Machining does not give a sense of the size especially with such a big lathe. 31/12/2020.
From Alan
a few words about the turning of the smoke box as in the pictures it doesn’t
look as big as it really is. When I made the cage to go inside of it I was surprised
that I was quite accurate with my dimensions.
When it came to turning the sides, at a 3 degree angle, it was all done on the top slide.
It was very time consuming with the rough cuts every 5 inches 10 -15 minutes times 4.
Then twice more to clean up the casting.
Finally 4 x finishing cuts of the sides which took 40 minutes for each 5 inches.
This equates to a lot of very slow handle turning as this was all done
at 55 rpm.
Bearing in mind it’s 20inches long and 13 inches in diameter and weighs 150 plus pounds. it’s a lot easer to move with a fork lift.
And still lots more to do.
Northolt Model Railway Club 