Author Topic: A Simple Uniflow Engine  (Read 45827 times)

Offline propforward

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #195 on: November 08, 2020, 03:31:40 PM »
Much better! Looks great Gary, pleased to see that progress! Very nice workshop, too.
Stuart

Forging ahead regardless.

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #196 on: November 08, 2020, 09:45:15 PM »
Jo, Per, Stuart -

Thank you! Your support is much appreciated.

From this distance it all looks pretty much like it was before. It is of course very possible that there will be some damage at a more detailed level, and yes inevitably there will be some surface rust.

But I spoke to my builder friend on the phone today (he is back at home now) and he said that things aren't looking too bad and that he liberally sprayed all of the machines with WD-40 and something else similar, so they will now sit there for a few months like that, which - as you note, Per, is way better than them sitting exposed to rain! And the workshop now has a much better roof than it did before.

Stuart - glad you like my France workshop. It's pretty basic, rough and ready but it has soul! All I have done in there so far is work on machine restoration, which is something I enjoy. If one day I spend more time over there, the remit may broaden.


Now, at last, back to the engine:

No spectacular progress today but it was good to reconnect. The oak base was made in two halves which were fixed together with exterior grade wood glue and lots of jointing biscuits and clamped tightly while the glue set. Despite (or more likely because of) me having tried to make the thing bombproof, it ended up with something of a misalignment in that looked at from the end the two pieces would be seen as a very shallow v shape rather than a straight line. One one face of the assembly the pieces appear to meet nicely, but on the other (which for obvious reasons I have decided is the bottom) there is a narrow gap. This is annoying, but it's not a disaster as the faces can be planed flat, and it's plenty thick enough. This picture shows the underside as I 'm just about to start with the power planer:



And this one shows the top of the base after an initial rough planing:



Ideally this would be run through a thicknesser to make it flat and even. I have one as an attachment to my wood lathe but it's not big enough for this job. I'm sure that a local joinery would do it for me but I like to do things myself as far as possible so the next step will involve a hand plane and a sander, with repeated use of the straight edge  to check for high spots.

As I've mentioned somewhere above, the base will not end up this shape - it's only like this because the pieces were left over from a sidelined project.

Offline MJM460

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #197 on: November 09, 2020, 09:47:45 AM »
Hi Gary, good to see that roof on again already.  Looks like it will be even better than brand new.

Now that the roof is good and the plastic covers off the machines, the WD40 will be evaporating clean away, hopefully along with the water.  (After all displacing it does not make it magically disappear.  I really don’t know what happens to it in this situation.)    I would be thinking about a follow up protective spray.  Something that leaves a protective coating this time.  Here, suitable products would be CRC, which stands for corrosion resistant coating, or Innox.  I don’t know how widespread these brands are, but there will be similar products available everywhere.  Of course this would depend on the help of your willing neighbour.

Other forum members might have better ideas.  And just having the roof repaired is excellent progress towards having it all in operation again.

MJM460

The more I learn, the more I find that I still have to learn!

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #198 on: November 09, 2020, 11:45:11 PM »
Hi MJM -

Yes, it looks to me much better than the roof it has replaced, even before it was broken.

Good suggestion re the protective sprays - I'll give it some time for the machines to dry out, then look into it.

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #199 on: November 12, 2020, 10:23:35 PM »
Seem to have been bogged down in lots of other stuff recently, with not much progress on the engine.

Four of these arrived today - a small step but better than nothing. Feet for the underside of the oak base, with threaded inserts to screw them into:



They are quite substantial (the thread on the stud is M10), and I love the orange rubber pads!

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #200 on: November 15, 2020, 10:22:09 PM »
Squaring off the ends of two lengths of 40mm aluminium angle. These will be fixed to the oak base, one on each side of - and parallel to - the engine. Let's call them frame mounting bars. The two main sides of the engine frame will be fixed to the vertical face of these bars.

Not very exciting stuff, this, so apologies. However, I was just glad to get into the workshop this evening after being bogged down with fireplace problems, camper van problems, dishwasher problems, cracked bathroom floor tile problems, and writing a work-related article that I wish I hadn't agreed to. So happy to post a plain old shot of the mill set up to tidy up the ends of some unexciting aluminium angle. At least it shows my new vice, this being the first time I have used it:



I thought I'd also let you see these in their unused state:



They were cheap as chips on Amazon, so whether they will last longer than five minutes remains to be seen. But at the price it's not much of a risk. I like the fact that I'll be able to see how much oil is in them. They also each come with two interchangeable nozzles, and the pump mechanism does feel quite sturdy. Time will tell...

Offline propforward

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #201 on: November 16, 2020, 12:28:12 AM »
Nice. A bit of workshop time is always good medicine to get the head straight around that "other stuff". One of the reasons I like model engineering, is because it does actually take some brain power, so good for getting your mind off every day things for a bit.

That is an immaculate mill! Always good to see a well looked after shoppe.

That's a good looking vice. I'm looking forward to seeing all manner of set ups with it.  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
Stuart

Forging ahead regardless.

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #202 on: November 16, 2020, 11:29:32 PM »
Stuart - agreed, absolutely. I find that I get very frustrated when all of the other stuff (which I've had plenty of recently!) keeps me away from the shop. Another thing happened today... but no. Enough of that!

I wish I could tell you that my mill is always that clean though.

Normally it's anything but...

 ::)

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #203 on: November 22, 2020, 11:22:56 PM »
Assembling flatpack shelving units, more work on the campervan, earning a living... oh - and drilling a few holes:



These are drilled in the frame mounting bars so that they can be fixed to the oak base with wood screws. Modest progress, but now I can start on the two sides of the frame, so I'm at a significant stage of the build...

Offline propforward

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #204 on: November 22, 2020, 11:34:29 PM »
Lovely work Gary. Good finishes - always enjoy seeing your posts.
Stuart

Forging ahead regardless.

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #205 on: November 23, 2020, 08:07:42 AM »
Cheers Stuart.

Hoping to make a bit of progress next weekend...

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #206 on: November 24, 2020, 10:14:15 PM »
Now... a template for the sides of the frame, cut out of thick paper:



The two sides of the frame will be cut to this shape from 6mm aluminium plate. Two pieces will be bolted together to keep them both the same shape as they are cut with saws and finished on the large belt sanding attachment on my woodturning lathe. No CNC here! (maybe one day...). The aim is to end up with a simple but elegant curve on each side of the engine, forming the frame. These will be fixed to the frame mounting bars, which in turn will be fixed to the oak base. Holes will be drilled for the two main bronze bearings. These will be high enough so that I can increase the diameter of the flywheels if I need to for the engine to run (in the photo both the flywheels and the cylinder are temporarily shimmed with wood, for height). The whole structure will be braced by cross members made from round aluminium bar running between the two sides of the frame. Also, two shorter cross members will tie each frame side to the cylinder, which will be supported at centre height by an aluminium block. The roughly scribbled circles on the paper represent the fact that 'decorative' holes will be cut into the frame sides wherever they will look good and not interfere with the 'functional' holes for the bearings and cross members. A rectangular aluminium plate will be installed under the whole length of the engine so that oil and water will not drip on to the oak (which nevertheless will be treated with several coats of Danish oil).

That's the plan, anyway, subject to any changes of direction that may occur as I go.

Hope to start shaping these frame sides at the weekend.

And it looks like the insurance company are going to fork out for my French workshop roof...  :)

Offline propforward

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #207 on: November 24, 2020, 10:29:22 PM »
Good news all round Gary.

Like your idea for the frame - should set the engine off nicely.
Stuart

Forging ahead regardless.

Offline gary.a.ayres

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #208 on: November 24, 2020, 10:30:29 PM »
Thanks Stuart.

Still a long way to go though...  ;)

Offline propforward

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Re: A Simple Uniflow Engine
« Reply #209 on: November 24, 2020, 10:38:01 PM »
Always!  :ROFL:
Stuart

Forging ahead regardless.

 

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