Parsell & Weed Horizontal IC Engine

[wagnmkr]

Sorry to interrupt ... A message for Dave Otto ... I also have the thread cutting accessory for the Sherline and have used it a few times. Set up is fairly easy and results are excellent. I have threaded brass, aluminum and 12L14 steel.

Now back to an excellent build thread.

Cheers

Tom

[b.lindsey]

No problem Tom, thanks for the extra input on the cutting attachment!

Bill

[littlelocos]

Nice work Bill!

Regarding smaller equipment (Sherline et al) we had thought about following Parsell & Weed's approach in offering machined flywheels for those folks who's equipment wouldn't swing the 5" flywheels.  Not sure if there would be interest in that.  (The original flywheels were 14" and most home shops didn't have a lathe that large in 1902.)

The horizontal base should be do-able on tabletop equipment, but would definitely take a while to machine the bottom surface.  The vertical is essentially half of the horizontal, just a little wider.

Any thoughts?
Todd.

[b.lindsey]

Todd, your could certainly run the idea up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it as they say. I do have access to full size machines so it isn't an issue for me. You could well find some other tabletop machinists though who might like the idea of the base and flywheels already machined, leaving the rest to be done on smaller equipment. You could be asking for a lot of extra work though if it were to take off and it could also depend on the upcharge for buying these castings pre-machined. By the way, thanks for the mailing today, will respond to that separately via email tonight. I hope others will chime in here as to your idea though, such discussion can be helpful to all of us.

Bill

[Alan Haisley]

Sorry to interrupt ... A message for Dave Otto ... I also have the thread cutting accessory for the Sherline and have used it a few times. Set up is fairly easy and results are excellent. I have threaded brass, aluminum and 12L14 steel.

Now back to an excellent build thread.

Cheers

Tom

It's tough going on drill rod though. I only went far enough on some 3/8" rod so that I could get a die on straight.

In regards to sizes, the biggest problem I think is that most model ads don't really give a good indication of the size of equipment needed to make them. Flywheels are obvious but a lot of ads don't even give flywheel sizes.
Its often easier and safer to start with a dimensioned drawing and try to scale it to fit the machining envelope.

I look at the PM castings and mostly wonder if there is a reasonable way to do them on the Sherline machines that I have. If they were just a bit oversized it might be nice to get the bigger parts premachined.

Alan

[wagnmkr]

I agree with Alan ... Quite a few adverts don't give the info required to decide if the kit can be done on the machinery on hand.

I would also agree that being able to get a machined flywheel and possibly a base would be helpful. I am working on a Stuart beam at the moment and it came with a machined base due to most hobbyists of the time not having larger machines. It was a great help in getting started on the engine.

Tom

[sshire]

On threading drill rod, like Alan,  I had never been able to get a clean thread by single pointing. The crests were like a saw blade.
Out of curiosity, on an order from McMaster, I added a few sizes of "Ultra Machinable Drill Rod."
Not perfect, but a major improvement on the threads. I'm guessing it's some variant of 12L14 or at least has lead in the alloy.

[Dave Otto]

Thanks for the threading info guys.

Dave

[b.lindsey]

This morning I finished up the first of the two side rods with the exception of threading the small end 8-32. Can't seem to locate that die at the moment...hoping it may be at work. This is shown in photo 1. The second side rod will follow along shortly.

Then I went to work on the crank journal that connects the two flywheels. This is a turning operation. After parting off a short length of .313" drill rod (Photo 2) and facing each end to the final length I drill a #19 hole through (photo 3). Both ends were then turned down to .250" as shown in photos 4 & 5). This is a push fit into the flywheels so I machined to dead on .250". Once this was done, I chucked on one end of the journal and used a live center in the other to take light cuts with a grooving tool (sorry forgot to take a picture of that) until the actual journal was close to the .250" called for leaving the shoulders a bit wide in the process. Then a left hand and a right hand facing tool was used to square the shoulders and bring them down to the .063" width called for leaving the journal with a width of .313". At this point I polished the journal. The actual spec for the journal diameter is .250" +.0000/-.0015. I polished it down to .0002" under for a final diameter of .2498" (photo 6). The finished journal is shown in the last two photos. The ends that will fit into the flywheels were left as machined at the .250" diameter.

Bill

[cfellows]

Following along, Bill.  The P&W has always interested me and I've thought of building one from scratch from time to time.

Chuck

[b.lindsey]

Hi Chuck. That was my original intent when I bought the plans from Todd at last years Cabin Fever. I think it is doable from bar stock and the littleloco.com plans would be a great help if you decide to proceed. (Usual disclaimer). Meanwhile, thanks for following along.

Bill

[Roger B]

That's smaller than I imagined  I'm glad to see the obligatory 1/2" mike picture 

[Don1966]

Glad to see a update Bill, looks like your time has been short on your project. I am really interested in this engine and seeing it in it's glory.

Don

[b.lindsey]

Thanks Roger and Don. Yes, time has been limited this week, was at the university most of yesterday giving and grading final exams.  Both last week and this coming week are pretty filled with semester end activities, but I will steal some shop time as I can.

Bill

[Don1966]

Thanks Roger and Don. Yes, time has been limited this week, was at the university most of yesterday giving and grading final exams.  Both last week and this coming week are pretty filled with semester end activities, but I will steal some shop time as I can.

Bill

I can see that the Christmas holidays will be effecting your progress as well Bill, but hey we can wait. You just don't rush quality.........

Don