Scale Model Bessemer Oil Field Engine

[cfellows]

I've been thinking about this for some time now and have done a few preliminary drawings.  So, I think my next engine project will be a somewhat stylized model of a Bessemer 2 stroke oil field engine.  I want to get it as close to the real deal as I can without using any castings.

At this point I'm planning on a 1.25" x 1.75" bore and stroke.  The flywheel(s) will be a little under 9" diameter and the cylinder will be made from a piece of DOM tubing, 4" long x 2" diameter.  It will be water cooled and I want to try to make it fired with a hot tube. 

If I can make this work, it will be a pretty simple engine to build.  There won't be any gears, no valves, and no ignition, although I may have to fall back on an ignition system if I can't get the hot tube to work.  It should also be an easier hot tube engine to make since it won't require an injector or injector pump.  I plan to use a vapor fuel tank so I won't need a carburetor.

Here is a video of the engine that is my inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9QbtZNOKX0&feature=autoplay&list=ULiY3F-KIcuws&playnext=1

This model was designed by John Burns and the castings are supposedly still sold by Robert Horner although I was never able to reach the latter.  I did reach John Burns and he gave me a little bit of information about his design, but he no longer has any financial interest in the plans or castings.  At any rate, I believe the Burns model is larger than I want to build and the castings are probably priced at a great deal more than I would want to spend.  Besides, designing them is half the fun!

I hope to start making chips in the next few days although a 10 day vacation scheduled for the end of the month will probably delay much progress on the engine.

Chuck

[Bill L.]

Sounds like a good one Chuck.I will be here.
Bill L.

[rudydubya]

I'll be following along also Chuck.  Sounds interesting.  Appreciate you sharing.

Regards,
Rudy

[sbwhart]

Like the look of this one Chuck  I'll be quetly watching along.

Stew

[tel]

Save a seat for me as well.

[zeeprogrammer]

Interesting build Chuck. I'll be watching.

[gbritnell]

Chuck,
You're a mad man! You just keep knocking out the projects. Great stuff.
gbritnell

[b.lindsey]

What a great project Chuck...will be looking forward to its progression just as i do with all your projects.

Bill

[maury]

Chuck, in case you are going to try to stick to scale on your project, just a heads up. There is a full size Bessemer 25hp engine in the engine shed at the TEDTEA grounds in Temple Tx. It just happens their annual show is coming up in a few weeks: Oct 5-7. You can take a pad, pencil and measuring tape and get accurate porportions for your model.
Good luck,
maury

[cfellows]

Chuck, in case you are going to try to stick to scale on your project, just a heads up. There is a full size Bessemer 25hp engine in the engine shed at the TEDTEA grounds in Temple Tx. It just happens their annual show is coming up in a few weeks: Oct 5-7. You can take a pad, pencil and measuring tape and get accurate porportions for your model.
Good luck,
maury

Hey, thanks, Maury.  I do plan to go to the Temple show and will take your advice.  Great tip!

Chuck

[Bearcar1]

Working....working....working....squirt, squirt.....chug...working...working...working........


These engines are hypnotic as all get out to listen to, I love Chuck. Best of luck in your project.


BC1
Jim

[tvoght]

Chuck, I look forward to seeing this come together.
--Tim

[cfellows]

OK, I guess this is officially a work in progess at this point.  I broke ground on the piece that will become the front or cylinder end of the frame.  I started out with a chunk of 2" x 3" x 3/8" angle iron 2 3/4" wide.  The engine frame could just as easily be made out of cold rolled flat steel, but I want the finished engine to look at least a little bit like it was made from castings.  Maybe that way I won't get so much grief from Maury about making engines out of bar stock!    Not that I could ever approach the quality of his engine castings... !



After squaring the sides and machinging the piece to length, I cut off the excess on the 2" leg of the angle iron. 



See, it's starting to look like a casting already, huh?  The two ends of the piece will line up with the sides of the frame, so the edges need to match the profile of the frame sides at the bottom.  The first step is to use a 3/8" end mill and plunge cut the radius near the base, making multiple plunges taking about .020" each time.





Next I used my metal cutting bandsaw to cut off the excess above the plunge cuts, then mounted the piece in my milling vice and used an end mill to bring the edges down to the final size.  This is what it looks like after I finished milling it to width.



Now to get the top part cut to the proper shape.  First I cut the corners off with my bandsaw



Then finished off the radius shaping using my rotary table and an end mill.  This took some time since I could only cut about .020" each pass.





Next will be the frame sides...

Chuck

[rhitee93]

Nice Chuck.  I don't think I would have seen that part hiding in the piece of angle iron. 

[cfellows]

Thanks, Brian, angle iron and square tubing have a lot of potential design and work saving features that are under used I think.  I use them every chance I get.  By the way, here's a drawing of what I'm aiming for with the engine frame.



Chuck