Chris's Slew-Crowd Engines

[cnr6400]

It would have been so much easier if the powers that be had named the ships The Great Eastern Britain and The Great Western Britain... Oh well...

(sorry for my confusion)   

[crueby]

It would have been so much easier if the powers that be had named the ships The Great Eastern Britain and The Great Western Britain... Oh well...

(sorry for my confusion) 

And the Great Eastern was originally to be name 'Leviathan', yet another name... 

When I was growing up, there were two highways, running north and south on either side of Rochester. One they named 390 North, the other they named 390 South. They paralleled each other about 20 miles apart, never met. So, you could be going southbound on 390 North, or northbound on 390 South.      Was great fun for giving people directions...  They finally built the connector between them across the souther side of the city, and renamed one side 590, the other was just 390.   

[vtsteam]

Like the old Maine directions, "Well, you can't get there from here."

[crueby]

Like the old Maine directions, "Well, you can't get there from here."

For those who have not heard it, the directions finish with "you'll have to  start someplace  else!"

[Kim]

It would have been so much easier if the powers that be had named the ships The Great Eastern Britain and The Great Western Britain... Oh well...

(sorry for my confusion) 

And the Great Eastern was originally to be name 'Leviathan', yet another name... 

When I was growing up, there were two highways, running north and south on either side of Rochester. One they named 390 North, the other they named 390 South. They paralleled each other about 20 miles apart, never met. So, you could be going southbound on 390 North, or northbound on 390 South.      Was great fun for giving people directions...  They finally built the connector between them across the souther side of the city, and renamed one side 590, the other was just 390.   

That's too funny! 

Unless, of course, you're trying to get somewhere, don't know the weird naming convention and it gets you lost! Then it's probably slightly less amusing!

Kim

[crueby]

It would have been so much easier if the powers that be had named the ships The Great Eastern Britain and The Great Western Britain... Oh well...

(sorry for my confusion) 

And the Great Eastern was originally to be name 'Leviathan', yet another name... 

When I was growing up, there were two highways, running north and south on either side of Rochester. One they named 390 North, the other they named 390 South. They paralleled each other about 20 miles apart, never met. So, you could be going southbound on 390 North, or northbound on 390 South.      Was great fun for giving people directions...  They finally built the connector between them across the souther side of the city, and renamed one side 590, the other was just 390.   

That's too funny! 

Unless, of course, you're trying to get somewhere, don't know the weird naming convention and it gets you lost! Then it's probably slightly less amusing!

Kim

It was confusing even for those who lived here. Lots of, "wait, you mean over by the airport or going up towards the bay??" Much simpler now! 


I grew up right next to where the east side segment ended, they built the connector  just before I  graduated  college and got a job on the west side. Perfect timing!

[crueby]

More shaping on the side panels. The lower corners were given a reverse-curve shape, by taking several passes with the lower edge blocked up to different heights to change the angle.

Here is the shape after 5 different angle/height settings. Each side was cut the same at each setting before moving on to the next angle so they came out the same.

The inside faces also had to be shaped to fit around the crosshead tubes, taking a series of cuts with a ball end mill. A line was traced off the end of the tube to mark out the shape needed. This curve will be covered by the tubes, so a very smooth surface was not needed.

Test fit of the parts so far...

A slot was then at the end of each recess to take the rear bulkhead panel:

Then cut down the top corners of the side panels:

The top of the rear bulkhead was trimmed down to match the height of the side panels, and the top corners of the front bulkhead were tapered/rounded on the belt sander:

At this point the holes for screws to hold the panels together were drilled, starting with the ones for the rear bulkhead. The holes were countersunk in for socket head screws, these holes will be plugged later.

With everything clamped together, the holes in the side panels were used as drill guides to drill/tap into the rear bulkhead:

With those screws in to hold the rear bulkhead, the holes for the front bulkhead were then drilled/tapped

The parts so far. Not quite ready for assembly though. The tops of the side panels need to be thinned down with a ball mill on the inside corners, the windows through the side need to be cut, and the mounting holes through the base into the panels need to be drilled. But, good time to show where its heading:

At the rear, the right hand side of the previous photo, another set of blocks will be made later to become the crankshaft bearing holders. This one is also looking more engine-y now!

[vtsteam]

It's really a hefty structure. They must have weighed quite a lot. I do like that.   

[crueby]

It's really a hefty structure. They must have weighed quite a lot. I do like that. 

They were generating a lot of torque on the output shaft, and took shock loads as the bucket hit rocks, so I imagine they built them sturdy.  The model is getting hefty too!

[Kim]

That's looking great, Chris! 

I assume when assembled, the cylinders will pull up tight to the crosshead guides, so there won't be that little gap there?

Kim

[crueby]

That's looking great, Chris! 

I assume when assembled, the cylinders will pull up tight to the crosshead guides, so there won't be that little gap there?

Kim

Correct. For now there are temporary  screws holding the crosshead guides to the plates, the heads are keeping the cylinder out. I have tapped the screw holes at both the cylinder flange and and also the end plate end to facilitate  this. The last thing to do before final assembly is to drill half of them out to clearance  size. Some at the cylinder end, some at the guide end, depending  on which way the studs can go in. The steam chests are in the way on the upper ones, so those go in from next to the guide tubes. Lots to keep track of!

[crueby]

Oh, and on the Marion engine, the end plate gets a recess around the perimeter.  They did that to make it easier to pop the cylinders off the studs.

[cnr6400]

 

[crueby]

Close to assembling the Erie parts. Got the holes tapped in the frame and the ones in the base plate drilled out to clearance size to attach the crosshead guide parts:

and cut the windows in the side frames. Used the clamping arbor again to hold them to cut the end radii after marking out the locations from the tubes, and drilled a hole in the centers of the arcs.

Then over to the vise to mill the straight sides to connect the arcs

The family of Erie parts so far. All I need is to make a set of studs and I can assemble them. The whole assembly will likely be on/off the base frame as the crankshaft bearing blocks get made, so I'll just put a few screws in from underneath the base for now. The screw head holes in the side frames will need to get plugged as well.

[PaulR]

  Looking great and there's going to be some weight in those when they're complete.