Jesse Livingston Rocking Valve Mill Engine

[tinglett]

Ramon, no problem at all and I appreciate the quick help (and comments, of course!).  I've set my photo album so that it sorts from oldest to newest, and it occurs to me that the default is probably the reverse.  I just find it easier to flip "forward" through the photos, but I do understand why google runs them the other way for the main photo feed.  It would be a lot of paging down to get to the latest.

BTW, here's a link to the entire album:  https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNApvBklzuqq4dqiFSsLFPSvQkJ87Sbd5mB0eEua-aak8kqH_-RMvAliVl_gE-02A?key=eEU0OEVCM2NEZmFka1ZaT3RUd3RyQ216V3E0UnJR   I'll be sure to edit this into the first post when I'm all done.  There isn't much reason to go to the photo album except if google decides to change how they reference photos, in which case this entire thread will be messed up but presumably the album will stay ok.  I take extra photos too, and there could be something useful there for someone building the engine, and also the photos in the album can be viewed at full resolution.

Roughly my process for photos is to take them with my phone as I go, and when I'm done with a part I'll go into the google photos app on the phone (which is Android) and select the photos for the day and hit + to add them to the already existing album.  I usually do this as I'm tidying up the shop a bit and they are all uploaded well before I get to my computer.

On my computer I go into the shared album on the web page (I screwed this step up the other day), and like you say I can right click and "Copy image address" while looking at a specific photo.  I paste to my post, and while the pasted URL is automatically selected, I hit the little forum icon that makes it a URL.  The way I handle image resizing (and I'm sure you do too) is to take advantage of the fact that google can resize images automatically.  The end of the URL has "=w1068-h534-no" which resizes the photo to 1068x534 as your web browser fetches it.  Someone mentioned a while back that the photo viewer (web page) updates this part of the URL when you resize the window, which I initially thought was crazy but it's true!  The net is that you size the google photos window to the size you want the photo to be, and magically the URL you copy will be correct!  I usually have to tweak the window size a few times to get something reasonable, but then I tend to leave it there for the week to avoid that hassle any further.

Anyway, that's how I handle my photos.

Todd

[tinglett]

The Crank Disc


I decided to make the crank disc today.  This is a bit bigger than 1.5 inches in diameter and 0.25 inch thick.  It has a 0.25 hole to fit the crankshaft (press fit or locktite), and similarly a 0.25 hole offset 0.562 from the center for the crank pin.

I had some brass for this disc, but decided instead to go with 1018 cold rolled steel which I had in 2 inch diameter bar.  So in the chuck it went and I turned it down to the final diameter.



Next I drilled and reamed for the shaft so it stays concentric.  I don't want this disc to look all wobbly



I'm getting better at parting off on the lathe, but didn't want to press my luck so I went with the bandsaw this time.  This cheapo bandsaw has been an arm-saver!  Also, I had made a plate for mounting holding fixtures for the saw a few months ago and I find I use it for nearly every cut.  I have a drill vise that mounts on it also (vertically) which is great for holding small parts.



Next I had to clean up the bandsaw side.  This facing head is seeing a lot of work, too.



Next, I setup my RT.  I happened to have a morse taper plug I had made for flywheel use that has a 1/4 inch pin and this was wonderful for holding the disc onto the center of the table.  I drilled and reamed for the 1/4 inch crank pin hole.



Now the book recommends to carve a 1/16 inch deep recess on one side of the crank to greatly add to the appearance.  I could see from the print what was suggested, but there were no dimensions.  Obviously I was supposed to be "artistic" on this .  I happen to be learning how to use Fusion 360 (Lars Christensen's youtube channel is great for this!), so after doodling on paper for a bit I decided to hit my computer and make a sketch.  Here it is...



Ok, I know that sketch is busy, but it told me what I needed to know.  In particular (and not shown in the photo I posted) I figured out offsets and angles.  In the next photo I'm starting with a 1/8 inch end mill to form the center hub.  I had to go with a tiny 1/8 inch because that was the space I had.  As you can see I'm right smack in the middle between the two holes in the part.



Next I switched to a more "beefy" 3/16 inch end mill and am sweeping out the outer part of the cut.  I had to start and end 32 degrees from the centerline between the holes.  This is the angle I got from my fusion 360 sketch.  It was 74 cranks around.  I know because I made a few passes to get to depth! 



Once I got to full depth, I was able to move the cutter in X toward the center to take out the rest of the material.  This took a few passes in X.



Now the middle was mostly carved out.



Next I unclamped the disc, positioned my RT center pin on the crank pin location, and here I've dialed over in X and using a 1/4 inch rod in the mill head to get the part aligned along the X axis for clamping.  I really didn't need to do this as I eventually decided to just "wing it" for the angles for the cut around the crank pin.



Perhaps this next photo is more clear about what I'm doing.   The disc is rotating now around the crank pin hole and I'm cleaning up that edge.  This operation ended up going from -56 to +56 degrees.


And finally, here's the crank disc.  I need to deburr it and clean it up a bit, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out.



Next I'll probably make the crank pin, eccentric, and connecting rod.  Thanks for checking in!

Todd

[Jasonb]

That came out well and will add a lot to the look of the engine. A generous coat or two of paint in the recess will form a slight fillet in the internal corners and give that cast look.

[b.lindsey]

I like the detail on that disk, definitely worth the extra effort to machine it. 

Bill

[cwelkie]

Another nice part for a what is a very nice build.
Also a good reminder that taking time to draw a part out either on paper or with CAD can help sort out the machining steps.
Charlie

[tinglett]

Crank Pin and Connecting Rod


Since I have the crank disc done, I thought the crank pin and connecting rod would be the next candidates.   The book suggested I might locktite the crank pin, but I thought I'd try to press it and peen if necessary.  This was very straightforward and I'll just let the next three photos speak for themselves....







It didn't take a lot of force to press it in, but it did take a press so I decided not to peen it.  If I find it loosening in the future, I'll peen it later, or maybe add locktite.

On to the connecting rod.  There is a faux bracket on the end of the conrod to make it appear as if it has a split bearing.  I didn't have 1/4 inch square stock for the conrod, but I did have 3/8 x 1/4.  The bracket is machined from the solid, so I took small bit and after a few passes with a 1/4 end mill I had (mostly) my bracket.  The book called for .080 thickness and for some odd reason I thought I had plenty so I just eyeballed the center.  I measured to see where I was at and I had 0.061 on each side!  Well that's pretty cool for eyeballing...but doh a bit thin for .080.  Oh well, I thought it looked mighty fine and went with it.



I simply bandsawed it off for now, with the idea that I'd mill off the end thickness when it's screwed onto the conrod.



I had to machine my 3/8 x 1/4 CRS into 1/4 square for the connecting rod, and then drilled and reamed per the print.



Now there are tapers all around and I needed to offset the crosshead end of the connecting rod about 0.045, which I did by using a #56 drill bit.  This angle is mostly cosmetic, so long as I don't get too thin.



Here it is after tapering both sides.  Note that I left a bit on the end for clamping and to keep measurements the same when I flipped it over.  It was supposed to end up 5/32 inch thick (0.156) and mine was 0.148.  Close enough!



Next I flipped the part to taper the top/bottom which was supposed to end up even thinner at 0.125.  I decided to go with the exact same setup as before even though it would end up a bit more thick.  Note the bit I left on the end was paying off big time as I could clamp it properly in the vise!  The book gave this advice and I'm glad I followed it.



Next was time to install that bracket I made earlier.  If you look real close in this next photo, you'll see I've slipped the bracket on the end of the connecting rod and I'm drilling/tapping two holes.  These "bolts" are 2-56.



After bolting the bracket on both sides, I removed the bolts on the bottom side and setup in the vise to trim off the end of the bracket.  I didn't trust that the bolts were going to hold it for a sideways cut like this, so I added another clamp to hold it tight together.



And here's the connecting rod in its "rough" shape.  Note that I left the bracket hanging a little separated as if there's some adjustment space there.  I really doubt that will be seen when it's attached, but I thought it might be an interesting detail.



I made up some filing buttons for rounding over the other end by hand.  Even though this took a bit of time over on the lathe to drill and tap, it was probably less overall time that fiddling with my RT.  It's time like this where a teeny tiny RT (or fixture) might be handy, but the filing took less than 1/2 hour including making the buttons.



And here's the finished connecting rod.



I'll move on to the eccentric next.  Thanks for having a look!

Todd