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LNWR Jubilee

Started by 753, Apr 21 2020 13:55

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Nick

It's looking very good, Mike. You are making a strong case for CNC, which is something I've thought about in idle moments. When you say the conventional way, my experience of industrial CNC is that for small parts, they use small cutters in the size range you mention, but very high speeds and high feed rates, whereas you use much lower speeds and feed rates. Do I have that right? (Before retirement, I worked in a company that, among other things, wrote specialised software for driving CNC machines, so I know something of industrial practice).

Perhaps I'll take CNC more seriously but I can't think how to fit another machine in my workshop. Something will have to go.

Concerning Fusion 360, I agree that it is complicated but I get along with it by focusing on the limited subset of features I actually need and ignoring all the rest.

Keep up the good work.

Nick

753

Nick
You have the advantage of me, when I bought the mill some 10 years ago I knew zero about CNC or CAD, and had to embark on a steep leaning curve
The difference between hobby use and industry is time, CNC machines are run for the least time to make a part, given they make hundreds at a time.
Using small cutters industrial machines run spindles from 10K to 20K rpm, while my machine runs at a max of 4k. Early days of using the machine I broke many small cutters for several reasons, softer materials brass and ali tend to clog the cutter flutes thus the tool stops cutting while the feed continues hence broken tool, applying suds helps but you need to monitor the process. Sheet steel is harder then say EN1A, probably part of the rolling process, so you have to adjust feeds to suit the material. I have successfully welded a cutter to the steel sheet in the past
As time is not an issue for me I tend to use lower feed speeds and high (for me) spindle speeds. We live and learn, but that's part of the fun

Mike

IanT

Quote from: 753 on May 17 2020 13:11

My mill is a Syil X3 with fourth axis
I use TurboCad and ArtCam Pro both old versions as I know my around them.
I have  Fusion 360 but drives me up the wall, to complicated!
rs.

Mike

Thanks Mike, sounds like a nice machine (I just looked at their current range) but perhaps more than I want to afford at the moment.

I've been a long term TurboCAD Deluxe user but 2D only. I tried 3D in TC D/L and really struggled, so gave up with it and stuck to 2D. I also tried Fusion 360 when it became available for free - but again didn't really take to it (not sure why - but didn't like it's Cloud-based nature either) and decided to just stick to 2D.

However, I am now migrating to Solid Edge and (thus far) finding that I am enjoying using it - although it will take practice to become proficient. It took me 20 years to get to become reasonably fluent in TurboCAD but I started over again a few years back and had to unlearn many bad habits, mostly gathered from being self-taught. I'm trying to not repeat that mistake with SE - and this time I'm taking my time to try and really understand the UI and keyboard shortcuts. However, I am very happy with my progress so far after about 2-3 weeks. I'm afraid I probably don't have another 20 years to get really good at it...   :-)

Regards,

IanT
Nothing's ever Easy - At least the first time around.

Nick

Mike,

Thanks, it is really very helpful to understand the differences between hobby and industrial machines. You are right that the focus of industry is the time on the machine, and the driving software is all about minimising cutter paths as well as maximising feed rates. I'm unlearning/learning a lot about CNC right now.

Nick

753

Nick & Ian
CNC machine tools are a big investment, but I think you have to look at it as any other tool, if it gets a lot of use then it makes sense.
I made the commitment many years ago at a cost of £3k since then I have made a compete G1 model railway that incudes 11 locos, 8 carriages 12 wagons and buildings using the mill, also several stationary engines. Since getting involved with G3 I have built 4 locos and 5 wagons, I think my original investment has repaid me many times over. Here is an example of one of the G1 engines


The Syil X3 is a Seig X3 converted to CNC, Seig then made their own versions marketed in this country by ArcEuro, but they no longer sell these machines. Syil are imported by Amadeal the X4 is around £7k. Many people have converted small mills to CNC and there are lots of blogs on their experience's on line.

Mike


MikeWilliams

All I can say Mike is that you must be a big loss to the Gauge 1 community and we are very pleased that you saw the light in the end and found Gauge 3.  :D

Mike

753

Mike

Who said I left G1, I think it is fashionable to declare to being non binary !!

Mike

753

The Jubilee is starting to look like a real loco, fitting a boiler barrel around a splasher is always a tricky job. I made a styrene barrel first and then used it as a template for the brass version, there is still an amount of filing to get both sides to fit the splashers. The dome, chimney and safety valve bonnet are Mike W's castings.

Mike








hornbeam


Nick

Very nice, Mike. I'm going to have the same problem of matching up the boiler, firebox and splashers. In smaller scales I've done it by cut and try. This time I am hoping that by modelling the intersections in CAD. We'll see in due course how that works out. You never know unless you try.

Nick

753

Thank you for the kind comments.


Mike

753

The Jubilee is taking shape, it's a complicated shape to model, a few expletives were expressed but got there in the end, now for the details.

Mike



Nick

It's coming on nicely. The compound curves between the boiler and splashers  are always a pain. It looks as if you cut the boiler to fit the splasher rather than vice versa. Is that correct? Is the body all one or does it come apart?

Nick

753

Nick

Yes, the boiler is formed over the splasher, as the other way round the boiler would foul the driver wheel, clearance is tight in this model, larger clearance would change the overall shape, as we all know compromises have to be made when building working models. The body is made as one piece for several reasons the complex shape has many meeting points in relation to one another. Using the curve centres as datum points then fettling the plates to meet up, once satisfied parts are then soldered in place. The process is then repeated till the body is complete to make a ridged structure. I don't think there are any areas that would allow for screws or fixings for the various shapes.


Mike

753

The pair of Jubilee's are nearing completion, it's not until a coat of primer is applied that all those imperfections show up, but pleased to say there are only a few. I had the chassis running up and down and it runs very smoothly.
Mike Williams is building the tenders and we hope to meet up soon see how the engine and tenders look together, and iron out any problems.

Mike