VICKERS MK6B's resto

[colin jones]

John, I am surprised at the offers and comments I've had with him considering I just made him for a bit of fun. I wanted to use his manly attribute as a lever to open the lid of the letterbox but thought is might cause a bit of a problem with the lady postie that delivers here.
Sean, the red eyes certainly is on the cards and maybe a predator on the other side of my driveway.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Great. You've had your fun...NOW GET BACK TO THE VICKERS!!!!

We addicts need our fix.

[Jesse Browning]

Put me on the list. I need one of those to open the door when the pesky salesman comes by. Jesse.

[colin jones]

Bruce! I am very sorry my letterbox deviated from the Vickers so this is a copy from the last previous page in case you never went back one, so here is where I am.
Jesse, I'll put you on the list
Back to the Vickers now as I have just got my blank gears back. I had to drill and tap the main ring gear and made a tool to fit my mill that allows me to tap the holes straight and true. After I have completed the gears, ring gear and the drive shaft I have to send them all in to be hardened. It certainly has been quite a unique part of this project but a very important one.[/QUOTE]

[Peter Duggan]

Colin,

Your workmanship is mind boggling. Your thread is my morning fixture, along with the first cup of coffee.

Keep up the great work, Peter

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Peter Duggan

Colin,

Your workmanship is mind boggling. Your thread is my morning fixture, along with the first cup of coffee.

Keep up the great work, Peter

Colin, you need to find a hobby. Something to spark your creative side. Sitting on the internet all hours of the day and night isn't doing you soul any good. ( )

Terry

[colin jones]

Hey Terry, perhaps you're right but this creative stuff is all in the mind I think
I have assembled, disassembled, made adjustments so many times I think i'm wearing out the bearings but almost there now. The small shaft with the gear is the final part of the fabrication. I have to get a disc welded to the end and it's not something I can do. The particular steel is called "EN36A" and is wonderful to work with and can then be hardened anywhere and depth required. The piece that needs to welded on the end is also the same material as I found out that if it is not compatible it will fail and the welding process is extremely specific and not within my ability. It must be welded with special rods, heated to 600-650deg, covered in some kind of sand with regulated cooling. As this small shaft it the final drive "FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION"
and not a time to cut corners. Anyway, it will be off to the specialty welders tomorrow, get it back Monday, off to the heat treaters Tuesday, get the parts back some time next week then it will be the final assembly, engine, tracks and so on.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by colin jones

Bruce! I am very sorry my letterbox deviated from the Vickers so this is a copy from the last previous page in case you never went back one, so here is where I am.

Thanks Colin!!! ...the shakes and cold sweats are subsiding...

(but I do like the idea about red eyes in Mr. Post box)

Just wondering why the Brits would think two planetary gears operating an outer gear and driven by a central shaft made sense instead of a simple driven end. I imagine the whole thing is filled with grease or hypoid so it suffers from that other Brit characteristic of perpetual leaks?

[Lynn Eades]

Bruce, Because it is a good way to go from high speed low torque to low speed high torque. The sun gear is self supporting, being loaded from opposite sides.
Probably lighter than a big pinion and gear arrangement, especially considering the line in and line out are the same axis in this case.
Without carefully counting teeth, it is probably somewhere between a 12:1 to 15:1 reduction.

[colin jones]

Wow, I will be ever so glad when this part is finished as is so time consuming to get it right. I have machined up metal plugs to go in place where the bearings go and have a centred hole. It all needed to be assembled so I can use the centre hole to transfer the centre location to both sides and it has been no easy task. It maybe the total wrong way but it is progressing. Now that I have the centres I can move on and machine the bearing centre shafts. These recess part way into the bottom housing and a bolt goes through the centre and threads in place. I sure am lucky to have one original.