Elmer's #24 Beam Engine

[mklotz]

The tiny parts for this are making me nuts. I think I've spent half the time looking for these on the floor.

When working with small parts it's a good idea to cover the work area with a large, lossy cloth.  Lossy here means parts dropped on it don't bounce; all energy is lost to the cloth on first contact.  Old baby blankets work well as do old towels with a short nap.  Lighter colors will make it easier to find that tiny dropped component.

[EricB]

Thanks for the tip.

I know many jewelers and watchmakers benches have pull out aprons. All of my workbenches are old desks. I could just open the drawers. Same idea I guess. I just tend to forget all these things when I'm actually working on something.

Eric

[mklotz]

Another dodge if you don't want to use a lossy towel is to run a line of soft, self-stick weather stripping along the front edge of the bench.  It will stop most roll offs yet compacts well enough when you lean your forearms on it.  Putting the stripping on a narrow strip of thin steel/aluminum makes for a removable stop for those occasions when you want the workbench top to be an uninterrupted plane.

[EricB]

I do a lot of work right here:

[EricB]

Been thinking about how to hold the stock to make the cylinder. I've decided to go with some soft vise jaws and drill to hold by the small spigot on the bottom that fits into the frame. I figure that this method will start by eliminating any error in my mill table and simplify finding the center of the stock. As long as I can complete everything in one setup I should be good. I can't make anything else until I get the cylinder done.

I knocked out a set of soft jaws today. Only took a few hours.
 

[EricB]

Waiting on the correct size stock for the cylinder, so I started on the piston rod support. Just the turning part.

[EricB]

And some of the milling part. I just need to put a radius on the end.

[samc88]

Its taking shape now, making good progress on it

[EricB]

Thanks for the comment!

The correct size stock arrived so I made a new blank for the cylinder. I thought about trying to fit the cylinder and valve bores into what I had but it left very little material at the edges and no room for errors. When the parts are placed end to end the size diference is quite obvious.

Now for the fun part.

[EricB]

The fun part.

As much as hated the idea of cutting into my pretty new vise jaws, I had to proceed. Worked like a charm, and since I started from a known position after drilling the jaws, finding the locations of the features on the part was simple. Just the steam ports and feed pipe on the valve side and this part is done.

[EricB]

I made the cylinder head today using the same setup as the cylinder. It came out good. Started with a spigot on the bottom which made the hole patern hand wheel settings the same as the cylinder. After that the spigot was removed to uncover the piston rod hole which was used as the center to position the head on a glue chuck.

[RReid]

A simple but very effective set-up. Those parts look great, Eric!

[EricB]

Thanks for the comments!

I started on a couple of other bits today too.

First off was the spool valve. This is actually my first engine with this type of valve so I hope it works.
I have a PMR #3 waiting in the wings with a similar valve. This engine is kind of practice for that one. I need to complete the top where the linkage attaches, but that meant taking the vise off of the mill. I made the cylinder head instead. Now I can reconfigure.

Then I made the piston and soldered it to the piston rod. Still need to make the top fitting and solder it in place with the cylinder head and piston rod support held captive. That looks like fun.

Finally I finished the crank by making and installing the throw pin.

Getting close!

[crueby]

Great progress, nice clean parts! 

[EricB]

Thanks for the comments! The plan designs are really simple. I'm trying to make whatever I can look interesting.

Here is today's labor, the clevis end of the connecting rod. The plans have it squared off but I wanted it to have a bit more flair. It still needs some finish work. There are several other small parts with radius ends, including the bottom end of this rod, so I'll do them all together.