johnsmachines

The assembly of my Armstrong cannon is progressing more slowly than I anticipated.  No excuses.  Just lots of holes to drill in precise positions, parts to turn and mill.  And my workshop sessions have become shorter in the winter cold.   Not that I mind the cold.  I just light my workshop wood fire to remove the chill.

Today I have been making the wheels for the chassis.

Not a great photo. It shows a front wheel, 33mm diameter, turned from stainless steel. No axle yet.

And a rear wheel, 50mm diameter.   Yet to have the track groove turned into the periphery.

I thought that the wheels would be easy to make.  Just a bit of basic turning to size and form turning for the track groove and decorative relief on the faces.  But as usual, I used whatever material I had on hand in the size.  In this case stainless steel.  It looks great when turned, but does work harden quickly, causing tooling problems.  Parting off, through 50mm of hardened stainless steel is not much fun.  In the end I used the band saw for parting, then tidied up the ends on the lathe.