Author Topic: The Le Rhone 9C  (Read 58082 times)

Offline RReid

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #555 on: August 12, 2022, 02:54:34 PM »
That just looks so cool, sitting out in the wild like that.  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
Regards,
Ron

Offline bent

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #556 on: August 12, 2022, 03:48:46 PM »
Lovely Craig!   :popcorn: :NotWorthy:

Now you just need a stuffed Snoopy dog to ride behind it, goggles and flying helmet on... :Lol:

Offline Olli-Matti

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #557 on: August 12, 2022, 07:24:48 PM »
Well done, well done well done sir. Loving it. Every bit of it. Stunning engine  :cheers:  I've red all the posts and followed this thread regularly. Thank you for sharing this one.

rgds
Olli-Matti

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #558 on: August 15, 2022, 07:45:34 PM »
Dave, CNR, Kim, Colin, Per, Ron, Ben, Olli; thanks for your kind comments.  Thanks also for those silently stopping by to see the latest.

Dave: your induction pipes go a long way towards making this model so appealing; thanks again for your assistance.

Per: haven't decided completely on castor oil, that was a good lubricant back then; but oils have come a long way.

Ben: I'd need the airplane...dog house... not gonna happen. :Lol:

One minor setback I've discovered; I don't know how big of a deal this will be yet.  The engine case should be sealed and should, in theory, pressurize when air is applied to the hollow crankshaft.  This should be the case but this thing leaks like a sieve!  A great deal of air is escaping through the rear bearing, hind-site being 20-20, I should have used sealed bearings as opposed to open bearings.  I'm thinking I will need to add an oil seal at the rear of the engine to seal where the crankshaft protrudes.  This should be simple enough. Don”t know what other leaks I'll discover.

I've started on the ignition system.  Here again the “Le Crâig” is departing from the full size.  The full size uses a magneto, attached to the rear of the engine and is driven by an internal spur gear.  I'm not going to even attempt to make a magneto the size of a small spool of thread.  I'm going to use an external spur gear, attached to the engine case, and have that gear drive an auxiliary shaft on the engine stand that will have a timing cam driving a set of standard points.  With the timing cam making three rotations for every two of the engine case; and with three lobes on the timing cam, I should get the nine ignition pulses I need to fire all the cylinders with the appropriate timing.

So, the first order of business is to fabricate the drive gear attached to the engine case.  Below I've completed the gear blank.



I needed to make a jig to hold the gear blank while the gear teeth are cut.  Below is a photo of the jig.


Below: a photo of the gear blank mounted in the jig.


With the day waning, this is all I'm going to accomplish today.  Tomorrow morning is occupied with my weekly service project, and I'm dedicating the afternoon to loading the car for the trip to the Rough and Tumble Engineers Association show starting Wednesday.  If you're planning on attending, please look me up and say 'hi'.  I should be in the model building most times.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2022, 08:12:42 PM by Craig DeShong »
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline 90LX_Notch

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #559 on: August 15, 2022, 09:51:58 PM »
Nice work as usual Craig.  I plan on being at R&T Friday, I’ll stop by and say hi. 


-Bob
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My Engine Videos on YouTube-
http://www.youtube.com/user/Notch90usa/videos

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #560 on: August 15, 2022, 10:29:20 PM »
Quote
Per: haven't decided completely on castor oil, that was a good lubricant back then; but oils have come a long way.

Oh, I know .... it was a bit of a Tongue in Cheek comment - especially when you consider the Famous Side Effects of using Castor Oil ;D

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #561 on: August 16, 2022, 03:29:02 AM »
Quote
Per: haven't decided completely on castor oil, that was a good lubricant back then; but oils have come a long way.

Oh, I know .... it was a bit of a Tongue in Cheek comment - especially when you consider the Famous Side Effects of using Castor Oil ;D

A-Hah!  So you would have me running to the jiffy-John  :toilet_claw:

I’ll remember that Per.   :ROFL:
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #562 on: August 16, 2022, 05:33:12 PM »
Quote
Quote from: Admiral_dk on August 15, 2022, 11:29:20 PM
Quote
Per: haven't decided completely on castor oil, that was a good lubricant back then; but oils have come a long way.

Oh, I know .... it was a bit of a Tongue in Cheek comment - especially when you consider the Famous Side Effects of using Castor Oil ;D

A-Hah!  So you would have me running to the jiffy-John  :toilet_claw:

I’ll remember that Per.   :ROFL:

I wasn't hoping for you to 'Loose Your Dignity' so to speak - though that would be very much in line with what the Pilots often experienced .... but it is really one of those Classic Engines, 'that spread the stuff all over the suroundings' - or so I'm told.
Even with modern Oils it will still throw it around - so do not expect to be clean afterwards + think about what to wear.

Per

ps still looking forward to see the Video, when you get the last details ready.

Offline Vixen

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #563 on: August 16, 2022, 06:07:43 PM »

Even with modern Oils it will still throw it around - so do not expect to be clean afterwards + think about what to wear.

Per

Craig,

Your best bet is to always stay on the propeller side of the engine when it's running.   :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:

Mike
« Last Edit: August 16, 2022, 06:20:06 PM by Vixen »
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Offline bent

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #564 on: August 16, 2022, 06:16:29 PM »
I've been working as a hydraulics technician for the last months here at work...I know all about getting oil everywhere...gah!  :wallbang:

Regarding ignition...the cam will rotate at 1/2 engine speed I assume...and trip a set of non-rotating points to fire the also non-rotating ignition coil?  And then a coil wire will connect to a distributor of sorts (I'm imagining a set of distributor-type contacts arrayed around the back of the engine, with individual wires running up to the spark plugs on the cylinders)?  Need to scroll back to your drawings...

 :cheers: :popcorn:

edit:  ok, wow.  Just went back and looked again at your drawings and models...and flipped through the first 5 or 10 screenloads of work...holy smokes this has come a long way.  And remembering to myself that these things were originally built in the days of pencil and ink drawings, and manual mills and lathes.  I was bending tubing for the hydraulics I mentioned, and screwed up twice on one fairly complex tube run with multiple bends (bent the final run of tubing 180 degrees from where it should have been - start over).  And yes, my username is apt...  Point being, those old timers could hold a 3d representation of what they wanted in their heads, of such complex mechanisms as a 3-layer slipper bearing and inside-out rotating gearsets, and pushme-pullyou rods.  Yeesh.   I stand in awe, Craig, and hold those old timers in very high regard as well.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2022, 06:27:16 PM by bent »

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #565 on: August 29, 2022, 10:04:28 PM »
Thanks for the comments, and thanks for taking the time to stop by.


Even with modern Oils it will still throw it around - so do not expect to be clean afterwards + think about what to wear.

Per


Years ago, at our 1/8th size train run I had a lady want to board wearing a fluffy white blouse.  My loco, like everyone else's blows steam oil out the stack and those riding in the consist will pick-up the droplets.  I explained this to her, she said it was ok, but her blouse had dark splotchy dots on it when she exited. ::)





Craig,

Your best bet is to always stay on the propeller side of the engine when it's running.   :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:

Mike

Kinda hard to do Mike with the controls behind the engine.  I'd rather suffer the oil than try to reach around the propeller. ;D  I'll be sure to wear a scarf, so I can wipe the oil from my goggles! :lolb:


   I ... hold those old timers in very high regard as well.

There are a few parts on the full size that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for me to make in my shop, equipped as it currently is.


Sorry for the delay in posting.  I got back from the Rough and Tumble show, (great to meet those who stopped by and found me), and I had some cleaning to do with the Otto & Langens (the acetylene leaves a carbon residue that needs cleaned out of the cylinder).  Also, two of the engines were not running well by the end of the show and they needed some adjustments/repairs.

That completed, the wife had planned a beach vacation with the children and grandchild, so we were off to the beach for a while (have I told you how I HATE the beach?). :Mad:

Back home now with everything back to normal; hoping progress can proceed again on the LeRhône.

I received the piece of delrin with which I've made the distributor disk you see at the rear of the engine in the photo below.  I still need to make the distributor "buttons" that will serve as contacts.



Ben, you were near right, the breaker shaft will rotate at 3/2 the speed of the engine case; making three revolutions for every two of the engine case.  With three lobes on the breaker cam I'll get the nine ignition pulses from a set of points for every two revolutions of the engine case.  I'll use high tension ignition with a coil to create the spark.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2022, 10:08:27 PM by Craig DeShong »
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline bent

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #566 on: August 30, 2022, 04:43:46 PM »
Not seeing the Delrin distributor disk  :headscratch: ...but that will become clearer as you move along I'm sure.

edit: Oh wait, you mean that thing that looks like a pipe flange, right up next to the support strut?  Yeesh, I thought that was the engine mount. :Doh:

3/2 speed...3-lobe cam...gives 9/2 ignition firings...ok makes sense.  I think.   :shrug: :noidea:   :Jester:
« Last Edit: August 30, 2022, 04:46:58 PM by bent »

Offline Craig DeShong

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #567 on: September 05, 2022, 08:54:06 PM »
Thanks as always for the comments, thanks also for taking the time to stop by.

A minor setback; :thinking: I went to cut the 51 tooth gear that mounts to the rear of the engine to drive the timing cam only to find-out that my dividing head is not equipped to divide a circle into 51 even divisions. :facepalm:  Looking at the chart, it can deal with from three to fifty divisions without a gap, the first gap appears with 51 divisions and then there are sporadic gaps above that number.  Lesson learned: :old: when you design a gear train and plan to cut the gears yourself; make sure your equipment is capable of producing the gears you've planned to make.  :happyreader:
 
This is not a show stopper; If I add three teeth to the drive gear (51 up to 54), and two teeth to the timing gear (34 up to 36); I still keep the 3 to 2 ratio I need.  Of course this changes the pitch diameter of the gears so the gear blank I made a few posts up thread is too small now; also, the engine stand that has already been prepared for the timing shaft now has the mount holes for the timing shaft at the wrong location so I'll need to make new uprights for the engine stand as well.

Live and Learn... the hard way.

With a new gear blank, I'm now cutting the 54 tooth ignition drive gear that attaches to the rear of the engine case.


a view of the completed gear.



and a view of the gear mounted to the rear of the engine.



I'm going to make the distribution “buttons” that attach to the distributor disk next.
Craig
The destination motivates us toward excellence, the journey entertains us, and along the way we meet so many interesting people.

Offline cnr6400

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #568 on: September 05, 2022, 10:28:37 PM »
Nice recovery from the no. of teeth problem, and the sparkalator looks great!  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
"I've cut that stock three times, and it's still too short!"

Online Kim

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Re: The Le Rhone 9C
« Reply #569 on: September 05, 2022, 10:29:41 PM »
Bummer of a setback there, Craig. but you didn't let it stop you for long!  I usually use a rotary table when cutting a gear so you can divide that into almost anything.  But your solution is great and probably easier in the long run.

Nice looking gear for sure!

Kim

 

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