Chris's Marion Valve Winding Engine

[gary.a.ayres]

Another handsome machine taking shape here....

[cnr6400]

Suggestion for plating inside bores - place the nickel rod inside the bore, and use as many ground clamps as possible on the cylinder, all along and around it. Sometimes a tube shaped electrode works better inside bores. However, in my limited experience with plating, any bore plating I have done did not adhere well and had thin spots. For these reasons I would not use it if the bore had other parts running in it, like a crosshead guide or cylinder bore. Those applications did not go well for me.

[crueby]

Suggestion for plating inside bores - place the nickel rod inside the bore, and use as many ground clamps as possible on the cylinder, all along and around it. Sometimes a tube shaped electrode works better inside bores. However, in my limited experience with plating, any bore plating I have done did not adhere well and had thin spots. For these reasons I would not use it if the bore had other parts running in it, like a crosshead guide or cylinder bore. Those applications did not go well for me.

Good tip - I've been plating the uprights for the crosshead tubes today, which have ribs sticking out so lots of inside corners. Moving things around so the rod is between ribs helps. I have not tried inside a bore.


On commercial plating tanks I've seen, they have the liquid being pumped around constantly. Is this just to keep the mix uniform, or does that help inside corners/bores too?

[cnr6400]

Circulating the plating solution will probably help with evenness of plating, but since plating generally works best "line of sight" from electrode to workpiece I think placement of the electrode has a much bigger effect than circulating the solution. As I mentioned though, I have limited experience with plating.

[crueby]

I got the last of the base pieces played today, so put in the first crosshead guide. Biggest piece, and open center, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Worst case, sand and paint it!

[crueby]

One crosshead guide plated, one to go. Here they are side by side to show the difference in the color.

I had to move the nickel rod around to get all the inside corners next to the ring and in the sides of the cutouts to plate, moving it in close to the corner briefly to make the inside of the corner the closest thing to the rod. At that distance the current goes up a bit, and it plates quicker, so it did not take long to thicken up those spots. The center where the guide moves didn't pick up much color at all, so no change in how it will move. Very interesting process - if it was just a chemical reaction, the entire part would plate evenly. I think there were comments on other threads about getting powder coat to adhere in narrow gaps and inside corners too. Electricity always wants to take the 'short'-cut!

[gary.a.ayres]

She's a serious-looking beastie, that's for sure...

[Admiral_dk]

Nice progress Chris 

Electricity always wants to take the 'short'-cut!

Any kind off "current" - water, electricity, air, etc. is the same in that sense - as in it Allways takes the easiest way.

      

[crueby]

And the last of the (currently made) parts are plated, really changes the look.

Next I think will be a big batch of studs (already have small-pattern nuts in the box) to make to bolt all this together, then will start on the valve trains...

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Chris,
In my brief experience to plating forty years or more back, the electrode placement was as much an art as a science.  Movement of as little as an eight of an inch would result in bad plating, and dunking parts in boiling acid was no joy ether. I left after four months, six pair of safety shoes and countless shirts and pants got destroyed. The final straw was when one of the other workers wanted the afternoon off and dropped a pail of cyanide solution in the acid bath. This was the third time he had done it in the four months I was there.
Gerald.

[crueby]

Hi Chris,
In my brief experience to plating forty years or more back, the electrode placement was as much an art as a science.  Movement of as little as an eight of an inch would result in bad plating, and dunking parts in boiling acid was no joy ether. I left after four months, six pair of safety shoes and countless shirts and pants got destroyed. The final straw was when one of the other workers wanted the afternoon off and dropped a pail of cyanide solution in the acid bath. This was the third time he had done it in the four months I was there.
Gerald.

Definitely a place to get away from!  One of the office areas I had back at the big equipment manufacturing plant at Kodak (back when they made things) was on the second floor above the main plating area - always interesting (and scary) to walk past that room. Fortunately they had their own ventilation system that never broke down!

[kvom]

Given that the engines on the Marion were single, each with its own valve and control, I'm wondering how you're going to get one valve to control both engines simultaneously.     What am I missing? 

[crueby]

Given that the engines on the Marion were single, each with its own valve and control, I'm wondering how you're going to get one valve to control both engines simultaneously.     What am I missing?

Every slew/crowd/steering engine on the Marion is a twin cylinder, not single. There was one throttle/direction valve for the two cylinders, only difference here is that I split the cylinders apart rather than combining them in one 'casting', still shares a common crankshaft, so this engine is also a twin. The slew/crowd engines had one slide valve per cylinder, but it was the double decker slide with four valve ports in the face, same arrangements here.. Same plumbing arrangements, just using some external pipes rather than everything internal. The main hoist engine on the shovel was also a twin, but it used a more standard throttle with external reverse gear.

[crueby]

Been working on piles o threaded studs, getting things assembled today. Made up the cylinder gaskets so I could assemble things as I went - stack of gasket paper (automotive type) clamped to one of the cylinder caps, and ran the clearance drill through each hole with the stack on a block of wood to make the holes in the gaskets. Then put the gaskets in place, and ran a sharp knife around the cylinder bore to take the center out. Instant perfect fit gaskets.

Here is what it is looking like now, seems to be turning over smoothly by hand.

Still more nuts/studs to go in on the bases, then will start on the valve eccentrics/straps.

[Flyboy Jim]

This project is really starting to come together Chris.   

Have a nice Thanksgiving. Hopefully it isn't too "weathery" back there.

Jim