Author Topic: Newbie building a PMR 6CI  (Read 16876 times)

Offline vdubjunkie

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Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« on: April 23, 2018, 04:18:01 AM »
Hello all,

I found this site while desperately searching for the existence of a Corliss kit, believing they are not produced by anybody in the states at this point.  I'm still not sure there are any kits, and I don't really have capacity to start one, but better yet, I found this site.

After finding the MEM plans and following the build pages for two members here, not only was I excited about the prospect of doing this myself one day, but I was also inspired to post a build page of my own.

My engine is nothing fancy, and it's not likely to wow anybody with my amazing skills.  I am new to machine shop, and it is my first project.  My shop is VERY modest, and it has taken me a couple of years just to build my tooling to a mostly usable shop.

I'm certain there will be a number of people from this site I would add to my list, but for now, I'd just like to thank some #Invalid YouTube Link# folks who have made a significant impact on my learning curve.

Keith Appleton
THATLAZYMACHINIST aka Marc L'Ecuyer
Clickspring


Also, in person, I received some fantastic help from Bill Wing.  There have been a number of other resources I appreciate for various reasons, but here is where I've learned a bulk of what I've used to progress my own craft.  It is amazing to me the effort people will put out to help others in this way, and I cannot say enough about how I feel toward these people.

I could go on, but instead, let's get into my project.  I chose the PMR 6CI engine because I found a detailed build log on a website, and often the best way for me to get into something is to basically "copy" what somebody else has done.
There will be, and have been some differences not only with how I accomplish certain work, but in the final product.  However, I like how he did nearly everything.
So, here is that build page, and a huge thanks to RC Don! 
http://rcdon.com/html/6ci_steam_engine_project.html

He also did a great job putting together his own boiler, and I hope to do the same at some point.

For those who can use help visualizing the finished product, here is the image on the PM Model Engines website.




The oldest pictures I have are dated 2/23/2016.  This is effectively when my project began. 


How exciting is it opening and inventorying your first casting kit? 


I put my new tools to use getting my flywheel set up


Here I am practicing setting center height, and putting my carbide tooling to use.  Later I decided to focus on HSS for a variety of reasons


The only critical measurement on the flywheel being the bore, it was a good choice for the first part machined.


It's time to start making my own tools.  That didn't take long.  This was my first week, come to an end.



Is the only way to do better images to have them hosted externally?  Maybe somebody can offer some advice.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2018, 04:59:58 PM by vdubjunkie »
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline Jo

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2018, 06:32:11 AM »
 :hi:

Looks like you are off to a good start on that model engine and started with a very nice looking set of castings  8)

Would you like to put a separate introduction post about yourself in the introduction area so the members can get to know you :)

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2018, 12:27:53 PM »
Great to see a new member and new build log at the same time, so thanks for jumping right in!!  The 6CI is quite a large engine and as I recall there have been a couple of #5's build here on the forum as well. Best wishes as you move alone on your project and just holler for help if you get stuck anywhere along the way. That is partly what the forum is about.

Bill

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2018, 01:07:05 PM »
I've posted a bit about myself.  Thanks for helping out with that.  As usual, I go for the meat, and there's no telling how long it would have taken me to find the introduction section.

So, these next couple of pictures were from the week of 3/6/2016.  I wasn't able to do anything the week in between.  This Sunday, I had returned from a Scout climbing and rappelling event we do each year, and got right to work.  However, I only had pictures from two days this week.




 
« Last Edit: July 07, 2018, 05:24:17 AM by vdubjunkie »
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2018, 05:37:19 PM »
The weekend of 3/19 & 3/20 I tried my hand at using a reamer with very good results.  I've seen several people use the same method to cut a keyway inside a bore, and again I was very pleased with the result.  I knew it would be important to get the width of my cutting tool just right, and spent a fair amount of time considering how the metal should taper away from the cutting surface.



If anybody isn't familiar, I locked the flywheel in the headstock and used my cross slide to slowly scrape away layer by layer.  I took my time ensuring the tool was positioned properly, and at the correct height.

My calipers confirmed that the keyway was precisely the right width.











« Last Edit: July 07, 2018, 05:34:25 AM by vdubjunkie »
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2018, 05:54:00 PM »
Between 3/29 and 3/30, I was able to move on to a crank disk.  Being VERY new to all of this, I spent a great deal of time ensuring that it was aligned and centered to the best of my ability.





Can I just say how much I love watching a part progress through being turned?  I started off with a center drill, then moved on to a smaller drill.  Next, I was able to move on to a drill just under my final dimension.  Here, I was supposed to be shooting for about .0015 to .002 under .625 so that I could press fit a wonderfully perfect 5/8" rod into the hole.





Unfortunately, this is not what happened.  This being the first time I had attempted such precision, I failed, and the hole wound up a perfect slip fit for the 5/8" rod.





What a valuable lesson to learn so early.  Turning appropriate rod for this would later become a pretty challenging process, with lots more lessons to be learned!

« Last Edit: July 08, 2018, 03:35:10 AM by vdubjunkie »
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline mklotz

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2018, 06:03:40 PM »
Drills are primarily bulk material removal tools.  They drill holes that are neither round, straight or on-size.  Drill undersize to remove the bulk of material then, if necessary, bore to make the hole round and straight.  Follow with a reamer to bring the hole to size.

For jobs like this you may want to simplify your life by obtaining a set of over/under reamers for aliquot sizes, e.g...

https://www.amazon.com/14pc-Chucking-Reamers-Under-Sizes/dp/B01N0XXBA4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524502822&sr=8-2&keywords=over+under+reamer+set
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Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2018, 02:59:45 AM »
mklotz

That's a great point.  A set of over/unders is a very good idea.  I knew about drills being very inaccurate, but I hadn't previously seen the idea of boring between a drill and reamer.  Of course, at this point I'm primarily buying my tooling one at a time.  A big exception was my set of collets for my milling machine. 

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2018, 04:19:09 AM »
Between 4/5 & 4/9, I did two things.  If you'll notice the picture of two crank disks, look closely.  There is a void in the otherwise lovely surface on one of them.  I was unable to get past the void before going past dimension.  PMR was great about this issue, and simply sent me a replacement.



The other thing I did was complete the crank pin.





However, while the dimensions were perfectly acceptable, I decided immediately that I would redo it at a later time.



Effectively, I chalked this week up to more education.

« Last Edit: July 08, 2018, 03:38:29 AM by vdubjunkie »
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2018, 04:23:35 AM »
Quite a big break in work brings us to 7/8 and 7/9.  It was pretty exciting to get work going on such a massive part.



I know I'm going to come across like a broken record on this point, but I just don't seem to get over how fun it is to watch a part slowly go from rough and nasty to smooth and pretty.  For me, it's a bit like watching fire.  It's almost therapeutic.  The methodical elimination of more and more sections of rough surface never fails to hold my fascination.  Am I alone here?   :shrug:



You may have noticed a bit of a grinding gouge which remained prevalent throughout a majority of the turning of the outside of the flywheel.  Now it begins to disappear and my joy is inversely related to the elimination of its presence.



We're not quite finished, but a heck of a good way into the process.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2018, 04:45:34 AM »
7/10 brought me what I'm willing to consider completion of the turning on my flywheel.  There's still more to be done before it will look nice enough, but nothing that will be done on the lathe.



7/17 I was able to get a crank disk complete and I even remember today how I felt like I was finally starting to feel less awkward with all of these basic "plain turning" processes.



7/23 afforded me some clean up and this ugly effort.  Not having a large enough machine to handle this properly, I decided I could get it close enough without using precision instruments.  Ultimately, it was a sacrifice I felt I had to accept.  Again, here was a learning opportunity.  At least it shouldn't affect the overall operation when it all comes together.



“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2018, 02:12:52 PM »
Looks like pretty good progress!  :ThumbsUp:

I know I'm going to come across like a broken record on this point, but I just don't seem to get over how fun it is to watch a part slowly go from rough and nasty to smooth and pretty.  For me, it's a bit like watching fire.  It's almost therapeutic.  The methodical elimination of more and more sections of rough surface never fails to hold my fascination.  Am I alone here?   :shrug:

Nope.  ;D
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Offline rudydubya

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2018, 08:01:23 PM »
What zee said.  Me too, vdub.  Following along with interest.

Regards,
Rudy

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #13 on: July 13, 2018, 02:15:39 AM »
Thanks for the encouragement gentlemen.  I think maybe it tends to work this way.  After a big "break" for working on my project, I tend to get more work done in a shorter amount of time afterward.

The week of 7/31/16 was this way for me.  I was able to complete my inboard head and get the second crank disk complete.

I enjoy the feel, sound, smell and appearance of turning cast iron.



Isn't that just beautiful?  I've seen people discussing how they felt like a casting was cheating until they worked with it.  This sort of opened my eyes to the idea that you can make complex parts from blocks of steel.  However, even if I thought it was a bigger accomplishment to create from a block, I would always want to continue using cast iron too.



The one thing I don't care for is that initial layer of sand.  I'm certain I have room to grow with experience of tearing through this initial layer.  Many, if not all of my cast pieces were turned with the carbide tips I purchased as part of a kit of tooling for my lathe.  I've since moved on to nothing but HSS.  I'm enjoying that very much.



Not all of my efforts at precision came together well, but I've generally been able to "make it work" anyway.  This is an example of a successful part due to efforts at precision.



I know I should be over this, but I'm just not.  I did this two years ago and I still get excited when I see it.  I'm fighting the urge to begin a new project.  Fortunately my lack of funds makes it much easier.



Here we are at dimension before beginning to drill through and tap.



Center drilling in motion... :P



I'm trying to spare everybody from seeing EVERY step and believe it or not, I am sparing you quite a lot of the pictures.  Here we are with a complete part minus the necessary holes for bolting the cross slide to the cylinder.



Finally, here is the second crank disk, complete minus the holes for the crank pin.  That will come later.  After reaming the crank rod hole in the center, I turned this mandrel to finish the disk.



« Last Edit: July 13, 2018, 02:21:17 AM by vdubjunkie »
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

Offline vdubjunkie

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Re: Newbie building a PMR 6CI
« Reply #14 on: July 13, 2018, 02:23:36 AM »
You may have noticed that I began by using black marker until I felt I could pony up the $$ for Dykem.  It worked fine, but Dykem is definitely more visible.  I've also still not put any real effort into lighting.  I have a cheap aluminum flare housing for a bulb clamped up high over my lathe, and I often employ a camping headlamp.  One day I'll get some real lighting for the shop.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair

 

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