Model Engine Maker
Engines => From Kits/Castings => Topic started by: b.lindsey on June 20, 2017, 05:39:43 PM
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Several years ago, I came across what I thought was just a beautiful single cylinder steam engine for use in steam launches. Unfortunately, this was a full size engine and more than I could justify for model purposes. The next Cabin Fever I attended, there it was again, under air power for the show but even more delightful to see in person. Fast forward maybe 6 months or so, the web site of the engine's supplier in the form of castings had added a half scale version of the engine...just perfect for model purposes.
The supplier of this lovely engine is the Pearl Steam Engine Company and can be found at www.pearlengine.com.
At the time, I filed this information away, in the back of my mind adding it to my shopping list for the following year's Cabin Fever show. But periodically I would revisit the web site just to watch the animated .gif of the engine in motion even though the animation is of the full sized engine and not the half scale version. Though the animation is not currently on the web site, the company's owner, Mr. Roger Grosser has forwarded the link to it with his kind permission to included it here: http://imgur.com/a/1Tlko. Mr. Grosser and I have come to know each other well over the last 6-7 months but that gets ahead of the story.
As the next Cabin Fever rolled around, I visited the web site again, with the hope of contacting the company and asking if they would be at Cabin Fever and if they might have the half scale castings available there. No longer seeing the "Little Pearl" on the website prompted an email to the company with the reply that yes, the half scale castings were not currently available as there needed to be some updates to the drawings to go along with them. Understanding that, I again filed away this project in the back of my brain.
Fast forward another two years which brings me up to around September of 2016...why not write the company again (I didn't really know Roger at this point) and see if any progress had been made on the drawings. The reply was that the intervening time had been largely devoted to bringing a new full size engine to market and all of the pattern work and drawing that that entails. Mr. Grosser did say however that the original prototype drawings for the half scale single cylinder had been simply scaled down from the full size plans, but that they had neither been formalized nor proven against the few original casting sets that were made. Rather, two prototypes of the half scale version had been produced from bar stock much as a proof of concept. Now I could have given up at this point, but I really like this little engine and figured what the heck, so I wrote Roger back and (since he was still quite involved in bringing the new Zenith engine into the fold of full sized offerings) offered to draw up the plans from his original sketches and to work together to resolve any questions or issues that came up during the process. Roger kindly provided copies of those original sketches, and many pictures of the bar stock half scales that had bee built , both assembly pictures as well as pictures of individual parts which proved to be of great help in making the drawings. Through numerous emails and many enjoyable evenings over last Fall and Winter, slowly the plans started coming together, some 40+ individual drawings. In the process and in getting to know Roger through our emails I only came to love what I am calling the "Little Pearl" all the more, only now with a greater understanding of its design and inner workings. I do want to add here that the deal was and remains that all rights to these drawings remain with the Pearl Steam Engine Company and Roger.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I sent off to Roger a final set of printed drawings for both of us to continue to look at and proof with the suggestion that any final proof must include actually making the half scale version from the castings and using the prints to do so. Roger agreed and though we are still mulling over a few minor design things and dimensions, things have finally come together. I received yesterday a well packaged box of some 27 pounds of bronze castings for the "Little Pearl," and so a new project begins.
I had indicated to Roger my interest in doing a build log on it and have invited him to look in or join the forum with the hope that he can and will add to the build as he wishes. Certainly he can add much more history regarding the full size single cylinder, and its larger two cylinder sibling which you can see a brief animation of here: http://imgur.com/qApu2Hg.
I will try to add a photo of the actual castings this evening. I am excited to begin on the project and invite anyone that wishes to follow along, especially our model steam launch members and those interested in more "marine" type engine models. After completing the "TINY" build, my eyes will be thankful also to be working on some larger parts for a change :)
Bill
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Bill you lucky :censored: a set of Little Pearl castings. I have always liked the little Pearl :embarassed:
I did look at buying a set but the shipping costs :facepalm: and the import duty :facepalm2:
And
:pics:
Jo
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I'll follow along though to be honest it does not do it for me personally, had not seen the engine before either.
Might I also suggest that a photo and list of the supplied castings is added to the website, $2K is quite a bit to lay out and I'm sure potential buyers would like to know what they are getting for their money.
J
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Jason, the 2K is for the full sized single cylinder engine castings. The half scale is not yet available again, and if and when it is that will be up to the company to set pricing of course. I will take a picture of what is included in the half scale set this evening though and post it. From the few I looked at and had a brief fondle of last evening though I think they will be very nice to work with.
Bill
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Ah I thought it sounded a bit steep but even so $2K for a 3" x 2.5" engine sounds quite high.
Are there any pictures about of the original, google did not seem to come up with much except steam cars.
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Ah I thought it sounded a bit steep but even so $2K for a 3" x 2.5" engine sounds quite high.
Compare that to the price of a Swan and that is smaller ::)
Jo
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A quick google search of "Pearl Steam Engine" and then images, turns up a few but not a lot more than is shown in the animations or currently on the web site. I am hopeful that Roger may join us as I am sure he could add a lot based on his experience over many years.
Bill
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Ah I thought it sounded a bit steep but even so $2K for a 3" x 2.5" engine sounds quite high.
Compare that to the price of a Swan and that is smaller ::)
Jo
Last time I looked the Swan had two cylinders and the twin pearl is $3700. 6A would be about the same size as the twin Peral and that is £2000GBP on Stuarts site now and that includes a feed pump, extra on the pearl.
I was basing my comments on similar sized Hit and miss casting sets like the all bronze VJ one that I have.
Thanks Bill as you say all that seems to come up are the images from te Pearl site.
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The 6A is £2400 ($3030) for those of us who have to pay Vat :embarassed: And it is a majority of iron castings not bronze...
Jo
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You would get charged VAT if you bought a Pearl into the country too :'( anyone buying outside EU would not pay VAT
As I said I was going by all bronze hit and miss engines, something of similar size to the single pearl costs $600, 23 castings & 4 cut gears
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Both are great looking engines and I would love to have them both.......but I must first win the Lotto :Lol:
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Life is too short for dollars and good sense, just saying
Cletus
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So here are a few pictures of the castings, all of them bronze. Sorry I didn't have room at the moment to spread them out better. Um....most of these are not what I would call Sherline size but neither did I expect them to be.
Bill
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Hey Bill
I remember you saying that you were doing some drawings but I had kind of forgot about it. I would love to see some of your work if it would be ok to post some samples here.
I know how much work is involved with what you have been working on and I can appreciate the time and effort that you have put into this project.
I'm looking forward to watching this little engine come together and I'm really not too concerned how much the castings may cost. :lolb:
Thanks for starting what I'm sure will be a very interesting build.
Dave
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Thanks Dave. Part of my reason for wanting to do a build log on this engine is to help determine if there might be any interest in this from other modelers. If so I hope Mr. Grosser may at some time add it back into the castings he offers. That and having one of the little gems for myself and contributing in some small way to that is my only motivation, I can assure you I have no financial interest in this whatsoever, it was just a unique opportunity and a project I have been interested in over some years now.
As for the drawings, as I had noted my agreement was that the company holds all the rights to the drawings so I could only do that with Roger's permission. He has been great to work with and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the relationship we have developed over these months. Thanks for looking in even at the very early stage of the project.
Bill
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So here are a few pictures of the castings, all of them bronze. Sorry I didn't have room at the moment to spread them out better. Um....most of these are not what I would call Sherline size but neither did I expect them to be.
Bill
Not typical Sherline size, but I think its been shown (by some guy here ;) ) that parts that size CAN be done on a Sherline. If it works out that they will be selling castings in this size, I assume (hope!) that they will have plans scaled to this size too? Their castings for the big version are expensive, but their plan prices are reasonable.
Will be watching this one with great interest...
:popcorn:
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Chris, those are the plans that I have been working on all winter, specifically for the half scale version, though each part is still shown full size, for the most part one part per sheet. Making the engine from them and from the castings is kind of the final proof read of the plans. I am sure a few omissions may show up but hopefully not too many.
Bill
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Thanks Dave. Part of my reason for wanting to do a build log on this engine is to help determine if there might be any interest in this from other modelers. If so I hope Mr. Grosser may at some time add it back into the castings he offers. That and having one of the little gems for myself and contributing in some small way to that is my only motivation, I can assure you I have no financial interest in this whatsoever, it was just a unique opportunity and a project I have been interested in over some years now.
As for the drawings, as I had noted my agreement was that the company holds all the rights to the drawings so I could only do that with Roger's permission. He has been great to work with and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the relationship we have developed over these months. Thanks for looking in even at the very early stage of the project.
Bill
When those unique opportunity's surface it is nice that you have the talent and desire to make a nice contribution to the hobby. I only wanted to see a sheet or two of your work; but I understand if it is not possible to post them here. I would think that if Roger is serious about marketing this little engine that he would be open to having some images of it and the drawings floating around on the net. ;)
Dave
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He may well be Dave, and as I said at the outset, I have invited his participations here. I don't think he would object to a sample or two but that is his call now as you can hopefully understand.
Bill
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And once the hslf scale version is done, you need to work on the "Tiny" version that you can build all on the Cowells!! :thinking:
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Yeah, a 1/4 scale version would be about right I think. There are still a good many parts that will see the Cowells though, packing nuts, even some of the smaller castings for links and such.
Bill
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Bill................this looks like the start of a great build thread. Thanks for all of the background info.
Jim
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Nice set of castings Bill 8)
It looks like a few of the details have been lost from the full sized version :thinking:
It will be a real crowd puller when it is done (I can feel the magnetic attraction it has even this side of the pond :naughty: ).
Jo
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Look to be quite well cast.
I can understand not wanting to put all the drawings in the thread as that would tend to stop anyone buying plans which they sell separately for the big one and assume they will also sell the 1/2 size plans too. As you have already said the small one can be fabricated then that would also loose sales as people would just be building it from this thread.
Do you know if it will be offered with all materials and hardware like the large one ? Maybe an option of with or without would be good to keep shipping weight down for anyone outside the US. Maybe even omit the flywheel and bed plate as they could easily be done from locally sourced blocks as there are no detail cast features in them.
When does the swarf start to fly :)
J
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Pity about the writing obscuring the view
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxQV3bwe3Pw
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Looks like the castings are also available in Iron.
Jo
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Looks fascinating Bill. I'll be watching.
I also appreciated the background story. Makes it all the more interesting.
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Jo, that would seem to be an older ad but same engine and company. To my knowledge, the original Pearl single and Twin are now only supplied in bronze castings. The new Zenith though seems to have a CI cylinder casting with the remainder being bronze castings.
Jason, I have no idea if/when/or how the "Little Pearl" will be offered. I am just trying in a small way to help generate some interest in it again. Thanks for that video too, I hadn't seen that one before.
Bill
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I did find another video and pic of a twin including the one Jo posted, seem to be a few on french steam boat sites but no way to tell if they are originals or have been made from these castings in more recent times.
"Pearl Launch Engine" seemed the best bet with google.
Little and Large in this pic but you can't see the small one very well, may even be less than 1/2 size?
(http://earlmorse.org/steamboatingpages/steamhappens2/steamhappens2_files/image004.jpg)
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I have found a direct link to that animation :naughty:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/18/4f/f2/184ff204be95546b989854c280a5624c.jpg)
Jo
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Wow Bill! What a fantastic opportunity you have here! It must have been fun creating drawings for this, it's one cool little engine. I do hope you get his permission to post a couple sample drawings, I would love to see the assembly drawings.
:popcorn:
John
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This is great Bill! I'll enjoy watching you go through this build and am already intrigued by the Little Pearl.
Pass the popcorn! :popcorn:
Kim
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I really like the connecting rod assembly, this keeps the profile weight as low as possible which is ideal in a boat. Cannot wait for Bill to get some progress pictures posted.
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Well now that everyone is over "sticker shock" 8), I also can't wait to see this one underway. I doubt there will be any, but, I wonder how Bill will deal with an error in the drawings? Gonna be hard to b##ch at the one who drew them :lolb:. Swarf away, Professor
Cletus
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Eric, there will be some errors no doubt. Already found one minor one but corrected that one already. That is the point of matching the prints and castings for this build though :)
Bill
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Just having a bit of fun Bill :stickpoke:. This is an experience many don't get a chance at: doing the drawings and then getting to proof them on the castings. Awesome
Cletus
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I know bud...poke away :) Just hope I can do it justice. Also sent you a PM re: that cat you are keeping in the bag :LittleDevil:
Bill
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It will be interesting to see how the castings compare with the barstock one you had based your drawings on, may need the odd tweak to allow for slight differences in pattern, shrinkage and machining allowances. There is also the fact you tend to leave things off the drawing that you know yourself but may not be obviopus to others.
On the engines like the Jowitt and CHUKY where I have shared the drawings I try to work from my drawing and keep a red pen to mark them up with any changes, additional dimensions or notes that need to go on.
Did you use a 3D program that allows you to assemble the parts and then look for clashes before running off the 2D working drawings?
J
Cat! whats this about a cat?
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Cat! whats this about a cat?
Who needs a cat when you have an Elephant? :pinkelephant:
Jo
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Jason, the drawings were done directly in 2D. While I agree it isn't quite the same as a 3D model for checking interferences, etc. , you can still do a lot of checking even with 2D drawings. I just prefer doing direct 2D drawings rather than letting the 3D model generate them. Some additional work may be done however with Solidworks as time permits.
I do exactly the same though regarding omissions/revisions/added notes....a red pen notation on the drawing(s) which can then be changed in the original drawing file.
Bill
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Another WOW ! Very interesting story. Should be a great tutorial on how to machine castings. Will follow with interest.
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Thanks for looking in Larry, hopefully it will be ready in plenty of time for the Greenville show.
Bill
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No swarf yet. Too busy these last two days orienting the latest crop of new engineering students for Fall. I did order two needed pieces of bearing bronze though tonight (the 20% discount helped). They are still right proud of it even so. Should be here first of next week. Real work begins this weekend.
Bill
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Now we have some swarf...this afternoon I got a start on the offset link for the valve linkage. I first milled the sides to get the width down to the .500" required, then the same for the ends to get the overall length established (photo 1). With that done I milled off the bottom (photo 2) and then the top to bring the overall height to spec. Having established the four square edges I could find the center of the casting and step off both directions to drill and ream the two holes for the drill rod pins (photo 3). The final photo is where I am now, the ends and raised spigots still need to be rounded and a bit of material needs to be removed in the area between the spigots. Should get that done in the morning and the drill rod pins cut to length and fitted.
Bill
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Off to a great start, got the popcorn made for the rest of the show....
:popcorn:
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Hope you have lots of popcorn then ! But yes it is a start. Hoping to get some of these smaller parts knocked out this weekend.
Bill
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All those guides and big yokes look like they will be interesting. I'm surprised that they didn't have any problem with the crank yokes flexing at the corners.
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Apparently not Chris, they work on the full size single and twin.
Bill
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Good to see some swarf making under way.
I'm trying not to sound negative but I do wonder if castings are really needed for small parts like this. That link could have been made from 1/2" material with less work and probably less cost. On the bigger version it would save some time and material compared with cutting from 1" stock but when scaling down I personally feel some of the parts don't need castings.
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No doubt about it Jason. The entire engine could be and has been fabricated from bar stock. But from the standpoint of consistency of materials, and on small parts like this even, the odd area that doesn't entirely clean up so you know it was cast...to me those add to the overall appeal of the final model.
Bill
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No doubt about it Jason. The entire engine could be and has been fabricated from bar stock. But from the standpoint of consistency of materials, and on small parts like this even, the odd area that doesn't entirely clean up so you know it was cast...to me those add to the overall appeal of the final model.
Bill
I agree Bill, the more it looks like an original the better the total overall appearance will be.
I have spent quite some time "googling" and there is a lot of information form the early days about these engines. The more I read and learn, the more I like the Single Cylinder. I am ready to come out of retirement and design one more boat, just to put a Single in it.
Keep the chips flying into the chip tray :)
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This morning I got the ends of the casting rounded, the two pieces of drill rod cut to length and the offset link sub-assembly finished up. Nothing much to show as for machining really but have added a few pictures of the assembly below. I decided to leave the area between the two bolsters (or whatever they should be called) alone again for the reasons noted above. The machined edges were polished up a bit as well...so now on to another part.
Bill
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Bill, nice to see the first parts of this marine steam engine.
I have never seen one of these before and I am really going to have fun watching the build. It took me a while to figure what to call this little gem but it is a vertical return connecting rod engine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_connecting_rod_engine
There is another advantage to this arrangement that has not been mentioned. Most vertical engines have short connecting rods this increases the error caused by the angularity of the rod. Marine verticals and Shays have a connecting rod about 2.5 times the stroke. Rod locomotives have connecting rods about 8-10 times the stroke. I am really wondering what the ratio is for this engine.
Dan
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That is some interesting info. Dan. If I am understanding you right then the ratio for this engine is 4.625. I am getting that by taking the center to center distance of the connecting rod (yoke) from the crosshead to the crankshaft, which is 6.938" and dividing that by the stroke which is 1.5".
Bill
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Bill, yes that is correct and interesting not as much as I would have guessed.
Dan
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Yesterday I began on the valve linkage bracket. Work continued on it this morning. Again it was necessary to clean up the top and bottom edges to orient it in the vise both squarely and securely to see where the hole positions would fall (photos 1 & 2). Centering up first on the cross arm and then stepping off for the mounting hole locations I came up with what is shown in photo 3. As you can see the mounting holes are not centered on the face of the casting, meaning that when bringing that dimension to final size, more material will need to be removed from the "fat" side of the casting. Photo 4 shows both the cross hole and the three mounting holes machined. With that done, it was necessary to take about .100" off of each face to bring the overall width to the proper dimension (photo 5). Then the other two faces were similarly machined (again more taken off the "fat" side to center the mounting holes as much as possible). Photo 6 shows a 1" diameter drum sanding sleeve used in the drill chuck to contour the angled part of the bracket. Most of this was done with the part mounted in the vise to insure squareness but the final smoothing was done freehand as shown in the photo.
Bill
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Continuing, the "arms" were milled to the correct final width with equal amounts take from each side (photo 1).Then the reliefs in the mounting face were milled and the right hand end milled to its final length as well (photo 2). Photo 3 shows where it is currently. It still needs a chamfer added to one edge and more blending in where the bracket meets the cross arms, and then some polishing up but its getting closer!! The final photo shows the offset link as it fits through the link bracket.
Bill
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Coming along nicely, the castings look great. These are the arms and links that take the motion from the Stephenson linkage, right?
:popcorn:
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Correct Chris .
Bill
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Two more pictures for today. The set up for adding the chamfer to one edge of the bracket is shown in photo 1. That angle plate has come in handy many times!! The last photo is of the bracket nearly finished, just a bit more finishing and adding an oil hole to the top of the arm as it will be mounted to the engine. Hopefully a little more progress during the week though it will slow down some. Thanks to all that have been interested in this build.
Bill
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That's looking really nice, Bill!
So, one thing that I always wonder about with castings. How do you decided what surfaces you want to machine, and what ones you want to leave raw and 'casting looking'? Clearly, any surface that needs to mate with another surface should be machined. But it seems that people sometimes do random other surfaces. Like the outside edge of a flywheel. Or in this case, you did almost all the surfaces of the arm piece so that it's barely got any castingness left. Maybe when I see where it fits in the whole scheme of things it will be more clear. But these are things that I wonder about...
Kim
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Kim, given the overall size of the raw casting, the main body part (which will ultimately mount to the side of the cylinder) had to be machined to get down to the required dimensions so there was little chance of leaving any casting-ness to it. The cross arm on the other hand could actually have been a bit larger so it was only smoothed some to get rid of irregularities, flash, etc. For the most part, I plan to leave non-mating surfaces as cast, but that will vary from part to part of course, some require almost full machining, others like the bearing caps on the engine base will only have the edges and mating surface machined...the top will be left as cast. The final mix of machined vs. cast surfaces I find pleasing and more true to life as well.
Bill
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Thanks Bill, I appreciate your detailed reply. Maybe if I do a few castings I'll get a better feel for what goes into making that decision. But I can't disagree with your approach at all! Machine the surfaces you have to, and beyond that, do what appeals to you! Seems like pretty sound reasoning to me! :)
KIm
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Not a lot to report since the weekend, but the two bars of bearing bronze arrived yesterday....the 1" dia is for the main bearings, and the 1.5" dia. if for the two eccentrics. I will cut the blanks for them here at work today.
Bill
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Some progress so far this weekend. I had already cut the drill rod for the two slide rods and got those finished up by turning down and threading both ends. One end is threaded 10-32, the other is 1/4-28. (photo 1). The logical next step was the casting for the slide rod tie bar. The raw casting is shown in photo 2. Photo 3 shows this part after squaring up the sides and milling to length and also drilling the two clearance holes for the 10-32 ends of the slide rods. This casting is more than a generous size as you can see, almost too large, and I am not sure why the two risers were cast is as they need to be milled down as shown in photo 4. That brings this part to the state shown in photo 5. The underside then needed to be milled out in an arc for clearance of the piston rod bolt on top of the crosshead. I did this by turning the part over and using a ball end mill to mill it out in a step fashion making sure to do the exact same cuts on moth sides of the centerline. Other than that is was kind of an eyeball situation. Once the step cuts were made a drum sander was used to smooth out the arc and final smoothing using an oval needle file. (photos 6 & 7). The ends still need rounding and the bottom bolsters milled to a circular shape but that should finish up the rod tie casting.
Bill
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There was one other thing I did and that was to flycut the bottom side of the engine base plate. It became apparent that continuing on this would best be done at work on the full size mill. Again, a generously proportioned casting that needs a good bit of material removed to bring it in line with the print.
Bill
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Final pictures for today...the slide rod tie bar is finished.
Bill
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Looking fine!
:popcorn:
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Thanks Chris. It's still a bit of progress.
Bill
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The parts look great Bill! Still following along and enjoying your build! :popcorn:
Kim
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:headscratch: that original casting doesn't look much like the finished part.
Jo
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Kim, thanks for looking in.
Jo, I agree and when looking at the original casting had to scratch my head a bit too. Even so, the final part was hidden inside the casting and there was plenty of bronze to coax it out. So far I am finding all of the casting large relative to the finished parts. I am going to try and get a bit of work done on the base casting today, more on that later.
Bill
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It's always nice to have lots of meat on a casting, especially if it helps with holding the part.
Gerald.
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Nice work Bill as always, good start and interesting engine. I echo others thoughts regarding castings - I would aim to keep as much castingness as possible otherwise could feel a bit hard done by. I guess part of the purpose of the casting is to achieve shapes that can't easily be done in bar stock / save on material but there must be an element that it is supposed to reduce the amount of machining necessary. Difficult I guess to get model castings as close to size as the tolerances would have to be much tighter than for full size castings. Then there's the surface finish which doesn't scale either. I'm with Jason, a lot of parts it's unnecessary to cast, if every surface is machined and it's a reasonably straight forward shape it's easier, more cost effective and less risky to do it from stock! On the flip side I see lots for hundreds of pounds with just 3 or 4 castings and think, what the hell are they charging you for here!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thanks for looking in Nick. As I had noted in the beginning, the only two existing half scale Pearls were made from bar stock so it can be done, but it is the casting-ness that I am after. There are some of the smaller parts that could be made easier from bar stock, another one is the one pictured below even though I am just starting on it. Anyway part of the process is to prove out the prints as well so I will use all the castings regardless unless I happen to screw one up.
Today's venture is the top link. I have only made a meager start so far and may wait to get a new 3/32" end mill to complete it. The one I have is old and not cutting as well as I would like. The first picture is of the casting after cleaning it up a bit and bringing it to the correct height. In photo 2, the length was milled to size and the two 1/4" holes drilled and reamed for the link pins. Photo 3 shows some of the milling required for the various steps. I still need to do this to the other side and to both sides of the opposite end as well, hence the need for a new end mill. To show where this is headed I have included a sketch of the part. This is one case where the casting could be closer to the final part shape in my opinion but there is again enough material in the casting to machine the part from.
Bill
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After all the meat is done for the Fourth, I'm catching up :DrinkPint:. Professor, it's looking a treat. So on this castings vs. barstock riff: both will produce a part; one is just closer in shape than the other, both are still a lump :old: :thinking: :shrug:
Cletus
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:thinking: That looks like it might be easier out of a bit of bar stock. A least by being of the same bronze it will be the same colour.
Jo
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Smaller parts like this if they are going to be cast may be better off done as lost wax castings rather than sand ones. That way they can be done almost to size and just need the working surfaces machined and the "cast" surface will have a more scale texture that requires very little hand finishing. Failing that a resin bonded sand would give a much nicer finish than that rather coarse sand being used at the moment.
The down side is that both would likely add additional costs and may also make locating a suitable foundry harder :(
J
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Just found this thread :) An interesting engine and some good progress :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :wine1:
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Thanks Roger. I have mainly been fiddling around with some of the smaller parts thus far. Should get more interesting when some of the larger components are being machined and things start fitting together. Just trying to get a little something done each day.
Bill
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Just a quick update. No progress this week since I am at the beach with the entire family enjoying some downtime. Progress will resume over the coming weekend since some needed supplies will have arrived during the week back at home.
Bill
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Enjoy the time with your family, Bill. The engine will be there waiting for you when you get back! :)
Kim
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At the beach? Great!
It will give you time to sand-cast some more parts....!
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Yeah, but the mosquitos carry them away as fast as you cast them!!! They are bad this year, worse than usual for some reason. >:(
Bill
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Yeah, but the mosquitos carry them away as fast as you cast them!!! They are bad this year, worse than usual for some reason. >:(
Bill
All that rain and cooler weather up here has made everything grow like mad, including the bugs. If you don't like the chemical repellants (I dont either), a repellant that works very well is the Repel brand, Lemon-Eucalyptus repellant. No DEET or anything in it, works great, safer than the chemical ones. I use it when kayaking up the creeks here that go into the swampy areas.
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I've heard if you put a couple of the cheapest "dryer sheets" you can buy in your pockets, it really helps :shrug:. BTW Professor, no pictures and it didn't happen: just saying. Waves, dunes, surf fishing; anything :lolb:
Cletus
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Not much happening since I got back from vacation as it has been just too %^&#*$ hot to be out in the garage for long, but here is a small update and more to come later this evening and tomorrow. The small end mills I ordered came in and made a huge difference in finishing up cutting the casting. This morning I got the angled cut done on both sides of this link (photo 1) and then used the drum sander mounted in the drill chuck to round the corners (photo 2). The final clean up will be with a file and sandpaper and is progressing as well, just haven't taken a picture of that yet but will try to later.
Bill
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Hope you had a great time on vacation with your family Bill!
The link is looking good. And any progress is good progress. Sorry its so hot. It'll cool down soon for you I hope!
Kim
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Thanks Kim, I think its been pretty hot everywhere looking at the weather map. At least your westerners don't have the humidity as bad.
Bill
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Anything different/special about the new end mills, or just better for being new and still very sharp?
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Not really Chris, just new and sharp. They are coated but I honestly don't find much difference between the coated and uncoated in a non-production environment.
Bill
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Not really Chris, just new and sharp. They are coated but I honestly don't find much difference between the coated and uncoated in a non-production environment.
Bill
I had wondered about that one - never tried the coated ones, wondered if I was missing anything.
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Actually its getting harder to find the plain old HSS ones. These were a name brand (Hertel) as I recall and also on sale in the monthly MSC flyer, so I bought 4 and put a few away for later use.
Bill
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Actually its getting harder to find the plain old HSS ones. These were a name brand (Hertel) as I recall and also on sale in the monthly MSC flyer, so I bought 4 and put a few away for later use.
Bill
Recently I've tried the Cobalt steel ones, find they last longer. My big drill set is the cobalt steel, like them a lot, they stay sharp a long time. Price is not bad either.
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After a bit of fettling and sanding here are the last pictures for today. The smaller end still needs to have the slot cut in it for the middle link, a set screw hole and a couple of oil holes but that will wait until tomorrow as well as a bit more clean-up and polishing.
Bill
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Quite a complex little part, looking great!
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Not really Chris, just new and sharp. They are coated but I honestly don't find much difference between the coated and uncoated in a non-production environment.
Bill
In most home shop our equipment does not have the power, speed and rigidity to use the coated ones plus we are usually not measuring tool life down to the minute. Worked at one place where they had just gotten a CNC mill, they were using uncoated mills and drills sharpening them when needed. I got them to try some coated tooling and I adjusted the speeds and feeds, it cut the machining time down to a quarter of what it had been. the only problem I had was the complaints about the noise, you had to wear ear protection around the machine.
Gerald
Retired CNC programmer/operator.
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Here are some pictures of the upper link as it will fit with the other parts already completed in the valve train. Now on to the middle link which is flat and a lot simpler :)
Bill
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Beautiful machining and nice looking pieces.
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Thanks for looking in Thomas.
Bill
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Looking mighty fine Professor :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:. Hot over y'alls way is it? Smokin here :facepalm:
Cletus
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Sure is Cletus...just went up to the neighborhood WalMart grocery to pick up a few things...thought the soles of my shoes were gonna melt walking across the parking lot...lol!! Supposed to break a little bit around mid week though with some clouds and rain.
Prof.
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Started on the middle link last night but didn't get the pictures posted until now. The first picture shows one of the castings supplied which is actually three castings in one, each a rectangular block of varying thickness. The middle link would have come from the middle section of this group. However, rather than go this route, I have a small block of bronze that I thought would be easier to use and with less machining. After getting the width, length and thickness milled and the two holes located and drilled, I put it in the 4 jaw chuck and parted it off with enough material on the parted side to later mill off to a total thickness of just under .187". That is where I left off and will pick up there this evening. Once the thickness is planned down, both ends need to be rounded, a slight taper added to one side and then two 2-56 holes drilled and tapped for set screws to hold the pins in which connect the middle link to the upper and lower links at assembly. I should have more to post tonight.
Bill
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Wasn't able to do much during the week but did get the center link finished today between a few other house chores. Picking up where I left off last time, I flipped the parted off piece over in the mill vise and flycut the parted off side down to the final thinkness needed (photo 1). Then turning it on edge, I located and tap drilled the two holes for the 2-56 set screws that will hold the pins in place (photo 2). For clearance purposes, one edge has a slight taper so I set that up and flycut it as well (photo 3). Finally, the two ends needed to be rounded and I did this with the small drum sander in the mill (photo 4).
The finished part is shown in photo 5 and shown in place in the fork of the top link in the last two photos. This isn't the final pin shown in the photos. I will make that from drill rod. Will start on something new tomorrow, maybe the final of these three links. Thanks for looking in.
Bill
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Very nice!
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: (shop elves)
:popcornsmall: (me)
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More fine work on your Little Pearl, Bill. It's amazing how much work goes into these little pieces!
Kim
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Ditto what Kim stated.
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Looking good Bill!
Dave
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Quietly following along here and enjoying your updates; great work as always.
Dave
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Thanks guys. It's going slow I know but have had a few diversions along the way too, namely a few upgrades to the Tiny engine as it wasn't starting as easily as I though it should >:(. Found a few things that were fixed and now I am happy again. ;D so back to the Pearl. Started on the lower and final link to the valve. As you will see, another somewhat oversized casting but rather than doing the cleanup work in the mill, I have done everything so far in the 4 jaw chuck on the lathe. The end of this process is shown in photo 1 leaving the casting as shown in photo 2. With that done, I drilled the cross hole measured from the flat end of the casting, The rounded top end will end up as waste (photo 3). Using the 4 jaw again I centered on the hole and turned each side down the needed amount leaving the "ears" (one on each side) as shown in in photo 4. Finally for now, I reoriented the piece in the 4 jaw and parted off the excess on the rounded end and faced as close as I could to the circular ears. This will all be blended in in the final part (photo 5).
Bill
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Hi Bill,
Castings are nice for complex parts but sometimes for simple shapes it's just as easy to cut it from solid.
gbritnell
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I agree George and these links are a good example. Keep in mind though I am also trying to proof the drawings against the castings in this case. I did divert on that middle link, but still stayed with the original material. Some of the more complex parts are still ahead.
Bill
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Bill buddy man I am sorry but I missed your start of this project. I just caught up and love the engine. Nice work as usual but knowing your work it doesn't surprise me. Be follwing you from now on..... :ThumbsUp:
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks Don, good to have you along for the ride also.
Bill
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Geeze Bill, somehow I have been absent from this thread. However, I am tuned in now. Nice build thus far.
-Bob
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Sorry there isn't more so far Bob, but you know how t hat is I know. Thanks for looking in.
Bill
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Picking up where I left off last time, I got the lower link finished up this morning and also the two pins to hold the three link assembly together. In photo 1 I located and drilled for the 10-32 threaded hole that will connect to the piston valve stem. This also let me center the link in the 4 jaw to turn down a shoulder on the bottom end (no picture of that but was straight forward operation). I then milled the slot for the center link and milled the angle on both sides to get things blended in better (photo 2). That brought things to what is shown in photo 3. Again using the drum sander on the Sherline mill I finished off the radius on the top end (photo 4). The assembly of the three links is shown in photo 5 and shown semi-in place with the support bracket in the last photo. Now on to another part and giving the new DRO's on the Cowells a test drive. I will add though that while each of these links could have been made from bar stock (and likely easier as well), I do like the look of them all having been cut from a single piece of bronze as provided by the castings.
Bill
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Bill
That linkage looks oh, so sweet
Mike
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That looks great Bill! :popcorn:
That piece is a real double-jointed critter! I'm trying to figure out how its going to fit in the grand scheme of things, but I'm sure it will become clear in time.
Kim
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Kim, if you go to www.pearlengine.com and look at the pictures of the full size single and the half scale single you can get a better idea of how the linkage fits into the grand scheme of things.
Bill
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Now Dog, that's just saweeeeet :lolb: 8)
Cletus
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Mike, Kim, and Eric...thanks for stopping in. This afternoon I did a relatively simple part on the Cowells to give the new DRO a test drive as I said in my earlier post. I was really pleased with how the DRO worked and it was nice to fire up Big "C" again also. The part is the screw knob to lock the reversing link in place when it is adjusted. Nothing special about the part really and no casting for this, just a piece of 1" brass to start with. In photo 1 I turned the major diameter of the knob. Photo 2 shows turning the hub section and then drilling and tapping the through hole. The piece was the parted off, reversed in the 3 jaw chuck, and the radiused counterbore added to the external side. I did have to transfer it to the Sherline for knurling but with that done and a bit of filing and polishing the end result is shown in the last two photos.
Bill
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Thanks Bill,
Well, I hate to expose my ignorance too much more, so I'm going to nod sagely and just stay quite for a while till I see it come together here. I'll have my ah-ha moment then :)
Thanks,
Kim
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Kim, not to worry, even having lived with the drawings for a few months I still have difficulty wrapping my head around some of it too. Not sure if I posted this before, but Roger at Pearl gave me his permission to post this link which is an animated .gif which may help some too.
Bill
http://imgur.com/a/1Tlko
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Started on the crosshead casting this morning and made some good progress though there is still much more to do on it. I started by squaring up the casting and then flycutting the height and front to bad thickness to the required dimensions (photos 1 & 2). With that done, then came one of the critical parts, drilling for the piston rod, and then drilling and reaming the two crosshead rod holes which had to match the rod spacing perfectly (photos 3,4, & 5). Then milling the relief in the top of the crosshead (photo 6). A huge sigh of relief when it fit the crosshead rods perfectly (photos 7 & 8)!! The little Sherline was up to the task.
More to do but I am happy about the work so far on it.
Bill
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I also made a very short video of the crosshead moving on the rods.
Bill
[youtube1]https://youtu.be/vc_gJv0BNHQ[/youtube1]
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Another little part, this one made from brass, the Piston Valve Stuffing Box Packing Nut...new there is a long name for you!! Not much to this one, just some turning to two diameters, drilling and reaming the through hole, and threading the stem (photos 1 & 2). Then over to the RT on the mill to add six holes on 60 degree spacing (photo 3). The finished part is shown in photo 4.
Bill
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You were just bang-on with the Cross Head, Bill, it moves nicely!
Kim
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I'd rather be lucky than good Kim. I was sweating that one. It doesn't take much to bind!!
Bill
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Another little part, this one made from brass, the Piston Valve Stuffing Box Packing Nut...new there is a long name for you!! Not much to this one, just some turning to two diameters, drilling and reaming the through hole, and threading the stem (photos 1 & 2). Then over to the RT on the mill to add six holes on 60 degree spacing (photo 3). The finished part is shown in photo 4.
Bill
Bill, what are the six holes for?
Thomas
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Thomas a pin type spanner wrench which I will need to make.
Bill
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Getting ready for the weekend. I had ordered some material for the crank throws and it came in yesterday. Got that and the 1/2" drill rod cut at work today to slightly oversized dimensions. Will work on finishing those up at home over the weekend and getting the crankshaft assembly finished up and pinned together. More as well but also need to set up the threading attachment on the Sherline lathe for some of that.
Bill
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I like what I see Bill that's some nice work and looking forward to seeing how the crank comes out. Still with you buddy...... :ThumbsUp:
:cheers:Don
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Didn't get as much done as I would have liked due to other things taking time this weekend, but I did get the components for the crankshaft finished and ready for assembly. I milled the two crank throws to length first (photo 1) and then put the side by side in the mill to flycut the width to the required dimension (photo 2). Then it was drilling and boring the two throws together for the OD of the drill rod (photos 3 & 4). To keep things in line I put the crank pin in the first holes and then drilled and bored the second hole (photos 5 6). The assembly is shown in the last photo just fit together. I will get to the pinning tomorrow hopefully. All of this would have taken maybe 1/4 as long on the Bridgeport clone, but its still fun to push the limits of the Sherlines and after all its not a race :)
Bill
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:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
:popcorn: :popcornsmall: :popcorn:
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
(Me surrounded by shop elves, all of us watching along)
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Your crankshaft is really taking shape Bill! You do good work with that Sherline of yours :)
Pass the popcorn Chris! :popcorn:
Kim
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Your crankshaft is really taking shape Bill! You do good work with that Sherline of yours :)
Pass the popcorn Chris! :popcorn:
Kim
Here you go!!
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
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Thanks guys, but to heck with the popcorn...pass the elves please, I could use the help :).
Bill
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Everything is looking great Bill.
-Bob
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Thanks Bob, any progress on the Tiny lately? I know shop time is at a premium, same for me lately.
Bill
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Not for the Tiny. I was planning on doing some yesterday but my youngest daughter wanted to make a hammer. We made the head yesterday ( a very slow process with a seven year old).
-Bob
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I was planning on doing some yesterday but my youngest daughter wanted to make a hammer. We made the head yesterday ( a very slow process with a seven year old).
-Bob
Bob, enjoy every moment of your time together. Before you know it, she will be all grown up and gone, in less than the twinkling of an eye.
Mike
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Finally got the crankshaft finished up this morning. After sanding the throws to the proper width (photo 1), I loctited the crank pin (photo 2) and then pinned it with 5/0 taper pins. Then the main shaft was inserted, loctited and pinned with 1/8" dowel pins. After milling each end to the final length, removing the section between the crank throws, and doing some final sanding and polishing, the finished crankshaft is shown in photo 3.
Bill
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:ThumbsUp:
It's coming along nicely Bill!
:popcorn:
John
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That is pretty looking crank Bill. Excellent job with the finishing work.
Mike- I do. Whenever one of the kids express any interest I stop my project and nurture theirs.
-Bob
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Beauty!
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Thanks guys, working on some other things but the humidity is awful, so working a bit at a time. Can't wait for some nice fall weather!!
Bill
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Thanks guys, working on some other things but the humidity is awful, so working a bit at a time. Can't wait for some nice fall weather!!
Bill
Should be cooler there for an hour or so on Monday as the eclipse rolls by you...!
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Yes but unfortunately I will be at work :(
Bill
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Oh you just had to put that 1/2" mic in there didn't you..... :lolb: yeah I know about to humidity here man the temp is a killer. Don't want to be outside to long with all this damn rain we been getting I am starting to feel like them crawfish when they hit that pot of water... :lolb: crank looks great buddy and looks like you put a good Don shine on it ....love it man.... :ThumbsUp:
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks Don. Yeah I know you have been getting a LOT of rain down there, more than needed I am sure. Maybe it will help the crawfish population :)
Bill
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There are several smaller parts that require some threads that I don't have dies for and really don't want to buy the dies since they aren't sizes I use often...5/8-18, 1/2-20, etc. Probably two years ago I had purchased the Sherline threading attachment for the late and had never even opened the box so this was a perfect time to give it a try. The simplest of these parts to do a trial on was the plug for the piston valve that plugs up the bottom of the through hole in the cylinder. This is just a simple cylinder threaded 5/8-18 on the OD and with two pin holes on one end for a pin type wrench for installation purposes.
Not the thing about the Sherline threading attachment is that you have to remove the motor/speed control from the lathe so before doing that I chucked up a piece in the 3 jaw and turned it to the 5/8" diameter required (photo 1). Then the motor was removed and the rest of the threading attachment with the proper gear train for 18 tpi was added to the head end of the lathe (photos 2,3 & 4). The spindle is then hand cranked to single point the threads, which are shown part way cut in photo 5. Once the threads were cut I left the part in the 3 jaw and took it to the mill to add the two holes for the pin wrench (photo 6). Finally the part was parted off from the parent stick and the cut off end faced to the final thickness required. The finished part is shown in photo 7.
Bill
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Still here Bill. :popcorn:
Say...are we getting close to a family shot?
Or did I miss one. :-[
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Zee, just some partial family shots of sub assemblies so far. I need to get the base done and that isn't Sherline work. I'll get there before too long and provide a family shot.
Bill
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No rush. :stickpoke:
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That's pretty neat Bill! Glad you finally got to use your threading attachment. I've never seen it setup, only heard about it. So its nice to see it setup and working! Glad you shared those pictures with us. Back before I had my Grizzly lathe, I was trying to figure out how to make something like that for my Taig. Never did, but it's really nice to see the Sherline in action. And quite nice results too!
Kim
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Thanks Kim. In actuality it was far easier to set up and use than I had imagined, still not as easy as quick change gear box, but for the odd single pointing task not too bad.
Bill
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This is all coming together nicely Bill!
Dave
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Nice and slow Dave, but I'll get there :)
Bill
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I am always amazed at what can be done with the smaller lathes, have a Emco compact 5 myself and though you can do threading under power with it I always turn the motor off and crank it around by hand.
Regards,
Gerald.
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Thanks for looking in Gerald. I can thread under power on the Cowells lathe but the change gears are for metric threads, and since I had the threading attachment for the sherline, I figured it was about time to use it. I was pleasantly surprised.
Bill
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The threading came out nicely - I have the attachment for my Sherline too, but the time spent removing/replacing the motor and speed control wound up keeping me from using it for anything but really large threading sizes, and once for a winding drum on a clock (used a round tip to make a shallow depression, large pitch, to guide the cable around a 3" drum).
Maybe we can work out a way to extend the tubes that the threading attachment goes on to allow the motor to stay on when using it (just with the motor OFF!)
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While I still had the threading attachment out I machined up the piston valve packing gland this morning. It needed the same 5/8"-18 threads on the OD and the plug machined a few posts back so the gear set up was the same. This part also requires 7/16"-20 ID threads on one side but I had a tap for that. I decided to do the internal threads with the tap first and machined everything on that side of the gland first (photos 1 & 2). Once reversing it you can see there wasn't much to chuck on, but it was enough cut the OD threads slowly taking about .003-.005" at a pass (photo 3). Using the tailstock gave good support for this also. Photos 4 & 5 show both sides of the finished gland and the last photo shows it with the packing nut screwed in as well. Only one more of these parts to go and that is the piston stuffing box packing nut. Should get that knocked out this afternoon.
Bill
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Your packing gland looks pretty sharp there, Bill! Nice work!
Kim
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Thanks Kim. The thread cutting attachment works a lot better and for that matter easier than I had suspected. The savings on the two dies I would have needed (and didn't have on hand) defrays most of the cost of the attachment and I m pleased with the results.
Bill
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Slight change of plans. I had taken the flywheel casting to work to rough the OD to where it would fit in the Sherline and also turned the hub round for chucking (photo 1). After facing the outer end I drilled 1/4" then 3/8" and then bored to a close slip fit onto the crankshaft (photo 2). When Sherline says it will swing 3.5" diameter, they are right on, as the OD of the casting had been turned to 3.490" and JUST cleared the bed. I then cut a short length of .500" drill rod to use as a mandrel (photo 3) and though not shown, I drilled and tapped for a 10-32 set screw out towards the end of the hub which will eventually be cut off. With that done the recess in the outer end of the flywheel could be machined (photo 4). There is still a lot of material to come off the other side, but this set up seems to be substantial enough to get it done even on the Sherline especially with the tailstock support.
Bill
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Nice start on the flywheel. How long does the Sherline spin when you turn off the power, with that extra weight?
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Well that's two more parts done up. Hint hint.
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Still a ways to go on the flywheel though Zee. Have to go slow with the Sherline. I may yet get the other threaded part knocked out though.
Bill
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Man oh man! I don't envy you having to cut that flywheel on a Sherline but it looks like it's coming along well.
gbritnell
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I'd say you are at the limit of that Sherline Bill. Well done.
-Bob
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It will take a while George, but now that it's set up at least I can keep everything concentric and hopefully wobble free. I actually removed a lot of material on the lathe at work, just need to finish the hub and bring the width of the rim down to size. I will get there over a few evenings. Maybe we need a masocist emoticon :hammerbash:
Bill
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Give or take a few thousandths, I'd say you are right Bob. So far it is cutting ok, just slowly.
Bill
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More progress on the flywheel today, but with week 1 of NCAA football, shop time was split. After turning the flywheel around on the mandrel, I had a lot to remove to get the width to the proper dimension. Actually this went faster than I thought it would. After doing that and then turning the hub to the specified diameter, I turned the relief in the hub side. The pictures below show this progress. What remains is to put the two set screw holes in the hub, mill out a portion of the rim on the hub side for counterbalance and then part the excess hub length off. Should be able to finish this up tomorrow and then get a start on that last packing nut as well.
Bill
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That's a lot of work on a little lathe like that Bill! You have amazing patience, and its looking good!
I didn't realize how much difference a bigger lathe would make when taking down something big like that. But boy, does it ever! There is such a dramatic difference in hogging off a bunch of metal using my new lathe compared to the Taig (or Sherline in your case, Bill). I don't dread it at all now ;D
Kim
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Thanks Kim, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.
This morning I got the flywheel finished :cartwheel:. I used the set-up shown in photo 1 to drill the two holes at 90 degrees for the flywheel set screws. After tapping those I secured the flywheel to the mandrel to part off the excess part of the hub. The tailstock center was used for stability but the excess part of the hub was no longer secured to the drill rod mandrel so as soon as I cut through it was free to "float" on the mandrel. It was not being held by the center which I mention re: safety considerations. (photo 2). I then slid the flywheel up just past the end of the mandrel to face off the end to the final hub length (photo 3). There was just enough clearance to face down to the through hole in the flywheel. Photo 4 shows the flywheel after these operations, kind of dwarfing the headstock of the little Sherline. Then it was over to the mill and rotary table to mill the 120 degree relief in the flywheel rim for counterbalance. I failed to take pictures of this set-up but I milled to depth with a 3/16" end mill then stepped in and out until the slot was the required .375" wide. Then both ends were finished up with a 3/8" end mill to get the proper radius on both ends. The result is shown in photo 5. The finished flywheel is shown on the end of the crankshaft in the final photo.
Bill
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Back to a smaller part this afternoon...the Steam Piston Stuffing Box Packing Nut. This is similar to a part shown already so I won't elaborate but pictures of the process are shown below. The radial holes for the pin wrench were done on the mill with the rotary table in the vertical position.
Bill
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Looking good Bill, anxious to see some assemblies going together.
Thomas
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Thanks Thomas, so far just a few sub-assemblies as you have probably seen. I really need to get the base and pedestal done and the cylinder too before there will be much in the way of an assembly to show. One part at a time and I am happy to have the flywheel behind me now since it was one of the larger parts. Thanks for looking in.
Bill
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Nice work Bill!
I'm enjoying seeing your progress.
Dave
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Thanks Dave. It's nice when I can get some time to get a bit done at least, and the cooler weather makes the garage a bit more tolerable as well.
Bill
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Bill,
So was your packing nut made from regular bronze rod? Or was it a casting from the set? Just curious.
Regardless, it looks good! I like the holes for the pin spanner. It gives them a really interesting look.
Glad you're getting some cooler weather for your 3 day weekend. We're having a heat wave up here in the northwest they're predicting 103 tomorrow! (That's hot for us, just in case you were wondering).
Kim
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Kim, it was made from a piece of bronze rod. That is true for all of the packing nuts and stuffing boxes for the Little Pearl which makes sense for relatively simple round parts.
I heard on the news tonight that there are also some fires up your way within 30-40 miles of Portland. That heat can't be helping that situation either as well as making things just plain uncomfortable. Hope none of that is close to you.
Bill
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Thanks for thinking of us, Bill!
Yeah, we're having a bad time with the wildfires this year - its been so hot and dry.
At the moment, the only effect the forest fires are having on me personally is lots of haze along with air quality warnings. But they've had to evacuate some of the towns up the Columbia gorge. Not pretty for sure, but I'm currently in no danger. Hope everyone else can say the same!
Kim
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After seeing many of these in full size in person, it's cool to watch a model of one come together.....looking like fun Bill!
Dave
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Glad to hear you are ok Kim, other than the heat wave.
Dave, other than their animated .gif shown at the beginning of the thread, I have only seen the full size one at cabin fever one year under air power. I just love the motion of it, and hope that will replicate at half scale. I love working with bronze too.
Bill
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Today, I made one of the two main bearings on the Cowells lathe. This was done out of bar stock bearing bronze. After facing the piece I turned the major OD using the autofeed of the Cowells for a nice finish (photo2 1 & 2). Once that was done, I did take it over to the Sherline to part it off and face to the overall length needed. (photo 3). Then back to the Cowells to drill and bore for the crankshaft diameter (photo 4). The center part needs to be relieved so I did that is two steps working from left to right. When doing the second half, I made a small plug for the end to use tailstock support (photo 5). After a little polishing of that center section to get the diameter spot on, the finished bearing is shown in photo 6, and installed on the crankshaft in photo 7. The space remaining between the bearing and flywheel will be for the eccentrics and eccentric straps.
I also tried making a short video using the point and shoot camera of the autofeed turning. The quality is poor so will have to work on that for next time.
[youtube1]https://youtu.be/JrRqOfLw5Ys[/youtube1]
Bill
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Very neat. Where do I get one of those double sided boring tools?
John
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John, the boring bar came from A.R. Warner Co. And used their HSS inserts, though they now have carbide inserts as well. You will see their tooling in other shots as well.
Bill
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Many thanks. I found it!
John
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Bill buddy sorry been away for a while and just catching up. More outstanding work buddy as usual....... :praise2:
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks Don, good to see you back.
John, I have no affiliation with A.R. Warner Co. other than a very satisfied user. Over the years I have bought this boring bar, their 5 pc. turning kit in 1/4" size for the Sherline and Cowells, and also the Grooving kit. They are my go to tools for most everything now. I am planning on getting a few of the carbide inserts for those occasions where it is needed like cutting through the harder skin of a casting. They are pricey (the tools i mean) but extremely well made. I don't think you will be disappointed in their products!!
Bill
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Cletus checking in. Really nice work Bill. Looks like your team of "little mules" is pulling the load just fine and the surface finishes look great. I'm with you on the Warner tooling. I have some of their carbide and HSS and they are wonderful. As a matter of fact, they are in most of the tool holders on my lathe. Tell everybody hey.
Cletus
-
Cletus, I haven't tried the carbide inserts yet but am ordering some today. I still like HSS for most things but there are some jobs where I am hoping carbide will prove superior as I noted above. How would you compare then in your experience thus far?
Bill
-
Those are some clean looking castings, Bill. No porosity that I can see. Gotta remind myself to follow this thread more closely.
-
Thanks Bent. So far that has been the case and they are machining well also. I found one very small void in the flywheel, but there was plenty of stock there to machine past it with no problem. Other than that very minor place I haven't seen any voids at all.
Bill
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Hey Professor, my thoughts. I have used the carbide on pretty much everything with good results. However, as with any carbide, there is more tool pressure, which makes it harder to sneak up on a dimension and to achieve a great cut, you need to take a DOC equal to or greater than the nose radius. So, I tend to use it for roughing and then leave about the final.010" to be finished with a sharply honed HSS tool. Now the Warner ones won't take the .200" DOC that some of my CNMG or WNMG ones will, but, I can easily take from .010" to .100" off diameter with no problem. Actually, you can go lower than the .010" , just have to make more spring passes due to tool pressure.
Cletus
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Thanks Cletus, I mainly want them for the first few roughing cuts on castings to get through the crust the better machining heart of the casting. Doing that with HSS tends to wear them down fast from my experience depending on the material. I understand what you are saying about the pressure though.
Bill
-
Today I got a start on the cylinder head casting. The raw casting is shown in photo 1. I was able to chuck it neatly and relatively concentrically in the 4 jaw chuck to clean up the runner and outer diameter and the bottom side just enough to true them up and fit them into the 3 jaw chuck (photo 2). Once in the 3 jaw, I was able to work on the top end (photo 3), taking the two "ears" down to the finished height above the top surface of the casting (photo 4) and to drill and ream the through hole. With that done the center section was parted off first, the machined to the lower height called for (photo 5). Finally I bored out the center in preparation for tapping 1/2"-20 to match the threads of the steam piston stuffing box packing nut which will fit into it (photo 6). This will be left untapped for now so as to keep a smooth ID to center on for drilling the holes for the crosshead guide rods. That will be done on the mill later. That's the progress for today.
Bill
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Nicely done. Does the section of the center parted off get used for something else? Or was it cast tall for reasons of casting?
-
Chris, no it isn't used for anything else. I suspect it was cast that long to act as a chucking hub maybe, thought I didn't use it as such. As it turned out, chucking deeper in the 4 jaw as shown in the second photo above was far more rigid.
Bill
-
So far all the castings look to be of the highest quality and free of defects.
Thomas
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So far all the castings look to be of the highest quality and free of defects.
:thinking: I still think they should have been sent over to me for the initial inspection, with the drawings :popcorn:
Jo
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So far all the castings look to be of the highest quality and free of defects.
:thinking: I still think they should have been sent over to me for the initial inspection, with the drawings :popcorn:
Jo
Jo I don't think it is too late, just tell Bill to box all that stuff up and ship it to you.... :ROFL:
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Thomas, yes the quality has been good so far. A few inclusions but there has been enough material in all cases to machine down below any minor porosity issues.
Jo...as if you don't have enough castings to fondle already?? :lolb: You had mentioned earlier something about having seen these castings at least in print. Were they from the same supplier or were you talking about the full size version?
Bill
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Jo...as if you don't have enough castings to fondle already?? :lolb:
:hellno: That is not possible :slap:
I think they were the full sized one but by the time I looked at shipping and import costs they were very expensive :(
Jo
-
Indeed, the full size ones are expensive over here as well, though if one was going to make a full sized steam launch, I suppose the cost of the engine castings would be a relatively small part of the total cost. Quite a different matter when it's just for a static model.
Bill
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Boy, you don't fondle them long; do you Professor? :lolb: Great looking work as always Bill. The Warner tools love the cast bronze
Cletus
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Thanks Cletus. Seems like I am going pretty slow but not a lot of extra time at the moment, mostly weekend work for now. Progress is still progress though!!
Bill
-
Had some time yesterday and today to finish up the cylinder head. First up was to center drill, drill and counterbore the two holes that the crosshead guide rods will screw into (photos 1-3). Then it was back to the lathe to finish up the OD and height of the head above the cylinder (photos 4-5). Then back to the RT in the mill again to add the flats on each side of the head and the .750" radius scallop (all are for clearance to other parts later on). The finished underside is shown in photo 6 and the top side in photo 7.
Bill
-
Unfortunately I didn't have the 1/4"-28 tap and the 1/2"-20 tap for the guide rod holes and the packing nut hole. I may have them a work and will check tomorrow, if not will need to order those >:( Anyway photo 1 below shows where the packing nut will go (if it wasn't obvious already), photo 2, shows the head sitting atop the cylinder casting, and finally photo 3 (sorry for the out of focus) shows the position of the guide rods on the cylinder head.
Bill
-
Nice work Bill.
I have the taps that you need Bill. Just say the word and they are yours. They are surplus to me.
-Bob
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Thanks Bob. I will take a look at work first as I think I have them there. The 1/4"-28 I had here at home was a LH tap (drats!) The 1/2"-20 if I don't have I can probably borrow from the machine shop since I rarely use anything that BIG!! If all that fails I will let you know :)
Bill
-
Looking good, Bill!
I'm interested to see what that little scallop that you cut out of the cylinder head mates up to. I'm sure I'll see soon enough!
Kim
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Kim, actually the picture of it on the cylinder is backwards. The scallop will line up with the top of the steam chest and provides clearance for the piston valve stuffing box gland and it's nut.
Bill
-
Ah... makes sense. I can see that :)
Kim
-
Kim, if you scroll down to the half scale picture on their website http://www.pearlengine.com I think you can see it.
Bill
-
Sure enough! it's quite clear in that picture.
Thanks Bill,
Kim
-
Looking good Bill, nice progress!
Dave
-
Good to see some more progress Bill she's looking good buddy... :ThumbsUp:
:cheers:
Don
-
Thanks Kim, Dave and Don. Hope to have more for you soon.
Bilk
-
Having found the taps I needed at work, I put them to use this morning on the cylinder head and got the two 1/4-28 holes for the guide rods tapped and also the 1/2-20 hole for the packing nut. I was concerned about getting the holed tapped straight so took precautions to make sure they were. The other concern was that the spacing between the guide rods would match the spec or else the crosshead would bind. Fortunately with the holes tapped and everything screwed together the crosshead moves up and down with just finger pressure. It isn't loose, in fact it is a bit stiff but just right for a little running in to make it near perfect. Picture of the assembly below. Now I need to finish the machining on the crosshead itself.
Bill
-
Nice work Bill!
That is a good feeling, when you get the pieces together and if all fits nicely!
Kim
-
Thanks Kim, a sigh of relief once I saw this was going to fit well. Once again the dials on the sherline prove their accuracy.
Bill
-
Looks good Bill. I'm glad that you found the taps. It stinks when you don't have the correct tools on hand.
-Bob
-
Thanks Bob! This morning I got the crosshead back out to do some more machining on it. The raw casting is more than long enough to chuck up and leave the whole part length sticking out, so I put it in the 4 jaw and got it centered up (photo 1). I wanted to get all the machining done with this one set up to make sure the round journals are all concentric with each other, using tailstock support as well given the length of the part. Photo 2 shows the flywheel end roughed out. In photo 3 the opposite end journal has been machined and then while machining the smaller diameter beyond the crank journal (towards the chuck) I ran into a void in the casting which is shown better in photo 4. So now what to do :noidea: . Well it was worth trying to solder up the void area generously so as to leave enough to then machine back to the required diameter (photo 5). Actually this worked quite well and you can see in photo 6 the results after remachining the diameter and polishing up this smaller diameter to the dimension requires....whew!! After parting of this end and facing to length, I flipped the part around in the 4 jaw to finish up the flywheel end and filing a nice radius on the end cap (photos 7 & 8).
Bill
-
With that done, the crosshead assembly not looks like the photo below. Still to do on the crosshead is the contouring of the main part between the crank journals. You can get an idea of this in the .pdf attached below.
Bill
-
Bill,
Your heart must have really sunk when you found that void. But you pulled off an excellent save! It looks great!
It sounds like you just piled up a big solder blob to fill the void. But that seems pretty hard to do. I would think that you might carve off a clean edge and solder a piece of brass or an extra hunk of the casting there or something?
Kim
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Kim, that would have been plan B so to speak. I did think though that all the roughness of the void area might help hold the solder too and it appears to have worked. This small journal is only a bit over .200" and will engage the pump ram as I noted earlier so it shouldn't be under too much stress especially if the pump is there for cosmetic purposes only (at the very worst it would just recirculate some water). If for some reason the solder job doesn't hold up, then I can come back and use plan "B".
Bill
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Had a bit of time this evening to knock out the pump piston link that will fit onto the small journal of the crosshead. I decided to fabricate it rather than to make it from one piece (no casting for this part). After freehand turning the tapered shape and filing it smooth (photo 1), I took it to the mill to cut a shallow pocket for the link arm (photo 2). The I made the short arm and parted it off (photo 3) and soldered it onto the link body (photo 4). A bit of clean up and polishing and the finished link is shown in photo 5.
Bill
-
I wasn't totally happy with the first pump link so remade it using the same procedure and was happy with the second one. Then I cut a piece of 3/16" brass rod to length and reduced one end to fit into the link arm and soldered it up (photo 1). This little sub-assembly is shown in photo 2 as it will fit onto the crosshead. Hope to have a little more progress later today.
Bill
-
Coming along nicely Bill.
-Bob
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Thanks for looking in Bob. This afternoon I finished up the crosshead slide by
machining sculpting the contours on the outer edges of the slide. This was roughed out with the Sherline boring head and then blended in more using the sanding drum in the Dremel witht he results shown in photo 1. After a bit of polishing up I reassembled the slide to the rods and cylinder head as shown in the last two photos. That should complete this whole subassembly.
Bill
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Your sculpting came out very nicely Bill. I like the look of curves on crosshead slide. Very pleasing. And the link looks very sharp too.
Kim
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Great shape and a nice finish too!
:popcorn:
-
Thanks guys, there was a good bit of work in this slide and I am happy to have it done now. And even more pleased that it slides freely on the guide rods!!
Bill
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Really nice work on the slide Bill. It's touches like that that add so much to an engine.
gbritnell
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We do a lot of solder blob rework on cast bronze parts here where I work, provided you just need the surface finish, it works well (a little bit of lead in a bearing is a good thing!).
That looks a lot nicer with the curves blended like that.
Nice work on the whole, Bill!
-
George and Bent, thanks so much for the comments. It may not be the most efficient way to do things but I am trying to finish up each part completely before moving on to the next as much as possible. Since I do not plan on painting this one at all the polishing as i go along will take care of that too.
Bill
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What a difference Bill. That looks absolutely wonderful.
-Bob
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Thanks Bob. Looks a bit better than just the chunky rectangle casting for sure. Hope no one thought I was leaving it that way ;D
Bill
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Thanks Bob. Looks a bit better than just the chunky rectangle casting for sure. Hope no one thought I was leaving it that way ;D
Bill
I thought you would carve in a picture of your lead shop-elf on the side!
-
Um....carving is your department Chris. If the lead elf don't straighten up and fly right, he nay find himself between the cylinder head and crosshead.....with the engine running :lolb:
Bill
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Um....carving is your department Chris. If the lead elf don't straighten up and fly right, he nay find himself between the cylinder head and crosshead.....with the engine running :lolb:
Bill
Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, slow Ow! the throttle Ow Ow Ow :ROFL:
-
Some fine work going on here. Just checking in buddy I been busy with other things but back... :cheers:
:cheers:
Don
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Yeah me too Don. Had our big annual old engine festival last weekend , but hopefully this weekend I will get back on it and make some progress. Thanks for looking in. Hope all is well with you.
Bill
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This is the first weekend I have had in two weeks to try and get something done in the shop. Got a good start on the pump housing just for a change of pace. This was a bit of a challenge on the Sherline but I made it work. The problem is that the half round bottom end doesn't clear the cross slide and in addition I had to keep moving the toolpost from the left side to the right side of the cross slide. I first took facing cuts on the bottom of the feet with the cross slide back behind the end of the casting (that tailstock extension was necessary for that). Photo 1 is after that was done and the cross slide is now under the casting again to face off the top side of the feet. Photo 2 shows the central body of the pump after turning it down to the required diameter and leaving a .500" dia. section at the top to be threaded for the packing nut. The threading went ok, but the cemented carbide thread cutting tool chipped before I got to the final depth so I will finish the threads with a die tomorrow at work. At this point I parted off the pump body (photo 3) and took it over to the mill to center it up for drilling and reaming the hope for the pump rod (photo 4). Photo 5 shows the current state of things with the pump rod inserted and the last photo shows how the pump will fit with the cylinder head and crosshead assembly. Still more work to do to finish it up but I may knock out the packing nut this afternoon before finishing up on the pump body.
Bill
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That certainly looks like it was a challenge, Bill. But you seemed to have figured it out. Looks great!
Kim
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Nicely done! Big parts on small machine are possible, just takes some figuring... :ThumbsUp:
-
Thanks guys. I got the packing nut knocked out this afternoon. Turned the OD and bored the ID for a 1/2"-20 thread and tapped it (photo 1). I had already drilled and reamed the through hole. Then turned it around and attached the 3 jaw to the hex adapter and over to the mill to mill the 3/8" hex on the top (photos 2 & 3). After a little polishing and chamfering the hex, the finished part is shown in photo 4.
Bill
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The pump housing still needed to be thinned down on the front and back sides and narrowed as well just below the cylindrical part. I got those tasks done today as shown in the four photos below. Left to do is narrowing the mounting feet, drilling the mounting holes in them and drilling and tapping for the water inlet and outlet connections. Between today and tomorrow the pump should be done!! I have tried to leave just a little "casting-ness" on the curved legs.
Bill
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That looks great Bill!
Oring packing?
Dave
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Dave, it will likely be graphite or Teflon yarn packing. Likely I will have the pump just recirculating water for display purposes.
Bill
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:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: (row of shop elves)
:popcornsmall: (me)
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Nice to see you getting some time in the shop Bill. As Chris says: :popcorn: (but just me, no shop elves)
Kim
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Thanks Kim and Chris. I have got to get to work on the base for the engine and now that advising season is over for the upcoming semester, I am hoping to get that done at work in the next week. There are still a few smaller parts I can work on here at home but many of those are done at this point. It will help to also have the base done so parts can be added to it and we can see what this thing is going to look like :)
Bill
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I think the pump is done now. I drilled and tapped (3/16"-40) the water inlet and outlet ports, trimmed the feet and drilled the mounting holes in the feet. The pictures below should be self explanatory with the last one being the finished pump.
Bill
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I'm confused as to what exactly it is -if its a pump, where is the moving part? Do you have a diagram of how it works and where it goes??
:headscratch:
-
Looking good Bill
The small dia rod just above the hex is the pump ram, as that gets pulled in and out of the pump body it creates a vacuum on the up stroke which draws in water then on the down stroke that water is pumped out, standard design for a boiler feed pump. usually a couple of balls on seats that open and close the passages as needed so liquid only flows one way.
-
Jason is right Chris. The inlet port is on the bottom and I will add a small ball valve to that fitting. The outlets are on either side...I will plug one and use the other. I guess this was to give some options as far as plumbing was concerned.
I will take a couple more pics to show the ram extended. Since it is connected to the crosshead the pump stroke is the same as the piston stroke.
Bill
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Quick shot of a full size pearl running at about 21.50 in this show video and a model next to it
[youtube1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXvvwBCx6Tk&feature=youtu.be[/youtube1]
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Chris, here are a couple of staged pictures which may help also. Thanks for that link Jason. I am glad to see they were showing the half scale also...the model is one of two I believe that were made from barstock.
Bill
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Nice work Bill. It is coming along nicely.
-Bob
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Thanks Bill, that makes sense to me now, I didn't realize the plunger was inside that middle section!
-
Thanks for the extra pictures Bill. I was with Chris on this, not exactly sure how this was a pump. But I figured it would become clear over time, and it did! :)
Kim
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Sorry for the confusion guys. It's easy to take clarity for granted when you are looking at the plans ;). I hope Jason's video and those last two pictures cleared things up.
Bill
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Bill she’s shaping up good but you know buddy I️ just can’t stand that casting crud on brass. You know me got to shine...... :ThumbsUp:
:cheers:
Don
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Yeah, I know Don, and lots of parts on this one shine too, but I do want a bit of the casting appearance as well, adds character :)
Bill
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"Casting-ness"
I like that term. I've often pondered buying a grit blaster just to put some fake casting-ness on barstock parts. :insane:
-
Got a start on one of the two Stephenson Link Connectors today. Didn't take a lot of in process pictures but it was pretty standard machining. Photo 1 shows one casting as supplied and the second one squared up somewhat. Photo 2 is after a few things were done and most of it was more easily done in the 4 jaw lathe chuck as the taper in the casting makes milling more if a challenge. Once it was all squared up though, the tapped hole and the cross hole were located and done in the mill. The last three photos show the finished link with the exception of the oil holes that still need to be drilled in the rounded ends.
Bill
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Looking good!
Wondering - was the intent of the rounded end of the casting that the rounded end of the part would be there? Another of those parts were just some bar stock might have been as easy or easier?
-
Great question Chris, but I am using the castings provided regardless. Once the build is done I will provide some feedback to the company on just these types of issues. There are several cases where bar stock would have been easier I agree. At the least, castings a bit closer to the shape of the final part would be good.
Bill
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Great question Chris, but I am using the castings provided regardless. Once the build is done I will provide some feedback to the company on just these types of issues. There are several cases where bar stock would have been easier I agree. At the least, castings a bit closer to the shape of the final part would be good.
Bill
And the castings do save on having to buy a lot of different sizes of the bar stock. The castings look to be well done, not seeing bubbles/voids in them.
-
Nice work Bill!
If you are picky and want all the parts to look the same you need to use the castings, otherwise if made from bar stock they will not be correct.
I can see where in lots of cases (here and on other engines) it would be easier to just use bar stock, but at least using the castings all the parts will have the same look.
Dave
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That is true Dave, so far its been all castings except for drill rod shafts. Even the parts specified to be made from bar stock I have used bronze rather than brass.
Bill
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Very pretty little parts there Bill!
Interesting discussion on mixing casting & bar stock parts. I'd never thought about that!
Kim
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Now I just have to make the second one look like the first Kim :)
Bill
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I got the second link made between yesterday and today and also the eccentric rods. The rods have been left intentionally long and unthreaded on the lower end for now until final assembly. These two sub assemblies are shown in the first two photos below. The links were finished off by drilling the two oil holes in each (photo 3). Lastly for now, the drawer where I an keeping the finished parts so a family shot of sorts.
Bill
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Ahhhhh Bill I do love brass buddy, making some great headway there my friend and superb work as usual.
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks Don, Yeah, this one is pretty much ALL bronze except for the various rods which are drill rod. Have been trying to get a good finish on each as I go along.
Bill
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Nice work on the Links, Bill.
You've got a nice collection of parts there. When are you going to be ready to assemble them on the engine?
Kim
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Kim, I need to get the base plate finished up first. Then the pedestal and cylinder after that. Still a ways to go before assembly begins.
Bill
-
Nice group shot Bill. Everything looks great.
-Bob
-
Yes, very nice assortment of parts there!
Dave
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Thanks guys. The best part is that since there will be no painting on this one, the parts in the drawer are finished!! Next up will be the bearing caps. I was looking today and those castings like most so far have a lot of metal to be removed!!
Bill
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Bill..... you started this thread around the time I took my "time-out", so am just starting to get caught up (I'm on page 5). I always enjoy your build threads and seeing how you machine parts on your Sherlines .................and this thread is no exception!
Jim
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OK Bill, I'm all caught up now on this thread. Well done. :ThumbsUp: Even though it's more work.........it seems really rewarding to carve those parts out of cast bronze. I know I've enjoyed doing that on my P & W build.
Anyway............thanks for waiting for me to get caught up..............you can carry on now! :) :cheers:
Jim
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Thanks Jim! Shop time has been scarce lately but hope to find a little time over the weekend.
Bill
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This weekend I have been playing around with one of the two main bearing cap castings. As you will see the casting is a lot bigger than the final part requires so it was slow going on the sherline but still very do-able. This first photo shows one cap machined down to its final overall size compares to the original casting. Once I got the ends and sides milled down to their final size (photo 2) I flycut the bottom surface to mate with the base eventually (photo 3). With that done, back to the mill to spotface and drill the four mounting hole (photo 4). Photo 5 again shows the finished part in relation to the original casting, and photos 6 & 7 show the finished cap. The final boring will not be done for the crank bearings until the caps are installed on the base. The top of the caps will be left as is to add some of that "castingness" to the overall look :)
Bill
-
Looking good!
Are you going to be using hex head bolts or studs/nuts in the final engine? If so, are those flats around the bolt holes large enough for the hex?
:popcorn:
-
Undecided yet Chris, but leaning towards hex bolts. The threads are 10-32 in the base, the spotfaces were done with a 5/16" end mill. I may try making a bolt out of 1/4" hex brass to see what it looks like. Can always use 10-32 SHCS's in stainless as well which would fit with a marine engine. The SHCS shown is just a 10-32 from my sherline hardware. Granted hex cap screws would look better.
Bill
-
Looking good Bill, lot of castingness left with the spot facing. Looks the part.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thanks Nick. The vase will be machined all over so something needed a bit of casting texture. The pedestal should be another source of said "castingness" but have yet to do anything on that front.
Chris, I turned up a doomed hex cap screw out of 1/4" brass and I think that will work well and fits the spot faces well and there is even room to tighten them with a hex driver. I'll take a couple of pictures later and post them. Glad you asked the question as these can all be turned up even in little bits of shop time. Just need to check the drawings and see what length they need to be now.
Bill
-
Here is a dome head hex cap screw turned from 1/4" brass hex stock. I think given that there are 4 screws holding the cap on and that it only has to hold the bearing in place, I think this will do. Picture one shows the shoulder of the screw and photo two shows it in place in the bearing cap.
Bill
-
Those look great! And checking that the driver or wrench will fit is always something I forget to do!
-
I guess the decision is made then Chris :)
Bill
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I like the use of the reduced head size. That makes it all fit nicely.
:ThumbsUp:
Pete
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Thanks Pete, it is a bit smaller than the OD of a 10-32 SHCS but close enough to look "right" I think even so.
Bill
-
You get my vote Bill, the dome head bolt looks perfect!
Nice progress.
Dave
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Yes, the domed head looks great. Great progress as usual Bill
-Bob
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Thanks Dave and Bob. I am pulling for you Bob. Hoping to hear something pops from Tiny soon.
Bill
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Nice step forward Bill. I too like those dome head bolts. :ThumbsUp: Which of course bags the question: How did you make those dome heads?
Jim
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Very nice looking bearing caps with lots of castingness still showing :)
And the bolts are quit sharp too!
Kim
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Jim and Kim, thanks for looking in. Jim, for that one sample I just rounded it over with a file until it looked right :) When making 12 or 16 for the bearing caps, pedestal, and pump I will make a radius form tool for consistency.
Bill
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I go for the domed heads also Bill. They add a nice finishing touch.
gbritnell
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Domed heads it is then :D. Thanks for the input gentlemen.
Bill
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Looking sharp Bill! And I mean that both ways, but I also know you haven't fully finished the parts, knocking off sharp corners and whatnot. Those are some nice clean castings you got, as noted before. Not that I'm at all jealous :)
-
Domed heads it is then :D. Thanks for the input gentlemen.
Bill
:ThumbsUp:
Don
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It may appear that the "Little Pearl" has been on hiatus and it has in a way, not for lack of interest, but I had promised the granddaughter that I would finish up the interior of the doll house I made for her a while back and that proved to be far more tedious than I had imagined, but the week long break allowed some good time to get that done and I am pleased with the results. But now its time to get back to the Pearl, and the base has been waiting on some time to use the full sized equipment here at school. Since things are still a bit quiet this week I got a start on that casting yesterday. First it needed to be squared up to the final or near final dimensions. With the full size mill I was able to use a good 5/8" endmill and make rather short work of this compared to nursing things along on the Sherline. I have left a few thousandths on each face to sand down smooth for better appearance. This is all pretty plain stuff so the pictures don't need much if any explanation. Next will be to mill the two lips to the correct inset from those two edges and then cutting both the top and bottom faces down until the overall height is correct, leaving enough material to mill for the slightly raised mounting pads for the bearing caps, pump base, and pedestal (each has a slightly different height ranging from .010" to .015" to .016"). The center cutout also needs to be enlarged for the crankshaft. Then the various mounting holes can be located and drilled and tapped as needed. Still some ways to go but we are making progress again at least. The final picture shows where things stand at the moment.
Bill
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Nice to see the Pearl going again. Thats a fair size base, about 6" or so?
-
Chris, it is a sizeable chunk of bronze thought more will come off the top and bottom surfaces and out of that middle void as well. The overall dimensions including the lips are apprx. 4" x 4.5" and will end up about .900" high. Haven't weights it yet, but should come in around 4 lbs. when all is said and done.
Bill
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Bill, that is a hefty piece of bronze!
You should post a pic of your other handy work - just so we KNOW that you have been doing something and not sitting idle! :naughty:
Kim
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Just to prove it DID happen Kim, here you go.
Picture 1: the outside of the house as preciously finished
Picture 2: third floor spare bedroom
Picture 3: Granddaughter's bedroom, third floor (she likes pink)
Picture 4: Middle floor, master bedroom
Picture 5: Middle Floor, nursery
Picture 6: bottom floor hallway and staircase
Picture 7: ground floor, kitchen
Picture 8: ground floor, living room
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Great to see you having a go in the shed Bill. The Pearl is coming along nicely and the doll house looks really superb also. Perhaps you and JamesL could start a small “cottage” business together :stir: after retirement: what is it; about 15 weekends or so? See, the weekends always go faster, that’s why I use them as a reference 8).
Cletus
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Thanks for the pic's, Bill. Nice work on the house, your granddaughter should be quite pleased!
And it's good to know you've been being productive! : :D
Kim
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Something like that Cletus, five months less a couple of days now. Probably more like 20 weekends but that's a heck of a lot less than it was 10 or 20 years ago!! Thanks for looking in guys.
Bill
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Just a bit more done today between other things. I got the mounting flanges squared up and inset the right amount and a few cuts off the top. Still more to come off the top and bottom surfaces to bring the total height in line but maybe tomorrow on that.
Bill
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Me and the shop elves are watching along!
:popcornsmall:
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
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Thanks Chris. They are probably needing a little break from working so hard ;)
Bill
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Again, I am impressed at the quality of those castings, Bill. Must be fun to sing a mill across that stuff. I need to get busy this weekend and finish up my new mill stand, and then...
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Bent, the castings have been very nice and easy to work. It does help to have the rigidity and size of the full size mill for the larger castings like the base though. Much faster metal removal!!!
Bill
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Good progress Bill. Also the doll house looks great!
Jim
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A little more progress this morning...I machined the upper surface until the thickness of the flanges was correct, and then flipped the base over and machined off the bottom surface until the overall height was in tolerance, leaving a few thousandths here and there to allow for some final sanding. Still have that central cutout area to machine and then the pads on the top surface, and all the various holes to drill and/or tap, but this represents some progress none the less :) You will note in the final picture that a void was uncovered (center of the picture). Fortunately this is in the area that will be drilled/reamed for the crankshaft and should be of no consequence.
Bill
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This is turning into a piece wise type affair, but a little while in the shop today and I did finish getting the center section routed out to size. Two things remain on the base casting aside from boring for the crankshaft once the caps are installed and the second bearing machined. Tomorrow I should be able to get the various holes drilled and/or the pad heights outlined from the remaining stock left on the top of the casting. Slow I know, but still some progress.
Bill
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Looking good!
One thing I always worry about is drilling the holes for the shaft side to side, both getting it true and also having a long enough drill or boring bar. Looking forward to how you do that part.
:popcorn:
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Chris, yes i agree and its critical too!! Likely I will attach the base (with bearing caps) to an angle plate (very securely!!), indicate to make sire things are well aligned and drill and bore and finally ream to the final .750" size. In this case the distance involved is just under 4 inches. While it isn't a Sherline job, is isn't quite as daunting as as you may assume from the pictures.
Bill
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One more step done...outlining the various mounting pads and milling around them and bringing each to the proper height above the surface of the base. The pad heights vary from .010" to .016" above the reference surface. AS shown in the picture, pads marked "A" are for the bearing caps, "B" are for mounting the pedestal, and "C" are for the pump. The machine marks look far worse in the picture and should polish out nicely once all the holes are drilled and tapped which I should get done today. More to follow.
Bill
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Now it looks a bit like swiss cheese...but the holes are drilled. All but four of them will need to be tapped 10-32. Will need to get some 1/4" brass hex also to begin making the domed head cap screws for attaching the various parts to the base.
Bill
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:popcorn:
:popcorn:
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Very intricate milling and drilling Professor. Wonder why such small “sole plate” elevations for the mounting areas? Nice work, carry on.
Cletus
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Not sure Cletus, though I expect they were just scaled down from the full size engine. Even at twice this size though they would only have been .020" to .032" above the datum plane. Remember I am building to the plans partly to prove them out and find any mistakes. So far I have only found a few minor omissions rather than actual mistakes.
Bill
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I guess it’s also possible that it has something to do with the scaling and alignment of the parts that attaches to them.
Cletus
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Presumably so Cletus, though in most cases everything is sized to be attached to one reference plane. Not so in this case however. There could be some reason for it I am not aware of also.
Prof.
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While I was thinking about it I ripped a piece of red oak I had into a couple of matching height rails. Still need to trim to length but these are what the engine will sit on.
Bill
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Today's little bit of progress was to mill the other bearing cap casting down to size. I will spot face and drill the mounting holes this weekend on the Sherline which isn't a problem. The picture for today is the base with the bearing caps and pump shown in place. I had ordered some 1/4" brass hex stock and will also be making some of the cap screws this weekend here at home too. That's about it for today's report.
Bill
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You are continuing to make good progress Bill, the base is coming along nicely.
Dave
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Thanks Dave, just need tapping, some cleaning up and the crankshaft bearing holes drilled/bored. Next week I hope to get the pedestal done but again will need the larger machines at work.
Bill
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Haven't commented much, but I've been following along with your progress, Bill.
Aren't you going to miss having access to the bigger machines after you retire? :Lol:
Kim
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Thanks Kim, Actually I have a full size Alliant mill and a larger lathe at my old shop from before I took this job. Both are in working order, I just need to get in there and clean things up a bit. I had hoped eventually to move both to my home but since they are only about 6 miles away and since I have 3 phase power there, I may just get the old "shed" all cleaned up again and keep using it as a remote facility. Quite likely SWMBO may want me out of the house some after retirement anyway :)
Bill
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Thanks Kim, Actually I have a full size Alliant mill and a larger lathe at my old shop from before I took this job. Both are in working order, I just need to get in there and clean things up a bit. I had hoped eventually to move both to my home but since they are only about 6 miles away and since I have 3 phase power there, I may just get the old "shed" all cleaned up again and keep using it as a remote facility. Quite likely SWMBO may want me out of the house some after retirement anyway :)
Bill
Coming along nicely Bill.
You better be careful about your "old shop". It might just become your "new shop" and you might find yourself with another job instead of retirement! :Lol:
Jim
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Thanks Kim, Actually I have a full size Alliant mill and a larger lathe at my old shop from before I took this job. Both are in working order, I just need to get in there and clean things up a bit. I had hoped eventually to move both to my home but since they are only about 6 miles away and since I have 3 phase power there, I may just get the old "shed" all cleaned up again and keep using it as a remote facility. Quite likely SWMBO may want me out of the house some after retirement anyway :)
Bill
Wow! You've been holding back on us! I thought you only had the Sherline equipment! But it sounds like you are very well positioned for retirement - at least from the shop tool perspective! :D
Kim
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More like out of sight, out of mind for the past 10 years Kim. One way or another they will get used more once I do retire though.
As for today, though I am not ready to work on these yet, I did get the eccentric straps drilled and split in preparation for further work on them. I may get the split faces milled flat and joined this weekend if time permits.
Bill
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I've had people recommend filling (solder, lead) the pits in silicon bronze castings before final machining - to avoid chatter from the interrupted cut. Wonder what your thoughts are on the matter, Bill? We get a fair number of parts here at work in Si bronze, and we often fill the machined surfaces where we see visible pits, but we are concerned with wear on the surfaces.
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Bill looking good buddy I am still following you bud just being quiet.
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks for looking in Don. Bent, voids/ pitting etc. has really not been an issue so far. I did fill one on the crosshead but should be fine from a wear standpoint. The little void in the base will be eliminated when boring for the bearings. The castings have been very nice to machine overall.
Bill
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Got a few things done today. First up some clean up of the base after tapping fourteen 10-32 holes. The sides, top and bottom look a bit more presentable now (photos 1 & 2). Then I clamped the base rails to the base to drill down through the rails (photos 3 & 4). I really didn't want to use regular old lag screws, so decided to make and use long hex cap screws as will be used for the other fasteners. This required counterboring the bottom of the rails however for the nut (photo 5) and then checking that there was enough clearance for the four nuts (photo 6). Lastly for today I got the other bearing cap drilled and spotfaced (photo 7). Tomorrow will be fastener making day I think :)
Bill
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Nice!
:popcorn:
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Drilling that wood in your mill, eh? Want the holes to be perfectly aligned for sure!
That's looking nice, Bill!
Kim
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Yep it will work on the brown stuff too Kim :) I did want the alignment good as well so the rails would snug up to the base nicely.
Bill
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Today was dome head cap screw making day. There were 14 to make, 4 each for the bearing caps, 4 for mounting the base to the wooden rails and 2 for the pump. The ones for mounting the base to the rails were 2" under the head with only the bottom 1/4" or so threaded, all the rest were 1" under the head but threaded most of the way up. Picture 1 shows these after threading and parting off and photo 2 shows that the heads were left long for later finishing. For consistency, I ground a small form tool to dome the heads (photo 3) and tried it on some short lengths of the brass hex stock until I was happy with the results (photo 4). I set the lathe up so as to use the form tool to a specific stopping point with each screw mounted in the 3 jaw chuck with the underside of the head against the jaws. That way the head height would be consistent for all 14 screws. One is shown in photo 5. Photo 6 shows one bearing cap mounted to the base, photo 7 the pump end, and finally an overall view of these assembled components.
Bill
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Looking good Bill! :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
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That's a nice collection of little fasteners you made there, Bill. I like the dome heads.
Kim
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Thanks Yogi and Kim. I think they will look better than SHCS's and it keeps the all brass/bronze theme going too, which seems fitting for a marine engine.
Bill
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Nice looking fasteners Professor. Which lathe did you use?
Cletus
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Cletus, I used the Sherline for those....it was closer to the heater :)
Bill
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Kudos for making your own hardware, man that looks nice!!
Dave
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Thanks Dave, just thinking and looking at the plans...finishing up the engine with the same hardware means this many more:
valve linkage bracket -3 pcs.
cylinder head to cylilnder - 4 pcs.
pedestal to cylinder bottom - 4 pcs.
steam chest cover - 6 pcs.
connecting rod small ends - 4 pcs. (8-32 though rather than 10-32)
connecting rod big end - 2 pcs
eccentric straps - 2 each or 4 pcs.
pedestal to base - 4 pcs
So 31 pieces yet to make :o...at least I have the form tool made now ;)
Bill
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Wasn't sure if I would get around to the eccentric straps this weekend or not, but I did make some progress on them today. After a little light flycutting to smooth the sawn edges (photo 1) , I got them fastened together with some temporary fasteners (photo 2). With that done I also flycut the "ears" to get to the proper width dimension (photo 3). With two square edges I could clamp in the vise comfortable I milled off the casting sprues from the bottom of each (photo 4) and then flycut the top and bottom of one strap to the required front to back dimension. After a little sanding on the surface plate I was left with what is shown in photo 5. You can see a good bit had to be removed from both faces to thin it down. Lots more to go on these but this is a start.
Bill
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Great start on the straps!
:popcorn:
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I'm watching another great build...
:popcorn: :popcorn:
Pete
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Looks like I've missed a lot of fun here.
Very nice fasteners!
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Thanks Chris, Pete and Zee. Over the last week (with the base) and over the long weekend I felt like I made some good progress. Still a few larger and tedious parts to go but I'll get there. This engine like the Rider Ericsson were two of my most wanted to build ones. Big thanks to Roger at Pearl Engine Co. for allowing me to be involved with bringing this one along. I hope I am doing it justice.
Bill
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I really like those fasteners Bill. :ThumbsUp: Good documentation of your progress this last weekend.
Jim
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Jim, thanks for looking in...have gotten a few more of the fasteners made now too, 17 additional ones in fact which should leave something like 14 to go. I have just left the Sherline lathe set up for this a do a few along. Now that the procedure is down, they can be produced pretty fast. Photo 1 shows the 3 for the linkage bracket and the 6 for the steam chest cover. Eight more for mounting the cylinder head to the cylinder and the pedestal to the bottom of the cylinder I got knocked out this morning (photo 2). Since the length on these are a bit different depending on where they are used I am keeping the ones not yet needed in separate plastic containers marked for where they will go (photo 3). While the mill was still set up for fly-cutting, I finished bringing the second eccentric strap down to width (photo 4) and have now started on the steam chest cover as well (photos 5 & 6).
Bill
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? You're taking off the lettering etc from the steam chest?
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Yes Zee, it wasn't designed to stay there. More a casting ID I think. Stay tuned though.
Bill
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Got the steam chest cover finished this morning. First I had to bring the height and width down to size (photos 1 & 2), then mill the decorative cutout on the face of the cover (photos 3 & 4). The plans call for the face to be left as cast but it was a bit rough so I took a more finished look direction. I am thinking of two options for the milled out area...one is to mask the outer area and bead blast the recess for a texture contrast, or two, an engine turning pattern covering the recess area. I am leaning towards the engine turning at the moment. Next was to drill the clearance holes for the mounting screws (photo 5). The complete cover is shown with the brass screws in photo 6 and shown sitting on the big hunk of bronze for the cylinder in the last photo.
Bill
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Looking good!
If you wanted to get the name into the center of the steam chest, there are places you can get custom made relief etched plates, mainly made for the scale steam loco market but they'll make anything, prices are very reasonable. Thin plates, so you could lay it into the recess in the steam chest cover.
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That is a good thought too Chris. I have played around with some etching myself and do play to add an etched brass plate of the Pearl Engine Co. logo to one of the wooden rails supporting the engine much as I had done on the Briggs & Stratton engine. Neither of the options I mentioned above would preclude that if it turns out I am not happy with them.
Bill
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Can you etch directly onto the cover plate, or would that eat away other surfaces (not sure how it is done, if in a acid batch I guess it would take away other sides).
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Unless well masked with the etch resist, it would yes. What little bit I have done is more 2 dimensional (think circuit board etching). Here is the one I did for the B&S. As I recall it was done on .020" or .030" brass sheet. I am sure commercial places could do a much better job. If I polished it up a bit it would look better though, that's probably 5 years of tarnish!
Bill
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Thats slick. The ones I've seen commercially done give raised letters on a lower background, though the height of the letters is not huge.
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As I recall I tried it both ways Chris, apparently this way worked out better.
Bill
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II had to order a piece of 5/16" Cratex to finish up the steam chest cover and it came in yesterday so that was done this morning. Hopefully it add a bit to the look rather than just a plain recess in the middle of the cover's face. Pic attached.
Bill
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This afternoon I got into the eccentrics and completed one except for the two set screw holes. Starting with a chunk of 1.5" bronze bar, I turned the major OD and turned the minor OD on the outer end. Then using the grooving tool, I added the minor OD to the inboard side of the rib as you can see in photo 1. Then it was over to the mill to center it up and offset the required distance to add a through hole using a 3/8" center cutting end mill to start things off (photo 2). Next it was back to the lathe to center up on the offset hole and use a boring bar to enlarge the hole to a close .500" fit on the crankshaft (photo 3). With this done I parted off the eccentric (photo4) and faced the cut off end to get the final width (no picture of that). Then centering again on the through hole I turned down the hub to the needed diameter (photo 5). Photos 6 & 7 show the nearly finished eccentric. Photo 8 shows things in place on the crankshaft...the open space is for the 2nd eccentric which I hope to get knocked out tomorrow.
Bill
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Very nicely done. :ThumbsUp:
Anyone know what time it is?
It's family time!!!
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Zee the closest thing I have to a family shot is this one posted a while back.
Bill
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Somewhat less satisfying. But as an appetizer...I guess it'll do. ;D
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Nice work on the eccentric there, Bill. Just do it again and you'll be on to the next thing!
You ought to be getting close by now, aren't you?
Kim
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Best I can do for now Zee :) I can show you a drawer full of parts though :lolb:
Kim, it is getting closer yes but still the following to do:
Finish the eccentric straps.
Finish the second bearing.
All the machining on the cylinder.
Finish the pedestal.
Machine the connecting rod.
machine all the reversing link parts (3 or 4 of these).
Drill/bore/ream the cross hole in the base for the crankshaft.
Piston and rod (after cylinder is done)
valve and rod (after cylinder is done)
So as you can see, still some work to do...this is a sizeable project but so far I am happy with what has been done.
Bill
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I replied earlier but must have failed to hit "Post".
Nice work as usual Bill. It is coming along nicely.
-Bob
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Thanks for looking in Bob, glad you got some times off too!!!
Bill
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it is getting closer yes but still the following to do:
Finish the eccentric straps.
Finish the second bearing.
All the machining on the cylinder.
Finish the pedestal.
Machine the connecting rod.
machine all the reversing link parts (3 or 4 of these).
Drill/bore/ream the cross hole in the base for the crankshaft.
Piston and rod (after cylinder is done)
valve and rod (after cylinder is done)
So as you can see, still some work to do...this is a sizeable project but so far I am happy with what has been done.
Bill
Good thing you're keeping track! By my count you were a lot closer! :Jester:
Kim
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Got the second eccentric finish today. The first picture is one I didn't take yesterday and that is of turning the hub to size. The second one if just of the pair of eccentrics. They still need the holes for the grub screws but that is a simple secondary operation.
Bill
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Best I can do for now Zee
Do you accept that kind of response from your students? ;D
I can show you a drawer full of parts though
Depends on the drawer.
[EDIT: Sheesh...that doesn't sound right on a couple of levels.]
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Best I can do for now Zee
Do you accept that kind of response from your students? ;D
I can show you a drawer full of parts though
Depends on the drawer.
[EDIT: Sheesh...that doesn't sound right on a couple of levels.]
:lolb:
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Hmmmmm...not even going there :shrug:
Bill
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Just a bit of a start on the cylinder casting today, bringing it closer to size. Photo 1 shows the raw casting and in photo 2 you can see the height (or width in this case) is about 2.9" excluding the part of the gate sticking out. I machined the first end with the casting oriented in the mill vise much as it sits in photo 1, overhanging the edge of the vise. That way at least one surface was relatively finished. Then the opposite end was machined as shown in photo 3, then the part flipped over and a bit more taken off the first side to make sure they were as parallel as possible. With that done the steam chest face was also milled flat (photo 4). In the last photo the length has been reduced to just under 2.6" so there is still another .300" to come off give or take a few thousandths. Still plenty more whittlin' to do on this one but it's a few ounces lighter now than it was :)
Bill
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Nice looking steam chest cover Bill! And again, that is a nice looking piece of bronze for the cylinder. Still following! :popcorn:
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My apologies Bill, but I have to say this...
When I saw the first photo, my immediate thought was, "looks like a roll of TP on a hanger".
I know. I know. I sometimes fall into the gutter.
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:lolb: Now that you mention it, it does....pretty rough TP though :ROFL:
Bill
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Work continues on the cylinder casting but slowly as I haven't had much time this week. May get a bit of progress done on it today I hope. Meanwhile, since the bore of this engine is 1.125" and will need to be a close fit with the piston (and rings) I needed a better way to measure between 1 and 2 inches (yeah, I know, a lame excuse for getting a 1"-2" mic). Then there was the little mini-mic sitting there on the workshelf in its original Starrett cardboard box crying out for a decent off duty home (you can see where this is going). And the finally what good is a 0-1/2" mic and a 1-2" mic leaving a big hole between them. Actually I do have a decent Mitutoyo 1" mic but matched sets of things are far more appealing. Long story short, I ordered a Starrett 1" mic in the 2xx series and a 1-2" Starrett mic in the same series, both of which now match mini-mic, and each has a decent padded storage box to reside in when not in use!! One cannot have too may quality tools right? ;D
Bill
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Nice addition to the shop Bill, you will enjoy them I'm sure.
Dave
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Thanks Dave. I have had the little one for a couple of years now and absolutely love it for the small stuff. Sometimes you just need something bigger though!!
Bill
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Nice to keep the 'Mic' family together!
Now you need to gather the Starret 'Cal I. Per' family, the 'R. U. Ler' family....
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One cannot have too may quality tools right? ;D
Now's the time to collect! As you approach retirement..you have to have everything you need.
Once you hit retirement...it becomes much harder to let go of the money.
I can't say it's a fact...since I'm not quite retired myself...but I have my suspicion (yea verily, fear) it is true. ;D
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Yeah Zee....it's that pesky term "fixed" before income that does it. Though I am blessed with less worry than many.
Bill
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A very distinguished family you have there Bill! Gotta love good quality tools! Just a pleasure to use :)
Kim
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One cannot have too may quality tools right? ;D
Now's the time to collect! As you approach retirement..you have to have everything you need.
Quality tools YES :wine1: , but don't forget all the castings you will need when retired ;D
Once you hit retirement...it becomes much harder to let go of the money.
:headscratch: I thought that was a natural tendency for all model engineers pre and post retirement :embarassed:
Jo
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Quality tools YES :wine1: , but don't forget all the castings you will need when retired
Very good point Jo and I have a modest start on that too, just not in your league yet :)
Bill
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Can never have to many tools Bill and nice addition buddy you just got to love it.
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks Don, good to see you too.
Bill
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You have to love all those red boxes. Money well spent Bill.
-Bob
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Not a lot done today as it was a bit cold out in the shop, but did manage to make some progress on one of the eccentric straps. I located the center of the parting line and plunged a 3/8" hole through (photo 1), then enlarging it with the boring head (photo 2). It became apparent that the extra length of the tongue was going to be a problem so I milled it off closer to the final size needed (photo 3). That allowed me to chuck it up in the 4 jaw and center on the hole to bore it out to the minor diameter (photo 4), until the mating diameter of the eccentric was a nice running fit (photo 5). Once both straps get to this point, a .125" groove will need to be machined, centered in the width of each straps ID which will accommodate the larger diameter ring you can also see on the eccentric in photo 5. Maybe more progress tomorrow, I at least hope to get the second strap to this same point.
Bill
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Before taking the first strap out of the 4 jaw where it was already centered, I set up the rotary table on the mill and cut the groove in the strap to mate with the rib on the eccentric as shown in photo 1. After a little deburring I assembled the eccentric into the strap and while the fit was close it was still on the tight side (quite tight in fact) but I wanted a closer fit than called for in the plans. I added a bit of Fine Clover compound and worked the assembly more until things started to lap together. After a good cleaning, I added some oil and did the same thing again and I could feel the tightness working out. Another good cleaning, fresh oil and it was just the feel I wanted. The cross section of the assembly is shown in photo 2, and the assembly in photo 3. Now it's on to the second strap and then both will need the cosmetic work on the outer diameter but the critical part is now done on the first one anyway.
Bill
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So the strap is bronze, is the eccentric brass? Is that dissimilar enough? I usually do the eccentric in steel to prevent galling.
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Chris, both are bronze as per the original design. There will be oil holes in the straps for lubrication. If it works in the full size engine, I have to assume it will work here as well.
Bill
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Damn nice work Bill as always buddy!
:cheers:
Don
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I love seeing how you did that, Bill
So was that a Woodruff cutter?
Kim
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Kim, yes exactly...it is a .125" face width Woodruff cutter. Unfortunately it has a 1/2" shank (too big for the Sherline), so I chucked it on the mill using a 3 jaw chuck which works well when you need to hold something a bit larger or need a tad more headroom. It worked well in this instance....one down, one to go.
Bill
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Man, I take the weekend off to get whiskey bent and Hell bound and you are churning out parts and flaunting new tools: a man after my own heart :lolb:. Boy, didn’t take long to receive the mics; I waited almost a month for my 0-6” set :shrug:. Don’t it feel good to enter those Amex digits :lolb: >:D I love the cases. My brother in law; retired tool and die man, has a set of mics that nobody but him has used and they have never been laid on any surface other than their case :facepalm2:. Y’all tired of the cold weather? Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTT2LEyjdC4
Luv y’all
Rev. Cletus
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Blake was pretty young in that one Cletus. Well I cheated a but on the mics. Called starrett and delivery was a month out. Meanwhile I found them elsewhere for the same or less so cancelled the order and had them in two days. They were very nice (starrett I mean). Can't quite figure why they don't keep at least a little stock though for direct orders.
Bill
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Life is really starting to interfere with my living :lolb: :lolb:. Sorry I didn’t respond. I wonder about stuff like that with Starrett. Is it some “requirement”? I’m sure they are obligated to supply major customers like MSC and the such firstmost, but, if you are going to advertise your wares; shouldn’t you be ready to supply. Now, they do a great job at passing out free wall charts and the such and I guess most of us will always be enamored by the all familiar “red Starrett box” , but, you gotta let me have the tools dude 8) :lolb:
Cletus
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Agreed Cletus, and their website definitely allows for direct consumer orders (even if it isn't the most efficient). I fear that in another decade it won't be the company it was or is today....meaning more offshore manufacturing. All the more reason go get the goods while we can.
Bill
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Agreed Cletus, and their website definitely allows for direct consumer orders (even if it isn't the most efficient). I fear that in another decade it won't be the company it was or is today....meaning more offshore manufacturing. All the more reason go get the goods while we can.
Or buy them off of people like you when you get too old and gray to use them. ;D
Wait. That includes me. Which might mean 'like new out of the box'. :lolb:
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Nah,. I'm takin 'em all with me Zee. :lolb:
Bill
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I agree; pack it all in the hole with me or as Willie would say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyBOpsF4ASo
Cletus
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A few days ago I started doing some more carving on the cylinder casting, which again was better done at work. I milled the overall front to back distance (how much the steam chest sticks out from the round part of the cylinder), and also brought the width of the steam chest in line with the plans. The photo below shows this. Yesterday I also drilled pilot holes for the cylinder and the piston valve mainly to give me some options to hold things for more machining. Will post a picture of that later today and hope to get some more work done on they cylinder as well. I still have that second eccentric strap to fit to its eccentric also and then finishing them both up so that may come first while the rotary table is still set up in the mill. Too many irons in the fire, but anxious to make progress still!
Bill
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Here are the other pictures of where the cylinder stands at the moment. Fortunately it looks like the steam chest cover fits perfectly :)
Bill
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Does look like the fit is spot on!
Just a bit more work to do on the cylinder, and you'll have it.
Kim
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Thanks Kim. There is a LOT more work needed on the cylinder...it will be a multi step process for sure.
Bill
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Looking more cylindrical every day!
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Drumming fingers here. Something about a family shot. ;D
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Maybe by the weekend Zee, but not promising, or put another way ....some weekend soon. Depends on how busy work is this week. :naughty:
Bill
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Maybe by the weekend Zee, but not promising, or put another way ....some weekend soon. Depends on how busy work is this week. :naughty:
Good grief. You sound like Chris. :lolb:
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Maybe by the weekend Zee, but not promising, or put another way ....some weekend soon. Depends on how busy work is this week. :naughty:
Good grief. You sound like Chris. :lolb:
I resemble that remark! Or I will, maybe later, plans are changing. I think... :Lol:
:cheers:
Chris
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We learned from the best Zee :lolb:
Bill
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Not as much progress as I had hopped for this weekend but got closer to finishing one of the eccentric straps. After milling the "ears" to the needed top to bottom distance on both sides (photo 1) and making the four screws to join them (photo 2), it was off to the rotary table to round the outside to the needed diameter (photo 3). As you can see in photo 4, rounding the upper quadrants required cutting into the head of the screws a bit, so they will all need to be remade but that is not big thing. With that done, the width dimention of the "ears" was narrowed again on the rotary table (photo 5). In photo 6 you can see the difference in this strap vs. the one not done yet. Finally, the top of the strap was machined round as shown in photo 6. I still need to finish the height of this and drill and tap 10-32 for the eccentric rod. Once this is done, the same steps need to be done on the second strap, but I have the procedure down now at least so it should go faster. Both straps will still need an oil hold added as well, and the eccentric hubs need to be drilled and tapped for set screws. The cylinder is too large to hold in the Sherline mill vise so further work on it will be done at work. I am also hoping to get the base plate drilled/bored/reamed for the crank bearings. Again that will need to be done at work.
Bill
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Nice progress Bill!
Dave
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Nice details on the straps, taking that cut on the side adds a lot.
:popcorn:
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Thanks Dave. It wasn't as much as I had hoped but these eccentric straps have been rather fiddly and aren't my favorite parts to work on, but they must be done, and I am happy with the results so far. Going back to the castings, there was a lot to be removed to get to this point.
Bill
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The 'extra' work really makes a difference in looks. And it looks great!!
Pete
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Thanks Chris and Pete, I was typing as you guys posted.
Bill
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Nice shot using the parallels to hold that part.
That wouldn't have occurred to a lot of people (like me).
:ThumbsUp:
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Glad you pointed that out Zee. As it turned out, they were a bit springy and after a close call I replaced them with two 1/4" square tool blanks which were more rigid. The other thing was that since I was only holding one half of the strap, there was a tendency for the legs to be pressed inward as the bronze is somewhat soft. Using the live center helped. The best set-up would have been to chuck the entire strap with the two halves joined but in my case the depth of the jaws was not sufficient to do that. Long story short, it worked, but required very light cuts, so I would not recommend it. I was lucky I didn't kill the part perhaps.
Bill
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I got maybe an hour's work in during lunch today doing some hole drilling in the cylinder casting. Might have gotten more done but had to tram the mill in (these kids do what they please and then walk away so you never know). Anyway in photo 1 there is a hole drilled from both the top and bottom which forms part of the steam admission passage. Then in photo 2 there are five 1/8" holes drilled from the steam chest. The two outer ones port into the piston valve chamber, the middle one intersects with the main steam/air exhaust passage which exits the pump side of the casting. The two intermediate holes go deeper and intersect with the two holed from photo 1. Two more still need to be drilled from the far end of the casting to complete the upper and lower passages for steam/air in or exhaust out but that will wait for another day. Photo 3 may explain this better than my written description.
Bill
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Looking good Bill.
-Bob
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I've worn my fingers down drumming. ;D
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I've worn my fingers down drumming. ;D
Zee, better to build them up by turning cranks on your lathe/mill!! :cheers:
Bill, following along as well, very interesting engine.
:popcorn:
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Hmmmmmm.....seems you need something better to occupy your time Zee. Getting closer to a family shot but not there yet....soon though... maybe :lolb:
Bilk
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Hmmmmmm.....seems you need something better to occupy your time Zee. Getting closer to a family shot but not there yet....soon though... maybe :lolb:
Good to know Chris...I mean Zee...I mean Bill. :lolb:
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Well, after a weekend of free hockey tickets in a free food and libation luxury suite provided by one of my suppliers (YES :DrinkPint: :cheers: :mischief:) I return to find some really nice machine work Professor. The extra details on the straps really make them pop. Bill, if I may: Zee, if’n youins don’t quit picking on the Professor, I’m going to start fabricating things to send to T, and they ain’t gonna be parts hoss :lolb: :lolb:. I’ll bet with Crubey’s background, we can fabricate some really juicy pics of you and the female elves ( Hey, a couple of his are baby dolls) : just saying :lolb: :lolb:. Thanks Bill for letting me stop by and admire your work and have a little fun.
God Bless
Cletus
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Thanks Cletus, I wondered where you had been :) Sounds like a fun weekend too!! Was it in Nashville?
Bill
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Looking good Bill.
Am curious about how you mounted the 3-jaw on your rotary table, will need to research that. Does it mount/dismount easily?
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Looking good Bill.
Am curious about how you mounted the 3-jaw on your rotary table, will need to research that. Does it mount/dismount easily?
If he is putting on his Sherline rotary table/mill, he is using the adapter screw that threads into the center of the rotab and has the same thread as the headstock of the lathe on the top. It holds the three jaw well, but if milling the outside of a large part I like to use the 4-jaw instead on my Sherline, since that has a groove to take a hold-down on the rim, to keep the mill from unscrewing the chuck. Thats something we need to work up Bill, a little hold-down that works on the rim of the 3-jaw chuck!
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Chris answered your question Bent. It's a very handy way to go from lathe to mill without taking the part out of the chuck
unless you want or need to. I do tighten it well for the reason Chris noted, but some additional would be good too.
Bill
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Yeah, it was in Nashville. Our hockey team made it way into the playoffs last year and all of a sudden Nashville is a major league hockey town. I don’t understand the game quite yet, but, the tickets were free, the beer was cold, and the food was great. Are you reserving any bronze chips for a Clicksring type blueing tray?
Cletus
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No but probably should have. Would have had a few pounds by now if not more.
Bill
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Thanks Chris and Bill. That sounds like a neat setup. I've been contemplating ways to make the rotary table here at work easier to set up, and now am thinking about methods for quickly mounting and centering my mini lathe chucks on it.
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A lot will depend on the center hole in your RT (i.e. straight, tapered and if so what taper, threaded). I also have a similar adapter which screws into the RT but has 14mm x 1 threads to adapt the Cowell's chucks to the Sherline RT.
Bill
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OK, today I finally got the through bore done on the base for the Little Pearl. Now the bearings and crankshaft can be fitted (and hopefully line up well). Photo 1 shows the basic setup in the mill vise. After finding the location for the through hole I center drilled it (photo 2), drilled with an 11/16" S&D drill (photo 3), bored it closer to the required .750 final size (sorry forgot to take a picture of that), and then finally reaming with a .750" reamer (photo 4). The results are shown in the final photo sitting on my desk. Maybe this is the weekend I can get Zee that family shot, well at least a semi-family shot. I do still have to make the second bearing though on the Cowells. Will do that tomorrow.
Bill
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One evening this week, I also finished up the first eccentric strap by milling the top down to the required height and drilling and tapping the central hole. This is shown in photo 1 and the finished strap in photo 2 (with the exception of the grub screw holes in the hub and the oil hole in the strap itself). I will try and get the second strap also finished this weekend.
Bill
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Maybe this is the weekend I can get Zee that family shot, well at least a semi-family shot.
:pinkelephant:
I do like family shots. It's not about pressuring any one to get parts done (I can hardly be one to complain). It's just cool to see the progress some one has made and to know the work and love that went into it.
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Bill, that base and the straps are sure looking great! Very well done! I like your setup for boring the crank holes, looks like it was good and solid.
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Thanks for looking in guys. I will have more to show tomorrow I hope. I was glad to get that boring done, everything depends on good alighment!!
Bill
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This is for Zee.... a semi-family shot of the base part of the engine with one bearing installed along with the crankshaft, straps (one not finished yet), and flywheel. The other bearing will be made today.
Bill
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I spent a nice afternoon on the Cowells making the second bearing. I turned the major OD and then bored for a close slip fit on the crankshaft (photo 1), using the small hole gage to check the bore as it got close (photo 2). The drill rod crankshaft measures .5005" and the bore of the bearing is .501". LH and RH turning tools were used for the undercut portion with tailstock support (photo 3). Once that was done it was parted off and the cut off end cleaned up to the final length needed. The cowells now needs a good vacuuming (photo4). As I get more used to the DRO set-up, the more I like it. It seems to be dead on and certainly makes life easier when working with imperial dimensions. The last picture shows the second bearing in place and ready for the cap to be put on. Fortunately things lined up well and though it needs some running in, I am happy with the fits.
Bill
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I haven't seen that kind of hole gauge before, is that something you made?
:popcorn:
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I haven't seen that kind of hole gauge before, is that something you made?
:popcorn:
I got mine from Arceurotrade - http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Measurement/Inside-and-Outside-Gauges/Small-Hole-Gauge-Set-4pcs-3mm-13mm-18-12 (http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Measurement/Inside-and-Outside-Gauges/Small-Hole-Gauge-Set-4pcs-3mm-13mm-18-12)
Thor
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Chris, I have had these for at least 20 years, probably more and find them useful for just such things as these bearing bores and sheaking up on the desired diameter. Much like telescoping gages for larger holes, they require a feel in order to be accurate. They are what I consider a passivie tool, they don't measure directly and so require a mic or calipers to measure. I added a couple of pictures. As you can see they are only good from .125" up to .500" or 3.2mm up to 12.7mm. I nearly fainted when I looked them up on MSC:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/86425378?fromRR=Y
I know I didn't pay more than $40 or so for them back then. But since they aren't a direct measuring tool and aren't used constantly, then a less expensive set would do just as well. They can also be used to measure slot width within the same ranges but for shallow slots what is called a half ball type would be better.
Bill
Edit: on this side of the pond it looks like Penn Tool would be the go to option:
http://www.penntoolco.com/shg-050/
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This is for Zee.... a semi-family shot of the base part of the engine with one bearing installed along with the crankshaft, straps ...
:pinkelephant:
That's looking more than great Bill.
Thanks for the shot!
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Thanks Zee. Even though there is more finished it is all waiting on the pedestal to be added to the base so things can go vertical. As good start has been made on the cylinder, and the head/crosshead assembly is already done, just haven't found a way yet to hang them in mid air for a "taller" family shot and I must say the pedestal has been and is a bit of a head scratcher as far as machining goes. I keep hoping for some kind of epiphany on that but nothing yet :thinking:
Bill
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Bill/Thor, thanks for the info on the gages, look like a useful item, and glad there are options other than that Starrett set!
How do you feel they compare to an inside-micrometer, with the pins out the jaws, accuracy wise?
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Today O finished up the second eccentric strap so here is a picture of the base with both finished straps, both bearings, and the flywheel. The oil holes and grub screws on the strap hubs have also been added so these are now done. Its on to finish up the cylinder now.
Bill
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All that bronze looks great!
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
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Plenty more bronze to go Chris. I haven't weighed it but guess that what you see is around 5 pounds now, maybe more.
Bill
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Looking good, Bill!
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A bit more done on the cylinder yesterday just didn't' have the chance to post the pictures yet. Two more 1/8" holes needed to be drilled opposite the steam chest through what will be the cylinder bore and intersecting the previously drilled vertical holes (photo 1). Most of these 1/8" holes will be plugged prior to further machining. In photos 2 & 3 I was checking squareness of the cylinder in the vise and drilling the three mounting holes for the arm that holds the valve link rod. Then flipping the cylinder over the two holes for the steam/air in and out were drilled and will be tapped 1/4"-40. The last photo shows milling out the steam chest area. Again the middle three holes shown will be plugged prior to final machining of the piston valve bore. While the cylinder is still in this configuration, I will drill the holes for mounting the steam chest cover today. Its coming along but still plenty to do to finish up on the cylinder.
Bill
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Looking great! Always fun to keep track of directions when doing that many passages.
:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
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Very true Chris and there are a lot of them in this cylinder. A few more pictures from this morning. First drilling the six holes for attaching the steam chest cover (photo 1). Photo 2 shows how the steam inlet port breaks through into the steam chest. Lastly is the cylinder with the link rod support and steam chest cover in place.
Bill
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Not a lot of shop time this weekend, but did manage to get the cylinder part of the casting rounded with the set-up shown in photo 1. The other two show the head sub-assembly and link bracket in place on the cylinder. Hoping to get the piston valve and piston bores finished in the next day or so and then move on from there. I still need to plug a few of the 1/8" holes as well.
Bill
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Every little bit helps, Bill. And it looks quite nice too! :ThumbsUp:
Kim
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Thanks Kim. Just trying to plug along at the moment.
Bill
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Nice! Really changes the look of everything :popcorn:
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Looks good Bill!
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That brass be looking mighty pretty there Bill and you know how I love brass. Looking good my friend.... :ThumbsUp:
:cheers:
Don
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Thanks for looking in guys. Don, good to see you.
Bill
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Hey Bud, just checking in: ;). Looking good Professor. Remember the old joke about; “how do you eat an elephant?” : one bite at a time :lolb:. Stay hungry my friend :lolb:. Seriously, this one has some unique features and can’t wait to see it running.
Rev. Cletus
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Many thanks Cletus!!
Bill
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Just checking in on my own build to see where I went :lolb:. Not to worry, it has been a busy two weeks with advising for summer and fall, so haven't been able to get down to the machine shop as needed. Hopefully next week will see some progress.
Bill
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Hey Bill,
when you find yourself, make sure and let you know we're all thinking about you! :Jester:
Hope you get some time in the shop soon!
Kim
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Checking in Bill; I was kind of cutoff due to my job. Nice progress. Everything looks great.
-Bob
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Ok, bact to getting a few things more done on the little pearl. The valve piston bore was reamed to .515" as called for. The attached pictures show countering both the top and bottom of this bore for the packing gland (top) and a threaded plug ( bottom). I've got to locate a 5/8"-18 tap for this, but meanwhile I can still plug the holes that need to be sealed after drilling all the cylinder ports, and can also proceed on making the piston valve itself. More to come on that.
Bill
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:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
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Looking good, Bill!
Why 0.515"? Seems like an odd size to ream to. What is that? 33/64"? That's an interesting dimension.
Kim
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Honestly I have no idea Kim. But that was the design dimension and I now have a .515" reamer should anybody need one :shrug:
Bill
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Looks good Bill.
Is that a new vice setup? Looks interesting.
Jim
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Jim, yes it is a new one as I needed something larger than the sherline vise can handle. It's a bit large but works and will be useful on the full size Alliant mill also.
Bill
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Jim, yes it is a new one as I needed something larger than the sherline vise can handle. It's a bit large but works and will be useful on the full size Alliant mill also.
Bill
Looks like the one that followed me home from the LMS booth at Cabin Fever this winter, very handy for the big parts.
:popcorn:
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Probably from the same Chinese factorey Chris. I think I got this one from Travers, but it seem ok for what I need.
Bill
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Beautiful work chronicled with great photos Bill.
:ThumbsUp:
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Glad to see you back at it Bill.
-Bob
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John and Bob thanks for looking in, I know things haven't been too exciting lately but I'm trying to change that. Today I got another little chore done on the cylinder and that was to plug the holes that were no longer needed. I cut 5, 1/8" diameter brass plugs of two different lengths and loctited them in the proper places. Once that was done it was just a matter of smoothing them out to match the surrounding surfaces. Photo 1 shows the three plugs in the steam chest and photo 2 the two plugs in the outer cylinder wall after the smoothing was done. The roughness on the outside of the cylinder is of no consequence as there will be lagging covering these areas.
Bill
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Wonderful as always :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
Cletus
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Thanks Cletus, hope to make some progress on the piston valve tomorrow, just to keep things going on this one now.
Bill
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I got the piston valve done today. I needs a close fit to the .515" reamed hole in the cylinder. The closest size I had was .750" so I started with that an turned it down until it just fit the opening in the cylinder. The valve was then drilled with a #11 drill for most of the way through and then finished with a #21 the last little bit for tapping 10-32. This also allowed tailstock center support for the rest of the turning (photo 1). The narrower part in the center section of the valve was roughed out with tool shown in photo 2 and then finished with a ground round nose tool to form the radius at each end (photo 3). Once it was parted off and the cut off end faced to final length, both ends were counterbored .025" deep by .375" diameter and the threaded end was tapped (photo 4). The finished piston is shown in the last photo, Tomorrow, I will make the shaft that completes the piston valve assembly.
Bill
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It's been a while.
You know what I'm going to ask. ;D
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Zee, if you are asking about the shop renovation, nothing on that front in the last few days as it has been a bit wet to do much outside, hence the posts on the little pearl and #5 instead. Back to the renovation as soon as I can do some more outside work. Meanwhile doing some research on new siding, windows and roof for when the deforestation is complete :)
Bill
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On another note though, the 5/8-18 plug and bottoming taps I ordered for threading the top and bottom of the piston valve bore should be here today.
Bill
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I think he wants a family shot Bill.
Cletus
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Ah, ok....one never knows with zee. But I can do that asily enough.
Bill
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Here you go zee....
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:ThumbsUp:
That's looking great.
The renovation questions will start once I see you actually renovating. ;D
So far all I've seen is pictures of a stroll in the woods. :ROFL:
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Nice lookin' pile of bronze, Bill!
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I ain't even gotten to the woods yet zee!! Going to have to spray a lot of Roundup too though. Did get a bit of poison ivy, but fortunately not overly sensitive to it.
Bill
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Back to the piston valve stem and assembly this morning. Just a few pictures below. I will say that I often have trouble holding in this case 3/16" drill rod securely enough in the three jaw chuck to keep it from turning while trying to thread it. Same for the WW collets in the sherline. This time I used the double angle collets in the Cowells and it worked like a charm. More bearing area I suppose against the stock, didn't even offer to slip!!
Bill