Thanks for watching.
always worth watching! they turned out nice. thanks for sharing!
Thanks Emma-you are doing a great job at your channel
I mark my +.001 reamers with red (positive), my -.001 with black (negative), & nominal with white (neutral).
I should do that
Excellent video once again mrpete. regards from the UK
I would enjoy seeing you make an all lead engine similar to the one you showed here. Next video series??
Educational as always. I especially like the lathe dog trick.
Nice job Mr.Pete
LOL, at 5:50 I was thinking, "Please put that in a four jaw chuck".
When you have a problem with chucking up something like this try putting a .030 piece of plastic shim stock on each jaw.As you tighten the piece check the shims and you will find one tightening up more than the others. You can then put some additional shim in the others or reduce the one that is impinging.
I'm a bit surprised at the lack of hysteria in the comments section regarding the safety of working with lead. As we know, lead is not very toxic in it's elemental form (as is mercury) but regardless, it has become a bit of a panic-word in our times.
The US Coast Guard canceled some live-fire exercises on Lake Michigan in 2006, because a mayor in one of the neighboring towns was creating hysterics about "lead poisoning in the lake from the bullets." In reality, there is zero risk of lead-poisoning from the exercises of course, but the current trend in modern thinking seems to disregard all sense of proportion in risk-assessment, and to err excessively on the side of panic and hysteria.
I feel sorry for all the electronics builders who have been forced to use lead-free solder because of someone's hysteria. The poison is in the dose, not in the name.
Thank you lead free solder is the worst.
Please keep the videos coming.
I think it is probably a good thing the medical field doesn't normally watch your videos, LEAD, Mr. Pete
Oh, relax, it's just lead, I use lead all the Oh, relax, it's just lead, I use Hey, Oh, relax, it's just lead.
A Heli-coil would be perfect in this application to give a set screw a bigger purchase.
Tubalcain For President...Jeff
Thanks--unfortunately people like hillary better
I enjoy waking up to your calm, collected, intelligent, polite persistence...I would like to feel the same about our political leaders...Hands with experienced callouses are becoming hard to find....Thank You Lyle....Jeff
have you thought of using plastic set screws for your lead flywheels. plastic being what is is wouldn't tear up the threading as easily.
I have read that chilling lead before machining improves surface finish; Most posts I have read on the subject the mention putting the material in the freezer overnight.
very clever arbor setup. thanks tubal
Does anyone else like the way flywheels look with the hub and outer wheel machined and the spokes left with a cast finish?
Hi, enjoyed the video as always, i have a vague recollection from my dim and distant past that the green kitchen scourers are good for polishing soft metals such as lead rather than files and cloth. I might be wrong but you could try it?
Super nice job!
Very interesting. I copied your flywheel mold just to be doing it and have some flywheels for which I have no use. Have you tried to super glue the flywheel to the steam engine shaft instead of using a set screw? Keep on keeping on.
I have used loctite--then heated to get the wheel off
I had a shop teacher once tell me that if you're set up to do aluminum, you can do brass as well, you would just need to make sure you use a finer grade sand and be sure to pack it very hard, and cut gas channels..... Would finer grade sand be beneficial for casting lead as well? or would you need to use some sort of plaster investment & lost wax type process?
Could you burnish a lead flywheel using a piece of hardwood or leather pushed against the work as it spins?
what would you compare the hardness of this lead to?
do you have any videos of the casting of the fly wheel?
Curiosity has the better of me! Is it possible to make a compound wheel by first casting in aluminium with a hefty recess in the outer circumference, then use the aluminium casting to accept a cast lead weight band? I alway enjoy your vids!
I suppose
THANK YOU...for sharing.
I'm not one to be overly bothered about working with lead, but I tend to avoid abrasive work on it. It bothers me when I blow my nose afterwards, and turn the handkerchief dark grey!
I suspect you may achieve a good finish on lead by using just a plain cloth and firm pressure, perhaps with some light oil.
is there a way balance those flywheels on the bench?
Perhaps, it might be worth a try, to cast a flywheel out of aluminum, and finally glue or press only a outer ring of lead onto it. So, you have the stability of aluminum, also for machining, and the weight of lead.
Enjoy all your videos, thanks. Would any carbide tooling work for machining lead? Or is there just not enough relief? I have a business proposition coming up to machine some lead in my home shop for maybe pouring and/or machining some lead ballasts that go in the wings of AG airplanes. I don't have a way to grind HSS tooling yet but plan to soon. I'm lazy I guess, I usually just buy the carbide stuff. Sounds like I could end up with about 70 lbs of scrap lead from these runs (that would be nice for other projects)
No good answer. No carbide & you need to experiment with very keen tools. Lead is tricky
Thanks for sharing sir...
I was considering casting some with aluminum for the hub and spokes, then casting on a lead tire for the weight. Anyone ever tried that?
fantastic video -- thank you!!!
@mrpete222 I'm not a safety Nazi, but I am curious if you do any lead dust mitigation. I don't think you could get lead dust fine enough to remain airborne very long to worry about inhalation (I could be wrong), but perhaps accidental ingestion if the dust is fine enough to stick to fingers.
Any time you work with lead or its alloys (solder), you wash your hands THOROUGHLY, before going near food or your face.
Eli D.
Of course. But, uf nothing is done, or what is done is inadequate, you can end up not realizing you contaminated your hands on a later date. Was just wondering what was done.
Always wondered why people with gold fillings tended to wander off to one side !
why dont you cut little keyways if set screws are too much of a fuss?
What happened to soft aluminium jaws that you bore out to the diameter you need to hold, are they out of fashion in Illinois?
Soft jaws are nice but I don't think it would be worth it for this one-off item. Like mrpete said in the video, the dimentions aren't critical.
That's true but you get a better grip with soft jaws than you do with the hard ones because you typically grip on a larger area, which prevent the workpiece from sliding. But as the saying goes "there are many ways to skin a cat"
Why couldn't he wrap a strip of lead around the circumference of the flywheel to pad the chuck jaws?
1. Because both materials are lead they will deform under the pressure, because the pressure is essentially applied to the same pointed area of the three steel jaws.
2. Soft jaws will grip on a larger ares of the outer diameter simply because they are not pointed at the grip surface and because they have been bored out to the approximate diameter of the flywheel.
However, if you had 1000 flywheels to be done with precision you would make a backing plate smaller than the finished outerdiameter of the rim with an indent in the center for the hub, and then grip the spokes with a couple of screws with large washers or snap fasteners.
The work procedure would then be:
1. Face off and chamfer the riser end of the outer rim and the hub
2. Turn the faced off side inwards
3. Rough face the other side of the flywheel
4. Drill, chamfer and ream the center hole
5. Turn the outer rim to measure
6. Face off the end to measure and chamfer
It sounds like a lot of work but in reality isn't that bad once you get going. If you had a small manual turret lathe I bet that you would even be faster than a CNC toolcenter in total production time because you avoid the time for programming, and you keep the backing plate for the next order thus saving even more time.
I used to do a lot of this type of work, finishing castings, in my apprentice time back in the day.
@ 7:23....that's how they made Christmas tinsel in the 1940s
Now make one out of depleted Uranium ;)
Tungsten might be easier to come by and very heavy. The word actually means heavy (tung) stone (sten) in Swedish IIRC after the ore.
MrPete222,I've wanted to ask if you are setup to make money from the advertisement views on UA-cam.?The reason I ask is if a channel is setup that way I try to always hit a add or two to help.I know it's not much but if everyone hit at least one a visit its a help.Otherwise I just hit skip like most people do.
Thanks--yes--it helps me when people click. or listen
mrpete222 Thanks,I know its not much but if everyone did it I'd think it'd make a difference.I'd like to do more but we just had another little one and my wife really tightened up the purse strings.But if my side work picks up I'll be sure to add you to the list of the few channels that I toss some money in the hat for.
I'm just sayin'...;)
China made tool holder???