Author Topic: 3rd Generation Otto Langen  (Read 12700 times)

Offline Jo

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #45 on: September 23, 2020, 08:08:38 AM »
I've done that before  :facepalm: Made a bracket out of cast Iron to find one little tap and it broke  :toilet_claw:


Much better in steel  ;)

Jo
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Offline scc

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #46 on: September 23, 2020, 04:06:46 PM »
Absolutely wonderful Craig, it's a interesting engine to watch.   What sort of equipment used to be driven by them?  Nice set-ups and finish.    Congrats.        Terry

Offline kvom

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #47 on: September 24, 2020, 12:28:15 PM »
Some tricky parts there.   :ThumbsUp:

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #48 on: September 28, 2020, 09:24:23 PM »
Jo, Terry, Kirk; thanks for your comments.

Jo: thanks for the commiseration  :facepalm2:

Terry: These things don’t develop that much power.  The one owned by Rough and Tumble at Kinzer, PA., which is the most prevalent size you see, is a ˝ HP engine.  There were smaller versions made.  The larger ones went up to 3 HP but Nicholas Otto quickly found out that larger horse powers required significantly larger engines.  These things were pretty noisy when they were under load and they hammered the foundation of whatever they were mounted on.
I’m thinking the ˝ HP or smaller engines could do anything that a “hand cranked” piece of equipment required.  I’ve read that numerous engines were sold to printers to run their presses.

I’ve been putting off the machining of the flywheel but at this point I really need it to continue.  I’d purchased a flywheel that would finish out to a 15 inch diameter from Martin Models back before I started the build.  There is no use building at a scale for which a flywheel can’t be found.

I was absolutely appalled when this flywheel was delivered.  It was/is massive.  These Otto Langen engines are characterized by large diameter flywheels with thin rims.  To get the inside diameter of the rim to the required size I needed to purchase a flywheel of this size.  I reduced the outside diameter from over 15 inches down to the 13 ˝ inches I needed and the thickness from 1 ˝ inches down to 1 1/8th inches.

My 12 inch lathe has a removable “gap” that will increase the turning diameter to 17 inches.  I’ve had the lathe for about ten years and I’ve never had the gap out but I was planning on removing it to turn this flywheel.  I was appalled when I couldn’t remove any one of the four socket head cap screws that hold the gap in place.  Even with a pipe on the allen wrench to give me more leverage, none of the cap screws would budge. 

Plan “B” was to turn the flywheel on my turntable as you can see in the photo below.

oooops... ok, you don't see the turntable, but you probably get the idea.  It was quite the slog.


I also needed to make the stand for the engine, because with this massive flywheel hanging off one side, the column would just fall over. 
I was concerned about perspective because the spokes on this flywheel are considerably larger in cross section than an Otto Langen flywheel should be, and I was concerned that the flywheel wouldn’t look right mounted on the engine.  The jury is still out on this, but for now I’m going to let things be.  If I start cutting down the spokes, I’m letting myself in for hours and hours of filing to get them round and blended into the rim and hub.

Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #49 on: October 06, 2020, 10:53:37 PM »
Thanks for stopping by.

My primary focus this past week was preparing, and then enjoying our Fall, live steam Rail Road run.  This was the last run for our club… looks like our pond (from which we extract our water for the steam engines) will be drained in preparation for moving a gas pipe line that passes close by.  This is all part of the town of Apex planning.

Anyway, I’ll give you a video of my locomotive sitting in the steaming bays, building steam pressure.  I have this tub of “photographic coal” that I keep forgetting about, till I place some of it in the fire box.  It’s really smoky stuff, but great for the photographs and videos.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ljbWOpRClY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ljbWOpRClY</a>


Some folks like to charge up these grades, but I like to climb them slowly and listen to the “stack talk”.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2RFgSXPVq4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2RFgSXPVq4</a>


Back to the Otto Langen.  I’ve started work on the valve.  Here is a photo of the completed valve body.




And here is a photo of it installed on the column.

Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #50 on: October 07, 2020, 09:05:49 PM »

Thanks for stopping by.  I spent the majority of then day in the shop and work progressed on the valve.  I finished the backplate and the slide; parts which I’ll show below.

The backplate is a part that you won’t find on the full size Otto Langen.  It is integrated into the valve frame.  I make it a separate part because it needs a smooth finish on which the slide valve moves and by making it a separate part I can use my surfacing machine to achieve a mirror, flat finish.  I show the finished backplate below.


And here I show it installed in the valve body.



I thought I might show how the valve is ported.  My valve lacks the complexity of the fullsize, since on the fullsize, the valve must also transport a carrier flame that is re-lit outside the valve body with each cycle, and then carry that flame to the combustion chamber to fire the engine.

This photo shows my drawing for the backplate. 

The backplate has two threaded holes drilled into the left side to accept threaded tubing. .  The lower hole is continued at a smaller diameter and meets the two small holes in the backplate face.  These holes are .025 diameter and emit fuel (acetylene) into the valve.  The upper hole is continued at a smaller diameter where it intersects the vertical oblong void cut into the face of the valve.  This orifice emits air into the valve.

The oblong void below the two fuel holes is the passageway into the cylinder.  It is the only hole that passes completely through the backplate.

To complete the description, the lower, right oblong hole is the exhaust passage.  It allows the exhaust gasses to escape through some porting drilled into the backplate.  The exhaust finally finds it’s way out of the backplate through a threaded hole on the right side of the backplate.  The porting passageways are plugged with set screws at the bottom and lower right.




Below is a photo of the left side of the valve body.  Shown are the two holes which allow threaded tubing to attach to threaded holes in the left side of the backplate. The bottom hole is for fuel (acetylene) while the top hole is for air as mentioned previously.




This photo shows the right side of the valve.  Shown is the hole which allows threaded tubing to attach to the threaded hole on the right side of the backplate.  This is the exhaust side.




Below is a photo of the slide valve.  We need to remember that when these Otto Langen engines were built, steam was still “king” and some of the design criteria of steam engines was borrowed.  This slide valve is typical “steam engine”.




Now I’ll give you a trio of photos with the slide valve in place.  A cover fits over the slide valve to seal the front side, the slide valve being sandwiched between this front cover and the backplate.

In this photo, the slide valve is shown in the “at rest” position.  This is it’s position at the end of a power cycle.  In this position the exhaust passageway is connected to the port that passes into the cylinder, thus allowing the exhaust gasses to be removed from the cylinder.




Now I show the slide valve cycled to the “up” position.  Here the fuel and air passages are connected to the passageway into the cylinder.  With the piston being lifted, fuel and air is drawn into the cylinder.




Next the valve is quickly cycled through the middle position (as shows two photos up) and moves to the “down” position.  Though the side valve still exposes the exhaust passageway, the port into the cylinder is closed.  In this position the engine fires.


The valve slide is then returned to the middle position where the cycle can repeat.
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #51 on: October 11, 2020, 01:16:47 AM »
Thanks for stopping by to see the latest.

The last few days have been spent finishing the slide valve; a photo of which I supply below.


Of course I need to paint the model before I permanently install the valve, and upon final assembly, I’ll be sealing the valve to the cylinder body with some Permatex gasket maker.

Next on the agenda is the governor.  Once I get the governor drive gear made I’ll be able to permanently install everything on the main shaft and “time” the engine.

There isn’t much left to finish on this model; I might have it running In a few more weeks.
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #52 on: October 11, 2020, 09:37:30 PM »
Thanks for stopping by.

I spend the entire afternoon making this bevel gear to drive the governor.  It’s a 45 tooth gear and if you know the drill you need to make three passes around the gear blank, so it takes a while.


While I’m in a “gear making mood” I’ll probably make the governor driven gear tomorrow if all goes well.
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Online Dave Otto

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #53 on: October 12, 2020, 09:45:40 PM »
Nice work on the gear Craig!

Dave

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #54 on: October 13, 2020, 10:01:02 PM »
Dave; thanks for stopping by and commenting.  Thanks also for those of you who are silently following along (I guess you’re following along and not just opening this thread in error). :o

So, as a reward for stopping by; you get to see another original Craig “foul-up”. :facepalm:  If I can’t laugh at these when they happen, then I’m going to be in a semi-constant state of unhappiness.   

“Craig”, I said; “That shaft is over 5/32 inch in diameter… certainly its rigid enough to support the gear blank while I cut the gear teeth”. :disagree:


“Whooooopsie… Then again, maybe not”. :toilet_claw:



Now, wiser and with more experience here are the governor parts after “attempt 2”.


I’m using ball bearings on this governor as I did on the Crossley model.  I want minimal resistance to the higher speed step-up on the governor shaft.  Here are the governor parts assembled….



It’s always nice to assemble what you’ve got and have a reality check.  It looks like everything is fitting nicely so far.  Obviously, there are a few more governor parts to make before I can call the governor done.

« Last Edit: October 14, 2020, 12:16:37 AM by Craig DeShong »
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline crueby

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #55 on: October 14, 2020, 01:54:28 AM »
Always nice to discover new ways to whoops! 


 :popcorn:

Offline Kim

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #56 on: October 14, 2020, 06:14:47 AM »
Well, you're in good company, Craig! We've all done something like that before (and multiple times for some of us  :embarassed:).

Gears take a long time, but are very satisfying once you finally get them right!
Kim

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #57 on: October 19, 2020, 10:05:56 PM »
Chris & Kim; thanks for your commiseration; good to know I’m not alone.  Thanks also for those just taking the time to silently stopping by for this progress update.

I haven’t posted for a week, but I’ve been busy.  Right after the last post I had an epiphany regarding the governor and decided to go a different way with it.  I’m pretty sure the “old” way would not have worked; hopefully this “new” way will.

So after working on the governor it was time for a little paint, as the weather is getting colder and my outdoor paint days are numbered.  After paint, I assembled the beast and had a good “look see” at the result.  A few photos show below:






Here is a view of the governor; sill a few more parts to make and assemble to connect it to the ratchet/pawl escape.  I may hold off doing that till after the first successful run.  I’m thinking this thing might well try to “run away” without a governor, since the piston drops immediately to the bottom of the cylinder after the power stroke- thus facilitating a new “un-governed” power stroke.  If it gets too crazy, I can always cut the ignition.




Finally I give you a video of the mechanism as I turn the engine over by hand.  Everything seems to be working as it should.  The piston lift is functioning, the clutch is working smoothly, the valve is cycling, the governor is spinning around, and the ratchet/pawl is engaging and releasing.  I’m pretty happy overall.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql2z4dDDk8w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql2z4dDDk8w</a>
« Last Edit: October 20, 2020, 01:26:25 AM by Craig DeShong »
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Don1966

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #58 on: October 19, 2020, 11:27:42 PM »
I been following quietly Craig seeing the hit and miss on the gear making I will tell you your not alone when it comes to mishap and blunders. I have felt like a dumbass on many occasions. The gears turned out well so not all bad right...., :cheers:


Don

Offline MJM460

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Re: 3rd Generation Otto Langen
« Reply #59 on: October 20, 2020, 12:20:57 PM »
Hi Craig, That paint really brings it out well.

Good to see the mechanism going through its paces, another of your most interesting models.

MJM460

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

 

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