Hi everyone,
After getting the main bearings and hardware finished I wanted to address the crankshaft lubrication. Not wanting to use off the shelf lubricators I chose to model the Lunkenheimer Tiger #1 grease cup. I have always liked the looks of this cup and have a few NOS ones on the shelf for a full sized engine restoration project.
I decided on using 3/16 MTP for the threads and after a little head scratching, and measuring I decided that .35 scale would work out pretty good. So here is the construction of my 1/3 scale Lunk. grease cups.
It would be nice to say this was an afternoon project but I messed around with them for the better part of two days.
Here is one of the finished cups along with the pattern.
And here is another view.
First all the diameters of the body were turned and the MTP threads cut using a die in a tailstock die holder.
Then the body was transferred to the mill and the hex cut using a spin indexer.
Back in the lathe the 20 degree bevel is cut on the bottom of the hex using a boring bar.
Now the 1/2-36 threads are single point threaded.
The bodies were parted off a little long then re-chucked in a 9/32? collet.
After facing to length a counter bore is drilled to match the prototype.
The cap was turned, bored, knurled and single point threaded all in one setup.
Then they were parted off a little long.
Using the body as a mandrel and screwing the cap up against the collet the caps were faced to length and the chamfer cut.
Not shown; the cap was drilled and a dummy rivet installed. This rivet holds a spring detent on the full sized cup.
Here is a pair of the finished cups ready for service.
And one last shot of them installed on the engine.
I'm working on engraving the lettering on the top of the cup but haven't had time to work it into the schedule yet; I'm hoping to use a drag engraver on the CNC mill either with a diamond or carbide tip. The tooling is available I just need to get the CAD done and engrave some test pieces to see how it works out.
Here is a shot of the lettering on the cup.
Thanks for checking in.
Dave