Thursday, March 1, 2018

A Formal Portrait

It's like a graduation portrait; being done with development. It has graduated to sitting on a shelf and being used to entertain guests - whether they like it or not!


Of course, it's my Little Machine Shop 2594 steam engine, mounted to an oak board with contrasting brass screws to highlight it. 

If you recall my post back in early February, the flywheel I mounted permanently is the one that was the worst performer but that I thought was best looking.  Which might be influenced by having used it as my first project on my rotary axis. 

Interested beginners, this is essentially a lathe project, and while that flywheel is 2-1/2" OD, it's within the work envelope of a Sherline or Taig micro lathe, both of which are smaller than a 7x10.  A milling machine is handy, but really only as a drill press for locating the holes precisely.  Yes, you could use a drill press for this, if you don't have a milling machine.  I used my mill (the table it's sitting on in that photo) to cut that 4x4" aluminum base square, but that's cosmetic and doesn't affect operation. 


4 comments:

  1. You are a real craftsman. Very cool and entertaining.

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  2. Looks great on the wood base.

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  3. Simplicity can be (is) beautiful, SiG.

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  4. Thanks, y'all. I'm totally self-taught, so I'm sure I do things the hard way, or wrong.

    There are four brass screws in the base. Based on prior experiences, I bought eight. Which kept anything from going wrong and now I have four extra #8x5/8" wood screws. When everything goes right, my running joke is to say, "almost as if I knew what I was doing".

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