Author Topic: Lister D Compressed Air Engine  (Read 22831 times)

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #15 on: December 19, 2012, 08:06:14 PM »
Looks great to me Chuck...enjoy the grandkids!!

Bill

Offline Johnmcc69

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #16 on: December 19, 2012, 11:25:10 PM »
Neat project Chuck. Looking forward as always, to the build.
Enjoy that time with the family.

John

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #17 on: December 20, 2012, 01:15:22 AM »
Thanks, everbody, for your interest and comments.  I made the flywheel this afternoon.  Used some of my prized brass, so now I probably won't want to cover it up with green paint... we'll see.  The flywheel at 3" OD is a little oversized for the scale of the engine, so I may trim it down some. 



Kind of knocking out the simple stuff for now.  I'm going to have to tackle the timing gears and cam soon but havent completed the design quite yet.  Maybe the head next...

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #18 on: December 23, 2012, 10:41:28 PM »
Finished up the piston and connecting rod today.  The fit and finish of all the parts are very nice. 

 

Unfortunately, I ran into a connundrum all too common when building engines from my own design.  After going to the extra trouble of making a one piece crankshaft, the engine cannot be assembled.   :cussing: There's no way to get the rod over the crank pin with the crankshaft in place.  I'm going to have to machine off the crankpin and make one that attaches with threads.

Oh, well, that's how it goes.

Chuck 

So many projects, so little time...

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #19 on: December 25, 2012, 11:38:56 PM »
Been working some on the Lister D.  I got the head cut to shape and most of the plumbing drilled & sized.



I maded a detachable crankpin so I could get the engine assembled...



This will be the other side of the crankshaft and the primary timing gear, cut from 9 tooth, 24 pitch pinion wire.



Here is the blank for the secondary timing gear.  The blank was turned down from a brass gear like the one in front of it.  I bought a bunch of brass gears on ebay several years ago thinking they would be useful.  Turns out they never have the right number of teeth but they do make good gear blanks.!



Here's the head setting on top of the block.  I will eventually taper the sides of the block in to match the width of the head.  But first I need to make sure all the other machining on the block is done.



Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #20 on: January 01, 2013, 02:55:34 AM »
Feel like I'm in the home stretch.  I'm down to the nitty gritty parts.  I've spent quite a bit of time deciding on the design for the valve actuating assembly. 

Here is the block with some space carved out for the timing gears, and lifter.



Here's the back cover plate and the timing gears, 40DP, 12 and 24 teeth.



Timing gears in place on the back cover.







Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #21 on: January 02, 2013, 03:45:32 AM »
Apologies for the attached pictures rather than an included link.  Got forced into the new Photoucket beta and now I don't know how to copy picture links.  Why the H3ll do they have to change things!

Anyway,the first picture set is the valve operating assembly.  This is a four stroke engine so the Cam gear has 24 teeth and the primary gear has 12 teeth.  The cam lobe is on the back of the cam gear.

The second picture shows the engine with the back cover in place.  The push rod is protuding from the top of the block.  It will open and close the air valve which is located in the head.  Actually, the push rod normally holds the valve closed.  At the TDC of the "firing" cycle, the push rod is dropped and incoming air pressure pushes the valve down exposing a port into the top of the cylinder.  This type of operation allows the inlet valve to open very quickly, more closely approximateing the effect of an internal combustion engine.

Chuck

So many projects, so little time...

Offline NickG

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Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #22 on: January 02, 2013, 04:41:40 PM »
Chuck, this is brilliant, I too have thought of trying to copy one of these and do a ic engine. Sure your compressed air version will be fantastic. Glad I found this just by chance messing around with the tapatalk app!

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #23 on: January 02, 2013, 05:45:00 PM »
Coming along there Chuck.

As for Photobucket...I ran into the same problem this morning.
Don't know if this helps but...

If you hover over the picture you want, you'll see what looks like a sprocket appear in the upper right corner of the picture.

If you hover over the sprocket, you'll get a little pop-up window.

Select 'Get media links' and you'll see the usual links to IMG, HTML, etc.

Just click in the box of the one you'll want and it will copy.
Then go to MEM and paste (Ctl-V).

More work now. There may be faster ways.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #24 on: January 04, 2013, 12:08:29 AM »
Thanks for the comments, guys.  And thanks for the hints, Zee.  This evening Photobucket seems to be back to the old normal, so I think I can upload pictures again.

I got the engine running this morning.  Sounds great.  But now to the task of actually making it look more like a Lister D.  Here are some pictures of my progress. 







I tapered the sides of the block and made the base with bolt holes.  I also carved out the top of the head to look more realistic.

I'll post a video after I get it finished.

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline NickG

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Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #25 on: January 04, 2013, 09:09:00 AM »
Looking good Chuck, are you planning any dummy carb / exhaust? I can't remember what else they have, the magneto and is there some sort of governor rod?

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #26 on: January 04, 2013, 10:42:58 PM »
Looking good Chuck, are you planning any dummy carb / exhaust? I can't remember what else they have, the magneto and is there some sort of governor rod?

Thanks, Nick.  I have now made a muffler.  There is no carburetor and all the valve gear including the push rod is hidden inside the engine  Unfortunately, the flywheels is about all you can see moving on a Lister D.

Here are a few more pictures of the (nearly) finished engine in the raw before I paint it. 







Here's the paint I'm planning to use.



Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline cfellows

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #27 on: January 06, 2013, 11:21:19 PM »

Here's a few pictures of the painted engine.  First, all the parts laid out.



And assembled...











Unfortunately, no video.  I can't get the engine running again.  The valve leaks too much and the slave valve won't work properly.  I've tried different springs, but what I really need is an o-ring seal on the valve.  But, there just isn't enough meat on the side of the head to bore it out and install an o-ring assembly.  So, I'm going to revert to a poppet valve which means I also need to make a new timing gear and cam.  Gonna take me a few days, but I should have it running by mid week or so!

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #28 on: January 06, 2013, 11:33:09 PM »
I always enjoy seeing a picture of all the disassembled parts. Very neat.
I like that color too.
I don't doubt you'll get it running. Looking forward to it.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
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Offline AussieJimG

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Re: Lister D Compressed Air Engine
« Reply #29 on: January 07, 2013, 12:55:43 AM »
Three weeks and it's all painted and almost finished. You haven't wasted any time with this one Chuck.
It looks good and I am sure that in no time at all, we will hear it purring.

Jim

 

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