A Simple Uniflow Engine

[crueby]

A few years ago I tried a few different blueing compounds on a variety of steels, worked good on some alloys, not on others. Tough to predict.

[gary.a.ayres]

What kind of alloys Chris?

[crueby]

What kind of alloys Chris?

Tried it on cold rolled, drill rod, couple stainless, forget the details. Its back on a thread. Somewhere. Bottom line, needs experimenting like you did, as I recall there was no predictable results.

[gary.a.ayres]

Ah ok.

I found that the silver steel responded better than the cast iron did. Very dark, even colour with almost zero effort.

Certainly warrants further exploration in due course though.

[Kim]

There are various chemical blackening agents designed for brass also.  I've used them on other projects.  They also have varying results.  I found that I got the most consistent results by doing a thorough fairly careful process (a good cleaning of washing, then rinsing in acetone, allowing them to dry thoroughly (without touching), then submerged in thinned brass black for a specific amount of time, followed quickly by a gentle water rinse and allowed to dry).  With that process I got pretty consistent results on the brass.  I tried three different types of brass black to see what I liked.  Don't remember exactly what I ended up using, but if you're ever interested I could look it up.

Anyway, you're not trying to blacken brass, but since you tried your stuff on brass and found it didn't work, I wanted to let you know that they are available!

Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

Hi Kim -

Thank you for this. I probably won't be looking to blacken brass in this build, but it's always a possibility in future projects. Now that I know that it exists, it might get my mind ticking over. I'll come back to you for advice on which one was best if and when I decide to try it.

All good info, for me and perhaps others looking in too!

I'd be very interested to know if there are any compounds out there that will impart colours other than black to metals (other than plating or anodising I mean).

I'd love to get into anodising aluminium, but I don't have room for the gear. Mind you, lack of space has never stopped me before...

[gary.a.ayres]

Made a start on the base today. The two big pieces of oak were joined together using jointing biscuits and exterior grade wood glue:



I love the smell of oak when it's being worked.



In the following photo the glue hadn't yet been applied - this was a trial fit to make sure the biscuits lined up:



It has now been glued up and laid somewhere flat indoors. I'll release the clamps tomorrow. The pieces of oak are the shape they are because they were initially intended for another project, for which they were mitred. The pointed ends will either be cut square or shaped in due course, though it may be useful to keep a bit of extra length so that accessories can be mounted on them.

I then began marking out the blanks for the sides of the engine frame on a piece of 5mm thick aluminium plate:



The sides will be made from the narrow rectangle at each end of the sheet of plate. The sheet is very precisely cut as purchased, so the existing edges will be good as reference lines for machining. A lot of the machining will be on the two sides at the same time, bolted together.

There will be more than enough plate left in that middle section to make a piece which will be fixed flat to the oak base under the engine, like a floor.

It was late afternoon by this time so I decided to leave setting up the saw to cut the plate for another day. This evening, I did a thorough clean-up of the mill to get all the cast iron swarf off it. Pleased to say it scrubbed up nicely. The lathe will be getting the same treatment, probably tomorrow.

[MJM460]

Wow, Gary, that ought to be enough biscuits! 

A pity. That so much of the oak will be hidden, but it should definitely be heavy enough to hold the engine down.

Good to see the progress.

MJM460

[gary.a.ayres]

Ha, yes... as I have previously admitted I do tend to somewhat over-engineer things. That said, these are big heavy pieces of wood, so better safe than sorry.

Agree that it's a shame to cover so much of the wood, but I'd rather any oil and water fall on to a metal surface. Also, the wooden base will be quite a bit wider than the frame so there will still be a fair amount of oak visible.

[gary.a.ayres]

Misery.

My builder friend and his colleague were due to go and make a start on replacing my French workshop roof on Sunday. However, France has just gone into another national lockdown, so it's not going to happen.

I won't whinge, because this is affecting millions of people in ways much worse than it's affecting me.

My neighbour will do what he can with plastic sheets, etc., but I dread to think what state these machines will be getting into as it has done nothing but rain there for the past two weeks.

No progress on the engine (and have fallen behind with other people's threads that I'm following) as I have been redecorating our bathroom all week...

Sometimes this is how it goes...

 

[propforward]

Gary,

I heard that on the news today. I'm so sorry. However, I think the tarps will do a lot for you. Fingers crossed.

[gary.a.ayres]

Many thanks Stuart.

I have just learned that essential trades (including building) are likely to be allowed to continue, so it may still be on.

More later...

[propforward]

That’s great news. Any further word on that? I see the UK is heading into lockdown again.

[gary.a.ayres]

Yay! 

My good friend and his helper are driving up to my place in France tomorrow to put a new roof on the workshop. France is in lockdown, but builders can work as it's an essential trade.

We have decided to go for a strengthened roof structure (more wood work plus tie-down straps), 'corrugated iron' instead of the dreaded fibro-ciment and a raised blockwork parapet to deflect the wind.

I'm hoping he will send me a few pics of the work in progress and if he does I'll post a couple here.

Meanwhile, here at home, I have finished redecorating our bathroom so should be able to get back to the engine soon, or at least give my shop a much-needed cleanup.

Things are looking up...

[gary.a.ayres]

That’s great news. Any further word on that? I see the UK is heading into lockdown again.

Stuart - yes - our posts crossed.

Yep, UK locking down again...