Elmer Engine Number 14 - Wobble Plate

[Don1966]

Well done Prop, like Arnold said files and emery are you pals when it comes to clean ups.

Don

[propforward]

Thanks Fellas. I am trying to work towards the goal of not having to attack every component with emery paper in order to make them look acceptable, but Rome wasn't built in a day, after all. I think you need to balance the long term perfection goals with near term success to give a boost along the way.

Anyhoo, I was out in the shed today, and made some progress on the cylinder head.

This is a rectangular part, with a circular boss on it that locates the cylinder for soldering later. I suppose you could machine the whole thing from solid, although the 1/16th hole from cylinder to valve would be tricky.

Anyway, here it is in the 4 jaw, all blued up, ready for alignment.



I used the procedure that Marv kindly wrote up in my "request for center finder" thread. I had made a simple center finder, as a solid bar with taper on one end and center hole on the other, and this all worked a treat. I had the center hole located very quickly with Marvs method. I was very happy about that.

Once it was centered, I scribed a 3/8 circle in the blue on the face of the part, as a visual aid. I then started facing the part down to the right thickness, leaving a bit over the 3/8 circle (wish I had taken a picture).

Once the part was at close to the right thickness (leaving some to skim off the opposite side), I then turned the boss to the correct OD, and then faced it to length.



After that, it was a case of marking out and drilling the various holes in the part to completion .



Again, there are aspects about this part that I am dissatisfied with. I won't go into details. but improvement will be necessary. Right now, I want to use the component as is and see how well it works.

I also worked on the valve, which is a very simple part - a rod with a reduced diameter part way along its length.





I am now rapidly approaching a point where I HAVE to make some progress on the base and side plates, and they will be the focus of the upcoming weeks work, I think.

[b.lindsey]

You are making some fine progress Prop.  By next weekend i predict you will be ready for a trial run.

Bill

[Arbalest]

You are making some fine progress Prop.  By next weekend i predict you will be ready for a trial run.

Bill

+ 1 You're doing very well! Nice looking parts.

[ChipMaker]

I just ran across this build log, as I just started to build my copy of Elmers #14 Wobble Plate engine!  Since I am a bit short of brass for the cylinder, I decided to use a 30-06 shell cartridge.  There was enough length to it, about the right I.D., and I drilled and polished the bore and it is looking good!

I just completed Elmers #5 Geared engine, and it was and is a great project. 

So Prop, how are you coming on this the Wobble Plate engine?  Regards, Karl, CM

[b.lindsey]

You will like the #14 too Karl. I always thought it was one of Elmer's more interesting valve motions even if not patterned after a prototype engine (at least not that I know of).

Bill

[Dreeves]

I loved building the wobble plate. It's a nice runner when you get it timed.  Enjoying watching the build

Dave

[sshire]

I second that. A fun build for me. One of my Elmer's favorites.

Don't know if Prop just stopped posting the log or ???

If you have any questions, there have been more than a few built here. Just ask.

Here's a video of the first run on mine.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Ozg6j57X4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Ozg6j57X4</a>

[ChipMaker]

Nice video of your Elmers #14 Stan.  Here this season in Michigan, with all of the extreme cold, and being retired, gave me time to snuggle up to my Sherline and Unimat SL lathes and build and complete my Elmers #5 Geared engine!  Now as I am getting into my build on the Wobble Plate engine, the weather is getting warmer so I will have to hurry before all of my outdoor activities start up.  I to, wondered about Prop's build log, and not seeing any further progress; we can just hope that he is okay.  Regards, Karl, ChipMaker

[sshire]

I too hope he's OK.
If you're going to NAMES, I'll have mine there. Sometimes it helps to see it live.

[ChipMaker]

I am planning on going to NAMES this year; I have missed a couple of the shows for various reasons.  I have gone to many of them, even entered the Sherline contests with an entry, especially when my grandson was young and we "baby sat" for him.  He would build and engine of some sorts and have an entry.  It was fun.  Hope to see you there.  Karl ChipMaker

[geoff5269]

I agree this is a fun engine to make and a bit different to the other wobblers, I thought I would add a few of my pictures and my solution for holding the wobble disc while soldering.         <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NwwORo7TE4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NwwORo7TE4</a>
Geoff

[ths]

That looks like a very effective soldering jig - it obviously worked! Hugh.

[propforward]

Ahem.

So, last post on the matter was February 2013, so, here we are in December 2015, I suppose I should get on with it. 

I stepped out to go to the shops and................................

Anyway, a lot happened in the last nearly 3 years, just not on my engine.  But never mind all that. Thanks to everyone for your interest and concern, I really appreciate it, actually.

I still want to finish this engine, and progress HAS been made, albeit it not much.

I have done some work on the frame and plates.

This is a test fit. I don't have pictures of the parts as I was making them. Although the finish on these is not very good, I am happy that the holes line up. I located all holes by using an edge finder and then the machine dials, rather than by marking out and center punch. I DID mark out the plates, as a visual aid. The two bearing holes were made by clamping the two plates together to get the datum edges flush, so as to keep the bearings aligned for the shaft.

Pay no attention to the use of countersunk screws - this is just a test fit to make sure things line up properly.



Yesterday, I made the valve arm guide. Here it is marked out.



Again, the marking out is more as a visual aid. I used a slitting saw to make the 1/16" cut in the guide. That went quite well, but overall I am not happy with how the part turned out (hence no pic of the "finished" part). I think it would "work", but the more I thought about it during the night (staying awake thinking about it - a sure sign that it isn't right) the more I want to do over on that part.

Better progress was made on the crank disc. I saw arnoldb make a crank disc this way, so I tried the technique. The first two times I royally screwed up the part through simple novice errors, or perhaps simply not paying enough attention. After the second time I became quite disheartened, and that's one reason the engine got shelved for a while.

However, I got it right yesterday, by carefully making a big diagram on my shop white board, with coordinates, and notes about which way to turn the cross slide handles to get the slides to go in each direction. Yep, got that wrong once, and ruined an otherwise perfect part. *sigh*. Sometimes I wonder whether I should even be doing this hobby, but I figure it's all about practice.



I think I will be able to make the center hole on the lathe, part off the crank disc and then face it size once it is mounted on the crankshaft.  I already drilled the hole for the crank screw for the connecting rod.

This little bit of success has given me a boost, although the poor quality of my lever guide took the wind out of my sails a bit. However, only one thing to do - grit ones teeth, figure out what I didn't do right and go at it again.

I've still got a lot going on, so it may be two weeks before I get back to the shop, but I am determined to finish this engine this winter.

In other news, I got to go to a threshing show of immense proportions here in Minnesota this last September, with more engines in one place than I have ever seen before - it's amazing. So I'll try and post pictures about that in the general area of the forum.

[b.lindsey]

Good to see you back working on the #14 Prop! Keep after it and you will have a nice runner there. Still one of my favorites of Elmers engines.

Bill