Building Kozo's New Shay locomotive

[crueby]

This morning I got the setup for the crankcase bearing drilling all squared up, and made an extension for the center drill. The extension allows me to center drill each bearing post, drill it out, and center drill the next, to keep from wandering down the length of the crankcase. Kozo drilled out with a large drill all at once, I have found that I get better results if I drill with about a 1/4", and open it up with a series to 3/8" - reduces the chatter and irregular hole shape at the tops of the holes. The first three photos show the sequence of center drill, main drilling, and reaming to final size.

The fourth photo shows the crankcase with all the holes drilled through. These holes will hold bronze bearings, with a 5/16" main shaft.

With that operation done (phew!) it was time to drill the mount holes to hold the crosshead guides. Once again, the same drill jig made for the cylinder caps originally was used to locate the holes. As he points out in the book, this makes a total of 84 holes located with this one jig - well worth making it since it made drilling the holes very quick and accurate.

Last two photos show the engine parts so far test fitted together and assembled on the loco. At this point I am using socket head screws for easy assembly/dissasembly during construction. Final assembly will use hex head screws.

Good progress for this morning - next up will be to mill the conrod/valve rod holes in the crankcase, as well as lubrication holes for the bearings. After that I will add the flange shapes to the edges of the case....

[b.lindsey]

That looks amazing crueby!!  Looks like even with the added headroom on the Sherline though, you didn't have much too spare, but you got the job done and that is what matters!!

Bill

[crueby]

That looks amazing crueby!!  Looks like even with the added headroom on the Sherline though, you didn't have much too spare, but you got the job done and that is what matters!!

Bill

Just barely enough room - I did have to switch from the screw-in drill chuck holder back to the drawbar holder to get the last 1/8" needed to get the drill bit in!

[crueby]

Down the home stretch on the crankcase. Set it up in the tilt table again, at 40 degrees, at bored for the oil fittings that run down to the crankshaft bearings. Started with a mill to get a flat spot for the drill to start, (photo 1) and switched to the drill to make the holes. A smaller drill went all the way through to the bearing holes. (photo 2)  A set of rods with holes down the center will be added in a couple steps, below.

Next up, bolted it back on the mill table and milled out the holes for the con-rods and, for the middle cylinder, the valve eccentric opening. As the holes were bored out, the bolts were moved to make room for the next hole to be milled. (photo 3)

Last milling operation was to back bevel the sides to give clearance for the valve eccentrics and the con-rod bearings. Nice that Kozo gives the dimensions for these cuts, saves trial and error later on. (photo 4)

Last two photos shows the complete crankcase. The oil tubes are in place (loctited in), plus I took it up to the other shop and got the front face shaped back a little around the openings on the front, to put in the flanges at the openings that the real ones have. Small detail but I think it will show off the shape better once it is painted. I used a diamond grit dental bit in a high speed air tool (about 450,000 rpm) that made short work of it. A little sanding to smooth it out, and also rounded the upper edges where the sides go into the top.

Next up will be the bronze bearings, then on to the crankshaft itself!

[b.lindsey]

Crueby, you must be a Star Trek fan!!  Remember the episode where Spock stayed in one time warp while Kirk and the rest of the crew went back to regular time. To them it appeared that Spock was effecting repairs to the Enterprise at a super-human pace...kind of reminds me of you on this build. Whatever time warp you are in, keep it up. As one of those on the 8-5 day shift, your progress is awesome for sure

Bill

[crueby]

Crueby, you must be a Star Trek fan!!  Remember the episode where Spock stayed in one time warp while Kirk and the rest of the crew went back to regular time. To them it appeared that Spock was effecting repairs to the Enterprise at a super-human pace...kind of reminds me of you on this build. Whatever time warp you are in, keep it up. As one of those on the 8-5 day shift, your progress is awesome for sure

Bill

Definitely a Spock fan. Sometimes I'd like to switch with the evil alternate-universe version, like when a telemarketer calls in the middle of milling....! Or calls at all... Telemarketers and spammers should be used as cannonballs.

[Tennessee Whiskey]

Now while you are giving her all she's got Scotty,  I hope you are taking time to keep up with the soap operas  . How much time do you figure you save by just having to make a part once as compared to the rest of us mortals who may have to make one two or three times  ? Now what's up with this "other shop"  with the high speed dental tools? You ain't Doc Crueby is ya? Seriously, great work

Eric

[crueby]

Now while you are giving her all she's got Scotty,  I hope you are taking time to keep up with the soap operas  . How much time do you figure you save by just having to make a part once as compared to the rest of us mortals who may have to make one two or three times  ? Now what's up with this "other shop"  with the high speed dental tools? You ain't Doc Crueby is ya? Seriously, great work

Eric

Soap operas?! Shoot me now!

I do save some part costs by remachining failed parts from previous projects!

Lets see, shops:
1. Model/machine shop in back bedroom downstairs, building Shay there, also used for ship models
2. Basement carving area with rotary tools and fan box for animal/bird carving in wood
3. Basement area for woodburning carvings, adding feathers, hair details
4. Basement area with stonecarving bench
5. Upstairs wood shop (entire upstairs on center entrance Cape Cod style house is workshops) used for furniture buikds, also for boats (canoes/kayaks, also prep area for sailboats)
6. Upstairs area for scrimshaw work plus detail carving with air dental tool
7. For bigger boats, garage gets reused for shop in summer.
8. Front lawn for sanding furniture/etc in summer

That enough shops? Works for me!!! Only way to fit more in and still have rest of house for living would be to get a Tardis! Gotta have a dozen or two hobbies or you turn into a soap opera lump. Ick!

Chris

[ths]

I think you've far too much time on your hands. You should get a hobby. Hugh.

[crueby]

I think you've far too much time on your hands. You should get a hobby. Hugh.

Hey, that might help, have to go shopping for one! I had one of those 'job' hobby things for several decades, but was finally able to give it up!   

[Roger B]

Magnificent work on the Shay    I'm not sure that you have quite enough hobbies to fill your time 

[crueby]

Back in the shop this morning, and got a start on the crankshaft bearings. For those of you who think I live in the shop 47 hours/day, I was not there at all yesterday and only an hour and a half today! 

The bearings are made from bronze, and are shaped like a spool to fit in the crankcase posts/caps. Started out with a bronze bar a few sizes larger than the bearings will be, to leave room to split it lengthwise. First, milled flats on two sides to make it possible to grip the two halves in the vise later. (photo 1)

Then, hacksawed (hacksawned? hacksawnded? Cut!) down the center of the bar, and milled the inside surface of both halves back flat again (used a parallel bar underneath so the new flat would be parallel to the outside). (photo 2)

The two halves were then soft soldered back together again, and the outside flats given a light pass in the mill to even them out - could not get them perfectly aligned when soldering. The bar was then cut into two shorter pieces so it would not stick too far out of the chuck. Each piece is long enough to get out two bearings while leaving enough to hold in the chuck. (phtoo 3)

So, chucked up the first piece in the 4-jaw, and kept adjusting till the solder line down the end crossed the center point of rotation, and drilled/bored out the center to the size of the crankshaft. Kozo recomends boring the hole vs drilling/reaming, since the reamer would tend to force the halves apart. I believe it, since when I drilled the starter hold for boring it did crack the solder joint, had to clamp/reheat it to get it back together again. (photo 4)

After boring the center out, switched to the parting tool to nibble out the center section of the outside to form the spool shape - the flange at either end will fit over the crankcase posts/caps. When that was down to size, and just wide enough for the cap to fit down over it, the bearing was parted off. (photo 5)

Next photo shows the two halves of the bearing test fit in the cap and a piece of the rod for the crankshaft. You can see how it overlaps the sides of the cap, and also how thin the bearing is.

Last photo shows the first bearing in place on the crankcase. One down, 3 more to go....

[Roger B]

Looking good    How did you get on drilling the bronze? I have found it very snatchy when trying to get a hole that my smallest boring bar will enter. I do agree that boring is easier than drilling al the way.

[crueby]

Looking good    How did you get on drilling the bronze? I have found it very snatchy when trying to get a hole that my smallest boring bar will enter. I do agree that boring is easier than drilling al the way.

Bronze is sticky if drilled dry, will heat up real quick. With cutting oil and frequently pulling back to clear chips its not bad.

[b.lindsey]

Chris, as amazing as the shay photos are, I am sure that more than a few of us would love seeing some of your wood carving and scrimshaw work as well...artistry is artistry...whatever the medium !!

Bill