Duclos Fire Eater

[swilliams]

I have been building this for a little while and struggling to find time to post. So there's a bit of a backlog of photos

I started with the flywheel. Here's the somewhat oversized chunk of aluminium I managed to acquire, ready to make lots of swarf





The rod in the middle let me know the wheel was running true for the second side







I'll try and post more soon

Steve

[b.lindsey]

Looking good Steve. Will be anxious to see more of the photos of past and future progress. This is a great engine and fascinating to watch !!

Bill

[arnoldb]

That's a nice start Steve 

Looking forward to the rest of the build.

Kind regards, Arnold

[chucketn]

Steve,
Your pictures aren't showing up here. Did you move them?

Chuck

[swilliams]

Sorry about that Chuck. Should be fixed now.

Bill and Arnold, thanks for stopping by 

Steve

[NickG]

Hi Steve,

Will be watching this, just  fire eaters!

[Bearcar1]

Sure Steve, start with the EASY pieces   first , I will be watching the rest as it unfolds. I've always liked Phil's designs in that they are functional as well as having good looking lines. 


BC1
Jim

[ths]

Looks as if that chunk of ally was reduced considerably in size. Great start, I look forward to the rest.

Hugh.

[Don1966]

Hi Steve, looking great and I will be tagging along on this one. Looking forward to some education on this project.

Don

[zeeprogrammer]

I was waiting for the pics to show too.
Glad to see them.
Good start and interested in seeing more.

Nice tip with the rod to help in truing the wheel!

[swilliams]

Hi Nick, Jim, Hugh, Don and Carl. Thanks for dropping in

Jim - I try to make the fun items first 



So onto the cam

Here's my bits and pieces ready for the rotary table



and a  couple of milling shots





and the finished item



Also some work on the crank





the finished crank



Steve

[b.lindsey]

Brings back some good memories Steve. You are making good progress, and making it look easy in the process.

Bill

[swilliams]

Hi Bill

So how long ago did you build your Fire Eater. I can understand it bringing back fond memories, it's a fun build. Post a photo up of yours if you have one.

Anyway back to business

Here's the base



and the bracket that holds the flywheel. Was a bit slack on the photos with this, sorry 



the parts so far roughly assembled



More to follow
Steve

[swilliams]

Onto the cylinder. I had occasion to be near the brass shop, so I decided to hang the expense and go for brass rather than aluminium.

Just before completing the parting off


After pressing the cylinder into the bracket, I managed to get it mounted in the mill. Took quite some faffing about



Here's the current mock assembly, with the doorknob I got for the burner



That gets me pretty much up to date.
Steve

[b.lindsey]

More great progress Steve...I built mine around 13 years ago as i recall.  I have included a couple of pictures below. Very much looking forward to seeing yours run too. I keep mine on a shelf behind my desk here at the school along with all the others and start it up occasionally. I tell the students its physics and thermodynamics in motion. Even then they find it hard to believe that the heated air in the cylinder can cool fast enough to tick over at the rpm's it achieves. They really are amazing little engines.


Bill