Thread: 1964 VW Beetle - WIP

Steve you are doing a great job on the VW. Slowly coming together can't wait now for the finished model

Originally Posted by Dalboy

Steve you are doing a great job on the VW. Slowly coming together can't wait now for the finished model

Not all that much to go, Derek, so not long to wait I hope. Xmas is the aim, and crowie pinned me down to Xmas this year, so I've got to fire up.

Xmas sounds a long way off, but my new lathe is arriving on Monday, so I suspect I'll be sidetracked a little along the way while I learn how to use the thing. First job for the lathe will be the wheels.

I've been fiddling about lapping all important surfaces, making sure it all fits together well without gaps, so not a lot of visible progress. I got the rest of the body front glued up and rough-shaped and the front guards cut out and tapered.

ch. Front guards cut out.jpg

I have to make the headlights next, or maybe just a temporary 19mm dummy, so that I can shape the guards to suit, then the rest of the guard shaping. I'm avoiding gluing things up unless I really have to, to get a better overall fit.

Almost time for those scary wheels and bumper bars.

This is looking really great!!!

The pattern of the grain on the bonnet reminds me of the old Citroens.

Looking good steve can't wait to see it finished I think I might have another crack at mine when I get time

Thanks Arthur and Bob. I guess I can see more of the faults than you can.

I've decided to cheat with the headlights. I've got a bag of 50 T&J headlights here, and after checking them out the lens and rim are very close to what I was planning to make, so I've cut the front off two and will re-shape the rim slightly and use them instead of re-inventing the wheel.

ci. Headlights.JPG


Speaking of re-inventing the wheel, I made a dummy 51mm wheel for centring the mudguards during gluing, but the bottom got in the way so I cut it off. Much better, and really easy to position the guard evenly around the 'wheel'. (Looks like it's bogged.)

cj. Guard centring jig.JPG

Edit: And Bob, you should continue with your's. I'll probably make a second one myself, since I've made so many little jigs and templates for this one. I wouldn't mind having a go at improving the bonnet lines on the next one.

Originally Posted by Hermit

Speaking of re-inventing the wheel, I made a dummy 51mm wheel for centring the mudguards during gluing, but the bottom got in the way so I cut it off. Much better, and really easy to position the guard evenly around the 'wheel'. (Looks like it's bogged.)

cj. Guard centring jig.JPG

Thats clever.
I never come up with those ideas...

Originally Posted by _fly_

Thats clever.
I never come up with those ideas...

Hi Pete. The plans did say to use a wheel to centre the guards, so I can only claim credit for thinking of cutting the bottom off.
(Wish I'd thought of it earlier, during the Roadster build.)

Looking Good Steve. Can't wait to see how you make the wheels on your new toy! Hopefully you can get some turning tools soon. Not sure if you guys have it buy around here Craigslists there are always turning tools. People buy them and try to turn and then see how much skill is involved and quit. Can get a good set for very cheap some times. Just a thought. Just make sure they are HSS(high strength steel). You will also have to have some way to keep them sharp.

Bret

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Looking Good Steve. Can't wait to see how you make the wheels on your new toy! Hopefully you can get some turning tools soon. Not sure if you guys have it buy around here Craigslists there are always turning tools. People buy them and try to turn and then see how much skill is involved and quit. Can get a good set for very cheap some times. Just a thought. Just make sure they are HSS(high strength steel). You will also have to have some way to keep them sharp.

Bret

Ha, yeah, I can't wait to see how I make the wheels too.

To help get started sooner, I ordered a cheap set of three mini turning chisels from Carbatec earlier.
Carba-Tec® 3 Piece Miniature Turning Chisel Set : CARBA-TEC

Cheap and nasty, $31 for the set, but they'll do me for a short time until I can get better. They're only carbon steel and not HSS, too. I could still do with a mini curved scraper and a mini bowl gouge, so I'll see what I can find tomorrow, if $$$ permit.

On payday I'll buy a grinder and face shield, then gradually buy decent Sorby or Hamlet chisels, both mini and std sized. Second-hand is a good idea. I'll keep an eye open.

I've been boning up on the basics of turning, especially the chisels and how and why each type is used. By the time I get to use it, I'll be fairly confident of doing things right.

Also been looking at the carbide-tipped tools, in particular the Mini Easy Rougher, Mini Easy Finisher and Mini Easy Detailer. They look pretty forgiving for a learner. Toward the bottom of the page here: Carbide Tipped Tools - Woodturning Tools and Timber, Woodturner Accessories, Woodcarver Supplies, Woodturning Equipment

Any opinions?

Steve A good book to get to help you start turning is Keith Rowley's "Woodturning A Foundation Course" It shows all the basics including sharpening.

Originally Posted by Dalboy

Steve A good book to get to help you start turning is Keith Rowley's "Woodturning A Foundation Course" It shows all the basics including sharpening.

Thanks Derek. Sounds like just what I need. I think I'll have to get myself a copy, when the budget's a bit less stretched.

For now, I'm watching heaps of vids by Brendan Stemp, Mike Waldt, Brian Clifford and others and have downloaded some good pdf starter books.

Brian Clifford has a good site here: The Woodturners Workshop which has a great downloadable 'Intro to Woodturning' eBook and a series of vids on the basic cuts. I've learned a lot from that site.

I'm keeping an eye open for any woodturning classes within travelling distance too.

My lathe etc arrived the other day, so i've been side-tracked setting it up and having a bit of a play with it. Got a cheap set of chisels, absolute rubbish, but still no means of sharpening so have only been able to try the scraper. It came with a great burr.

Got a routine house inspection in a few days, too, so I'll be tied up a bit more while I do a quick Spring-clean.

Yonnee's had me thinking about wheels, so I had a fiddle with making a test rim today, to try using the Dremel with a 1/4" bull-nose router bit for outer rim shaping. Works well.
I'm making the rim in two pieces - a Camphor Laurel outer rim with Merbau centre. Only a thin ring of Merbau will be visible when the hub caps, (Silver Ash), go on.
The shape's not exactly what I'm after for the final ones, but close enough to prove the theory. Next time I'll make the edge thinner and also leave more meat through the centre to glue the rim centre to. On this one there's only 5mm for gluing to. I wanted the rim to look good from both sides, but a compromise is in order.

100_4894.jpg 100_4895.JPG


While I was at it I had a quick shot at making the rim centre, but somewhere along the way I got the axle-hole off-centre. Underestimated how quickly I was removing material on the lathe, too, so this one is a bit of a loose fit.

100_4904.JPG

I'll have to review my technique for making the centres. I'm using 6mm dowel for axles, so had to use the holesaw without a pilot bit. For this one, I clamped the stock to the drill press table with a backing board, then bored a 6mm hole right through with a brad-point bit. Next I cut it out with a 1" I.D. holesaw, without moving the table while swapping bits, so in theory the 6mm hole would be dead centred in the 1" disc.
To mount it in the lathe and turn it down to a 22.2mm OD to fit the outer rim, I put a 6mm bolt through another wooden disc and bolted this one to it, with spacers, then fitted the first disc into the scroll chuck.

The LHS of this arrangement went into the chuck. (The bolt-head was clear of everything.):

100_4905.JPG


For my next attempt, I think I'll skip the holesaw and drilling, turn the rim centre from thicker stock on the lathe with the scroll chuck, mark the centre for drilling with the tailstock centre, (no Jacobs chuck yet), then part off to size and drill on the drill press, centred on the dimple left by the tail centre.




Edit: This is the rim outside profile w/ hub cap that I'd like to achieve, or get close to:

Wheel Rim Full Size 1.JPG

When you want to make something on the lathe that has a centre hole you either,

1 need to drill on the lathe with a chuck in the tail stock or

2 drill the hole on the drill press then use the hole to mount the piece on the lathe so that the hole is central.

Have fun with the lathe and get a cheap bench grinder soon as there is nothing worse than blunt tools

Originally Posted by Dalboy

When you want to make something on the lathe that has a centre hole you either,

1 need to drill on the lathe with a chuck in the tail stock or

2 drill the hole on the drill press then use the hole to mount the piece on the lathe so that the hole is central.

Have fun with the lathe and get a cheap bench grinder soon as there is nothing worse than blunt tools

I did it as in #2, as described. Still managed to get it 0.5mm off-centre, though.

I've decided to ignore the lathe completely and make the rim centre the old way - I'll make up a miniature circle sanding jig for the Dremel to suit the 22mm parts, then the Dremel again for the edge chamfer. I'll use the Dremel for the tyres as well.

The lathe can wait - I'll pack it away for a while until after I get some decent tools and a grinder. I've overspent and will have to wait a couple of months at the very least, but that's life. At least the lathe's here now, even if I can't use it