VICKERS MK6B's resto

[colin jones]

Just showing a photo of a track link with a bent horn. It goes to show just how malleable they are before they actually break.
I am also machining up connection plates to attach the soft start to the hyd pump. I had some 4140 so I thought it should go to some good use. I just need to cut the key into the shaft.

[colin jones]

So one end will be bolted to the existing 4 bolt conn on the hyd pump shaft and the other I am machining up the bolt straight to the engine flywheel. I have a flex plate in the photo only for hole spacing. I still need to make a plate that will bolt to the bell housing/Hyd pump and floor then that will take care of the engine area, apart from the radiator and fan.

[Mike K]

Some nice lathe machining there Must be satisfying for you nearing the end of a long project.

Do you prefer carbide tooling or HSS ? I mostly use HSS for my lathe doesn't have the mass/rigidity required for coping with industrial grade carbide inserts.

Sharp positive rake carbide inserts are available these days but the cheaper Asian brands are not that good.

The chap down the road from me rebuilds Steam traction engines .. along the lines of your work, he has a a horizontal boring machine, radial arm drill and a massive FORD brand lathe. made during WW2.

[colin jones]

Hi Mike, I do like the carbide inserts mainly for the simplicity of changing them. I get most of mine on line but occasionally I need to grind my own for specific jobs. I still have plenty to do on these tanks but looking back at all the different jobs I have done to date, it doesn't seem so bad now

[RichardT10829]

Did all Vickers Mk6’s have the wider track when they left the factory ?

[colin jones]

Hi Richard, interesting question. Here's my thoughts on that. I don't believe they all had the wider track off the production line. I think it was for the Australian order only because of our standard wider track. The tank in Borden is fitted with the standard narrow gauge. I just can't imagine they would have had two different track horn widths for different models that would possibly be in the same outfit along with T16 and universal carriers that ran the standard narrow track as well. I too would love to get accurate information about this.

[colin jones]

Interesting photo here. This is a photo of the Vickers at Duxford and guess what?? it has Australian track and this tank just happens to be one of the ten we got in Australia. For those who are not familiar with tracks, the Australian track don't have riveted pins but held in place with lead plugs.