Author Topic: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine  (Read 15053 times)

Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #45 on: November 07, 2019, 06:14:05 PM »
I am pleased to say I have done the studs for the bottom of the cylinder and the three for the legs but still need to think more about something for the fourth mounting.

this set of castings did not come with the Bronze links so I have been raiding the come-in-handy shelf and found some bits of brass to make the links out of. The starting point for these is to drill and ream the holes. I often recall when I started making model engines that starting with the holes seemed strange but it all comes together in the end  :wine1:

Jo
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Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #46 on: November 08, 2019, 03:45:46 PM »
A piece of scrap aluminium was drilled and tapped for the centres of all  the rod ends and a set of clamping/filing buttons made. These buttons are 12.7mm OD, with a 6.35mm boss that goes into the hole in the rod, the hole for the bolt is smaller in this case for a 2BA allen screw.

While there is plenty of flat surfaces to clamp on to, it is time to mill the slot in the forked end and taking the other end to width but leaving most of the metal still on the top and bottom for shaping later

The two sides can then be evenly taken down by clamping the rod onto the aluminium jig while it is mounted horizontally. Flipping the Aluminium vertically allows the top and bottom to be brought down before unscrewing it from the jig and using the buttons to help with rounding the ends. Having cleaned out the holes with a reamer again a quick check on the engine to see what it looks like  :)

Hopefully the remainder will be just as trouble free.  :wine1:

Jo

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Offline mike mott

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #47 on: November 08, 2019, 04:04:43 PM »
Good afternoon Jo, I noticed in the last picture the hex stock bolts, are you making your own bolts and if so who is the supplier of the small size hex stock that you are using. in my neck of the woods we have a metal supermarket and they only stock .250 across the flats I would like to find a decent supplier of small steel hex without breaking my limited funds (retirement income is very low) I like the way you machine up the brass rod as well.

Mike
If you can imagine it you can build it

Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #48 on: November 08, 2019, 04:17:04 PM »
Thanks Mike,

Yes I am making my own bolts. Those are not small however they have 8.5mm A/F heads and I am using some of my extensive collection of bits of hex bar that came out of the old technical collage when it closed. Normally I machine my fastners out of round 303 Stainless bar and cut the hex myself but this is such a large engine that I can use some of the big stock material.

I am not sure where you would buy any small hex in Canada, maybe one of the other members would know. In the UK we struggle to find the old imperialous or BA sizes any more but metric sizes are easy to find.

Jo
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Offline mike mott

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #49 on: November 08, 2019, 05:07:31 PM »
Thanks Jo.

Mike
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Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #50 on: November 10, 2019, 04:35:10 PM »
I have finished roughing out the links, just a bit of polishing to go  ::)

Jo
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Offline Jasonb

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #51 on: November 10, 2019, 05:02:59 PM »
Looking good though a nice blast with beads in your cabinet could look better than bling and polish.

Were the ones on the original engines brass/bronze or just iron castings?

Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #52 on: November 10, 2019, 05:21:57 PM »
They look to be polished cast bronze:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj8krCrRLRs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj8krCrRLRs</a>

Jo
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Offline Jasonb

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #53 on: November 10, 2019, 05:30:59 PM »
Yes looks like Bronze, wonder if the factory just painted the lot and it's just the restored ones that get buffed up?

You going to make one of those nice wooden tubs too :LittleDevil:
« Last Edit: November 10, 2019, 05:41:23 PM by Jasonb »

Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #54 on: November 10, 2019, 06:30:43 PM »
I was thinking about using a beer barrel  :DrinkPint:

Jo
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Offline Jasonb

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #55 on: November 10, 2019, 06:53:46 PM »
That would look the part, can you get them about 150mm tall? I think these days they are called cans ;D. Last time I saw one that small it was attached to a St Bernard

Or are you going to have a go at coopering? Could probably turn one from a log and just put some grooves down the sides to look like the staves and a few hoops to get the look.

Offline Elam Works

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #56 on: November 10, 2019, 09:52:16 PM »
Quote from: Jo
I was thinking about using a beer barrel


Well this might be over-scale, 10 x 7 dia. in the old imperial system. What was in it was less memorable than the novelty packaging, which is still around decades later as a part washer can. No doubt someone is still packaging beer in these mini-keggers; might require a little recon and research at the off-license. Also might need some volunteers to carry away the contents, especially if it is cheap and nasty like Badger.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2019, 09:57:17 PM by Elam Works »

Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #57 on: November 12, 2019, 04:44:17 PM »
Thanks Doug, That casket looks about the same size as the one we emptied last year. I think both might be a bit big.

I am still working towards finding where to bolt down that bracket for the flywheel so I need to be able to find the centre of the cylinder that means it would be a good idea to make the beam pivot  ;)

I have made my two bearing blocks out of brass which is not a good bearing material  :disappointed: So machined them as a pair I have fitted mine with  oillite bearings. This has the advantage that I probably won't need to oil the bearing in my lifetime  :)

With the blocks then the beam support can be machined and the bearings fitted to it. The one area that is easy to miss is that the bottom studs must have a bit of extra material removed above the bottom clamping surface so that there is sufficient space for the securing nuts to rotate.

I found a piece of rusty old stuff, it was horrible :facepalm2: I think it had been chain drilled out of the centre of something but in it I found the top collar for the Displacer Cylinder  :cartwheel:

Another family shot for those of you who are watching quietly in the background  :cheers:

Jo
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Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #58 on: November 13, 2019, 12:24:20 AM »
Coming along nicely Jo!

I'm curious about the size and scale of your engine, you are calling it a 3" engine; is this the bore size?
It seems that from the photos it is more like the size of the 1/4 scale 2" engine from Myers?
The 3" engine from Myers is a large model at 25" tall to the top of the 13" flywheel.
The legs on your engine seem to be shaped differently that the US versions, is this just the way they were modeled or were the original engines different in England than the US?

Dave

Online Jo

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Re: Camden 3" scale Rider-Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine
« Reply #59 on: November 13, 2019, 07:38:58 AM »
Thank you Dave,

I am calling it a 3" engine as that is what the supplier Camden Miniature Steam Services calls it. In the UK a 3" engine means a 3" to the foot i.e. a 1/4 scale engine. I know that Rider Ericsson sold their engines based on the bore size so a 8" engine had an 8" bore so in their parlance this would be a 2" engine  :headscratch: which would be confusing for a UK audience. This model is a 1/4 scale model of the engine at the Henry Ford Museum as documented in "Steam and Stirling - engines you can build", the original engine had a 3 7/8" stoke this one has a 1" stroke.

Adam at Camden did not have access to the original engine so he based his patterns on the drawings in the book with a few modifications to make the patterns/castings easier to work with.

Jo
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