Author Topic: The Dickson!  (Read 34648 times)

Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #105 on: October 24, 2019, 05:09:18 PM »
Progress on the Dickson. Making the Foot. The casting was machined on top and bottom
to get reference surfaces for later steps. There is an ofset both on top and bottom.
By the way, issue 3 mentioned in my previous post is not nearly as bad as I thought,
I misread the prints not realizing there was a step on the top side.

Today I'm making the foot. The casting cleaned up with .406 for the bottom step, a bit
more than the prints, but now it's .406. I leave about .003 for the JB weld joint, so
the foot will be .403 high.

First I prepared stock and set up in the CNC to cut the curves. Just easier than setting
up the rotary  table.

Next, I cut the slots in for bolt clearance.

Finally, I made the bolt pattern.

The completed part. It will be JB Welded to the casting at assembly to insure good  bolt
alignment with the columns.

maury
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Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #106 on: January 12, 2020, 07:59:51 PM »
Well Folks, it's been a while and I'm a bit behind in my posts. I was working on the LP cylinder, but I had to do a little fill in. so I set it aside, and will gt back to it later.
in the mean time, I have done some work on the Governor lift jack and the coupling to the valve gear. The governor uses a hydraulic jack to control the angle of the valve sliders. unfortunately, it was just not practical to model the hydraulics at this scale, so I made a screw adjustable lift jack. The jack then lifts the valve sliders via a shaft with lift arms, and a turn buckle adjustable coupling. The lift arms are attached to the shaft using 6/0 taper pins to avoid any slippage. Lots of fun parts to make!

1) CNC machining the mount brackets
2) The mount brackets installed on the base
3) Fitting the lift Jack
4) drilling the lift shaft for taper pins
5) Reaming the lift shaft for taper pins
6) Lift Shaft assembled
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Offline Dennis

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #107 on: January 12, 2020, 10:35:40 PM »
Nice work Maury, thanks for posting the photos.
Dennis

Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #108 on: January 13, 2020, 09:29:26 PM »
Dennis, thanks for tuning in.

Well, there is more progress to post. The Dickson is a triple expansion steam engine with A Joys valve gear setup. There
is a lot of action to watch as this engine rotates. There are also a lot of parts. I have completed making the parts and fitting them to the engine. There was a lot of hand fitting to be done. All the parts were made on the CNC, out of 303 stainless steel. This is my material of choice for non-painted bar stock parts. I machines quite easily, gives an excellebt finish, and doesn't rust.

below are various views of the valve gear.
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Offline kvom

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #109 on: January 13, 2020, 11:11:20 PM »
Quote
There is a lot of action to watch as this engine rotates.

That is a true statement.  Watching the full-size engine at the Henry Ford is quite hypnotic.

Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #110 on: January 15, 2020, 05:44:21 PM »
Kvom, thanks for tuning in.
I plan to be exhibiting this engine (uncompleted) at NAMES this year, hope to see you there.
maury
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Offline kvom

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #111 on: January 16, 2020, 12:12:14 AM »
I do plan to attend.

Offline Dennis

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #112 on: January 16, 2020, 07:33:33 PM »
Hi Maury,
the engine looks really good.  You don't get the full appreciation for how many parts there really are until you see the engine start to go together. 
I have been fighting a bad cold for a few weeks now and haven't been in the shop but still hope to have my bed plate mounted on the foundation and one of the generator rings and armature ( incomplete of course) mounted on the foundation for the NAMES show.  I borrowed a drill and reamer from my son to machine the main crank shaft bearings but haven't started the work yet. 
If you make it to the show I hope we can set the two models together.
Dennis

Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #113 on: January 28, 2020, 08:57:48 PM »
Making more progress on the Dickson. As I have previously posted about the steam manifold, I have finally come to the place where I can install it on the engine.  So far I have installed 2 cylinders of the manifold, still need to complete machining of the low pressure cylinder. It mostly went together nicely, though I had to add a small shim under the high pressure cylinder. probably my imperfect machining. With a setup like this, everything has to be spot on.

Hopefully the LP cylinder will go as smoothly.

maury
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Offline Dennis

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #114 on: February 02, 2020, 02:48:41 PM »
Hi Maury,
That valve bank looks awesome! There must be as much work in the valve bank as in a small engine.  You did a great job on the valve design and casting.
Denni

Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #115 on: February 05, 2020, 07:38:26 PM »
Dennis, thanks for the compliment.
Progressing to the LP cylinder, I have to make two angle couplers to connect to the manifold. These are difficult to cast, so I will be making them from bar stock. Probably no less difficult. The angle and spacing of the flanges provides the challenge.
I decided to make the flanges and the pipe as sections and solder them together. The easy part. The hard part is the parts need to be held precisely in 4 dimensions, so I'll have to make a jig. The pics make the process self explanitory...

unfortunately, I was not able to get a decent picture of the assembly to the engine.
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Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #116 on: February 13, 2020, 08:26:49 PM »
Here is the completion of the final fitting for the steam manifold. I made it the same way as I did the one in the previous post, except I had to make another soldering jig.  The angle and the flanges were different.
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Offline gbritnell

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #117 on: February 13, 2020, 08:45:32 PM »
HI Maury,
Outstanding work on a very interesting engine! I hope to see you at NAMES this year. It's been quite awhile since we've had a chance to talk in person.
gbritnell
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Offline maury

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #118 on: February 13, 2020, 10:09:24 PM »
George, thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it.

Actually, Dennis Howe deserves a big attaboy for the work he has done on this project as well. Three years ago I visited him while being up there for NAMES. He showed me this project, which he had already spent several years researching, modeling, and making patterns for the castings. He invited me to come aboard, and I picked up some of the design and casting that was left to do. There is still a lot of work to do, especially with the dynamos.

I'm looking forward to being at NAMES this year. I missed the last two years because I couldn't spend the time sitting in a car for the drive from Texas to Detroit. I have been exercising a lot, and my back, hips and knees feel a lot better because of it. I should be able to make the trip this year.

This is my first triple expansion steam engine, and with the Joys valve gear its a real challenge. As well, it is unusual in
that there is really a lot of action during it's motion.

Looking forward to seeing all the guys at NAMES.

maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline Johnmcc69

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Re: The Dickson!
« Reply #119 on: February 14, 2020, 01:56:10 PM »
Very nice work Maury! A very interesting engine.
 I gotta ask..what do all those hand operated valves do?

 John

 

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