Morton M5

[Jasonb]

I just had a look at the set of drawings I have for the M5 and it looks like it would be possible to cut the crankcase and various covers from solid on manual machines, it's not a big item as the crankcase would fit inside a 2" cube. If you have access to one then not difficult on a 3 axis CNC and even easier on a 4 axis CNC for anyone who really wanted to make one of these.

That leaves the cylinder/head castings. Again they could be got quite close with manual machining but a bit of a long job on the M5, not so bad if just doing the M1.  Sitting watching a CNC do it would be another option to getting 5 made made which is where they excell when castings are no longer available. But in todays world there is enough info about to model these in a 3D CAD package and then the most cost effective way would likely be to get them 3D printed in wax so they can be investment cast in a suitable aluminium and then have them heat treated so they are nice to machine.

[Jasonb]

Looks like a fairly true CNC cylinder/head "castings" would be possible. This is the first setup that does most of the head, it would then need 4 more setups to come in from each side to do the upper couple of cylinder fins, the lower ones would be quicker to do on the lathe. In practice the valve holes and slots in the rocker posts would be better cut separately but I just used the 3D model to try out the CAM without removing these features.

Downside is a high speed spindle would really be needed unless you wanted to let the machine run for hours as a long neck 1.5mm ball nosed cutter would be needed to get between the fins but if someone really wanted to make one or five it could be done.

https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/2-flute-long-neck-carbide-ball-nose-end-mills-55hrc/long-neck-ball-nose-carbide-cutter-1-5mm-dia-16mm-neck-length-50mm-long-55hrc.html

[gbritnell]

My engine while not an exact copy of the Morton was evolved from the Morton drawings. Everything was machined from solid, manually. I made the cylinders and heads as separate pieces and screwed them together.  Like I said I don't want to hijack Jo's thread but could post some pictures if wanted.
gbritnell

[Jasonb]

Up to Jo where they go but I'd be interested to see how you did it and what the shortcomings of the design are and how you improved them. I doubt I would ever do a M5 but the M1 is a possibility.

[Jo]

Like I said I don't want to hijack Jo's thread but could post some pictures if wanted.
gbritnell

Feel free to post away George, we would all love to see how you made yours  .

Jo

[Jasonb]

In that case

George, you said yours was based on Morton drawings, was that original Morton ones, ones from Bruce Satra when he was producing castings or the ones in Model Engine Builder. I have the MEB ones.

I did find a full 3D CAD model of the M5 on Grabcad if anyone wants to take a look, that is what I used to do that bit of CAM from.

[Vixen]

Looks like a fairly true CNC cylinder/head "castings" would be possible. This is the first setup that does most of the head, it would then need 4 more setups to come in from each side to do the upper couple of cylinder fins, the lower ones would be quicker to do on the lathe. In practice the valve holes and slots in the rocker posts would be better cut separately but I just used the 3D model to try out the CAM without removing these features.

Downside is a high speed spindle would really be needed unless you wanted to let the machine run for hours as a long neck 1.5mm ball nosed cutter would be needed to get between the fins but if someone really wanted to make one or five it could be done.

https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/2-flute-long-neck-carbide-ball-nose-end-mills-55hrc/long-neck-ball-nose-carbide-cutter-1-5mm-dia-16mm-neck-length-50mm-long-55hrc.html

Jason I believe ther is more to the compound angles of the rocker arm brackets than you have allowed for. Either angled over jig fixtures or a five axis CNC. Perhaps best to compromise on that part of the design and do it the like Georges engine.

Mike

[Jasonb]

The cuts from the top will only remove some of the material around the rocker posts, once the head has been repositioned and cut with the sides, front and back facing upwards the outer edges of the two protruding parts will be as drawn, this will also machine the inlet, exhaust and plug bosses. In effect 5 fixed axis by manually repositioning the embryo head much like that figure I posted a few months back that was attacked from 4 separate sides. This would really just give a "casting"

I would then do the slots to form the forks and pivot holes as separate ops with the head at a jaunty angle much like the castings have to be machined, same for the inlet, exhaust and plug holes

The part has been modelled with them on a compound angle but their shape is more tapered towards the top than the paper drawings that I have which I think looks better but would be easy enough to straighten them up if desired.

EDIT
This would be after the first side has been cut which has got to the area under the rocker post that the first setup could not reach. Green in finished surface, the blue is material still to remove and it looks like an even smaller dia cutter would b needed to get down between the fins

The lower fins don't have any obstructions so could be done on the lathe or while the part was vertical for the first machining a slitting saw could be used.

I was only having a quick play last night, if I were to make one it would need a bit more thought to what would be the best ways to do it but certainly looks possible.

J

[gbritnell]

 First I will give an overview of how my 'Morton' came to be.
 I was attending an antique engine show decades ago when a fellow walked up to my display and after looking at my engines he remarked "you don't have a radial." To which I replied "no sir I don't." He asked me if I would like a complete set of drawings for one and I eagerly said yes. He actually left the show grounds and came back some time later with a complete set of original Morton drawings.
 I took them home and they stayed in my box of drawings for many years until I decided to pull them out and investigate just what a Morton was. I did a lot of searching and found that the original Mortons had some shortcomings so using the drawings as a starting point I went about creating my version.
 The bore and stroke are exactly as the Morton as is the basic overall size. From there I made the following changes. I moved the pushrods to the front and designed a cam ring to operate them. The head/cylinder is made from 2 pieces. The distributor was mounted vertically rather than straight out the back. I made an oil pump setup with a pressure and scavenge system. My crankshaft is mounted on ball bearings but after running it for some time found that the load on the front bearing was too much so I was able to modify the original parts to accept a second outer bearing.
 My engine was machined from solid aluminum using an early version Enco mill/drill. No matter what I did with it it still left tool marks which had to be filed and polished out.
 Ok, on to the first installment, The crankcase. The pictures kind of speak for themselves so I won't go into a lot of description for things that should be obvious.

[gbritnell]

This is what it looked like at this point, before further sculpting. Fear not all those ugly tool marks will eventually disappear.

[gbritnell]

The next step was to start refining some of the shapes, specifically the lifter bosses. I made a template that went into the lifter bores and after marking with an ink marker I scribed a line to machine to. I started by stepping off the nose and then as the radius progressed up to the lifter area I bumped the ball mill to the layout line.

[gbritnell]

After many hours of filing and polishing this is what it looked like. I mark all my cuts with an ink marker so I can tell where the high spots are.
So this is it for the main crankcase. I'll add more parts in the future.

[Jasonb]

Thanks for the details George, look forward to the next installment.

[Vixen]

Nice work George. 

Thats some lovely drilling, milling and hand filing. That crankcase is realy pleasing to the eye.

Mike

[gbritnell]

On the original Morton the cylinder/head casting is one piece. The cylinder is bored for a sleeve and the valve assemblies are inserted from the head side. I'm not a bit fan of doing valves that way so with the redesign I made the heads and cylinders as separate pieces.
To accomplish this I decided to thread the pocket in the head (internal) and thread the end of the cylinder. (external) My cylinder barrels are made from steel (12L14) and the heads are aluminum. With the heads being aluminum I machined them for valve seats and guides. The valve seats are steel and the guides are bronze.
 The cylinders were drilled and bored then the outer profiles were cut with the fins.