Chris's Holly Pumping Engine Build

[crueby]

Dog, Dog, Dog, I don’t know what to say but……..I…………likeeeeeeee….. 



 
Don

[crueby]

The arch pieces are all loctited and screwed in place, so I can start notching in the side rails on the engine beds for the bearing blocks. Only four of the six side rails get bearing blocks, since the end cranks are single sided. The arch blocks need to be in place for this, since the sides of the rails will be notched as well for the flared portions of the bearing blocks, and the holes for the bearing caps go all the way through the bottom of the arches. Started with the top notches:



The shapes on these parts emphasize the need for all the blocks to be stress relieved first - otherwise these blocks would have warped out of shape as the sides were cut!

[Bearcar1]

Simply outstanding machine work! BRAVOO!!! 


BC1
Jim

[crueby]

Simply outstanding machine work! BRAVOO!!! 


BC1
Jim

Thanks Jim!  Quite a fun project so far, going to be interesting to get the crankshaft made and the bearings all lined up. The crankshaft has a series of different diameters down its length, plus a bevel gear for the lay shaft take-off, and the three engine beds are all on seperate sets of legs around the pumps. Should be interesting!

[crueby]

Finished cutting in the top recesses for the bearing blocks, and have cut the first side recess - the bearing blocks will have a u-shaped cutout in the bottom to fit over the engine bed side rails.


One outside recess cut, three to go, then can start in on the recesses on the inside faces of the side rails. Those will have to be cut from the top, and the curves left by the end mill undercut. It turns out when I laid them out on the bar stock that I did not have enough of the 1" bar for the bearing blocks, so I have ordered that, hope it is in sometime during next week. I checked around, and as usual the prices are all over the map, this time Midwest Steel Supply had the best (by far) price on the sizes I wanted. Amazing how much the prices vary, and how they change week to week.

[derekwarner]

Watching on as always Chris ...

I reackon the mill spindle bearings have exceeded a normal rotational working life..... .....
[by the 1/2 ton of shavings & swarf slithers we have seen]

Derek

 

[crueby]

Watching on as always Chris ...

I reackon the mill spindle bearings have exceeded a normal rotational working life..... .....
[by the 1/2 ton of shavings & swarf slithers we have seen]

Derek

   Not sure what their working life is, but I DID wear out the toggle switch for the power two years ago! It snapped off right at the level of the case - had to use needle nose pliers to turn it on and off till I could get a replacement. Sherline was great, called them to check on the part number for a new switch, they sent me a new one free.


Funny you should mention wearing out the bearings...


This spring I decided to set up for single-point threading, going to need a lot of threaded bits on this engine in a large variety of sizes, so that was my excuse. Yup, good reason, sticking to that story.   Setting up the threading attachment on the Sherline is a bit of a pain in the swarf, needs either removing the motor/speed control or using a smaller handwheel (which doesnt work that well, I tried that) so I priced out getting another lathe unit, short bed, without the motor/speed control. Turns out that adding the motor/speed control is not much more, a whole lot less than buying them seperately.    And, considering the amount of use I give these things, someday I am going to wear out one or the other, or both, so I just bought the basic lathe package and set the motor/control off on a shelf for future use.
Then set up the new lathe bed/headstock on a base, put the threading attachment on with the large handwheel, and no motor. Also made some modifications to the threading plates to add adjustable stops, since they have a tendancy to pivot apart under use (will show that when I get to threading parts soon).  All in all, it will save a LOT of setup time, and make it more likely that I will do single-point threading more often. And, when I DO wear out the headstock or motor, I have spares sitting there ready to go! Bound to happen at some point (but now that I have spares, maybe not! )

[crueby]

Dug through the tool drawer, and found a middling diameter but longer-fluted end mill, perfect to do the recesses on the inner sides of the engine bed plate rails - needed a nearly 1" reach down the sides, and small enough diameter to get the flat started in the inner corners. Still will need to cut back the radius in the corners with a rotary tool to let the bearing blocks fit in snugly.

Here are the parts so far - the inner four side rails have the bearing block recesses milled in, the outer two stay as is.


Next steps are to cut back those inner corners, and tap the mounting holes while I wait for the bar stock for the bearing blocks. I could also get started on the bearing block caps, the bar stock probably wont be here till later in the week. I've also gotten a little start on the CAD work for the Allis engine from the plans I got from the Boston Waterworks Museum - so far just the foundation blocks and bolts, but its a start on a long-term background project.

[cnr6400]

 

[RReid]

Do you follow a written "play book" to keep all those machining steps in correct order, and with none forgotten?

[crueby]

Do you follow a written "play book" to keep all those machining steps in correct order, and with none forgotten?

Writing it as I go, right here in this thread!   


I do try to think ahead on parts to figure out the order of things. Doesn't always work, and the scheme often changes partway through. Most parts it doesn't matter as much, but complex shapes like these need some planning.

[steamer]

OOOOOH you've made big progress!!!    sweeeet

Dave

[crueby]

While waiting for the bar stock for the bearing blocks themselves, I've started shaping the stock for the bearing caps, first getting the overall dimensions blocked in.

Also got the last of the mounting holes in the engine bed plates tapped. And, after the sonversation with RReid yesterday about planning ahead, I remembered in time about the mounting points for the lay shaft gear housing, which sits on the side of the bearing block on the HP side of the IP bed. Same overall dimensions, but the shape of the recesses on the side of that block is different to allow mounting the gear housing - there is a big bevel gear on the crankshaft there which drives an angled shaft up to the lay shaft above, with a matching pair of bevel gears to run the lay shaft, with the eccentrics and governor on it, at the same speed as the crankshaft. Caught that just in time - so much for meticulous planning!!   

[Craig DeShong]

Looks great Chris, following along.

[RReid]