Two plank dumb buffered wagon

[John_B]

Is there any useful information around on turning wheels, suitable for people who haven't used a lathe for decades, but now have one? Both turning from blanks and maybe re profiling existing wheels. It seems an ideal job for a CNC lathe as consistency is needed, but I'm not going there (unfortunately).

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

I got a piece of thick wall steel tube when I made my last batch of wheels, certainly cut out the waste and a good bit of the ‘boring’ bit. It was very free cutting steel too so the final form tool profiling was relatively painless.

 

[Bigjohn]

John
You do not have to own a CNC Lathe to take advantage of CNC. Sub contract .to a machine shop, preferably locally. I had 200 rims made by this means for less than the cost of materials and postage. Paying cash may have helped to keep the price down. Stating that you are prepared to wait til they had spare machine time may also help.Complete accurate repeatability in my rubber moulds. Using dental powder and catalyst I can produce 8 wheels an hour from a single mould. If you are machining from solid, as per Jon N the savings in swarf clean up and disposal are avoided. But if you prefer to make everything your self, then you are playing a different game than me.
HTH
John

 

[Jon Nazareth]

I don’t think that I seriously thought of laser cutting. I did think that it would be a bonus to have some tube of the right size but, I didn’t. I did have the steel bar and simply thought of the job as something that needed doing even though a bit boring. I simply got on with it even though I made a cock up of the first lot. I’ll you know how I get on with the second lot tomorrow.

Jon

 

[NickB]

Is there any useful information around on turning wheels

Personally I found Mark Wood's website to be good.

Nick

 

[Jon Nazareth]

So we need to find three wagons for you to make that use undersized wheels?
Mike

This one could be a good contender for at least one wagon with normal sized wheels. I had a quick look on HMRS website for a drawing but couldn’t spot anything.




And this one but the end view detail is difficult to workout.

Jon

 

[Pete_S]

And this one but the end view detail is difficult to workout.

Jon

Cupboard doors in the end(s)?
Which begs the question... Why?

 

[Jon Nazareth]

Pete
Yes, they look like doors but not enough detail on that drawing which is a shame.

Jon

 

[Jon Nazareth]

As I was walking over to the shed to commence on another set of wheel rims this morning, Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man sprung to mind,
Then the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shiny morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. For ‘school’ substitute ‘shed’.

I’m now at the stage that I was yesterday evening having machined another set of wheel rims, this time to the correct measurement. I found a short length of tube and was able to machine this and then part off the rims as per the individual five in the picture. Tomorrow, I shall hacksaw the others off the stock and clean up the lathe as there’s a lot of swarf to get rid of.
Still, upwards from here.

Jon

 

[Mike W]

Cupboard doors in the ends could signify large items like crates of glass.

 

[simond]

The dashed semicircle in the plan view would confirm the door theory I guess. I wonder if only one end?

 

[Mike W]

I would say yes, only one end because the capping strip is shown continuous at the left hand end. I assume(!) the other end was just plain planks. That is a relatively recent drawing, so I wonder where his information came from ... i.e. is there a more detailed original drawing somewhere?

 

[Jon Nazareth]

Mike
That’s exactly my thinking, where is the drawing that this was made up from.

Jon

 

[Jon Nazareth]

A couple of pictures showing a bit of progress.

Trimming back the dumb buffers in the milling machine after the extra sections have been fixed in place.




All neatly trimmed back.
It’s a glorious day outside and so, I’m off to mow a meadow!

Jon

 

[Rob R]

If you have to buy a billet, it is worth making the comparison. I found that for what I wanted, laser cutting was about the same price. If you have a billet to hand, it is more a question of how you feel about the turning job. It is also worth mentioning that the laser cutting process left a thin hard layer on the cut surfaces and a carbide tool was much better for getting through it.

Nick

Water jet instead of laser?
No hard skin.

 

[NickB]

I could not find anyone offering waterjet cutting in the sizes I was interested in. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough?

All processes have their pluses and minuses, the important thing is to understand them and learn how to work with them.

Nick

 

[NickB]

Out of curiousity I looked at prices today, since it is a couple of years since I last ordered any laser cut parts. The prices have gone up a lot! The prices of steel rod and bar have also gone up, not by the same amount but considerably. That will probably swing the balance towards turning from raw metal, though for future projects I'll still do the comparison.

Nick

 

[Bigjohn]

Nick…..
You might be interested in the ME forum where metal printing in stainless steel is being discussed. Cheaper than castings and far better finished quality at comparable costings, I know nothing about the process beyond what I read. Possibly a pivotal point in hobby metalwork?
John

 

[simond]

Nick…..
You might be interested in the ME forum where metal printing in stainless steel is being discussed. Cheaper than castings and far better finished quality at comparable costings, I know nothing about the process beyond what I read. Possibly a pivotal point in hobby metalwork?
John

Do you have a link, please?

 

[Ian_T]

MEF - Metal Printing

IanT