Rick Rowlands
Titanium
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2005
- Location
- Youngstown, Ohio
Some of you may be following my thread on the Antique Machinery forum on building a working steam driven hand sheet rolling mill. (Yes I am crazy, but thats besides the point) Even crazier is that I intend to transmit power from the steam engine to the mill stand using hemp rope, a technology that was once widely used to drive rolling mills but has completely and utterly disappeared from the face of the Earth.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php/demonstration-rolling-mill-project-137757.html
I recently acquired the six groove rope pulley which will become the driven pulley. For the driving pulley I plan to modify the old generator rotor on the engine's crankshaft. This rotor is 51" diameter and 8" across the face. I plan to cut the rope grooves right into the face of the rotor. However ther rotor has (64) 13/16" holes drilled into it, both line of holes right where two of the rope grooves will go.
I'll need to fill in these holes since the holes would rapidly wear away the hemp rope if left in place. What would be the best way to fill these holes? I'll have to use a material that is not any harder than iron and that would stay put.
One idea I had was to fill each hole with babbitt. Tap the rear of the hole, put a plug in place then fill the hole solid. But would the babbitt stick? The wheel is quite a heat sink and I envision failure due to such a small amount of babbitt immediately cooling upon hitting the iron.
What about iron plugs? How could I hold the plugs in place? Press fit? Loctite? I suppose I would have to ream out each hole and then have the plugs made to size. Mcmaster has 1" dia. iron rod available, I suppose that could be turned down to 13/16 and then each plug loctited in place with the non removable loctite.
So I'm asking those of you with more experience than me, what would you do?
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php/demonstration-rolling-mill-project-137757.html
I recently acquired the six groove rope pulley which will become the driven pulley. For the driving pulley I plan to modify the old generator rotor on the engine's crankshaft. This rotor is 51" diameter and 8" across the face. I plan to cut the rope grooves right into the face of the rotor. However ther rotor has (64) 13/16" holes drilled into it, both line of holes right where two of the rope grooves will go.
I'll need to fill in these holes since the holes would rapidly wear away the hemp rope if left in place. What would be the best way to fill these holes? I'll have to use a material that is not any harder than iron and that would stay put.
One idea I had was to fill each hole with babbitt. Tap the rear of the hole, put a plug in place then fill the hole solid. But would the babbitt stick? The wheel is quite a heat sink and I envision failure due to such a small amount of babbitt immediately cooling upon hitting the iron.
What about iron plugs? How could I hold the plugs in place? Press fit? Loctite? I suppose I would have to ream out each hole and then have the plugs made to size. Mcmaster has 1" dia. iron rod available, I suppose that could be turned down to 13/16 and then each plug loctited in place with the non removable loctite.
So I'm asking those of you with more experience than me, what would you do?