The Le Rhone 9C

[Craig DeShong]

Brian, Kim, wagnmkr, Ben, cnr, Don, and Roger; thanks for the complements and responses.  Thanks also for those who take the time to just stop by.

Moving on with the build.  The next step was to concentrate on the exhaust part of the cylinder head.  This is the round part that threads into the head base that I show at the beginning of my previous post.

I started by sizing a piece of cast iron to one inch diameter as a rough starting point.



With that completed,  I formed the top of the part.



Next was to size a portion of the material to the largest outside diameter of the part.



Back when I was a tyke my Mom told me that I should learn something new every day.  I can’t say I’ve always done that but today I did learned a new fact; that being: a one inch diameter rod will not pass through a one inch 5C collet.    This resulted in me needing to reduce the size of the stock from one inch to 15/16th of an inch- my next smaller 5C collet; fortunately still over the finished large diameter of .825 inches.

Once that adjustment was made, I was able to place the stock in the 15/16th inch 5C collet and continue.  Here I’m drilling some clearance in order to mill out the passages for the exhaust gasses.



With some clearance holes established, I’m proceeding to mill out the exhaust chambers.  Using a 1/8th inch end mill I milled the top side, turned the collet holder over and then milled the other side.


Then, turning the collet holder over 90 degrees, I again milled out the top and bottom passages.



Now I’m forming the angular shoulder with the lathe.  I might/could have done this first before cutting the exhaust passages, but the end mill might have balked when cutting material away from an angular surface. 



A closer look.



Time to cut the work piece off the stock.



After forming the bottom of the part that threads into the head base I cut the threads.  I could have purchased a ½-32 die but I figured I could save a little ‘bling’ and cut the threads on the lathe.  These are ½-32 threads I’m cutting with my lathe.  I ground a ‘special’ thread cutting tool, using a 1/8th inch lathe tool blank.  No real science to this; I started with a diameter within the minimum and maximum acceptable range for a ½-32 thread and then kept cutting the threads deeper until I was able to thread the head base onto the piece.



Since I can’t cut the threads completely up to the shoulder, I’m using a thin parting tool to remove the stock I could not thread.



A view of this exhaust part and the head base it threads into.



Finally a view of the assembled parts.  These parts will be permanently assembled; resembling the full size casting.  I’ll probably use thread locker during the final assembly.  I still need to cut the valve guide and valve seat, but I'll wait to do that until I have the intake part machined and attached so I can do the intake and exhaust guides/seats at the same time.


Only eight more of these little buggers to make.

[cnr6400]

 

[RReid]

Great little part, and a great presentation of the process as well. 

[Kim]

Nice process!  Those are complex parts for how little they are!  Just one of many complex little parts on this engine! 

Kim

[bent]

Ah, was wondering how the exhaust got out until you said you hadn't finished the valve port...

Nice work! 

[Craig DeShong]

CNR, Ron, Kim, and Ben; thanks for the complements and encouragement.  Thanks also for those of you who just stop by to see the latest.

It’s taken a while to get these nine exhaust parts completed.  I had somewhat of a setback in that I had taken the remaining eight up to sizing the threaded end when I broke one in the machining process.



This caused me to reflect that cast iron was probably  not the best material for this part and that I was liable to shatter a few more in finishing them, or possibly even the stresses while in service might also cause them to shatter.  So, I tossed all nine and started afresh with some 11L17 steel I had in inventory.  This resulted in a better sturdier part and I’m confident that they should hold up in service.  Below is a view of all nine cylinder heads with the exhaust part assembled to them.


Next up are the intake head parts.  I had already purchased some cast iron for these parts and due to their shape I believe that cast iron should be an acceptable material from which they can be made. 

[steamer]

Thats coming along great Craig!

Dave

[Kim]

That was tough, tossing those already completed parts
But I'm sure you'll be happy with your decision now that the work is done!   

And they look great!
Kim

[Dave Otto]

That is unfortunate having to scrap all that work, but you probably made the correct decision; the new parts look great!
11L17, that is an alloy that I don't have any experience with, it does seem to be a good substitute for 12L14 or 1144 if you need it in flat bar.

Dave

[bent]

Yeah, probably a wise decision to toss the iron parts, those are some thin sections and the stuff is notoriously brittle - the thought of that piece whirling around at the end of a cylinder at several hundred rpm gives one pause.  The new parts look pretty good.   

[Craig DeShong]

Dave (steamer), Kim, Dave Otto, and Ben; Thanks for your responses.  Thanks also for everyone who takes the time to just stop by to see the latest developments.

We’ve has some decent weather here in North Carolina the last few days, so I’ve been taking advantage of it and getting in some shop time.  With the exhaust parts to the cylinder heads complete, it was time to address making the intake manifolds.  So you can see what I’m trying to accomplish I’ve supplied a image rendering from my CAD software of the part.  These are the intake manifolds that attach to the cylinder heads; nine heads so nine intake parts.


I’m making these using cast iron.  After appropriately cutting and sizing the stock, I started by drilling the two threaded holes on which the intake tubes (carrying the fuel/air from the crankcase) will attach.



The next task was to mill out the opening to allow fuel and air to pass through this manifold, down past the valve stems, and into the cylinder combustion chamber. I have yet to drill the openings for the valves.



Next was a little cosmetic work to try to make this part resemble the casting on the full size.



Time to locate/drill/tap the holes that I will use to attach these intake manifolds to the cylinder head.



Making nine of these things instead of just one does manage to eat up the day.  I’ll be busy on some other issues but hope to get back to finishing these intake manifolds next week if the weather cooperates.

[Admiral_dk]

Not making much noise here - but still  very much enjoying your build 

    

Per

[cnr6400]

 

[crueby]

Great progress. I like the little stop block on your mill vise for putting parts in at repeatable spot, gotta make one of those...
 

[Craig DeShong]

Per, CNR, and Chris; thanks for the replies.  Thanks also for those who take the time to just stop by.

Work continued on these intake manifolds, maybe better called intake valve chambers.

With the threaded mounting holes drilled and threaded, I could use them to attach the work to a piece of scrap aluminum for holding with the vice and cut the rear concave surface with a ¾ inch end mill.  Pretty easy stuff; I just engaged the power down feed on the mill and stood back and watched.



Next I needed to cut a relief on the top of the piece part.  This was done with a ¼ inch end mill. Sorry for the fuzzy photo below:



Using my rotary milling head attachment to the vertical mill, I shaped the flanges on the front of the piece.



One more relief cut that I didn’t photograph and these intake valve chambers were complete.