A Manual of the Hand Lathe / Comprising Concise Directions for Working Metals of All Kinds, Ivory, Bone and Precious Woods

by Egbert P. Watson

We know of no prettier or more expeditious process of making a small steam boiler for a toy engine, than by spinning it upon the lathe. The boiler will be very strong, have large fire surface, and be without joints, having only one at the bottom, where it is easily kept tight. [Fig. 36] is the boiler.

The metal must be thin (twenty gauge), the sheet brass sold in the shops will answer, as it is already annealed, and the corrugations must not be too deep on the sides, or the work will not come off the mould. The center of the fire-box, A, must be left flat, so that the flue will have a bearing on it. For a small engine, 1-inch bore, and 2-inch stroke, a boiler of the dimensions given here is ample. The flue must be brazed or soldered at A, and the bottom must be riveted at B, for every two inches; this is not necessary, however. There are only three pieces in this boiler—the shell, the fire-box, and the flue, and the water must not be carried more than three-fourths of an inch over the crown of the furnace.

We shall now again revert to cutting tools.

Fig. 36.

Probably many of our readers, who use hand lathes not furnished with slide rests, have wished for that indispensable appendage where boring is to be done. For ordinary turning, we do not appreciate a slide rest on a hand lathe so much as many do that we know, but for boring out valves, cocks, or, in fact, anything, a scroll chuck and a good slide rest are invaluable.

Some persons are always “meaning” to do a thing, yet never do it. Sometimes, for the want of facilities, at others for the lack of an idea. If the latter be of any value, we can furnish one or two on this subject that may be useful.

Fig. 37.

One way to bore out holes parallel, without a slide rest, is to do it with the spindle of the back head. With a tool of peculiar construction, holes varying in size, can be bored beautifully in this way. We present a view of such a tool in Fig. 37. It is merely a cross, formed on the end of a center fitting the back spindle, the same as the lathe center does. The arms of the cross are made stout and thick, so as to admit of a square hole being cut in them. The hole is made by drilling in and driving in a square drift afterwards to take off the corners. The shanks of the tools are well fitted to these holes in the arms, so that a slight pressure of the screws in the sides of the arm will hold them steady. When used, the tool is put in the back spindle, and the cutters set to the size required, or less, if there is much to take out, and run through the work in an obvious manner. Any range of size can be had up to the diameter of the cross. It is not well to run the cutters out too far, however, as they will jump and chatter, or spring, and make bad work. The tool is so easily made that one can afford to have three or four, for different jobs.