Engines > From Kits/Castings
Coles C-611
Jo:
About this time last year I posted my build of the monster Coles C-612 engine: https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,9686.html this is its little brother the C-611 horizontal Steam Engine . It is a really simple horizontal engine and I intend on making this thread a real back to basics thread that is applicable to building any steam engine from castings.
As this is a rare model Steam engine I will be building it to drawing (or rather not to drawings as I do not have any :facepalm: ). This is the only picture of one of these engines we can find:
The other information we have to go by is the original advertisement from the Coles Catalogue:
As you can see size wise it is about the same as a Stuart No 9 that I built about 5 years ago: https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,5962.0.html This engine however is even more basic and it is going to stay that way because of its rarity.
Someone acquired it as a partial set of castings from Station Road Steam who priced them according to the lack of drawings (I don't think they realised some were missing, I think they knew one was damaged but hid it in their online photos :cussing: ) :
The castings have been repaired https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,9914.0.html so we are ready to start :pinkelephant:
Jo
crueby:
Should be a fun build, getting the comfy chair and popcorn ready to watch along!
ShopShoe:
Jo,
It's nice to see you posting an engine project again. I'm looking forward to seeing you do this.
ShopShoe
Jo:
Welcome along Chris & SS :)
We are going to start with the Cylinder and for this we are going to need a square:
Why the Cylinder? Because a lot of the parts mount on the cylinder and if we machine (or the casting is) undersized then we can make the other parts to fit ;) Of course neither end on the cylinder is flat so we must start by providing a flat datum:
We are now going to mount the cylinder in a four jaw chuck, ignoring the rim of the cylinder but trying to keep it in the centre so everything is balanced. We are not mounting the cylinder hard against the chuck face :hellno: Instead we are going to use the square on the sides of the cylinder to mount the casting so that its centre line is true along the bed of the lathe, i.e. we are looking for the square to touch both ends of the casting or for equal gaps to the square on either side of the casting:
The yellow arrow shows where I have chosen to have a gap on opposite sides on the casting as the two ends are slightly different diameters. With everything secure we can face across the casting. This is to show you that no the hole in the centre has not lined up but it does not matter, all we are currently doing is giving ourselves a flat surface that is square to the casting:
Now were are going to turn the cylinder round and mount it with our nice flat surface against the chuck and to help beginning to locate it in the right position I use a large centre:
Now I am going to put a tool in the tool post and adjust the position of the casting so that when I turn the chuck round the tool follows the outside of the casting:
Lets check if it is true:
Now we can start our facing the cylinder. You can see on this initial cut the high points:
Those machined bits were high points that meant earlier on if we had tried to mount the cylinder flat against the chuck the bump would have probably cause the casting to mount at an angle :facepalm2: . You can also see that as the machining comes in towards the centre the bore is not far out of line.
So far it is machining nicely, no hard bits or air pockets so all good news, the bad news is that the casting is going to be undersized so that will need to be taken account shortly.
Jo
propforward:
This looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the detailed posts, they really help me understand the approach. I shall be following with great interest.
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