Vince's Tiger 1 late variant 2017

[Vince Cutajar]

The hardware to finish the last road wheel arrived but at the moment Tiger assembly is on hold as I need to fix the lathe and I am feeling helpless without it. I suspect it's a centrifugal switch problem. This morning was spent finding someone who repairs electric motors and removing the motor from the lathe.

Vince

[Greg Stephens]

I am currently looking for a lathe and milling machine. The problem with me is that I tend to constantly bump myself up to the next level. I start by comparing hobby milling machines and wind up looking at this:

http://www.pocketnc.com/blog/2017/9/8/p ... -version-2

[Vince Cutajar]

I know the feeling.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

The Pocket NC comes with:

> Single Flute Wood, Wax, and Plastic Endmill

OK for 1/16th plastic tanks but not much use for an Armortek kit

I bought a cheap(ish) Boxford CNC router a while ago, basically for making Sherman tracks, as it was cheaper to buy the router than it was to outsource the machining I've only just purchased the software to run it so hope to be able to start learning about it over the summer.

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

Would love to get a Tormach.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Earlier today I took the lathe motor for repair. Keeping my fingers crossed. Also took the opportunity to clean the area around where the motor sits from years of swarf and muck.

Finished modding the M/G mantlet using various Dremel tools, needle files and sand paper. Also opened up the groove with a parting tool before the lathe went U/S.

Not perfect but I think it looks better than before.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Lathe motor has been repaired. Picked it up this morning and installed it.

Last road wheel has been finished so I guess next big job is to fit all road wheels to the tank.

Vince

[Greg Stephens]

Vince,
What are your thoughts about this lathe? I am probably likely to use a milling machine more so I am trying to restrain myself. I also have access to a full CNC machine shop across from my industrial office. I would really only use the lathe for this hobby.
https://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-Micr ... gn=18WS047

[Vince Cutajar]

Hi Greg.

In my humble opinion, that is too small. I would consider it to complement a larger lathe in the workshop but not as your only lathe. I am sure that after a while you will start kicking yourself for not getting something larger.

Just my 2 cents.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Finished the front drive cases so that they will be ready to attach to the hull.

I first inserted the oil seal. Pushed it in it's opening with a bearing and then used a 15mm socket to continue pushing it all the way home.

Then glued the front and rear bearing with Loctite 638.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

I would agree about the lathe being too small.

My first lathe was a Sieg C3, and within a month I had purchased a 100mm chuck as I found the 80mm one supplied wouldn't hold the sorts of jobs I wanted to undertake, even using the outside jaws.

The usual rule of thumb is to find the model of lathe you think will do the job, then buy the next size up.

Small lathes don't have the motor capacity or stiffness to do significant cutting passes - I note this one says not to go deeper than 0.25mm per pass. You'll soon get bored doing the number of passes this limitation will require

Adrian.

[Greg Stephens]

Good advice all. I'll look upmarket a bit.
Vince, Your build looks great, I am picking up a lot of hints.

[Vince Cutajar]

Using a depth micrometre, I measured the clearance I will have between the face of the driven gear and the side of the hull. 0.7mm. Not bad if I can manage to hold the shaft of the gear in one place and not let it float sideways.

I wonder how I can manage to do it? Looking at page 15 of the assembly manual, it seems that at some point, Armortek were showing to glue the shaft to the inner race of the inner bearing but as one can see below that line is broken so I guess they are not telling people to do that anymore. It is a good permanent solution but the only problem I can see is that if for some reason one needs to disassemble the driven gear than it would be difficult with the shaft glued to the inner race of the bearing.

What did previous modellers do to keep the gear from grinding the side of the hull? One can use a 0.5mm shim stock or washer. Or maybe use a thick washer between the outer bearing and the taper lock? Just thinking aloud.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

It is specifically stated not to install any kind of washer or spacer between the bearing and the taper lock bush.

On my models which have had free floating drive gears, there is usually some form of light wear on the hull sides:

The rust is because this model spent quite a while outside, and the drive housings filled with water.

If you Loctite the drive gear to both bearings, it is easy enough to heat the gear with a butane torch to destroy the Loctite bond and remove it.
You will probably destroy the grease in the bearings but I would be replacing the bearings in any case.

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Adrian for the reply. I found the Armortek advice on fitting the taper lock bush here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2250

It also mentions what you said about the washer between the bearing and the bush. I have been reading the instructions that came with the bush and it does not say anything about washers. Do you have any idea why it is a bad idea to use a washer between the bearing and the bush? Also that article mentions a distance of 16.5mm between the side of the hull and the face of the sprocket. Do you think that that measurement is still valid? My plan is to see how the tracks sit on the idler, road wheels and sprockets and let the sprocket find it's own position.

In the meantime I have been actually playing with this taper lock bushing. It needs some fettling with needle files before the 5mm key will actually fit.

Vince