ᐌǁ Ø 'Vulcan Variation' Mill Engine Ø ǁᐍ

[gary.a.ayres]

Thus far I have avoided attempting to build an engine with a proper valve, but the time has come for me to face this challenge. I considered various - and quite diverse - options before settling on this:



I was drawn to it for various  reasons:

(1) the plans are metric

(2) I wanted to bulid another fairly large engine, and the plans are for an engine big enough for me to take the dimensions from them without making any conversions

(3) the plans include clear, simple build notes for each part

(4) the designer encourages a flexible approach to materials, methods and the appearance of made parts.

It was that last point that really sold this one to me. My previous two engines have taken serious aesthetic liberties with the designers' ideas. However, Andrew Smith positively encourages builders to make their own unique versions of the Vulcan. For my part, I intend to go further in that my interests do not lie in making 'models of' traditional engines. No disrespect to those who do, and there are some stunning examples on this forum and elsewhere of model engines reflecting the aesthetics of the great days of steam, but my thing is to try to build something a bit 'different' - hence my verion beng called the 'Vulcan Variation'.

So, I will stick fairly faithfully to Andrew Smith's mechanical design specifications, but in every other aspect I will feel free to do my own thing. What that will turn out to mean I don't know yet, but it may have a combination of contemporary and traditional-looking elements, and it may include some recycled bits and pieces if the look and dimensions are right, but it will still (hopefully) be recognizable as some kind of a mill engine.

Although this is a relatively simple mill engine, it is nevertheless another step up for me (as a beginner) in terms of challenge, so I'm a little apprehensive.

But here goes...

[crueby]

Looks like a great choice, enough added parts to learn with, you should do great with it!

[Dave Otto]

Cool, looking forward to a new project!

Dave

[propforward]

Following along Gary. Looks like a great choice of engine.

[gary.a.ayres]

Cheers guys!

[gary.a.ayres]

I started off with photocopying, sellotape, a sharpie and coloured pencils to make a user-friendly version of the plans:



Then I gathered together materials which I already had in my shop that will be useable in this build:



I was a little disappointed as I had hoped that I would have stuff to make more of the parts with than I actually do. A visit to the scrap bin at a local machine shop is indicated, and a few orders from suppliers will be required too. However, there was enough here to get me started, and I decided to get going with the flywheel, the materials for which are scrap bin salvage.

The main body of the flywheel will be made from the large steel disc, and the hub will be from the smaller brass one.

I began by facing both sides of the brass disc in the lathe:



It was then centre-drilled, drilled and reamed to 12mm. The final diameter of this hole will be 16mm but I don't have a 16mm reamer yet so I went with this to get me started and give me a reference:



The large steel disc was given a rough cleanup with a wire brush and although there is still some surface rust it's all pretty smooth and quite workable pending it being properly cleaned up in the lathe.

The centre was marked approximately using the centre-finder attachment of a combination square:



The centre was then punched. It will be interesting to see how accurate this turns out to have been when it is mounted on an arbour in the lathe.

The disc was clamped to the mill table and the central punch mark was located with a wiggler:



The central hole was centre drilled, drilled and reamed (again 12mm but to be opened to 16mm when the tooling arrives). I then used the DRO to centre drill and drill a 6-hole bolt circle:





Cap-head screws have been dropped into the holes, just for fun. Behind the chuck you can see a flywheel casting hanging on the wall. This was kindly given to me by our fellow forum member Peter, aka gas_mantle, who hasn't been on the forum for a while. I was originally intending to use it for this engine, but it's an inch smaller in diameter than specified on the plans. I'll use it for something else in due course. The steel disc I have used is a little bigger than the plans call for, so it will tolerate losing a little diameter when it's being trued up.

I'm going to leave this setup in the mill until tooling arrives for me to widen the central bore and counterbore the bolt holes.

[steamer]

Have I mentioned I like steam engine!?

Watching along.....

[Dave Otto]

Looks like you are off to a good start Gary!

Dave

[gary.a.ayres]

Many thanks guys!

@ Steamer - no, you haven't mentioned it. Being a bit of a Sherlock Holmes, though, I cleverly figured it out... 

Cheers,

gary

[gary.a.ayres]

The holes in the flywheel bolt circle were counterbored to a depth slightly greater than the length of the heads of the cap-head screws which will hold the two parts of the flywheel together:



The hub was then located in the mill using a piece of 12mm round bar to find the central hole. This was as accurate as I felt it needed to be at this stage, given the approximate nature of my centre-finding on the main body of the flywheel:



The DRO was then set up to create a bolt circle in the hub to correspond with the one in the main part of the wheel. The holes were centre drilled...



... drilled...



... and tapped M6:





The two parts of the flywheel were then fixed together using M6 cap head screws. Despite my best efforts I ended up with a slight misalignment of the central bores of the two components to the extent that I was unable to push a test piece of 12mm round bar through the bore of the assembly. I'm not too worried about this at this stage, particularly as the final bore will be 16mm.

The assembly was chucked in the three-jaw in the lathe, with the jaws gripping the outside diameter of the hub (which is smooth and regular but as yet unmachined by me, so I'm not worried about the jaws marking the surface):





On setting the lathe running, a significant degree of wobble was apparent. This was unsurprising, given that to find the centre of the main part of the wheel I had used the centre finder of a combination square set. It's even possible that the steel disc that I'm using for the wheel is out of round. No matter - it can all be trued up in the lathe:



This flywheel is about eight inches in diameter, which is pretty much as big as my lathe can handle. Turning it so that it runs true is quite a time-consuming job. I made a start today; hopefully I'll make a bit more progress tomorrow...

[propforward]

That's going to be a plenty big engine Gary! Very much enjoying the journey!

[gary.a.ayres]

Cheers Stuart!

And - somewhat unusually - this is the size specified on the plans.

If I had the space and big enough machines (and of course the know-how), I'd build full sized engines!

This is pretty much as big as I can go, though, unless I win the lottery or something...

[Jasonb]

Looking good, at least it won't suffer from too small a flywheel like the uniflow originally did

One suggestion for the next time you do this , if you used the 4-jaw you could have set the steel disc to run true so just a light skim to clean up. Bore at the same setting so it will run true on the crankshaft. Then you just need to correct any wobble on the outside of the hub which will be a lot quicker to do.

[gary.a.ayres]

Hi Jason -

Thanks for looking in, and yes - this time the flywheel *should* be big enough!

Very useful tip about using the 4-jaw to centre the main disc. This is where my inexperience shows. Will bear that in mind for my next one...

[gary.a.ayres]

Not a lot of progress currently. Been busy, then away, then busy, then away again, going away yet again soon, and will be busy again when I get back...

However, I did get the flywheel pretty much finished. It's eight and a half inches in diameter and pretty heavy. It runs true. Most of the markings you can see are just stray splashes of layout fluid. Some of them are tiny holes in the steel which would take too much metal away from the wheel if I tried to get rid of them:



Part of my aesthetic for this engine is to use whatever bits and pieces I have as far as possible. The plans call for the baseplate to be made of 6mm steel. I didn't have any of that, but I did have some 6mm aluminium plate, which will be fine. It's set up ready for milling square. In the original design, the base is short and the cylinder overhangs it. I'm going to keep mine longer to give the engine a more 'grounded' look:



I didn't have any pieces of solid steel the right size for the main bearing supports, so instead I'm going to fabricate them out of these odds and ends:



It will be time-consuming and probably no cheaper in the end, but it will be fun.

Sporadic appearances from me for quite a while longer...

gary

[gary.a.ayres]

It has been quite a while!

Major developments happening for me in recent times. All good, but they have made workshop time very difficult to find. And this pattern is likely to continue for quite some time so my appearances are likely to be sporadic, unfortunately. But more of that in due course...

Meanwhile, not very exciting progress this evening but at least reconnecting with the build.

Using a scriber in a drill chuck in the mill to pick up the previously scribed line which marks one of the long edges of the base plate, and aligning the plate:



And a start on milling that edge:

[propforward]

Ah Brilliant - been waiting for you to re appear, glad you are doing very well. Any shoppe time is good! Grab it when you can. Looking forward to hearing more.

[steamer]

Good onya mate!     Watching along!

 

[MJM460]

Good to see you back again, Gary.  Even if only for a brief moment.

Glad all is good. 

MJM460

[gary.a.ayres]

Many thanks guys - very kind of you.

Will say more in due course and post when I can...

Meanwhile, I'm off to France tomorrow for the first time in two years and the first time since the roof of my workshop over there blew off and my machines got soaked.

The roof has long since been repaired but my heart is in my mouth about what I might find... 

Will shoot some video of it and post in this thread.

[Jo]

The roof has long since been repaired but my heart is in my mouth about what I might find... 

We are all keeping our fingers crossed for you Gary 

Jo

[gary.a.ayres]

Thank you Jo.

I'll post at least pictures and maybe a video about it here next week...

[bent]

Ugh, wet machines...hope they are ok.

[gary.a.ayres]

Thank you, Bent.

[gary.a.ayres]

Not nearly as bad as I feared!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SItLHfngD9o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SItLHfngD9o</a>

[crueby]

Wow, that's amazingly good considering, I thought it would look more like the Titanic when they found it. Your friends did a great save!

[Jasonb]

Nothing a ScotchBrite can't cure

[gary.a.ayres]

@ Chris - absolutely. The insurance payout helped too. 

@ Jason - exactly!

[propforward]

I finally got around to watching your vid Gary - your friends really did you a solid there - I'm so pleased that you haven't suffered major damage. Everything there should buff out very well. A great relief I am sure!

[Craig DeShong]

All good! 

[cnr6400]

    you were lucky! buy those friends a few  's !

[MJM460]

Hi Gary, good to see that you got back to the workshop in France at last.  Also great that the damage control seems to have been very effective.  All a good sign that you will soon have everything back in working order.

Wonderful to have such friends.

MJM460

[gary.a.ayres]

@ Stuart, Craig, cnr and MJM: thanks for your kind comments.

Yes, my friends were fabulous. Basically, they saved my France workshop from ruin.

Cheers, guys. 

[gary.a.ayres]

Well .... it has been absolute ages and all I have done is mill one side of the baseplate straight and marked out for the other!

Not exactly great progress...!

I have been involved with a couple of other maker projects, but mainly it's because I have been preoccupied with a much bigger factor in my life to the point I have found it difficult to muster the sustained concentration needed for engine-building... It's not bad, this thing - it's really good... but I will say more (and post photos) when the time is right! It could still be quite a while before I'm back on the engine though.

All the best once again, guys.

gary

[Admiral_dk]

As long as everything is good and you're happy - that is what counts the most .... even if you leave us with a bit of a Cliffhanger 

Per

[gary.a.ayres]

Cheers Per!
Will be back in due course...
 

[propforward]

I echo Per's sentiments. Glad to hear from you Gary! I had wondered what you were up to. Glad all is well, and all the best to you in the meantime.

[gary.a.ayres]

Thank you Stuart.
Hope all is well with you too.
Looking forward to reconnecting more fully once things have progressed...
 

[Laurentic]

Just got to read this thread and watch your French workshop video.  Very impressive collection of machines/equipment you have here Gary - you could run an engineering business, but in France, perhaps not, knowing how things are there.  Your French friends did an excellent job preserving your kit and reroofing the shed - you were lucky there.

Whereabout in France are you?  We have a place in Brittany near Callac.  Like you were, we haven't been there since March 2020 because of the pandemic and illnesses - we did a rush for the shuttle on the day Macron was shutting the border at 12 noon; that meant an early departure to get to the shuttle terminal by then as we had visions of overzealous motorway police turning us back had we been on the road after that time.  Never seen the terminal as packed as it was that day, seems everybody else had the same idea, get home while you can!  We hope to go out later this spring, but we shall see.

Chris

[bent]

Wow, how did I miss that video?  (Looking back, I was in the midst of a work crisis that involved a trip to Las Vegas...)

Glad to see things turned out okay, Gary.

[Bearcar1]

Gary, thank you so much for sharing your video with us. I was sick to my stomach thinking that what had happened and to see the end results as being minor is a good feeling. I am looking forward to seeing your progress on the Vulcan. 


Cheers
BC1
Jim

[gary.a.ayres]

@ Chris - Thanks for your comment. I was indeed very lucky with the help I had.My place is near Redon in Southern Brittany. I was lucky enough to get a visit in last October (when I made the video), before covid ramped up again. Hoping to spend a bit of time there this coming Summer. I hope you manage to get to your place near Callac and have a great time there.

@ bent - Thank you! I find myself wondering what kind of work crisis takes one to Las Vegas. Were you working as Hunter S. Thompson's attorney by any chance?   

@ Jim - Thank you so much for your support throughout this, especially before I went there and didn't know what to expect. 

[gary.a.ayres]

Well, I am now able to tell you what has been distracting me and keeping me out of my shop for all these months. I couldn't disclose this before for various reasons that I won't go into though I assure you there was nothing illegal or dodgy going on!

In five weeks time my partner and I are moving to the Isle of Skye in the north-west Highlands of Scotland:





This will be a dream come true for me, though poring over estate agents' websites, thinking, planning and making trips to look at properties up there has taken most of my time and energy, but at last it has paid off. There is already a shed behind the house there which may do for a while as a basic workshop, but there will be room beside the house to (hopefully) build a significantly bigger shop than I currently have.

But now I'm packing, and soon all my machines and tools will be loaded into a removal van so it's going to be a while...

[RReid]

I think I'm a bit jealous. Congratulations!

[crueby]

Spectacular landscape there, enjoy!

[Kim]

How exciting!  What a fun thing to look forward to, at least looking forward to being done with the move. Then you can enjoy your new home and new shop!
Congratulations!
Kim

[gary.a.ayres]

Ron, Chris and Kim - thank you for your kind comments.

I'll post the occasional 'workshop-in-transition' photo as I go along.

Cheers,

Gary

[Admiral_dk]

First congratulations with moving to one of Earths most beautiful places 

Are these current pictures ?

I ask because I have only been to Isle of Sky two times in my life - first in 1993 and that looked exactly like your first picture and second time, very briefly in 2012, landing on the Ferry from Lochmaddy (Outher Hebridies) in Uig, only to have to get back to Edinburg as quickly as possible    - this time most of Northern Scotland was covered in Pine and Fir threes - looking nothing like I remembered Scotland .... (I'm told it was because of EU support to do so) and nothing like your first picture ....

Per

[propforward]

Fantastic Gary! My parents retired to the Highlands of Scotland. I have visited that region and Skye several times - stunningly beautiful! I could easily live there. Well done, sir, that’s a great move. Looking forward to hearing more about it as time goes on.

[gary.a.ayres]

@ Per - many thanks for your kind feedback. Yeah, I took the pictures there last month. The issue of deforestation in Skye is something I still have to look at in more depth. I understand that like most of the Scottish Highlands it suffered major deforestation during the Highland Clearances. At the same time, I can't quite get my head around the idea that in a pre-industrial technology such a vast area was cleared of trees... This is something I plan to look into more deeply, and I may actually get involved with a reforestation project in Skye... once we have unpacked our boxes that is! There is quite a lot of cash-crop quick growing evergreen forestry everywhere in Scotland too - sounds like you may have seen some of that. As applies to everywhere, the Scottish Highlands and islands are not perfect... but the landscapes are pretty good all the same, and you have clearly recognised that.

@ Stuart - thank you for your positive words! I shall indeed keep you all posted via this thread.

gary

[ShopShoe]

"I can't quite get my head around the idea that in a pre-industrial technology such a vast area was cleared of trees..."

I have read that the Romans cleared lots of trees, especially on Mediterranean islands, to heat their public baths.

As the song said: "You don't know what you've got till it's gone."

ShopShoe

[crueby]

Wood was such a huge commodity in those days, the number of big trees it took to build one wooden ship is staggering, let alone the use in buildings, firewood, charcoal for kilns, etc. Lots of guys with lots of axes and saws...

[gary.a.ayres]

Yes, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Highland Clearances were also about getting rid of the crofters from the land by sending them to the New World so that wealthy landowners could develop large-scale sheep farms.

Then as now, Imperialism and Big Business going hand in hand with a lack of respect for nature and sometimes indeed for human life.

[gary.a.ayres]

Hello guys.

Doesn't look like I'll be working on the engine again any time soon. Just as well that I have plenty of other things to keep me busy at the moment!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZCDd6Ox5gY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZCDd6Ox5gY</a>

[propforward]

Well, it may be an interruption but your machines are safe and dry, and the new workshop will be magnificent! Snd what a location - I have visited Skye - absutely marvellous. Well done.

[gary.a.ayres]

Thanks Stuart.
Yes, machines being safe and dry is great - and as you know that has not always been the case!
 

[Kim]

Very exciting!  Sorry, it's going to take so long, but it will be worth it to have the workshop you want in the place you want to live!

Congratulations on the upgrade, Gary!

Kim

[deltatango]

Congratulations on the move Gary! I guess that, after your experience in France, the new workshop will have the roof very firmly tied down, the Western Isles can be draughty places!

I've only been on Skye in early summer and it was glorious, Sue and I both loved it (my mother-in-law was a McLeod) and may get back one day.

After you get the workshop finished the winter nights will give you plenty of time to catch up on the modelling, good luck!

David

[gary.a.ayres]

Thanks guys.

@ Kim - yes indeed. Nothing happens quickly here, but with patience the shop will come together. I will post updates on progress...

@ David - absolutely! The weather here has been mainly warm and sunny (as when you visited) but you are clearly aware that it's not always like that. I was chatting last week with a guy just up the road who is a keen amateur astronomer. His observatory blew away at one point and damaged the roof of a neighbouring house! So yes, strong workshop. The idea is to have a garage-like structure done in blockwork, attached to the house.

[MJM460]

Hi Gary, beautiful wild country you are moving to, and the new workshop will be great.  Good to know the engine building is only on hold and not forgotten.

Walking in those hills will certainly keep you fit, and almost certainly prove the old adage about no such thing as bad weather…….

MJM460

[gary.a.ayres]

Hi MJM. Great to hear from you. Am looking forward to setting up a new shop in due course, but I'll find plenty to do in the interim, which will include working on the house and garden and - perhaps - setting up a small space for 'clean' projects in the loft.

And hill walking, of course! While I agree that there's no such thing as 'bad weather', I'd also note that since I live here I can wait for the sun to shine before taking to the hills!

I hope all is well with you?