Author Topic: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project  (Read 92451 times)

Offline Jasonb

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #45 on: December 17, 2017, 07:59:41 PM »
They have gone up a bit in price since that 2004 invoice, quite frightening actually  :o

£1650 a set, £150 for a pump both plus carrage, now what would it cost for a few blocks of CI to fabricate one from :thinking: Luckily I have a set of rolled up drawings so that's another £48 saved

Offline pgp001

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #46 on: December 17, 2017, 08:02:43 PM »
I know where there is a fully machined Southworth 11" mill engine flywheel that might be up for grabs if anyone happens to need one.

Phil

Offline Ramon Wilson

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #47 on: December 20, 2017, 05:41:00 PM »
Had a couple of good days machining on the eccentrics and relevant parts but more on that later.

From the outset I had planned to paint and erect the engine has I go but so far I haven't managed that - painting that is.

Before any assembly could begin however the base required reworking due to the change to all Corliss and the differing associated pipe run.

Two 25mm box section bars were bolted to the mill to support the base and the areas around the holes milled to accept aluminium chequered plate from Southworth engines. The hole for the steam inlet into the LP side valve layout will have to be a 'dummy access' cover as will the hole cut for the originally planned floor mounted stop valve.



The Fywheel pit was lined with 3mm thick MDF sheet scribed to represent block work The top had a rebate milled all round to accommodate edging bricks which again will be made from MDF as done on the Waller engine.

Incidentally the 'snap-lok' coolant hose was set up as an extractor in conjunction with a vacuum cleaner, mainly to cope with the cast iron dust but worked just as well here too.


The sub bases or plinths were also cut from MDF and treated with Sanding Sealer before screwing down to the main base. The engine could then be set out and the holes for the 3 BA foundation bolts drilled. Each bolt was fitted as each hole was drilled to ensure alignment. One of the situations I wanted to avoid on this build was the 'break down and rebuild' syndrome where parts find a difficulty to re-align themselves! There are a lot of mating surfaces on this set up so care would be taken at every stage to ensure good alignment and free movement of parts as each were fitted.


A closer view, the rod is for aligning the squareness and longitudinal position of the pedestal. I particularly wanted to get this right because the Waller engine had a very slight vertical mis-alignment which created a wringing movement of the crank which in turn induced one of those 'mystery knocks'. Vertical alignment here was done by careful measuring and taking a whisper off one of the bearing blocks to bring them in line.


The two bed plates were joined and the whole set on the mill to establish the centreline and drill and tap for the cylinder mounting bolts.


With this done the cylinders could be bolted in place and the cylinder covers finished off with their respective glands - 'pseudo metallic packing' as it says on the drawing. The glands and covers were drilled and reamed and turned to fit their bores in one hanging to ensure concentricity. Pistons were turned from gunmetal bar 0.05 down on diameter and a groove turned in to accept the much favoured PTFE filled packing.
The piston rod is a composite - three reducing diameters each locating on a long spigot in a reamed hole in the larger rod. Each spigot has a 6BA screw set in the end to pull each rod up home.


It would be nice to say it all fitted perfectly but once bolted down the very slight error on the height of the LP cylinder was obvious. Shims were inserted under the HP cylinder to establish what the difference was (0.1mm) and the LP cylinder was removed, set on a mandrel through the bore as before and the amount skimmed off.
Bolted back in place on the piston rod and pistons moved with ease through both cylinders without any tight spots so I was well pleased  :)


Now that flywheel could be fitted but first a crank shaft is required.

As usual hope that's of interest - any questions, thoughts or comments, good or bad do say

I'm off out for my second plastic clubs Xmas bash tonight - change of hat for the evening but I'll be back at the lathe in the morning
;)

'Rest easy' guys - Ole Tug
"I ain't here for the long time but I am here for a good time"
(a very apt phrase - thanks to a well meaning MEM friend)

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #48 on: December 20, 2017, 06:07:40 PM »
Really coming along well Tug, I still can't get over how large this model is!!  :o Will be quite one to watch running though in time.

Bill

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #49 on: December 20, 2017, 07:40:40 PM »
Beautiful work Tug!

I'm really enjoying seeing this engine come together.


Dave

Offline Ramon Wilson

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #50 on: December 22, 2017, 09:10:35 PM »
Thanks Bill and Dave, glad it's proving interesting for you. It is a bit bigger than I'm used to Bill but at this stage it appears it will be manageable enough with two of us. How we get on getting it upstairs at Forncett though remains to be seen  ::)

I mentioned earlier that Terry Fleet had thought it might be the first tandem but that I wasn't so sure that would be right. There have of course been full blown Twin tandem compounds built and we did indeed have one of those exhibited at Forncett quite some time back. Exhibited by a first time exhibitor from Framlingham in Suffolk it was fully finished but had yet to be painted. It was a very impressive beast but we have not seen it since no doubt due to those stairs ::) Also, of course, there was the same twin tandem version built by Cyril Rylett many years ago that was left to Mike Crisp - it was seeing this model at an Ally Pally ME show  that first inspired my interest. Perhaps Terry was meaning a single tandem compound - someone must have tackled one but I have to say I have not been aware of one so far.


The crankshaft was turned for a piece of 30mm EN1a. Roughed using the three jaw first it was finish turned between centres. Turned to print it was only on offering it up that the offset spokes became asymmetrical so the centre section was reduced on one side to even things up and put the flywheel equally spaced in the pit. The ends will be reduced to remove the centres once all is found acceptable.


The bearings were machined from bronze - not quite sure of the exact grade. Done in the usual way of soft soldering two pre-machined pieces together before facing then boring to a good fit on the shaft. The outers were them machined to the bore and to fit their respective housings.


As said earlier there was a small amount left on the lower faces so that one could be trimmed to get the crankshaft truly level across both housings.


The bearings were then reheated to split them, the soldered faces cleaned up and then place in their housings. Both parts of each bearing and pedestals were stamped to ensure it all goes back together in the same order. And then at last the flywheel could be fitted. The bearing caps were fabricated from slabs of cast with cast bosses JB W'd in place. Bolted up firmly one bearing required just a slight filing to enable the shaft to rotate freely. BTW those steam chest covers were milled from pieces of cast iron cut off a bar with the bosses JB W'd in situ (what else eh Simon ;)


Though the blanks had been prepared earlier the eccentrics and straps were next up so more on those next time. We are getting close now to current state of play - today saw thos eccentric parts fitted and turning

It's been very quiet on here so far but just in case you are looking in

A MERRY XMAS
to all of you who do, may you have a real nice time over the festivities and all the very best for the New Year

Cheerio from tha ole shid for tonight

Tug

"I ain't here for the long time but I am here for a good time"
(a very apt phrase - thanks to a well meaning MEM friend)

Online sco

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #51 on: December 22, 2017, 09:36:29 PM »
Tug,

On it's own that flywheel is imposing but once in the pit it just looks 'right'!

Simon.
Ars longa, vita brevis.

Offline 10KPete

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #52 on: December 23, 2017, 12:16:52 AM »
Wow! Very impressive there, Tug.  That flywheel sure gives some size to this unit.

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

Offline Ramon Wilson

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #53 on: December 23, 2017, 09:39:58 AM »
'Morning Simon, Pete

Yep it certainly steps up a tad once that goes in place  ;) but I think your flywheel's even larger isn't it Simon?

It occurred to me as I signed off last night that some might be misreading tales from the ole 'shid' as something different from that intended :o
Thas plain ol Suffuk speak bor - shid is were I spend my time not what I'm standing in  :ROFL:

'Hev enny o yu henny idere where ol Tug is?' 'Well, blast bor, hent you troyed his ole shid - he's a orllus in there' 

(Have any of you any idea where old Tug is - Well blast boy, haven't you tried his old shed - he's always in there)

I hope that that has put that clearly into perspective - now you know what shid is  :)

As one well known personage on here would decree 

Y'all have a good one now  :cheers: 

Ole Tug
"I ain't here for the long time but I am here for a good time"
(a very apt phrase - thanks to a well meaning MEM friend)

Offline Bertie_Bassett

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #54 on: December 23, 2017, 11:10:49 AM »
more impressive work tug! thats coming along rather quickly.

hope you get plenty more time in the shid oer xmas  :ThumbsUp:
one day ill finish a project before starting another!
suffolk - uk

Offline pgp001

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #55 on: December 23, 2017, 11:24:07 AM »
Nice work Tug.

I am waiting with baited breath to see your methods of eccentric machining (or perhaps I should say machining eccentrics)  ;)

I have just finished the drawings for the ones on "Agnes", and thought I might get on making them if I get a few hours spare over Christmas.

Phil

Offline Ramon Wilson

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #56 on: December 23, 2017, 11:41:13 AM »
Ah tha's my bor Bertie,  Dew yew hev a good crismis now  ;)

Phil - I would have thought by now you'd have realised every thing that comes from this direction is a tad eccentric  :Lol:

I would imagine you will be splitting yours but I did take the easy way out. I'll pop some posts up later but right now I want to get out and get after it. Delayed start - someone insisted I needed a haircut for Xmas  :D

Tug
"I ain't here for the long time but I am here for a good time"
(a very apt phrase - thanks to a well meaning MEM friend)

Offline Bertie_Bassett

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #57 on: December 23, 2017, 12:04:17 PM »
someone insisted I needed a haircut for Xmas  :D

had my xmas trim yesterday, the poor lass almost needed  a hedge cutter! 

look forward to see what you produce today :)
one day ill finish a project before starting another!
suffolk - uk

Online Admiral_dk

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #58 on: December 23, 2017, 03:08:52 PM »
That is a very big engine  :o and a nice flywheel that reminds me of the cable drum / flywheel in Glasgow Transport Museum - used to pull the subway trains there back in 1896 and onwards for many years.

Even though "you gone big" I see a few CI engines behind the flywheel and if they are "your usual 5cc" jobs that really put it into scale so to speak. Looking very good so far  :ThumbsUp:

And a nice Xmas to you too + the rest here  :)

Offline Bobp

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Re: Tug's Corliss Tandem Compound Project
« Reply #59 on: December 23, 2017, 05:52:39 PM »
I would like to congratulate Tug for his superb work. Having seen some of his other models at Forncett I am not surprised.

Various comments about the engine have been made in the posts so I thought some background information may be of interest. Southworth Engines is very much a retirement hobby business for me. Its sole purpose is to keep the range of pumps designed by Peter Southworth along with the Corliss Engine designed by Arnold Throp available for enthusiasts like us. Peter and I had many conversations about what would happen to them and I assured him I would keep them available while I could. We were both aware that if they were taken on by someone in the trade they would cherry pick the popular pumps and the rest along with the Corliss engine would fall by the wayside.

You would think that living in Sheffield with its industrial heritage getting castings done would be easy. This is not the case, foundries are getting fewer and farther apart, particularly those that will tackle our sort of work. I agree with Tug’s comments about the quality of the air pump casting. From what I can see from the photo I would not have sent that one out.
 
Peter swapped the cylinders over from iron to gunmetal at a time when he felt he could not get iron castings of satisfactory quality. I understand Jason’s comments about the cost of the castings. He was quoting the most expensive option. After criticism that there were no Corliss Engine prices on the website I took the decision to put prices on that cover the instability of pricing from the foundries at that time.  No customers have actually paid that price as I have always managed to keep the price considerably lower. I now have a stable source of supply and will be altering the prices accordingly. I am planning to offer cylinder castings in iron again as an option which will show much lower prices.

Tug made the comment that the casting sets are very heavy and as I do not have a contract with a carrier I now supply for collection or delivery by me only.

As I said earlier, my motivation is to keep the designs available for fellow model engineers. I have no objections to anyone fabricating and or all of the engines. Jason commented that he has a set of drawings and these are available at £48. These are the original Throp drawings with some additions by Peter. There are 18 drawings to a set which I print out on an ancient Canon A2 inkjet printer, one sheet at a time. I hate the job and it takes ages. Perhaps that is why I have not finished my Corliss engine. If anyone would like a set contact me as I am happy to email a set free of charge.
 
I look forwards to more instalments from Tug. It certainly motivates me to get on with my Corliss although it will fall short of his standard.

 

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