Twin Grasshoppers

[Chipmaster]

Some more work on the engine - fabricated Vertical Links - like a ladder.
The silver soldering caused some slight distortion but being brass it was easy to straighten them.

 Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Silver soldered.
Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Cleaned up and hanging on the end of the beam.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Two
Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

The first pair of Vertical Link Bearings machined from 5/16" thick brass plate. Not bolted to the base until I can see how all the components line up.

Milled out of 5/16 brass plate
Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr


Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Then the piston rod ends, brass, 1/4" BSF thread, rounded by file and linisher.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

I'm also building a Baby Rider Ericsson 1/8 scale at the moment.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-zkn9z6aZo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-zkn9z6aZo</a>

Andy

[Admiral_dk]

You certainly are keeping yourself busy - both projects looks good 

Per             

[vtsteam]

Great photos and a good looking engine! 

[simplyloco]

Excellent. I like the ladder frames. Neat soldering.
John

[Jo]

Its all rapidly coming together 


That's a little  Ericsson. Good luck with getting it running  .

Jo

[Dave Otto]

Well the little Rider is sure cute! Nice work on the steam engines as well.

Dave

[Chipmaster]

Thanks for your comments Dave, Jo, John, Per and VT Steam  .
Very cold in my garage last week but I started work on the two connecting rods by sawing off two lengths of 35mm bar, the old Kennedy Hexacut hacksaw is excellent.

I have a portable propane gas heater that I move to where I'm working which makes it tolerable out there.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Machined down to 1" to fit in a square E40 collet block. (Flickr video)

 Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Making lots of swarf, one of a few bucketfuls, probably consumed several kilowatts as well.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Drilled and threaded for the two big end bolts then parted off.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

In the milling machine to square off the big end.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Then the other little end.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Back in the lathe between centres to reduce the diameter before taper turning for a fish bellied shape.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Before and after.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Both con rods machined to the same stage.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Machining 1.1/2" brass bar in preparation for the big end bearings, showering brass all around. (Flickr video)

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

I visited the local non ferrous scrap dealer this morning and was paid £4.00 per kilo for mixed brass and copper including swarf which seemed ok. It's an annual weigh in for me, how are scrap prices elsewhere at the moment?

Andy

[Kim]

Nice looking conrods, Andy! 

Interesting question about the metal scrap recycling.  I'm not familiar with where to find someone who will take my swarf in the states!

Kim

[Michael S.]

Hello Andy,

there is currently €4.05 per kilogram for brass shavings.
For brass MS 58 it is slightly more. They even take brass cartridge cases for €5.11.
For whatever reason?

I like your connecting rods very much 👍

Michael

[Chipmaster]

Hi Michael, that’s roughly 12% more than my local dealer.

Kim, living in a smaller country everything’s relatively compact, there are a few scrap metal dealers and scrapyards in my vicinity.
Not so long ago people were stealing and weighing in iron drain grids and manhole covers from our roads. Now the law requires all payments to be credited to bank accounts.

Andy

[Chipmaster]

I used brass for the two big end bearings by parting off four equal lengths of 1.1/2" brass bar. I bevelled the edges to ensure the join would be obvious after soldering them together.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

After cleaning up.
Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Carefully set up in a four jaw chuck then starting to bore the hole that will fit the 1/2" diameter crankpin.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

After boring and reaming to 1/2" the bearing had to be turned down to 1/2" thick to fit between the crankshaft webs, the first side was machined.
Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Then the job was turned round in the four jaw chuck to machine the second side.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Trying the fit in between the crank webs.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

The brass big end bearings attached to the two connecting rods.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

A mandrel for holding the big end bearing for the last bit of machining.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Ready to machine away the cheeks down to match the thickness of the con rods.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

The almost finished big end bearings in position.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

The next stage was to separate the two halves by melting the solder.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr
Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Connecting rods mounted on the crankshaft.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

I only had to scrape a little silver solder that had strayed onto the bearing surfaces and they are a good fit on the crankshaft.
The next step is to mill forks at the small ends of the con rods.

Andy

 

[Kim]

Interesting way to make the bearings from round bar like that.  And all done on the lathe?

Kim

[Chipmaster]

Hi Kim, yes all done on the lathe. I reckoned the method should ensure the faces would be at right angles to the bores and it’s faster than my milling machine.
Andy

[Chipmaster]

Thinking ahead I left a surplus of material on the conrod so that I could mill a 3/8" slot to form the forked small end of the conrod without the opening being squeezed by the milling vice.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Then the excess was sawn off and the open ends rounded.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

So far so good - swinging to and fro. (Flickr video)

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Time to try one out. (Flickr video)

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr



Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Then assemble the twins together and turn it / them over, the parallel motion hasn't been made yet but that didn't seem to matter. (Flickr video)

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

There were a couple of clearance issues but overall it is better than I was expecting in that it all lined up.

At this stage the model has become almost too heavy, it'll be worse still by the time a suitable plinth and base have been added.

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

Twin Grasshopper Beam Engine by Andy, on Flickr

It was reassuring to see the engine moving with no serious issues. However, I'm undecided on which will be it's best side if any, hopefully a decent paint job will help.

Andy

[Dave Otto]

That's impressive Andy, nice work!

Dave