Enlarged Rocking Engine Build

[steamer]

Another observation if I may - there are obviously lots of different ways of doing things, but the way I'd do this would be to leave the material on the parent stock for as long as possible.

So rather than parting off your 4 lengths, I'd face the end of the bar, turn the intermediate diameter to the right distance from the end of bar, turn the thread diameter to the right distance from the end of the bar, put the thread on, part off to correct length. Do this for all 4, then put them back in the chuck the other way around to drill and tap one by one.

+1 for this and using HSS tools.   The 7X lathes are light lathes compared to industrial stuff.  Top rake will reduce the cutting forces dramatically.   Your lathe...and you...will be happier.

Lots of top rake for Aluminum.....like 20 degree's if you can
About 12-15 degrees for steel
NONE for brass or Bronze....and you can run some negative rake with bronze....

Keep the tool sharp...and spend some time with a small oil stone and polish the cutting edge.....you will be surprised how well it cuts.

Dave

[Ross]

Hi everyone,

After an extended Christmas break due to passing my driving test  I'm back to hopefully finish this one off before I forget how to use a lathe! I ordere some more metal and sorted my tool troubles out with the help of stilldrillin.

I nipped down to the shed after work and got 2 of the 4 engine posts finished and the other two just have to be faced to length.

Ready to be parted off:



2 finished.



2 still to face to length!

[b.lindsey]

Hi Ross, nice to see you back at it again.

Bill

[zeeprogrammer]

Congratulations on the driving test.
Glad to see you're back at the lathe.

[NickG]

Nice 1 Ross, not far off now

[Ross]

Thanks guys,

I Got a lot done today.

I cut out a sqaure of aluminium, 1.25" x 1.25"



Squared the sides up using the old reverse milling technique.



Marked out the hole for the bore of the cylinder. 0.625 in each way.



Clocked it in



I drilled the hole to 5mm and bolted the cylinder cover plate to the square so I could use it as a guide for drilling the holes.





I then drilled the holes using my pillar drill.



Then I clamped the cylinder cover to one end of the the cylinder and the square to the front so I could drill and tap the holes on the cylinder.





Ready to drill:


Job done:



After, I marked out and drilled and tapped the holes in the sides of the square so it bolts onto the two other engine frames I made earlier.

 

And then it was back onto the lathe to drill the bore to match up with the bore of the cylinder.

 

Job done!



Just need to order some more bolts so I can assemble it all!

[NickG]

Great stuff, looks better than mine did.

[Ross]

Hi Guys,

Little bit quiet on this one to say the least. I've been doing bits and pieces along the way and I've nearly finished this engine (finally)

This is the mockup in its final stages:




As you can see I'm nearly there Just the crankpin and some flywheels to make.

I made a couple of flywheels but I wasn't happy as I felt they were too small.

 

And I'm currently in the process of making an air adapter to screw in the back.




I hope everyone is well.

[Ross]

Just the finishing touches now, machined the air adapter and crankpin!







More metal for the flywheels is on its way!

Ross

[Ross]

The metal arrived for the flywheels, so I set about making a couple!

Roughed out.



Then onto the mandrel to skim the o/d


I went to drill the holes for the grubs crews, and  I managed to snap the crap vice I was using on the pillar drill!


Here is the final mock up! the crankshafts need to be faced slightly shorter. Not sure weather to leave the flywheels plain, I quite like them as they are now.

Ive already test ran the engine! too much air pressure is getting through as I cant control it very well with the attachment I'm I need to find something where I can have full control over the air going into the engine.

[b.lindsey]

I like it Ross...hope once you get the air supply issue worked out you can post a short video of it running.  Nice job!!

Bill

[NickG]

Yeah, video would be great!

[steamer]

Wot they said!.....vids please!

[arnoldb]

Looks good Ross 

I must honestly say that's the first time I saw a bench vise mounted to a drill press     Might be a tad heavy though 

Kind regards, Arnold

[ths]

The engine's looking great, Ross. Thumbs up on the vice, and as Arnold alluded, it must have been fun to align.

Cheers, Hugh.