VICKERS MK6B's resto

[David Herbert]

Most WW2 turret rings were not actually sealed against anything. They relied on their shape to encourage water to keep away from the actual bearing surfaces. There were usually ribs on both the top of the hull and the bottom of the turret that prevented bullet fragments from getting to the bearing and these helped to keep water and lumps of dirt away too. Dust was a more difficult problem that was reduced by regular greasing which used the grease to push the dirt away from the actual bearing and trap incoming dirt and water. The rack was exposed (as it is on modern tanks) and just guarded to prevent damage to crew.

David

[colin jones]

Mike the dust seal is very simple as shown on the parts drawings I have.
It is nothing more than I assume a strip of felt or possibly leather that runs around the outside bottom of the turret. It has a metal band on top and is secured by a clamp which looks like an oversize hose clamp. The turret is held in place by 5 or 6 internal brackets bolted to the turret and goes under the ring. They turn with the turret and it's all covered by a angled styled capping. I am so fortunate to have great drawings thanks to members on the forum here.

[Mike Cecil]

Thanks Colin and David,

A felt 'ring' around the turret base makes sense. It would make an enormous difference to the ingress of dust, yet still be soft & flexible enough not to impede the rotation.

I'm familiar with the turret clamping arrangements for Cent and Leopard AS1, so can visualize what you are describing for the little Vickers. All makes sense.

Looking forward to the next installment of 'Tank Tales'!

Mike

[colin jones]

I had to make a support frame for the ball race to go in to the mill and it needs to be as accurate as I can get it. It appears to be acceptable to me. I have just welded the frame to the race as it is easily cut off after the grove is milled in.

[colin jones]

I had a centre to work with and made a centre in my rotating table to align them both with and then checked it with a centre point on the mill before I started cutting. It was certainly close enough for me. I also had to make a support while cutting which is just a couple of bearings roughly supported just for this particular job and it works well.

[colin jones]

A lot of coolant and quite a few passes by hand and the first one is done. I put some ball bearings on to get a count of the total required and I think I will end up with 220 which is the exact amount required so I'm happy with that. Another couple of days and they will be finished.

[Bob Carriere]

.... the only time I have seen work like this was at National Research Center where they had a horizontal lathe from WW 2 converted to CNC for naval turret rings.

How many ball bearing are needed????

Bob C.

[Ganmain Tony]

220 ball bearings Bob - and no surprise to all veiwing but exactly the original amount needed.

I dont have the superlatives in my vocabulary to do your work justice Colin.

Suffice to say I am awestruck - this is important history being brought back to life by a very talented individual.

And any of us mortals who have followed this thread will be experts on Vickers light tanks - from one end to the other!!!

Again we have you to thank for that Colin

[James P]

Amazing, truly amazing.

[super dave]

You da Man Colin

[colin jones]

Thankyou for your comments.
I have completed the top ring as well thanks to my wife who came out to have a look and said " why don't you weld the top part on and just cut it off later seeing that you already have it centred " I took her advice and did just that so I know I have a perfect match for the bottom. She's a smart cookie

[colin jones]

I decided to start this one with a straight end mill as I have already gone through 2 Ball nose cutters so I went down with a end mill and finished it off with the ball nose as I have quite a few flat end mill ones so I won't need to sharpen the ball nose as much. Anyway that one is done and one more to go but not today

[David Herbert]

Colin,
That is a seriously impressive piece of work ! I hate to think how many man hours went into it but it is hard to see how you could have done it better. I really like the roller support for the part of the ring that you are actually cutting.

Am I right that this turret ring only uses the ball race to support the turret, like a giant thrust race. If so how are sideways forces resisted ? I know that the Vickers just has a machine gun but when tanks started to have proper guns with significant recoil forces, turret ring design quickly standardised into a three piece arangement which has been normal ever since.

This 'standard' design has the part that bolts to the hull as the heaviest piece. It has the lower, outer quarter of the ball track and the rack below it, sometimes as a seperate bolt on part. The inner half of the ball track is in the outside face of the part that the turret is bolted to and then the outer upper quarter of the ball track is a much lighter piece that bolts down to the top of the lower outer piece, acting as a retainer for the balls and resisting upward forces.

Given the speed of the Vickers light tanks I would have thought that there must be quite good provison for holding the turret down to the hull and resisting sideways forces ?

David

[Bob Carriere]

...... I know I have a perfect match .... She's a smart cookie....

She has been round you long enough to be a qualified assistant.....

Wonderful work!!!!!

Bob C

[colin jones]

David you are right that it is the turret support. Now that it is almost finished It is very strong and rigid. I have cleaned and ground both parts and fitted the ball bearings and put the top on. It turns just so so easy. That means that I got it aligned properly. I guess the hold down brackets form the sideway forces plus the turret basket with ammo and two men on it would all add to the support. As far as the next models that had a bigger gun they must have done something to allow for recoil. The bearing support I made was a critical part as it would never have cut without it. All in all I am really happy how it has turned out.
Bob, my wife qualified a long time ago as a workshop assistant or was that me to her

[Tim Lovelock]

Colin,
Still very much enjoying following your posts.
👍🏻
Tim

[colin jones]

Hi Tim, me too
I have now completed the second ball race and it certainly never took as long as the first. That's another job out of the way that was a concern.

[colin jones]

Now I know it looks like the first one but I can assure you it's a different one. While I was at it last week I splurged out and got myself a new lathe with a digital readout and a taper attachment which will be really handy for doing tapered barrels like the 37mm and it has a big swing as well. That part will be handy when I do the Capola on the Vickers.

[Mike K]

Looks like you can remove a piece of the bed in order to increase the swing ?

[George Moore]

Been following with great interest and amazed at the work you have done and can do.

I guess the turret fabrication will be a walk in the park after all that work so far.

LOL
George.

[colin jones]

Mike, yes I can take out a section and that will give me a 788mm swing and I know that will come in handy one day.
George, I am happy you have an interest in these tanks but I think the turrets will be a reasonable task on their own and I have started them and been doing a lot of research and homework for the fabrication side.
I have ordered my main turret section that is rolled and unfortunately It is beyond my workshop facilities. I do have a set of rollers but it won't do 12mm with the width I require but never the less, I have been working on the cupola's and they are a piece of work as well. They are constructed of a lot of angled pieces that are machined, grafted and jointed together. My mill is certainly getting a good workout with this project.

[colin jones]

The material for the base is 20mm thick and apart from milling them into a perfect circle I also had to divide them in 8 sections and them machine a bevel at each section. I assume it is for water run off or something. The rod you can see is 40mm dia which is machined and recessed into the base plate. I still need to slot the rods for the cupola sides. These little things are about as much work as the turret that they sit on. At least by the time I get my curved plated I should have these done so that's a good start.

[colin jones]

It's coming together quite well with a lot of milling in each vertical rod that connects the flat sections. They would certainly have been a very strong cupola. I think I might get these done a bit quicker that expected, but that's a good thing.

[colin jones]

I am making steady progress on the cupola's

[colin jones]

I'm just about ready to make the tops and they are now extremely heavy.

[colin jones]

I should know thing take longer than expected. If I was paid by the hour I'd be putting in quite a hefty bill by now. I am making very good progress.

[colin jones]

All those rivets I bought at an auction a few years ago are coming in very handy now. These Cupola's are a complicated bit of design and I can see why the next model had round ones.

[colin jones]

My two Cupola's are almost externally completed apart from a few rivets. I thought I would also share an easy way to heat solid rivets if you have a spot welder as it is far quicker than a forge, far cheaper than using an oxy set and very easy to use. These rivets take about 6 seconds to get to temp.

[colin jones]

While I am waiting for some more mushroom head rivets to arrive I thought I would also get a start on the other opening on top of the turret which is a couple of domed hatches.

[Bob Carriere]

...with the spot welder.....must remember that one.......

Fantastic job on the turrets....... should make an extra one as a BBQ.

Bob C