wefalck

Thanks for the 'likes' ! ************************* ... these day I really became angry – some time ago the nice Sherline-motor (https://www.sherlinedirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=405]) for my Wolf, Jahn & Co. milling machine (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/horologicalmillers.html) that I had imported from the USA some 15 years ago began to make strange noises. Sherline-motor, as used on my lathe and milling machine Upon investigating, I disovered the the brushes were completely run down, in fact the motor was running on the copper contact-plates. I contacted the Sherline and they quoted my 25$ plus shipping for a new pair of carbon brushes – the German/Austrian distributor near Vienna just shrugged the shoulders. I trailed the well-known bight up and down and finally found some of about the right size in China. Three weeks of milling-break. Once arrived, I ground the carbon the the right size and inserted them. The motor was running again, but somewhat noisily. I suspected problems with the ball-bearings. A week later, suddenly during the work loud noises and bang – rien ne va plus. I opened the holder for the brushes and found that they had already worked down by half and the contact-wire ripped off. I dismantled the motor-holder and idle-shaft in order to be able to take the motor out for further investigations. With a doctor’s eye-mirror I tried to look down at the commutator, but couldn’t see much. The only solution was to dismantle the motor. Of course all the nuts and bolts are imperial and had no suitable spanner. Had to go into town and get for some good money a 3/8” spanner for the nut, the screw-head had a 5/16” head, which is almost equal to 8 mm – learned some interesting this way: in the USA screw-heads and matching nuts don’t have the same size, as is the case in the metric system. The motor turned out to be completely filled with carbon-dust, which then spread around my workshop. After having cleaned the rotor a bit (whereby a good deal of the carbon settled on me) the problem became apparent: several lamellae of the commutator had been ripped out and the end of it was that some of the connectors to the coils had been cut – a total write-off ... Ripped commutator of the Sherline-motor In my ‘scrap’-collection I found an old capacitor-motor that originally came with one of my milling machine. I did not use it, because controlling the speed is difficult and one looses torque (unless one buys an expensive inverter). However, as I had acquired a good idle-shaft since, controlling speed on the motor-side is not so important anymore, as the belts can be shifted to various-sized pulleys. I now had to adapt the motor-mount to the new motor and I was back in business. The good thing about this kind of motor is that it is much quieter than a mechanically commutated motor. Motor running-capacitator (bottom) So, milling began again – but not for very long. After two hours rien ne va plus encore. The motor only hummed with the 50 Hz, but didn’t want to turn. Touched the motor and and shrieked back, it was really hot. Perhaps not enough ventilation in the motor housing of wood to protect the open motor from flying swarf. The heat killed the capacitor that must have been several decades old already. Measured the motor through, but the coils were ok. Back to the bight and trying to find a new 7µF-capacitator. Found one, this time in Ireland, which meant only a few days, rather than weeks break ... got it yesterday and I am back in business again ...

Until the adoption of the metric system throughout (continental) Europe in the last quarter of the 19th century, every major city had its own 'foot'. One has to pay attention when using old books and drawings to verify which 'foot' was actually used. The location of publishing or the nationality of the writer does not necessariyl mean that the respective foot was used. I remember preparing a drawing for a model from an 1860s book published in Hamburg and naively assuming that Hamburg Feet were used - when everything was ready, I discovered the small-print saying, that the author used Imperial measures (probably to be make things easier for international readers).

For cutting/milling wood also really sharp tools are essential. I would use carbide, rather than HSS, milling bits, particularly on harder woods. Otherwise, for our purposes one doesn't really need to be to pre-occupied with cutting speeds and feeds. In professional and production context this is different, where you want to remove as much metal as possible in the shortest time, arriving at the desired surface quality. With time one gets a feeling how much feed you can have for a given cutter size on a certain material. In many cases you would not be able to feed fast enough by hand for the RPMs recommended for a certain cutter diameter. One should also keep in mind, that higher spindle speeds will reduce the life of ball-bearings. Not sure how long the Sherline-headstock will last at 10,000 RPM. Most small machine tools in the pre-CNC age only went up to around 4000-5000 RPM.

You may not be able to afford Vallorbe files, but their information is free: http://www.vallorbe.com/ Just to sort out the different types of files: Needle files - fine, general purpose files that typically come in a couple of size classes, one is about 15 to 18 cm long and the other about 10 to 12 cm. Riffler files - designed for die- and tool-makers; they are usually about 18 cm long, but have two different heads at each end; they come in a wide variety of shapes (one even looking like a pig's tail) in order to be able to work on the most impossibly shaped object. Riffler rasps - these are designed for wood-work and in consequence have single teeth, rather than rows, as for a file; otherwise, they are similar to riffler files. Echappement files - the name indicates that they are meant to work on 'echappements' or 'escapements' in English, i.e. the part that times a clock-work (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escapement); some of them may look like riffler files, but their heads are smaller and in consequence their cut is finer. Then there is a wide variety of specialist files, such as the already mentioned screw-slot files, which are thin strips of steel with a cut at the thin end, machine files, which are straight along the whole length and not tapered, as most hand-files, etc. etc. BTW, the absolute fineness or coarseness of a file depends on its size, meaning that the same 'number' of a cut actually has more teeth per length unit in a smaller file than in a bigger one. Numbers also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Having moved hither and thither between the 'Continent' and the Uk for the past thirty years, I am reasonably familiar with both systems (I even remember the six pence, thre'pence, and shilling coins from my first visit to England and the confusion it caused, when new and old coins were used in parallel ...). However, values such as 5/32 get me - I can cope, though, with quarters, eighths, sixteens ... and pints of course. What few people realise: the Imperial system has gone metric a long time ago ! In fact it is defined, using the metric system as a reference, the guardian of which is the International Institute of Weights and Measures in Sévres near Paris (a stone-throw from where I live). Talking about stones: giving a person's weight in stones absolutely gets me - no feel at all for that measure.

Must be a dangerous animal that you are breeding there - as you keep it in a cage I like the concept of a high-adjustable head and well executed ! What kind of machines are you working on - that parts you are working on are pretty massive (at least for the scale I am working on).

Some travel got into the way of progressing this project and on reporting on it …. ****************************** In order to mount the y-axis to the column, an adapter is needed. This adapter is fashioned from a small aluminium-block that was bored for the 20 mm column. The top-side was milled to a close fit on the lower slide from the WW-lathe, which is clamped down with a bolt. In this way the lower slide can be moved by about 15 mm, giving a greater depth of throat, if needed. It was planned to use a rectangular key to lock the adapter to the column. However, it appears that the two set-screws lock it sufficiently secure to the column. Practical experience will show whether this is true. Drilling the adapter for the y-axis The 20 mm-hole was drilled and bored on a face-plate in the lathe to ensure that it is exactly vertical to the top and bottom of the adapter block. The aluminium-block was srewed down onto the face-plate using a 6 mm hexagonal bolt. Luckily, a suitable hole was needed anyway for the locking bolt of the slide. Other hexagonal bolts prevent the block from moving during the machining operations and act as counter-weights. Boring the adapter for the y-axis After the functional machining was complete, the adapter was 'beautified' by giving the edges a half-round camfer. For occasional jobs on aluminium like this, I use cheap woodworking router bits ... don't tell any real mechanic. Camfering the adapter for the y-axis Finished adapter block The Lorch, Schmidt & Co. milling attachment will be held between two angle-irons screwed-down onto the slide. The locking will be effected by an excentric bolt acting as a cam. I had hoped to use the threaded holes that a previous owner of the slide had made, but they did not fit the angle-iron I had in my stock, so new holes had to be drilled and tapped. The pair of angle-irons was squared and trued on the mill using a fly-cutter. Squaring and trueing angle-irons in pairs Angle-irons to hold milling-head Angle-irons to hold milling-head The above picture shows also the drive unit made for the toolpost-grinder of the WW-lathe, which in fact looks very similar to what the future motorised milling head will look like. Provisional set-up of motorised milling head To be continued ...

Yes, having them alongside the boat on some blocks or trestles sounds a good idea.

The maker of the miniature Bridgeport is the British model engineer Barry Jordan: http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/jordan.htm @hof00: Proxxon (and all the other makers of small milling machines) don't make a machine of the Aciera/Sixis/SIP type as I discussed above. They all are conventional 3-axis-machines, to which perhaps a fourth axis can be added by deploying a rotary table or a dividing head. Even the smallest Proxxon, the MF70, still is somewhat bigger than what I am building here. Updates will follow over the weekend, didn't have time to take and process the pictures yet.

The author's name is Jean-Pierre Mélis, as stated on top of the article ...

BTW in the last number (No. 281) of Neptunia a series on traditional Japanese boats was started: http://www.aamm.fr/neptunia/derniers-numeros/1168-n-281

Somehow I haven't had the time to look at the building-logs here for quite a time, so this exquisite and unusual model completely escaped my attention Will now have a look from time to time ...

Actually, I wanted to continue with my SMS WESPE model, but run into some technical difficulties and then this project came my way ... The complex manual machining of very small parts on a milling machine requires smooth and precise movements of the slides as well as small masses to be moved. The slides of a watchmakers lathe fulfill these requirements. In addition, work-pieces and tools should be visible very well during machining. Milling machines such as the Aciere F1 (or the older F12) or Sixis 101 are ideal for working on small parts, but are still far too large for my workshop (and have a too big price tag ...). Interesting from a design point of view would be also jig-borer and milling-machines by SIP (Société Genevoise d'Instruments de Physique), but they are very rare and difficult to come by. All these machines are massive and heavily constructed in order minimise vibrations by their inertia during the machining of precision parts for watches and instruments – too massive for my small workshop. Aciera F1 milling machine (Source: http://www.lathes.co.uk/aciera/) Sixis 101 milling machine (Source: http://www.lathes.co.uk/sixis/) SIP jig-borer and milling machine (Quelle: http://www.lathes.co.uk/sip/) A special feature of these machines is that the x-slide is not arranged horizontally under the milling spindle, but vertically in front of the main column. This permits the easy installation of a fourth and fifth machining axis. However, this arrangement means that the movement in the y-axis is not effected by the cross-slide, but by the milling head. This in turn means that milling head and motor should ideally form a unit. A belt-drive is more difficult to arrange, because the angle between the pulleys changes, when the milling head moves along. The SIP jig-borer for these reason originally was driven through a flexible shaft. A watchmakers lathe is a good starting point owing to the precision of the slides and spindles, but it lacks the z-axis. In more recent years kits became available to convert Chinese-made watchmakers lathes into small vertical milling machines, but the milling table on them is arranged in a conventional way. Conversion of a modern Chinese watchmakers lathe into a vertical milling machine In my stock of watchmakers lathe bits and pieces I have collected over the years parts for several D-bed lathes of variable state of conservation. Some ‘scrap’ was also bought on purpose. From this parts I now want to construct a micro-milling machine with as little work as possible. As design specifications I decided that the mill should be able to machine in a space of u 20 mm x 20 mm x 20 mm. This requires movements along the x-, y-, and z-axes of around 40 mm. There should be a fourth axis with a 360° rotation, that should be able to rotated under load. This axis should also be able to be moved from the vertical into the horizontal (5th axis). All those movements should be realised with parts from watchmakers lathes, so that no dove-tail slides need to be machined from scratch. The back-bone of the mill will be a special D-bed that I obtained recently. It was originally meant for the conversion of a lathe into a small precision pillar-drill. Its lower end is turned down to a diameter that fits into a lathe foot. The foot that I am going to use probably came from a British Pultra-lathe (http://www.lathes.co.uk/pultra/page8.html). Column and foot Another key part is an old and somewhat battered cross-slide from a Lorch, Schmidt & Co. D-bed lathe. This will be the x- and z-axis of the new milling machine. Cross-slide from a D-bed watchmakers lathe The y-axis will be constructed with the help of a nearly scrap lower-slide from the cross-slide of a Lorch, Schmidt & Co. WW-lathe that I was able to buy cheaply. The spindle and micrometer-dial will have to be made from scratch. A 6 mm-grinding spindle of unknown make will serve as milling spindle. This limits somewhat the maximum diameter of cutters that can be used to ones with about a 4 mm-shaft, but the machine is meant for light work after all. On the other hand, many years ago I made an adapter for 6 mm end-mill for use in the lathe together with a vertical slide (before I owned a milling machine). Lower slide from a WW-lathe cross-slide and grinding spindle Future arrangement for the y-axis of the micro-mill The fourth and fifth axis will be formed by the dividing head that I made some years ago from a 6 mm-watchmakers lathe grinding-spindle. For the moment it will be simply screwed onto the cross-slide as for use with a lathe. This gives considerable flexibility for the positioning at any angle between vertical and horizontal. The setting will be a bit time-consuming and has to be done with templates. Column, cross-slide and dividing head assembled Column, cross-slide and dividing head assembled So far the existing parts that need to be re-conditioned somewhat at a later point in time. To be continued ...

Well, this is the 'tools-to-make-more-tools'-syndrom … I know this all too well

The sanding disc has a diameter of 50 mm (2"). More details on the micro-grinder can be found here: http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/microgrinder/microgrinder.html

You are right about holding down pieces. In many instances I found my fingers the most versatile clamps, actually I have been thinking about this, but left it to the actual practical experience, to see what is needed. For very thin strips and wires I made a little holding device for the micro-grinder a while ago, that I can also use on this contreivance here: If I was to make this gadget again, I think I would change the design sligtly. Rather than having the sanding block moving in a channel, I would make some sort of rail and cut a slot into the sanding block that engages with the rail. This would give more flexibility in the kind of sanding tools to be used. For instance, I am thinking of adapting a fine diamond nail-file for the purpose. I have used such nail-files for decades in my workshop as they give a very smooth finish. However, I am not sure how cut the files to size and drill them without ruining my tools Anyway, this is a first attempt at miniaturising a gadget I saw somewhere and adapt it to my small-scale work.

When I look at the price of these saw-guides mentioned above, I rather buy a motorised one … These saw-guides are not really a novelty, I have a 1920s hobby handycraft book that describes how to upgrade an ordinary fret-saw in this way.

Although I recently constructed a micro-grinder and –sander (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/microgrinder/microgrinder.html), I found that some hand-sanding device would be desirable for very delicate operations. Sometimes just a few strokes would be sufficient and the process would be difficult to control with a motor-driven machine. A guided sanding block allows to achieve flat and square edges. After some rummaging in my collected stocks I found a piece of aluminium rail with a T-slot at one end (I don't remember its original purpose), a piece of thick aluminium sheet, some square aluminium stock, and a well-seasoned piece of pinewood of just the right dimensions (5 cm x 8 cm x 2 cm). Holes were marked out, drilled and countersunk for the pieces to be screwed down onto the wooden block. The four sides of the wooden block were squared off in the milling machine with the aluminium pieces in place. The wooden block then was carefully levelled in the machine-vise and a slot milled into the aluminium as a guide for the sanding block. Finally the surface was evened with some light cuts with a fly-cutter. A mitre-guide was fashioned from a piece of flat steel. It can be mounted left or right and in different configurations. The sanding block is fashioned from some 8 mm x 8 mm square aluminium stock. It has shallow recesses milled into both sides to allow for the thickness of the sanding paper. A knurled screw M3 serves as handle. to begin with a glued a strip of 600 grit wet-'n'-dry paper onto one side and a strip of plastic coated with abrasives as used by dentists for grinding and polishing teeth onto the other side.

Apart from (longer-term) accuracy on which I cannot really comment, as I don't have one, the problem with these combination machines is the time that is needed to reconfigure them, particularly, when you work on complex parts that may need turning and milling as subsequent and iterative operations.

I don't do that much sawing with a fret-saw these days, put it seems that a 'standard' (as Otto Frey term it) jeweler's frame does the job to me. As with all fret-saw judicious tensioning adapted to the blade and material to be sawn is required. I don't seem to have a problem fitting the blade to the frame and then pre-adjusting the moveable part of frame before tightening it with the thumb-screw. You may need to play around a bit with pre-adjusting the arm and tightening it in order to not put too much tension on it. In any case it is tool proven in the trade for more than a hundred years. Being in Europe, I wouldn't buy from Otto Frey anyway, but too me they always seem to be a bit on the expensive side. One has to always check that such supply houses, like the modellers' ones, don't put a too high mark-up on (certain) tools. Such jewelers' frames are bog standard and one can get them from many different sources. Their 'standard' model seems to be reasonably priced, but they also have titanium-frame ones for the price of which you can get a table saw I would also support the view that the modellers' supply houses flog-off to modellers a lot of stuff that can be had from jewellers' or dentists' supply houses at better prices and often better quality.

Anatomically, the HO-scale (1:87) Preiser (http://www.preiserfiguren.de) figures are still the best on the market. However, they are meant for model railways and in consequence focus on the 20th century, but with a bit of carving and putty they can be dressed up really in any way you like. They come in packs with large numbers of unpainted figures. There is also a small range of HO-scale 17th century naval figures by Artitec (http://www.artitec.nl/index.php/en/kits/item/60006?category_id=121) in cast resin. I have never seen them in 'real life', so I cannot comment on their quality. Their animation seem to be good, but their detail treatment is not as fine as the Preiser miniature sculptures. They are meant to go with Artitec's models of 17th century ships, which in turn are a spin-off from their commercial model building business for museums etc. (see e.g. http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/texel/texel.html). You don't give in your profile the country you are residing in, so I cannot make recommendations, where to get any of the above. You will have to check on the Internet. BTW, the scale 1:89 is rather unsual ...

Haven't tried this one, but such plating kits are also available from jewellers' supply shops.

That's what I do, if I want to have brass parts look like steel, but rather use a 'self-tinning' solution. This are solutions that precipitate a very thin layer of tin onto the brass. Some model-suppliers sell such solutions. The surface has to be chemically clean, so degreasing (e.g. with acetone) and possibly pickling in acid are needed. In fact, if a brass part does not have to look like brass and forms a component of something that is going to be soldered together, I always tin the part before - it makes soldering a lot easier.

I think, when you build old-time ship models, the workshop should match this - somehow building old ships with modern plasticie tools looks out of place

Sorry for that ... *********************** Testing the diefiler in anger requires a suitable power supply with enough ampères and the right voltage. After my large Proxxon transformer blew out, I constructed from mainly scavenged parts a unit that would fit into the worktable. From the estate of my late father I had a large transformer, a rectifier, and a nice 'antique' volt- and ampère-meter each plus various kinds of sockets and a radio knob. I bought an electronic speed-controller and two switches from Chinese sources. One switch allows to change between the two voltage ranges and the other is set up as a reversing switch. Depending on the size of leads, I am either using small Japanese-type power-supply plugs or 3.5 mm mono-plugs and sockets for both are provided. In addition, I provided sockets for 4 mm laboratory banan-plugs, one going through the speed-controller, the other directly to the rectifier. The power supply is connected via a foot-switch to the mains. This allows to work with hands free and as the transformer is not constantly connected, the energy consumption is reduced and, hence, the waste heat, which is necessary, as the ventilation of the unit in the workbench is not very good.