Author Topic: Finger Treadle Engine  (Read 9365 times)

Offline scc

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #15 on: October 15, 2017, 06:52:01 PM »
Nice work Chuck :ThumbsUp:  I am enjoying your build :popcorn:             Regards         Terry

Offline rarach22

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #16 on: October 15, 2017, 08:25:22 PM »
 :ThumbsUp:

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #17 on: October 15, 2017, 11:34:42 PM »
Good looking cranks Chuck. Nice finish on them too!

Bill

Offline cfellows

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #18 on: October 17, 2017, 11:38:44 PM »
Thanks for the comments, guys.

Today I started on the connecting rods.   I've never used this technique before but wanted something a bit decorative and unconventional.  For the big end, I started with a 1" x 0.25" piece of brass about 7" long and chucked it in my 4-Jaw, carefully getting it centered.



Next I drilled and tapped an 8-32 hole 3/8" deep in the end.



Then I turned the rod down to 9/16" wide x 0.25" thick for a length of 7/8".  Then I reversed the rod in the chuck and did the same operations on the other end.  This resulted in two partially formed connecting rod big ends, one on each end of the rod.



Then it was off to the mill to cut a concave form on both sides of each rod end.  This was followed by cutting two, 4" lengths of 3/16" drill rod.  I chucked these in the lathe, turned down a 5/16" length of the end to .156" and threaded it 8-32.  Here you can begin to see what the finished rods will look like...



Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #19 on: October 18, 2017, 02:23:37 AM »
Nice!! I've never done that either. I like it!!

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Offline cfellows

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #20 on: October 22, 2017, 05:44:17 PM »
Kind of vacillating on the connecting rod.  I made a couple of more traditional rods yesterday out of bronze.  I designed them in Microsoft Visio then used my CNC mill to cut them out.







But I'm still kind of liking the other design so I think I'll finish them up as well then decide which I like better.

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline Art K

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #21 on: October 22, 2017, 10:06:05 PM »
Chuck,
You could stay on the fence and build one of each. :ROFL:
Art
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you" B.B. King

Offline Ian S C

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #22 on: October 23, 2017, 08:58:29 AM »
Not such a bad idea to have just a little difference.
Ian S C

Offline cfellows

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #23 on: October 25, 2017, 08:05:53 PM »
Chuck,
You could stay on the fence and build one of each. :ROFL:
Art

You laugh!  That's exactly what I did.  And I'll send both sets of rods to the boys so they can switch them out at will.

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline cfellows

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #24 on: October 25, 2017, 08:09:09 PM »
So, I spent the day yesterday prototyping a treadle out of aluminum.





Today I'll start whittling the real deal out of solid brass.  The order of operations is obviously going to require some planning.



The brass blanks are 1.5" x 1.25" x 0.75".

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #25 on: October 25, 2017, 08:56:30 PM »
The boys are going to love these Chuck. Who wouldn't?? Very nicely done and the brass treadles will only add to it.

Bill

Offline crueby

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #26 on: October 25, 2017, 09:35:51 PM »
I assume there is enough room for a finger on both top and bottom of the treadle, so it could be a 'double acting' engine!

 :Lol:

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #27 on: October 26, 2017, 01:28:14 AM »
Pardon me a a little sidetrack...

I've been watching your thread Chuck...which 'inspired' me...
I CAD'd up little finger treadle engine and printed it out using my 3D printer.
The idea was to show my grand-daughter something. (i.e. Grand-pa is a cool dude.)

It works like crud...but grand-daughter found it fascinating...even though I told her it doesn't work very well.
The next time she visited... she bee-lined to play with it. Then she told me she got it to work.
It didn't really work...but she wanted to prove me wrong. And that's a trait I admire.

Hence...a huge success. Grand-pa is a cool dude.  ;D
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline Noitoen

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #28 on: October 26, 2017, 10:25:47 AM »
If the flywheels were mounted on some freewheel bearings, they would keep on running after the treadle stopped ;)

Offline cfellows

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Re: Finger Treadle Engine
« Reply #29 on: October 27, 2017, 01:08:17 AM »
Thanks for the comments guys.  These are turning out to be some of the best work I've done, albeit, not the most complicated.

Today I continued work on the "production" treadles.  I started with 1.25" x 1.50" x 0.75" brass blocks which I cut out yesterday.  Today, I used CAD and CNC to design and cut out the center profiles.



The waste part, marked in black, will be retained for a while to aid in fixturing for layout and holding for milling.  I'll have to decide later at what point the waste can go.

Chuck
So many projects, so little time...

 

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