Crossley Otto Langen

[Johnmcc69]

Whispers from the background...
 Great work Craig! Pretty slick seeing a workable part come OUT of the "scrap" bin for a change. Of course it's not a "scrap" bin, it's just the use of the " roundtoit" bin.
 (Not that you have a large scrap bin, it's just neat to see a part jump out of it.)

 John

[kvom]

Slick job on that part

[awake]

Amazing work. The more I see what you do with that Volstro head, the more I want one!

Sent from my Lenovo TB-8504F using Tapatalk

[Craig DeShong]

Somewhat belated thanks to Chris, Kerrin, John, Kirk, and Andy for stopping by with your encouraging comments.  Thanks also to those of you who take the time to  silently drop by to see the progress.

I haven’t posted on this project for a while but I have been busy.  Getting all the motion sorted out on this secondary shaft has taken some time and has required just a bit of redesign.  What looked good on paper didn’t seem to work as well as I’d liked in reality.  I seem to have everything sorted out now to my liking and I thought I’d make this post to bring you up to speed.

First I’ll give you a few catch-up pictures.

In this picture I’m just starting on the ratchet.  This is the gizmo that is fixed to the mandrel on the secondary shaft and helps control the cycling of the slide valve and ignition of the engine.  Both the ratchet and the secondary shaft drive gear are fixed to the mandrel.  This mandrel free wheels on the secondary shaft until the pawl engages the ratchet to carry the whole secondary shaft around.  Hopefully, the video at the bottom of this thread will help explain this operation. 




Below is a follow-up photo of the ratchet, a bit further along.



And below, a final photo of the completed ratchet (actually not quite complete; it still needs the keyway broached but I didn’t have the broach when I took the photo).



In this photo I’m starting on fabrication of the first part of the pawl.  Here I’m reaming the opening where the pawl will attach to the secondary shaft.



Below is a much further along photo of this pawl part. 



In this photo I’m starting work on the second part that comprises the pawl.




Moving to my indexing head I’m continuing work.



And here I’m nibbling away material I can’t really address any other way.



The remainder of the work was completed with the piece mounted vertically on the mill, using my rotary milling head.  This is a photo of the completed second part of the pawl mechanism.




Below is a picture of the components that make up the secondary shaft.  Some you’ve seen before while others are new.  Top left is the mandrel and to its immediate right is the ratchet.  Further right is the driven gear.  Both the gear and the ratchet are mounted on the mandrel and keyed to the keyway in the mandrel.  The mandrel rides the secondary shaft at the bottom of the photo.
At the bottom, far left is the starting gear which you’ve seen before.  To its right is a lift link that attaches to the secondary shaft and lifts the rack and piston.  Further to the right is the pawl mechanism.  Two brass bearings you’ve seen before fill out the parts list.



In this video I’ve spun the main shaft and am letting the flywheel momentum carry the motion.  I’m holding the pawl and ratchet open, and in doing this the engine is just coasting.  When I release the pawl and allow the pawl and ratchet to engage, the secondary shaft is carried around and the starting gear on the extreme right spins.  When the build is complete this starting gear will actuate a connecting rod type pushrod that will operate the slide valve at the bottom of the engine.  To the extreme left of the secondary shaft the lift link raises the piston so fuel/air can be drawn into the cylinder.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VLO1zTrWxk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VLO1zTrWxk</a>


In this video I attempt to show how the starting lever can be used to start the engine.  It is interesting to note that the engine mechanism is cycled where the engine would fire, and this is accomplished without rotating the main shaft or flywheels.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MxXQCEUBzs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MxXQCEUBzs</a>

[Dave Otto]

Lots of great progress Craig!
Coming along nicely.

Dave

[Admiral_dk]

Looks like you got all those fidly parts working very nicely 

Per

[Roger B]

That's a few more complicated parts made      I'm still following along and enjoying 

[Craig DeShong]

Dave, Per, and Rodger; thanks for your comments.  Thanks also to those silently stopping by for your interest.


Since my last post I’ve added the two trip mechanisms that control when the engine cycles and I’ve been very busy trying to get the entire assemblage of parts that will operate the engine to work together smoothly.  One of the really big challenges is to get the pawl and ratchet to engage and disengage smoothly.  If everything isn’t “just right” the engine will run, but the pawl and ratchet won’t fully disengage, resulting in a “chatter” that is both annoying and also results in premature wear of the parts.  To get this to occur I need to add a few parts that aren’t in the full size but is pretty much what I did on my first Otto Langen I built to solve the same issue.

I give you a photo of the progress.  Unless you look closely you won’t see much difference from the previous photos.


At this point, the model is nearing completion.  I need to install the slide valve and fabricate a push rod to operate it.  Then I’ll need to make and install the governor.

Below is a rather long (four minute) video of a description of the mechanism on the head and how it operates.  Depending on your internet speed it might take a while to load but I would think you might find it enlightening, especially if you have a heightened interest in the operation of these early non compression atmospheric driven engines.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxrn3DyBvl4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxrn3DyBvl4</a>

[Kim]

Yes, that' was a very interesting video, Craig, and a great explanation of a rather complex mechanism!
Thank you for taking the time to make and post it!
Kim

[gbritnell]

My thanks also Craig. I have seen these engines running at shows but never really had the mechanism explained. Very nice!
gbritnell

[Craig DeShong]

Kim and George; thanks for commenting.  Thanks also for those of you who take the time to stop by.

I’ve been working on the governor.  The folks at Kinzers wouldn’t let me disassemble the governor on the full size to see how it works    (ok- In all fairness I would never have thought it appropriate to ask ) so I am free to design my own version .  This I’ve done while trying to make it look (and function)  like the one on the full size.

Work has proceeded slowly since on some days the shop is just too cold to attempt to heat.  I also had a problem with the bearings I purchased.  I would be amazed if the full size uses ball bearings (were they even invented back then?) But I expect this little thing to spin around like the dickens so I thought i'd use them on the model.

I had bought these bearings a while back, knowing that the delivery time might be somewhat lengthy and I wanted to have them when I got around to the governor.  The problem was that I didn’t look at them when I purchased them. When I finally needed them and got them out I realized they were the wrong size.
I re-ordered them and when they were delivered they were again, the wrong size.  It turns out that Motion Industries has an error in their catalog.  They were kind enough to find ones that were the correct size and expedite the order for me at no additional charge so I’m not complaining.

At any rate, all this has held up progress on the model; however now I finally have a bit of progress to share with you.

Below is a photo of the first few parts.  The center post is the part below the quarter; it screws into the frame of the engine.  The two ball bearings reside on the center post and the rotator cylinder fits down over the bearings.  The two short threaded posts screw into the rotator cylinder. 



Below is a photo that shows the assembly.




Next, a slider cylinder fits down over top of the rotator cylinder.  It’s slotted sides fit down over the pins on the rotator cylinder.



This final photo shows the assembly clearly.  The idea is that the whole contraption spins on the ball bearings while the slider cylinder can move up and down vertically as required.  Hopefully, all the function will become clearer as I continue to make more of the parts and show you the assembly.     

[Craig DeShong]

Thanks for stopping by to see the going-on.

Work continued on the governor today.  I started with the weight hangers shown in the photo below. 



Then I moved on to the weights and the slider cylinder cover.  The rotator cylinder pins (see previous post) weren’t quit short enough and were dragging on the cover.  I attempted to “fix” this by mounting the rotator cylinder in the lathe to take a few light passes across the pins to shorten them.  I should have known better and shortened them with a file because the lathe tool pulled one of the pins out of its mount in the rotator cylinder.  I screwed it back in and used a little red Locktite thread locker to re-attach it.  It’s drying now so I can’t show you the complete assembly so far.

I can show you the slider cylinder with cover and the weights attached to the weight hangers.  I’m not sure these are the weights I’ll end up using so I didn’t spend a lot of time on their finish.



The governor weights are a lot lighter than I was expecting and I’m wondering (doubting) at this point that they will be heavy enough to dis-engage the pawl lockout.  Looks like a spring might be required.  I’ll see as the governor gets further along.  It’s one of those issues where things don’t always scale down appropriately; weigh diminishes by the cube proportional to the scale size.

[awake]

Craig, I am continually amazed by the intricacy of this engine and its parts - and your ability to produce them!

[Alyn Foundry]

Hi Craig.

I've been looking in on your build from time to time, excellent progress.

Not being familiar with US currency I've no idea of the scale, but if it's of any consolation the 3/8" diameter balls on my quarter scale Hornsby Akroyd governor worked very well.

The photo was taken before the control linkage assembly was fitted. I found a picture of the other engine that was built by Dave Allen. The linkages and control assembly are fitted.

Cheers Graham.

[Craig DeShong]

Andy and Graham; thanks for your responses/comments.  Thanks also for those of you who take the time to drop by.

The governor weights are 5/16th inch in diameter.  I can spin the governor by hand and it lifts as it should.  I need to make the lever that connects the governor lift arm to the lift shaft passing through the engine frame shown in the photo below.

I also need to make the governor driven gear and then mount the gears to the main shaft and the top of the governor.


Below is a photo of the rear of the engine.


There are a few more odds and ends to work on before I can attempt the first start.