An Italian (5cc) Beauty

[rockknocker]

That's quite a build! This design certainly has an elegant look about it, much more so than a modern nitro engine!

[gbritnell]

Hi Ramon,
Fantastic finish! The curves and blends are outstanding.
gbritnell

[moerman]

Seeing your hand next to the engine made me aware that this is quite a big engine. The bigest I ever handled myself was a 3.5 cc glow which was, as i remember, about half as big. And not even half as beautiful, far from it to be honest.

I wonder about the way the fuel supply and air inlet work as there does not seem te be a normal venturi type on it. Can you, or someone else, fill me in on how this operates?

Wout

[Allen Smithee]

Wout,

This post and Ramon's reply below it may answer your question.

AS

[Ramon Wilson]

Eric, Per, Don, Pat, Rockknocker and George - good to see you looking in and thanks for all your kind comments  .

Wout, nice to see you looking in too - Allen has pointed you in the right direction to your query. As things go it is a rather tall engine but still only 5cc capacity. Next to say the first scaled engine - the Racer - it's quite a bit taller.

Had a long session today - first a real good clean up (there was a lot of cast iron dust from an impromptu machining of a backplate for a 5"chuck - one of those 'won't take long' jobs that's only been waiting for two years  ) then the other set of case parts was bead blasted on the new set up - a basic 'Sealey' blast cabinet - which worked well and proved more than adequate for this kind of work.

Set up the anodising kit after and following a few test pieces and some 'trials and tribs' managed to get a reasonable, though not quite perfect, result. The slight blemish on the driver and low take up of colour in some areas between some of the fins was down, I think, to inadequate de-greasing. Believe me though, when I say that I thought the de-greasing carried out was more than adequate - a good Acetone dip followed by a hot soda wash, rinsed in clean de-ionised water then the soda and rinse repeated. Just goes to show just how much more thorough it needs to be.
Anodising at this basic level is not something that can be rushed into - it is necessary to do those test pieces first to be certain that all the parameters are right which at 40 mins a throw in itself eats up the time.

Something beneficial did materialise however. Contrary to having been told in the past that it was not possible to anodise something that has been bead blasted, one of the better results was establishing that it can in actual fact be done  . I tried two test pieces and anodised them black in anticipation of doing a couple of crankcases in the future. Coming out a very dark grey it bodes well for the project

Thanks again - back soon

Ramon

[777engman]

 

Well done Ramon another fantastic engine!!!! can't wait for the video.
Cheers
Dean

[moerman]

Wout,This post and Ramon's reply below it may answer your question.

Allen, although it probably does answer my question I still don't understand it fully. I see that there is an air intake with a rotating choke. The air enters and 'touches' a fuel spraybar and probably draws a bit of fuel by creating a venturi effect. But what is the function of the other brass button with the little hole? And is it adjustable?

Wout

[Jasonb]

That will be the fuel filler cap, it is drilled to vent the tank otherwise a vacuum will build up in the tank as the fuel is used and the fuel won't flow due to the vacuum being higher than the draw from the engine

[moerman]

Ah, now I understand! Thanks!

[steamer]

That's a purrrrty engine Ramon!......Video please.....ala Maryak style.....that beast of his shook the whole shop!
 
Dave

[Roger B]

Magnificent and sounds like it runs well    Eagerly awaiting a video 

[creast]

Fantastic workmanship and such a sweet looking engine!! 

[Ramon Wilson]

Dean, Dave, Roger, 'creast' thanks for your kind comments.

Dave don't expect too much - first indications are that these will not be particularly 'rev-vy' more a steady plod 

Both engines are now finished off completely. The second one has run on a prime in the hand but has not been tried on a full tank as yet.

The anodising did not go as well as in the past but I did get there in the end if not exactly what I had in mind on one of them.
This process can certainly have an inconsistency about it.

These three parts were all done together for the same length of time and all dyed together as well. Reasonable uptake of colour on the head - absolutely not a glimmer on the other two. Traced to a poor contact between the titanium hangars and the parts, a second go saw the anodising prove successful but then the dyeing varied  - no pics at this stage but you'll see what I mean when I do.
I really would be reluctant to take this on for anyone - it is mostly fraught with 'will it - won't it' concerns right through the process


Last op was to mill those backplates to form the mounting lugs. A boss was turned to locate and centralise the part


Then the waste removed. The lugs were finished using filing buttons and the usual files emery etc.


It was my intention to locate the part using a pin through one of the holes to prevent rotation. It was only after filing these pics tonight I realise that I didn't so it could so easily have moved during cutting being held with only that one clamp  Now that would have been a disaster at this late stage  - Pheww!

Before we get to running them as finished - probably Monday - I got to grips with carving a couple of propellers. It's not a difficult task - laying out the blank is the important part and good workholding a close second. Tools used were a small block plane to trim things up after sawing, a chisel, wood rasp, big half round file and some 60 and 80 grit abrasive paper wrapped around a piece of 25mm dowel.

The pitch defines the angles required at the tip and the inner station and once worked out the blank can be cut. This should have been approx 60.0mm wide at the tips but the material to hand was only 40.0 so due allowance was made.

Two blanks and the initial template


The blanks marked out on the face and the taper marked on the sides


Rough sawn ready to shape the rear face


With one blade clamped to the bench and a dowel pin through the centre the rear faces are cut flat across at a slowly twisting angle from low edge to top edge - making sure it's the correct way, otherwise you make a pusher prop - yes you would be right  but it was a while ago   




First stage done and the helical twist created


The prop shape is marked on the face biasing the blade to one side to give more thickness on the leading edge (the thinner side just created)


Bandsawn to the line ready to carve the front face


Clamped as before but using tapered packing the blade is carved to an approximate airfoil section


After rough sanding the true shape begins to materialise


This is as far as was reached today before having a nice get together this afternoon with some fellow ME's for a birthday (not mine) lunch.

I'm sure there will be many on here who have carved props in the past. Whats shown is it's most basic form and done so for those who might like to try it. Just bear in mind the harder the wood the harder the task 

Sailing tomorrow but hopefully those first full runs will happen on Monday - have a great weekend 
Regards - Ramon

[Jo]

Tug, you make it look so easy. I will also need to think of how to do laminations and that leading edge cover

Maybe I will have to try on a simple one but I did pick a cheap one up for the Titan 

Jo

[Jasonb]

Thanks for the step-by-step, may just have to have a go but would need to make another engine first

Do you balance the blade once all the shaping is done or is it not really an issue on these small lengths?

J