a newbie's take on the A3 switcher

all right i'm diving in head first in this. for the longest time metal working was in my wishlist and i finally made the jump this summer by starting to buy some machines

after finding a big-ish (for me at least) used lathe i'm starting the A3 switcher.  My biggest challenge will be my complete lack of experience.  Plus my machine is a home made beast made by a retired machinist and while it is rigid, it is a bit weird; the handles are counterclockwise and don't have markings.  I'm still not sure how i could fit a DRO in there. maybe later.

So my take on this will be mostly from that aspect... A completely analog build with the innocence of a puppy trying to remove enough metal in order to make a train. I am quite aware that i just might hit a wall in the future but i'm doing this for the journey and not so much for the train.

i plan to use kim's strategy of swapping a bit of expensive material when i can.

so let's go with the start of the build.

First challenge was to just face the wheel puck in that gigantic chuck so soon after making a pretty bad practice wheel i got a old school solution and went straight for the chuck in a chuck.



then i started with the book's instruction



here is the 1st batches



flip it then prep for reaming. all times 8




Let's go

Another big build, Wheee! 

Watching along here! 

How exciting!  I remember just starting out on the tender wheels.  Very exciting times.  I'm glad to see you posting your build here and am looking forward to following along. 

You have a very exciting, fun journey ahead!

And congrats on your new equipment too.  You should post a thread over in the My Workshop area so we can see pictures of your shop and your new lathe.  It's always fun to see what other people are using.  And you can add to it as you get more equipment (because you KNOW you will  ).

Kim

all right new pictures coming .


this is my way to get the deph constant. touch off, then put a drill 1/8 between the cariage stop and then lock that. this was done for the groove in the wheels.

now we are on the mandrel working on the OD and the shoulder (notice the 2 indicators for depth AND radius.) quite stressful not to bump anything for 8 wheels.



this one is my attemps at triging the 3 degree slope (the math says I got 3.2 and than i figured close enough. better than 10 degrees right  )


a bunch a tapers later, we find ourselves with 8 kinda close in dimensions to each other 


today I started with the shaft.. since i can't put i dead center on my spindle appart from turning a disposable one each time today's mission was to get the for axis to lenght with a center each way. i think im inside 1 tough between all of them. tomorow i will try to turn them between center.



what we have so far

see you in the shop everyone

Looks like a fine start!

Great looking set of wheels there, Pogo! 

The biggest challenge on the tender wheels is doing everything EIGHT times!    It's nice once you get past this are are only making a few similar parts.  I find the production work kind of monotonous.

Kim

Making a good start on the build, hope that it gives much enjoyment as it proceeds.  You made a mention that the feeds on your cross-slide and top-slide, ( presumably not the carriage traverse as a whole?) are working in the reverse direction...  How do you get on with that?  The dial gauges that you are using for reading measurements are a help in checking direction, but for machinists who are using other machines that work in the "normal" direction, which is what feels instinctive, it would present great difficulty, sometimes hazard. If you later get hold of a mill, or perhaps a second, smaller lathe, that work conventionally, it's something to be aware of. Dave

Quote from: ChipswitheverythingMaking a good start on the build, hope that it gives much enjoyment as it proceeds.  You made a mention that the feeds on your cross-slide and top-slide, ( presumably not the carriage traverse as a whole?) are working in the reverse direction...  How do you get on with that?  The dial gauges that you are using for reading measurements are a help in checking direction, but for machinists who are using other machines that work in the "normal" direction, which is what feels instinctive, it would present great difficulty, sometimes hazard. If you later get hold of a mill, or perhaps a second, smaller lathe, that work conventionally, it's something to be aware of. Dave

yeah it's mostly to program my muscle memory with that machine to go counterclockwise as increase.. and yes i am quite scared that one day i will scrap a part by slamming a tool in there on the last operation. 

now i just realised that turning between center is giving me a heck of a taper so something is wrong with my tailstock. 

Quote from: Pogo_proptie.. and yes i am quite scared that one day i will scrap a part by slamming a tool in there on the last operation. 

Yeah, I've had that problem even though my handles turn in the conventional direction!  So this could only make it worse! 

Kim

The most common layout for a cross slide requires a left-hand thread on the leadscrew. If this lathe was "non-factory" it is likely that a common right-hand thread was chosen for convenience. It is possible to use a right-hand thread while keeping the conventional rotation direction, but it requires a rearrangement of the leadscrew and nut. The leadscrew moves back and forth with the top portion while the nut is fixed to the base in that case. That arrangement is pretty standard for the x-axis on a mill, but not for a cross slide on a lathe.

Gene

finally some progress.

I'm new to this lathe and was trying to improve the pulley setup to get better speed range. I just finished my axels. here it is.

The first one. for now i'm leaving the middle part on the rough. because i don't think it's gonna matter in the end


all four done


weeee


so tomorrow clean everything, paint job and go on the mill for the next step.

thanks for watching

Looking good, Pogo! 

Quote from: Pogo_proptiefor now i'm leaving the middle part on the rough. because i don't think it's gonna matter in the end

Yep, that's what I did too.  The I left the middle part of the axle just as it came on the stock. Doesn't do anything but hold the wheels at the appropriate width, which I guess is important.  But you know what I mean!

Kim 

Hello again..

slow progress is still progress.. couple things happened since my last post.

first i realized that I am not very good at this and needed some training so the very little time I had to play with my tools was mostly spent doing the usual beginer project like a hammer, a head traming jig and some idea's to improve my gear while trying some techniques at the same time..

but i DID paint my wheel. and this is what I have to show for now


also while steel is cheap compared to brass it is much more difficult for my tiny mill so i did buy some brass and i will start the journal boxes from the top and experiment with either the boring bar or the boring head to, again, get some nice experience with that piece witch is quite difficult i find compared to the wheels.

here is what I have so far



as you can see i have the rough holes in the steel and just faced the brass blank to lenght( and the little 393 gauge pin i made myselft as a gonogo cuz i'm a poor without fancy gauge pin set). next step is turning brass in scrap i guess. 

hopefully i get something soon but real life has me cornered for the short future

have fun out there

Off to a nice start!  I learned a LOT from building one of Kozo's designs, hope you do too. One thing I'll pass on about brass (my favorite to machine), is that if you take one side off of a bar of brass, it has a tendency to warp the other way due to the way it is rolled out in the factory. Easily fixed - first clean off any oil or grease (or it will stink up the place when heated), and put it in the oven at 500F for an hour, then let it cool. That will stress relieve it, and get rid of the tendency to warp. That trick does not work on steels, just brass.