Coke Bottle Mill Engine ( working style)

[b.lindsey]

Eric...I'm here for support and I know you can do this, not to mention it will be far more entertaining than my builds  And since I have the   vertical boiler kit hanging out somewhere under the bench, either way you go I'm here for the ride.  Castings are fun to work with but bring several new elements to machining. Fortunately I have always found the PMR castings to be well done.  Is your casting set iron and bronze?  Back when I got mine it was still all bronze.

Bill

[swilliams]

I'll be aboard for the ride Eric

Cheers
Steve

[ART]

Eric, I started this engine last month, and agree with the other posters PM' s castings are very good. They are just a little over the finished dimensions so be careful. I found with castings I have more problems trying to figure ways to hold them when machining than the actual machining, and there are no suggestions on PM's prints for fixtures. The first " fixture " I made was a legnth of .500 steel rod 9 inches long fitted with centered AL plugs that were a press fit in both the bottom and top of the frame. Try to picture a chicken on a spit type of arrangement. This way I can hold the frame securely on VEE blocks and face both the bottom and top to dimensions, and do the other machining necessary. Also, the small parts like the bearing caps and Valve slide bearings and caps I did while they were still connected to each other. Good luck with your build. It's a nice engine when finished.
                                                                                                                                           Art

[Tennessee Whiskey]

Art, thanks ever so much and a BIG thanks for joining in. Looking forward to your updates and help. Pop on over and give us an intro and don't be shy with photos if you have them. To be honest I haven't done much more than open the box, glance over the castings, and scan the prints. I had that " till you go to sleep" planning session last night, so, I'm headed to the shop just shortly to start measuring and jotting notes.

-----------------------------------------MASON DIXON LINE-----------------------------------------------
Bill, sounds like there is enough of these little suckers under benches, that if, we did change the name to
"Long Neck Style Mill Engine", we could build a whole six pack. Capt'n Jerry, Bars Open

Whiskey

[Bearcar1]

Eric, not to worry about the stuff-ups, PMR is VERY accommodating in terms of getting replacement castings. And they are super fast in delivering them as well. I'm pretty certain that I have seen a build in progress thread about this engine somewhere but can't remember now where it was. Making the boiler was a tremendous amount of fun and was pretty straight forward. PMR sells there whistle and pressure relief valves already made so there are no drawings available for them. Tallyho!




BC1
Jim

[Captain Jerry]

"Long Neck Style Mill Engine", we could build a whole six pack. Capt'n Jerry, Bars Open

Whiskey

OK, Eric.  If you really want to go that way, you know what the cylinder head has to look like, and I don't mean no sissy screw cap!

Jerry

[b.lindsey]

Hmmmm...not one piece of swarf yet and its already getting real interesting    Have fun with it Eric...we sure are!!

Bill

[NickG]

I'll be watching Eric, I've contemplated a pm research kit a lot myself so will be interesting to see how you get on.
Good luck
Nick

[arnoldb]

I've got crackling and beer at the ready 

Kind regards, Arnold

[Tennessee Whiskey]

Thanks guys. I've been trying to finish mounting up the RV-2 Liney. While letting Kodiak ( mill) do some finish cuts I had a chance to do some measuring, head scratching, and planning. I know not one thing about castings, however, these seem to be quite true and have ample material for finishing. The base is almost dead on as it came out of the box. I've taken JasonB's advice and went back through DaveOtto's Pacific Vapour build. There are a lot of photos missing, however, I was able to glean numerous helpful ideas. And if nothing else he'll damn sure make you clean your shop up. . The plans are in fractions of an inch and that's a little weird, however, I haven't come across that " missing dimension" as of yet. The castings are a mix of cast,bronze, and cast Ali. The crank is cast in cast. Hardware seems ample, down to the gasket material and o-rings for the piston ring. I'll admit to having the first cut ready to make, however, I'm gonna sleep on it. Cheers

Whiskey

-------------------------------- MASON DIXON LINE------------------------------

Capt'n Jerry, can you count the divisions on that long neck cap. All I got right now is some cans and Lou won't let me go get no more beer. Made a C-O-C using the head casting and by Willie's there is a nuff meat there

[mklotz]

When working with castings, especially your first, you'll save yourself a lot of disappointment by, prior to cutting anything, making up a written work plan outlining the sequencing of the cuts, how you will maintain spacings/orthogonalities/etc. and how you will hold the workpiece.

By doing this you may discover that you can't complete all the cuts on piece A until you've made some cuts on piece B.

This "thinking through" of the whole construction, while tedious, will save you from a lot of grief.

[Tennessee Whiskey]

Believe it or not Marv I have a dry erase board already set with #'d key dimensions noted. The full size drawing has been dissected and copied by individual part and they are tacked about like photos from the OJ trail. The assembly drawing is left as a whole and posted separately. Now, if the prints are correct, I should be able or even you for that matter, be able to make each part to specs and it should all bolt together, whether machined in sunny SoCal or here in the trailerhood.
I'm really trying to take a slow and methodical approach on this one and as far as I know I'm receiving no monetary compensation for my efforts so I'm just gonna let the creative juices flow as they will

Whiskey

[b.lindsey]

hat sounds like a plan Eric...and that new lathe should come in very handy for this enigine too. Looking forward to seeing it unfold.

Bill

[Don1966]

I ilke Marv's approach very sound thinking, so lets get on with it pal. I am getting the bud lite and pretzels ready. I was going to get some wine, but I drank enough of that in Venice. OK I'm chomping at the bits here man, lets get some action started.

Don

[Jo]

This "thinking through" of the whole construction, while tedious, will save you from a lot of grief.

 How can you call it tedious  When you are sat at work in a boring meeting working out machining processes is the best way to keep awake 

I have noted that a couple of our graduates have taken to sitting next to me in said meetings, so that, as they freely admit: they can read over my shoulder and find out what I am thinking of doing as they see it as "real engineering"  .

Jo