Elderberry Mill Engine/ Elmer's 43 by AOG

[Don1966]

That's some nice work on the parts Tony. Glad to see the thieves get caught.

Don

[b.lindsey]

That is good news Tony. I hope you may get the rest of your stuff back too. Good to see you back on the project and the new camera is doing a fine job too.

Bill

[AOG]

I got some good work done this week. The first piece was the valve rod. I started by profiling the piece.



Then I cut the flats



Then the dread "tink" sound.



It turns out that I cut the shoulder too square. My second attempt was undersized. On my third attempt I was able to drill and ream the hole.



The piece was parted off and I started the eccentric rod. Again I started by profiling the piece. I ended up snapping my first attempt as a result of an aggressive DOC and a lack of support. On my second attempt I center drilled the part for a dead center and recut the profile.



Then it was over to the mill where the flats were cut.



Then the holes where drilled and reamed.



The piece was parted off and tapped.



The next part was the valve. I started by squaring up the piece



Then the slots were cut



Then the piece was flipped and the pocket cut



The last piece for the week was the piston rod. I started by profiling the rod.



Then the crosshead was cut to be a slip fit in the guide and parted off.



Then the flats were cut



The cross pin hole was drilled.



Finally the collet block was flipped vertical and the slot milled out.



That's it for this update

Tony

 

[tvoght]

Nice work. Persistence pays off.

--Tim

[b.lindsey]

More nice progress Tony, despite that dreaded "tink" sound. But at least you have a few more fiddly parts finished now.

Bill

[Tennessee Whiskey]

It turned out nicely Tony  . Sometimes a certain number of "practice  parts " are just part of the process. I've started not even worrying about it until numbers 4 or 5 .

Cletus

[arnoldb]

Good going Tony - persistence pays 

Not many parts left to make from what I can see.

Kind regards, Arnold

[Don1966]

Nice progress Tony and I had one part I remade five times on my last engine. The thing was trying to intimidate me.

Don

[AOG]

Thanks everyone. I'm getting close. I need to do the piston, the con rod and some fittings and the machining is done.

Tony

[AOG]

This post will wrap up the machining for this engine.  I started with the piston. A piece of brass was faced and drilled for the piston rod



Then over to the bench where the hole was tapped



The elderberry instructions recommend making a collet to make it easier to hold the piston rod for truing up the piston. I faced and drilled the collet.



Then over to the mill for slitting.



Back in the lathe the piston was screwed  on and trued up.



Then I used some timesaver on the piston and lapped it to the cylinder. The next piece was the connecting rod. I turned the piece to large dimension and then turned the small end to size



Then the taper was filed to size on the lathe. (Sorry for the poor lighting in this shot)



Then over to the mill where the ends were squared off and the holes drilled and reamed.



Then the piece was parted off and the piston rod side rounded over on the die filer.



With that part completed all I had left were three pins. The original plans call for a slot head but I decided to make mine from hex stock. All three pins were made the same way so I only photographed one.  I started by turning the threaded area.



Then I undercut the back end of the thread with a grooving tool.



Then the thread was die cut using a tail stock die holder.



The rest of the pin was turned to size and then parted off.



After completing the pins the machining was complete. I took some time and made a base for the engine. I will leave this part of the build with a final family shot.



The next steps are to fit, polish and blue the parts and put them together. Till next time.

Tony

[b.lindsey]

Its so satisfying when you see all the parts laid out and just waiting to be finished , assembled and then come to life!!  Nicely done Tony.

Bill

[Don1966]

What Bill Said. Nice work Tony.

Don

[AOG]

I have now spent 4 weekends working on this engine trying to get it to run. Unfortunately I've had no luck. I've remade the eccentric, the valve and all of the linkages with no luck. At this point I have lost interest in it and I am officially declaring it a shelf queen. Here are the final pictures.





Tony

[b.lindsey]

That is a shame Tony, and frustrating too!  Set it aside for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes.  It could even be something relatively  small that you have overlooked.

Bill

[mklotz]

I built this engine early in my career.  It's a great and reliable runner and, if fitted with a see-through steam chest cover, a great teaching tool to use to explain double-acting, reversible engines to kids and non-mechanical adults.

I'll assume that you've checked for friction-free turnover and serious air leaks.  If that's the case, everything points to a valve-timing problem.  Spend some time with the steam chest cover off observing valve position relative to piston position.  Make adjustments in small increments and keep testing.  It will run and when it does you'll be fascinated.  I know I was since this was my first reversible engine.  As a kid I had wondered how they did it.

There is, I suppose, a remote chance that one of the holes that transmit steam from the valve chest to the cylinder is blocked by a bit of swarf or what.  Run a toothpick or whatever through and check visually for a clear path.

Keep at it.  Persistence is one of the most important skills to acquire in our hobby but, unfortunately, one of the most difficult to learn.  You'll get there and, when you do, you'll think it was worth it.