VICKERS MK6B's resto

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Colin,

I am amazed by your skills and determination to restore this rare tank. Hats off and !

Thanks for sharing all the pics & info here on MLU.

Regards,
Hanno

[Robin Craig]

Among the many things this hobby has taught me, apart from never say never as someone will produce a photo to prove you wrong right after, is that if man made it man can fix it.

The level of skill people like you put into these projects leaves the rest of us feeling quite inadequate and at times wishing we had taken up bird watching.

I am filled with hope that maybe the game boy generations might stumble upon our hobby and engage.

You have materials and tools and skills that make it all look so easy, once again, I feel very lacking in my education and skills.

Another thread that I am hooked on. Thank you

[colin jones]

Well, all I can say is thankyou but when you look at all the projects that have been completed and shown here, it's amazing. There is so much work and talent behind all of them in so many various ways. I just happen to put up lots of photo's only as a means of possible ideas and reference for others and also for me. I am sure that every one has more ability than they give themselves credit for and worried about the outcome. I'm now old enough and ugly enough to not worry about the outcome if I have given it my best shot. There is a wealth of knowledge here and will also say that EVERYone is just so happy to give their time and their experience to help others and that is what makes this site so good. Not to mention that I am very privileged to have two very rare tanks in my temporary position and they certainly deserve to be preserved. Just to find hand stamped numbers, Words (BOWER BIRD) still visible, that has been hand made is goose bump stuff. You would love to have these machines talk and tell you what they know. By the time I finish these I will be very knowledgeable about the Vickers MKV1a tanks.
Colin.

[colin jones]

This part is the centre of the trans in between the gearbox and the angle drive box. I have made up some aligning tubes of specific length and distance apart.

[colin jones]

Obviously the location of the bearing housings are critical and I should be very very close to the original location. I am constantly machining up plugs, spacers and anything else I need to obtain accuracy.

[colin jones]

The gear that fits into the housing here must be some kind of support idler, as it has a small gear that runs of the main bottom shaft but does not move and only ever runs on half the idler gear. I assume it served some purpose.

[colin jones]

The housing is complete and the gear fits really nice and spins well. I just need to get it to fit into the jigsaw and remain aligned. Matt,, sorry I never answered your question of why I'm using steel. There is a few reasons. First is I have lots of different sized on hand, I find it easier to work with than alloy. It doesn't damage in the lathe chuck and you can give it a hammer with out distorting it. Welding is so mush easier as is shaping and I'm much better at welding steel than aluminium.
Colin.