Beam Engine Driving Wheel from a Big Lump of Aluminium
by John
16kg aluminium rod. Cutting off using a band saw.
I bought a 130mm diameter lump of aluminium rod, 460mm long, weighing 16kg, off ebay. It was described as excellent machining material, so I put it to the test. I need a driving wheel for the beam engine.
The driving wheel fits between the flywheel and the governor column.
The aluminium disk straight off the band saw. A perfect cut from a well adjusted saw. Took about 5 minutes to make the cut, using plenty of cutting fluid and slow descent of the blade in order to avoid jamming.
It turned beautifully. Using a HSS tangential tool. You can see a mirror reflection even as the turning as happening.
johnsmachines 
Did you first hold it with the outside jaws, turn a recess, then turn it round and hold as seen now using the inside jaws?
How thick is the workpiece? How thick is the job?
thanks
john f
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Hi John, yes that is exactly how it was done. workpiece is 32mm thick. Not yet decided on thickness of finished wheel. Maybe 28mm?
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