# James Coombes Mine Engine from barstock



## Philjoe5 (Feb 5, 2010)

I saw a model of the James Coombes Mine Engine at a show in Kent, Connecticut in 2006 and the exhibitor, Tom Kokinchak, was selling his plans for it. I was really impressed with the valve mechanism for the engine and bought the plans. At that time I was really a novice and closer inspection of the plans discouraged me from just jumping in to start it. For example, at the time I owned a lathe but did not have a four jaw chuck :shrug:. Well after 4 years, and many, many pounds of chips Im ready to tackle this project. 

I thought Id do this as a work in progress and post pictures of the various assemblies as they are completed. As usual, your comments and suggestions always welcomed.

First some background. I have, so far, not located a lot of information about the James Coombes Mine Engine. Theres some information on the Stuart website as they offer this engine as a castings kit. However, Im still trying to find out who James Coombes was, how many of these engines were built and what, if any, advantage this design presented when compared to existing configurations. Anyone with info is welcomed to chime in here.

The engine Im building is a barstock model. I recently saw a completed version at Cabin Fever last month. It was built by Steve from Massachusetts. Steve if youre reading this, take a bow :bow:, because you made a very impressive looking model.

It is pictured here:






Theres also a video of this engine here:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCfXcAZTrO0[/ame]

I started with the cylinder block. I had a lump of cast iron (Durabar) left from a previous project and began by milling a block to the overall dimensions.

I drilled and bored the cylinder on the lathe and then turned the ends to round them. 






The steam chest mounting holes were drilled/tapped, the steam ports milled and drilled and the cylinder head mounting holes were drilled/tapped. When I angle drilled the first of four holes that connect the cylinder bore to the steam chest I had calculated the depth of the hole for the breakthrough of the drill. I always hold my breath when drilling the first one, because if any of my calculations or settings are wrong this is a great opportunity to make a paperweight. But all went well and the picture here shows a red tipped wooden dowel in the port on one end of the cylinder extending to the steam chest port (whew!) 






Some of the excess material from the central exterior of the cylinder block was milled away. Then the exhaust port was drilled and tapped. This completes the machining of the cylinder block.











This is all I have to report on for this session. 

Cheers,
Phil


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## tel (Feb 5, 2010)

Good start Phil, I've always been attracted to the James Coombes as well, but, like you, haven't been able to find out much about it.


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## gbritnell (Feb 5, 2010)

Hi Phil, very nice work on the cylinder. Although cast iron is somewhat dirty I really enjoy working with Durabar. It cuts really nice and clean and leaves nice sharp edges.
gbritnell


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## Deanofid (Feb 5, 2010)

A very good start, Phil.
I'm another fan of this engine type. Glad to see a build here.

Dean


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 6, 2010)

Tel, George and Dean,
Thanks for the encouragement. I am a big fan of Durabar, having discovered an outlet nearby makes it convenient. It does machine nicely, and except for looking like a coal miner after working with it for a day it does make great engine cylinders among other things. I did learn that it likes to be cut slowly, then alls well.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Metal Butcher (Feb 7, 2010)

Hi Phil! The cylinder looks great! :bow:

I find your project engine interesting and a very good choice. I have used cast Dura-Bar for a cylinder along with a brass piston and find it to be a really good low friction combination. An aluminum piston should work equally well too.

I intend on building Elmer's #29 'Mine Engine' in the near future. Have you seen these plans, and are they the same basic design as the project your working on?

Plan links:

http://www.john-tom.com/ElmersEngines/29_mineEngine.pdf

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Elmers_Engines_2/files/

Thanks.

-MB


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 7, 2010)

MB,
Thanks for the complement. Yes, the Elmer's Mine engine looks like the same engine, though, on a smaller scale. I like the small scale engines, but the old peepers and fingers have difficulty with the small stuff. 

I did finish an engine last fall using a Durabar CI cylinder with aluminum bronze piston and it ran very well on steam as well as air. 

Good luck on your Elmer's mine engine. Keep us in the loop.

Cheers,
Phil


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## kellswaterri (Feb 7, 2010)

Hi folks, a little info. on the Coombes...






hope this has worked.


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 7, 2010)

Thank you kellswaterri for sharing this article. :bow: That's some great background information on this engine

Cheers,
Phil


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## Metal Butcher (Feb 7, 2010)

Philjoe5  said:
			
		

> MB,
> I like the small scale engines, but the old peepers and fingers have difficulty with the small stuff.
> 
> Good luck on your Elmer's mine engine. Keep us in the loop.
> ...



I know what you mean. I'm struggling with my current project. My eye sight has declined noticeably since November. And new pair of tri-focals would be very expensive. One or two more of "Elmer's scale" and I'm done. I'll have to find other projects, or upscale the remaining models available from Elmer's collection. I started using tweezers, and that's helped with the handling part of the small scale problem.

-MB


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 8, 2010)

I used a piece of CRS I had on hand to make the steam chest. I milled away most of the excess material before turning the journal on the lathe. 






I also tapped the workpiece for the packing gland using a 7/16  20 NF tap.

When I tap a blind hole like this I usually start with a plug tap and then run a bottom tap in to get a few more threads. This is not a thread size I use often.  I started rooting around in my tap stock and finally found a plug tap of this size, but no bottom tap. So this got me to thinking about where I used this particular tap in the past.

After searching some old records I found this is the thread I used for making a displacer rod guide for a Stirling engine. The rod guide screwed into the baseplate in a through hole, hence, no bottom tap needed. This engine never did run so I decided to scavenge the rod guide and make it a packing gland. I screwed this rod guide into the steam chest blank and used it as a reference surface to help true the workpiece in the 4 jaw chuck. I made the final adjustments to the four jaws by indicating off of the opposite faces on the workpiece.






Next, I located and drilled the 8 mounting holes for the steam chest. I chain drilled out the middle of the chest and cleaned up the interior with some side milling with a 1/4" end mill. 

I decided that with a little machining the rod guide could become a packing gland. This photo shows the rod guide in the steam chest (inset) and its new function as a packing gland.






One of my better recycles.

At one time I was not really happy about making interrupted cuts on the lathe. But I found that if I use slow rpms (usually 150 but never more than 300) and slow feed rates I get good results and dont end up chipping my toolbits. 

I made the valve rod and cross nut which completes the steam valve assembly The valve movement seems pretty smooth so I dont think further finishing will be needed at this point.






The next assembly Im going to tackle will be the connecting rod. This actually consists of a number of arms, crossbars, the crosshead, and the crank journal. Im going to take some artistic license in designing this but Ill stick to the critical dimensions, of course.

Cheers,
Phil


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## BigBore (Feb 9, 2010)

OK, I'm on board. Cool engine. I'll be a cuttin' and a paste'n for sure. Class has started!

Ed


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 9, 2010)

OK Ed. Let's hope the journey ends at my planned destination, eh 

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 13, 2010)

This post describes making the connecting rod assembly. Ill start at the end with a picture of the completed assembly parts with their labels. If someone has other names for these parts Id be happy to learn them.






Im following the plans for critical dimensions of this assembly but Im designing the elements to make use of my available stock. The plans call for 5/16 hex brass for the arms which I did not have. I did have several feet of ½ square brass so I decided to use that. Ive not had much practice in turning long lengths like this on the lathe and didnt want to experiment with brass. So I built a prototype first using aluminum for the arms to try out my technique






The overall length of the arms is greater than 9 inches. The ends of the bars are 0.450 square, so I decided to mill the bars to that dimension, then turn them on the lathe to a diameter of 0.375. Milling a 9 long bar in a 4 mill vise is a trick. The ends seems to vibrate much like having too much overhang in the lathe chuck, so I moved the workpiece such that the ends were central in the vise to get those dimensions reasonably close. Then I turned the bar between centers never having much more than 2 from the chuck face to turn at a time.






To speed up the process of centering a 0.450 square bar in the 4 jaw chuck I made a jig. I knew I would be turning a number of 0.450 square workpieces on the lathe. So using a little trig (Thank you Mr. Werner) I calculated that a cylinder with a bore of 0.636 would just slip over a 0.450 square bar.  Then I just slipped the collar over the bar and indicated off the collar. I dont know if this is a common technique but I found it to be helpful.






I turned the length of the bar to a diameter of 0.375 and left the crosshead end square. The other end of the arm was turned down (male) to 0.250 to form a joint with the end of the crossarm which was reamed (female) 0.250. 






The joint where the crossarm meets the arm will eventually get a treatment of loctite and then Ill pin them with some 3/32 drill rod. Ill wait until engine assembly before making any of these joints permanent.

The crossarm also started out as a ½ square bar of brass. Each end was reamed ¼ to form a joint with the arm, and a portion of each end was turned down to 0.375. 

The connection from the crossarm to the journal was made starting with a 3/8 x 1 x 2 piece of brass. The journal end was drilled and bored to a diameter of 0.625. I rounded the end on the rotary table, and cut out some of the excess metal in the middle. A sleeve made from CRS was made by turning a ¾ diameter rod to 0.625 to fit in the journal end. It was drilled 5/16 to fit a machine screw that will attach it to the crank web. The other end of the journal was milled to a square of 0.450, drilled and tapped for two 6-32 machine screws. Then a cap made from a piece of brass and drilled for #6 screw clearance holes. This arrangement allows the journal to lock onto the crossarm.






I rounded the tops of the arms using a rotary table and a ¼ end mill. I made an aluminum fixture with a slight depression milled into it to prevent the workpiece from twisting free. 






The crosshead was made from brass 7/16 hex rod. It was tapped on each end with 10-32 threads. The middle section was milled flat and finally drilled for a clearance hole to accept the piston rod. 

Two sleeves that fit in the end of the con rod arms were made from 3/8 CRS. They drilled 3/16 for a #10 screw and turned to a diameter of 0.249 to fit in the arms. They have a 0.030 flange against which a #10 screw can be tightened.

All of the parts now have been made for this assembly.

The assembled con rod is quite rigid even without locking the joints, so Ill probably give the engine a brief test run before making some of these joints a bit more secure.






This completes another assembly for this engine. Im not sure where Im going next but Ill decide soon. With all this snow outside this is prime shop time. Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,
Phil


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## JMI (Feb 13, 2010)

Very impressive work.

What kind of lathe is that?

Jim


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## Deanofid (Feb 13, 2010)

It's really coming along well, Phil. Everything you've made looks just great.
You picked a great design for your build!

Dean


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 14, 2010)

Jim, the lathe is a 10 x 22 Grizzly, Chinese made, a joy to work with. After 3 years of use I cant find anything to fault it with except the fact that at times it allows an unskilled operator to work the controls ! Thanks for your support.

Dean, thanks for the encouraging words. Your support is appreciated.

Doing a work in progress is great fun, adding yet another dimension to this hobby. It makes me think twice (or more) about what Im doing because I know I may need to explain what I was thinking at the time. It also forces me to stop along the way and take some photos which are of benefit to me down the road, plus its fun to view them after the fact.

So kudos to Rick and all the moderators :bow: for setting this forum up and giving us all these enjoyable aspects to model engine building.

Cheers,
Phil


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## gbritnell (Feb 14, 2010)

Hi Phil, great work on the engine thus far. I really like the captioning of all the pieces in the photos. You used the packing gland for the valve rod guide which will work if your threads are very accurate. Tapping and die work doesn't always come out dead square and then it puts a little bit of a bind on the rod. I have done it that way in the past sometimes with luck and sometimes not. 
gbritnell


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 14, 2010)

George,
Thanks for the support and kind comments. Your point about tap and die threads is a good one. After I finished turning the rod guide into the packing gland I installed it in the steam chest. Im getting smooth movement of the valve rod through its full stroke so this worked out OK.

Using a tailstock dieholder and tapping right after drilling the pilot hole produces good results for the work Im doing which isnt as demanding as some, thats for sure. I posted a thread some time ago on this forum asking for help since I often got poor results with this approach. As usual I received very good suggestions that improved my success rate. 

I should also mention that I practiced for a year before I could successfully make male/female threads this way most of the time. 

Cheers,
Phil


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## 4156df (Feb 14, 2010)

Phil,
I'm really enjoying this build. Your engine is really looking good so far.
Dennis


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 14, 2010)

Dennis, thanks for the encouraging comments.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Feb 20, 2010)

I noticed in one of my posted pictures there are two cylinder heads in the background but I havent described how I made them so Ill do that in this post.

The plans specify brass for the lower and upper cylinder heads. This gives a great contrast to the cast iron cylinder when theyre installed. But I dont have any brass of 2.25 diameter in my stock and based upon the current price of more than $6/lb its unlikely Im going to acquire any soon. I decided to just make them out of steel, a 1144 alloy, AKA free machining steel. I get this from a local machine shop as drops and I really like working with it.

The cylinder heads look deceptively easy to make. And really the upper one is a matter of just taking the usual care in turning stock to the specified diameter of 2.238 and laying out the holes for mounting it to the cylinder.  It has a hub on the topside which is threaded ½-20 NF. I did all the operations in a 3 jaw chuck without removing the workpiece, except for making the register on the bottom. I started the threads with the workpiece in the lathe chuck. Using a ½-20 plug tap in drill chuck in the tailstock I started the threads. They were finished afterward with a bottom tap. Then I switched the workpiece around holding the hub in the lathe chuck while I turned down the register on the bottom of the cylinder head. I like to make the register to within a few thousandths of fitting in the bore. With the workpiece still in the chuck, I moved it to the mill/drill table and drilled the six mounting holes.

The lower cylinder head is machined from the same piece of stock that had been turned down to 2.238. However, the cylinder head is only 0.240 thick which is a trick to hold properly in the lathe chuck for cutting the register and holding the workpiece for drilling the mounting holes. I did make a spider for my 4 three jaw lathe chuck (thanks again black85vette for that post). However this cylinder head is too large for that chuck. I could make a spider for my 5 three jaw, but I decided to try a shortcut.

I made the lower cylinder head with a solid 3/8 hub on it. I used that hub to hold the workpiece for cutting the register and drilling the mounting holes. After those operations it needed to disappear.

I have some 2 diameter aluminum thick walled tubing. I cut a piece of that and faced off both sides. I set that against the chuck face. Then I set the cylinder head against the tubing. I measured TIR of 0.002 on the face of the cylinder head which I considered acceptable. Then with an AL5 toolbit @ 150 rpm I just faced off the hub until it was gone.







This photo shows the completed cylinder heads with the inset showing the register on the upper cylinder head






As I study the plans for the crosshead guide base I realize that it is just like the lower cylinder head in some respects. Had I looked ahead, I could have made this part along with these two cylinder heads in a more efficient process. But, since Im the boss, and I have no production deadlines to meet, so what? 

Im going to tackle the crosshead guide assembly next. This assembly looks simple but its going to take me some time to get my head around some of the machining ??? that needs to be done. Expect a long pause here.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 1, 2010)

When I first studied the plans for this engine three assemblies seemed like they would be more of a challenge than the others. the cylinder block, the crosshead guide assembly and the connecting rod assembly. This post will describe how I made the crosshead guide assembly.

The crosshead assembly consists of a base, two identical guides and a crossarm. Heres a photo of the assembly with parts labeled.






The guides were constructed first. The plans call for brass guides and crosshead. I didnt want to have brass running on brass so I made the guides from some CRS 1018 stock.  I had some 7/16 brass hex stock for the crosshead.

The guides are radiused in two places with a slot for the crosshead movement. They are also notched on the bottom to fit into slots milled into the base. The guides started out as blanks that were milled to 3/16 x 1.062 x 5.500.

Using my basic computer drawing program (Corel Draw, version 3.0, 1992!) I calculated where to drill holes for the transition of the curves on the shoulder of the guide. Unfortunately, I wasnt careful in laying out my drawing and I drilled the holes for the shoulder of the guides a bit too low.






While I was cutting this radius on the rotary table it didnt look right but I plunged ahead thinking I could do a little creative filing to make it right. Not really.






Not having a lot of time or material invested at this point I decided to start over with two new guide blanks. But I decided to make the crosshead guide base next. In the past, when I screw up I tend to stop working on that part and pick up somewhere else. Then I spend some time thinking about how to avoid another mistake before making a second attempt.

The base for the crosshead is basically another cylinder head with two slots cut into it for the guides. The base is like another cylinder head and could have been made more efficiently when I made the cylinder heads and had the machines setup. I dont know whos doing my performance review this year but I think Im up the proverbial creek.

I decided to make a fixture for holding the workpiece for facing and boring operations. The fixture is a piece of aluminum with a 1.750 bolt circle to match the cylinder head mounting pattern. The fixture is shown here along with the base. At this point the base has a hub on it that I used to hold the workpiece for facing, and drilling operations. Now the hub needs to disappear.






The following picture shows the boring operation to remove the hub and open up the center hole to a diameter of 13/16 to finish the base.






Now Im ready to make a new pair of guides. This time Ill use aluminum stock to make a prototype of the assembly. It machines much faster and its the cheapest material I have on hand to work with. I recalculated where my shoulder transition points occur and milled/drilled as needed. This picture shows the radius for the shoulder of the guide scribed on the workpiece. It appears that I did my homework this time. 






After milling and drilling away material the guides were finished. 

The crossarm was made from a piece of 3/8 hex bar thats tapped on the ends for #8 screws. The crosshead assembly sitting on the cylinder block is shown here. 






At this point I have one more detail to take care of before completing the assembly. The plans call for silver soldering the guides to the base. This isnt an option for this aluminum prototype and I dont want to silver solder the final steel assembly, so Im taking an alternate approach.

Im going to make two brackets that follow the curve of the cylinder head. Theyll serve as anchors for the guide rails.

With a slitting saw I cut one of the brackets from a piece of stock that was turned to the same diameter as the cylinder head. It has 6 holes drilled on the 1.750 bolt circle, same as the cylinder heads. Using two of those holes as guides, I inserted two 1/8 rods that rested on top of square stock on top of the vise. Once clamped in the vise, Ive ensured that the bracket will align properly.











The bracket is tapped for 8-32 threads and the guides are drilled for #8 screws. Heres a closeup of the male part of the motise  tenon joint for the guide and base. 






Im satisfied with the aluminum guides and brackets I made. Alignment is good so I went ahead and made a set out of steel stock and, of course, second time around had fewer (though not zero) surprises.

Here are my 3 most challenging assemblies completed except for some polishing and painting






Now that theyve been made, Im breathing a little easier. I feel like Ive climbed a long steep hill. I expect more hills, though maybe not as steep, and eventually a nice coast downhill? 

Of course, an engine is more than just the sum of its parts. All the parts have to work together. So now my focus will be to see if these assemblies will cut the mustard, Thm: or cut the cheese. :wall:

Cheers,
Phil


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## kellswaterri (Mar 1, 2010)

Coming along nicely Phil, I like the use of ''non ferrus'' for the linkages...might just go for that myself.
All the best for now,
             John.


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## zeeprogrammer (Mar 1, 2010)

Nice Phil.
I like that style of engine.
And I'm enjoying your thread.


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## Metal Butcher (Mar 1, 2010)

Super job Phil! The model your building is quite a bit more detailed than Elmer's #29.

And your machining looks great! I need to follow you builds a little more closely and start taking a few notes.

Your very, very, close to being done with the cylinder assembly, and everything's looking real good.

-MB


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## 4156df (Mar 1, 2010)

Phil,
Very nice work. I'm enjoying your thread and learning a lot.
Dennis


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 2, 2010)

John, Zee, MB, Dennis - thanks for all the kind comments, support and encouragement.

Cheers,
Phil


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## gbritnell (Mar 2, 2010)

Hi Phil, it looks like you're making excellent progress on your engine. I like the mortise and tenon joint. Nice work.
George


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## xo18thfa (Mar 2, 2010)

Great work Phil. the James Coombes engine is very artistic and graceful. Yours is a real heirloom piece.

Thanks Bob


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 2, 2010)

George, Bob - thanks for looking in and taking the time to offer kind words and encouragement. 

I dont see the mortise-tenon joint too often in engine building though it seemed like it would offer some rigidity in this application.

Heirloom? I dont know about that though. Thats a lot of pressure. :-\

Cheers,
Phil


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## Maryak (Mar 2, 2010)

Phil,

I am trying to develop a set of drawings for a William Faibairn 10hp steam engine and one of the problems is getting the crosshead guides inside the engine column. Your innovation with the mortise and tenon has opened up a further range of possibilities for going from round to square with the two pieces involved and maintaining rigidity.

Thanks. :bow: :bow:

Yes, and its going to be a very nice engine. :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## joe d (Mar 2, 2010)

Phil

I've been following along from the start of this one, it's really looking good! I especially like your mortise and tenon joint, add me to the list of those who hadn't thought of using this in metal!

Cheers, Joe


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 2, 2010)

Thanks for your comments Bob, they are much appreciated. I don't get to spend much time on the forum these days so I haven't kept up with what you're working on. Your works in progress here set the standard IMHO :bow:

Joe, and Bob I'm happy that the mortise and tenon joint sparked some interest. In case you haven't figured it out, that approach allowed me to avoid the necessity of (trying to) learning how to silver solder (again, again :). Never underestimate the power of an old student like myself figure out how to avoid doing something they are not good at. ;D

Cheers,
Phil


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## Maryak (Mar 3, 2010)

Phil,

Thanks for the kind words. :bow: Since our move south and my current remoteness from my, shop my Hit and Miss is, I'm sorry to say, a "Work in very very slow Progress." :'(

Best Regards
Bob

PS I forgot to mention a honey do list longer than both my arms. :


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## enginemaker1 (Mar 13, 2010)

Phil

Keep up the nice work.

Tom


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## Jeff02 (Mar 13, 2010)

Pardon me while I wipe the Drool off my face, for years Ive wanted to build this engine from Stuart castings but could not justify the $500.00+ price tag.
Beautiful work!


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 13, 2010)

Tom, Jeff,
Thanks for the support and kind words. Tom, I'd be lost without your "input" 

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Ive been working on the base assembly for this engine. I wasnt going to post until I had the assembly completed but that would make for a fairly large post so Ill break it into two parts.

This assembly consists of a base, four support columns, column finials, a table, a pair of bearing blocks with bushings and a pair of oil cups. 

I started with the table. This is the upper deck of the engine upon which the cylinder block sits. This engine is also referred to as a Table engine for this reason. The table is drilled for mounting the cylinder block, the four support columns, tapped for mounting the valve gear and it is also milled to produce two slots through which the connecting rod assembly travels. This is one of those times when a picture is really worth a 1000 words so:






I counterbored the holes for the column connections by about 0.020 and the ends of the columns will have a register to fit into the recess. The same connection will be made from column to base. I dont like straight butt joints where theres going to be some side-to-side stresses.

I had a piece of 5/8 thick aluminum stock that was 8 wide and I used this for the base. Clearance holes for ¼ screws were drilled in the base for the support columns and the bearing blocks. I used an F drill for this purpose.

I used a 45º bevel cutter to form a bevel around the top of the base to finish off its appearance.

Next I worked on the bearing blocks. They have a nice scalloped look. I spent some time to layout a plan to avoid a lot of extra milling. The plans called for aluminum here but I wanted to make them in steel. The starting point for these was a ¾ x 3 bar of hot rolled steel. While milling a pair of blank blocks from this stock it occurred to me why castings were invented. Im going to be cutting away quite a bit of metal to get the finished product.

Well heres a lazy days work in this picture. Two blank bearing blocks are sitting on a piece of the parent stock. In the middle is a piece of steel scrap that I used to practice making the scalloped sides of the blocks. Luckily, cutting metal relaxes me.






Im not sure that the sequence of machining operations is all that important but at this point I have two fairly accurately milled rectangles of steel. The base mounting holes, the bearing hole, and the bearing cap mounting holes are the critical dimensions so I decided to do those first since I have true edges to work from. After these are machined its really just a matter of carving away a lot of metal to get the sculpted appearance.

The bottoms of the blocks were drilled/tapped for mounting to the base. The tops were drilled/tapped for the bearing caps. Here I diverged from the plans. The plans show the bearing block and the cap made as separate pieces. I used an approach that is common for casting models. That is, the bearing block and cap are made from a single piece of material. The cap mounting screw holes are drilled and tapped. The cap is cut off from the base, then the cap is screwed to the block and finally the hole for the bearing is drilled and bored. 











Two holes are bored in the bearing block. One for the crankshaft bushing, the other is an architectural detail. Bearing blocks that have been drilled and bored but not fully profiled are shown here:






Now I needed to profile or scallop the edges of the blocks. This requires a combination of sawing, milling and drilling. I really prefer to saw excess material rather than mill it away for a number of reasons. But I once had a bad experience with the bandsaw blade becoming dull in the middle of a cut and wandering sharply into the workpiece. So I decided to mill away the excess on the first block. After many passes with the end mill I was convinced to do the second one using the bandsaw to remove most of the excess. Having finished the first block, I traced its outline on the second block and carefully watched the bandsaw blades progress. After sawing the edge was made true using an end mill to the final dimension.






Scalloping the sides was accomplished with a ¾ centercutting end mill. I drilled this scallop into the workpiece by feeding it under the end mill in increments until I reached the desired end point.






Now I used either an end mill or the bandsaw to get rid of excess material. When I used the bandsaw, I made the side true with an end mill before cutting the other side.






I breathed a major sigh of relief when the bearing blocks were finished. The machining operations werent all that challenging but there was a lot of milling, deburring, sawing, deburring, drilling, deburring. I learned some time ago that you can skip the deburring steps in between. You are rewarded for doing this with some fine paperweights.  

Ive mounted the bearing blocks on the base here.






They seem like they came out OK but the real test is their function. So off to the shop to make a pair of bronze bushings. I had an piece of oilite bronze I picked up some years ago that was made for this project. The bushings were turned to fit each bearing block for a press fit. They turned out to be only a 0.001 apart in diameter. Since I can loosen the bearing caps pressing them in wasnt required. With the caps tightened I dont think the bushings will wander.

One of the real benefits of working at this hobby over time is that you accumulate a collection of dowels, engine parts, screws, bolts etc. of a variety of sizes. Need a dowel of diameter 0.812? Check the parts bin and youre bound to come up close. 

Rummaging around I located a crankshaft with the proper diameter (5/8) and a spare flywheel to test out my alignment of these bearing blocks on the base. The arrangement is sort of an assault on the senses but I discovered that the flywheel turns effortlessly in the bearings. The actual crankshaft for this engine needs to be about 2 longer and the flywheel for this engine will be spoked, made from a casting.






So far each assembly functions smoothly on its own. Eventually all the assemblies will be connected and will need to work as designed. That test, the final exam, is still far off.

Now Im ready to work on the next phase of this base assembly, the support columns. When I finish those, Ill make the piston and piston rod. Then I can test the base, cylinder, connecting rod and crosshead assemblies all connected together, the mid-term exam.

Cheers,
Phil


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## 4156df (Mar 15, 2010)

Phil,

The profiles on your bearing blocks are outstanding. They'll really add a lot to the final look of your engine.

Dennis


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## Metal Butcher (Mar 15, 2010)

Your coming along really well Phil! super workmanship, and first class posting!
I really enjoyed seeing and reading you post. :bow:

Quote from Phil's post:
"I learned some time ago that you can skip the deburring steps in between. You are rewarded for doing this with some fine paperweights."

 :big: :big: :big: :big: :big: (can!) Good one, I can't stop laughing!

-MB


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## zeeprogrammer (Mar 15, 2010)

Phil,

I didn't see the making of the crank. Is that painted?


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## enginemaker1 (Mar 15, 2010)

Phil

Your doing great!  :bow:

I know in my plans that the bearing block and cap are on different prints and are to the final dimensions. I also mounted unfinished bearing caps to the block before I made my final cuts. I was told many years ago as a draftsman to give final dimension and don't tell the tool maker how to do it.

If you have any questions on the plans or suggestions, just let me know.

Tom


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## Deanofid (Mar 15, 2010)

You sure are doing up a nice job here, Phil. The bearing blocks look just dandy. 
Great job!

Dean


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Dennis, MB, Zee, Tom, Dean,
Thanks for the comments, encouragement, and kind words. Support from you guys is a great help in my making progress.

Zee  the crankshaft is slightly out-of-spec from another engine project and just happened to be the right diameter to go through these bushings. Its too short to use for this engine but I used it to check bearing block alignment. It is painted Oregano (honest!) 

Tom  I am recognizing the fact that engine plans usually do not contain details about how to go about making a part. I actually appreciate that since it adds a little more challenge to the build. A few years back I would have attempted to make those bearing blocks and caps as two separate pieces and then tried fitting them togetherI probably would never have gotten them right. Your plans, BTW, have been great to work from :bow:  so far all dimensions are right on and the 3D perspectives of parts and assemblies is a great help to me.


Cheers,
Phil


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## gbritnell (Mar 15, 2010)

Hi Phil, excellent work on your engine so far. The extra work on the bearing blocks rewards you with parts that have a nice character to them. It really adds to the overall look of the engine.
gbritnell


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## Maryak (Mar 16, 2010)

Good stuff Phil :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## tel (Mar 16, 2010)

Yeah Phil, you surely are making a nice job of it. I've nearly _got_ to bump one of these up my list a bit!


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 16, 2010)

George, Bob, Tel,
Thanks for stopping in and offering words of encouragement. I must say carving out those bearing blocks gave me an appreciation for why there are castings. 

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 22, 2010)

I made four support columns for the table using some ¾ hex brass. The ends have a 0.020 register on both ends that fit in recesses in the table and base. Both ends of the columns are tapped ¼  20 for mounting hardware. Note the hex head screws will eventually be replaced with finials made from hex brass stock.







When I assembled the table to the base using the columns I made a trial fit of the con rod assembly through the table slots. I could have done this sooner, but I discovered that the arms of the con rod assembly were too close together and were wedged up against the slots in the table. This was not a design error. If I had followed the plans for the con rod arms, I would have had clearance. 

Now decision time  widen the table slots by about 0.025 or make a new con rod crossarm. I decided to make a new crossarm. First of all, I wanted to make a recess in the center of it to fit the journal. That would prevent any lateral movement of the journal.

Secondly, later on Im going to pin these joints with taper pins. Ive never used taper reamers so I can use the old crossarm to practice.

The only complication with making the recess on the crossarm was gripping the workpiece to turn down the second side of the arm. I had to grip the workpiece on the 0.450 square end which is only ½ long and that leaves me with quite a bit of overhang. My other option would have been to make a split ring and grip the round part of the arm in a 3 jaw chuck. I decided to risk the overhang and take light cuts and that worked out OK.











I made a packing gland from some ¾ bronze. Turned the required length of the gland to a diameter of 0.730. Then turned a length of 0.613 to a diameter of 0.494. Using the tailstock dieholder I turned ½  20 NF threads on the workpiece. Except, my diameter was too high (0.495) and I couldnt cut to the shoulder. Plus the threads got buggered which has been my experience when I try to cut them on a diameter thats too high. 

I made a second gland by turning the threaded part down to 0.484 and had no trouble. I drilled a clearance hole in the workpiece with an F (0.257) drill. Parted off the workpiece. I had a piece of ¾ aluminum hex bar that had been drilled/tapped ½  20 from making packing glands for other engines. I screwed the packing gland into the fixture and faced the gland to its required length.  Then I drilled six holes using a 1/8 end mill. The hex fixture makes this a simple procedure.






With the gland held in the three jaw chuck of the lathe and the upper cylinder head screwed on, the TIR on the rim of the cylinder head was 0.015. Not very good, but I expected as much at this point.

Both ends of the gland had been faced off before any of the other machining operations. But under magnification its apparent that thread cutting produced a significant burr on that end of the workpiece. This end butts up against the bottom of the threaded hole in the cylinder head. So off to my surface plate with some #500 grit paper to polish the threaded end, and wire brush the threads. Then a thorough cleaning of the bottom of the threaded hole in the head. Reassemble, and measure TIR on the rim  0.004. That seems acceptable from my past experience with an engine of these dimensions. 

The piston rod was made from a piece of ¼ drill rod. Each end was to be threaded ¼  28 NF. I turned the diameter down to 0.240 on both ends for the section to be threaded. Then, using a tailstock dieholder I made, threads were cut to a length of 0.625 on the piston end and 1.250 on the crosshead end.

I used a piece of aluminum bronze to make the piston. After facing, I turned the diameter to 1.250. The cylinder bore is 1.200 and the piston will be turned to fit the bore once its installed on the piston rod.  I drilled it with a #3 drill for ¼  28 NF threads. Then I faced the other end for an OAL of 0.625. Threads were cut by using a diestock held up against the face of the drill chuck in the tailstock. Once started this way, the threads were cut through the piston blank.

The piston rod was held in the 3 jaw chuck on the lathe and the piston screwed on tightly. I measured TIR of 0.003 on the piston. This measurement tells me that cutting the threads on the piston rod and piston went reasonably well. Once the piston was turned to its final size, TIR was about 0.000.

I had an aluminum dowel of diameter 1.201 which I thought was a fairly good fit in the bore. I decided to turn the piston to 1.202 for a trial fit. I managed to nearly hit that diameter but the piston wouldnt clear the bore. I gave it a few light polishes with some #500 sandpaper until it could fully enter both ends of the cylinder. Then I cut 4 oil grooves 0.004 deep using an E4 toolbit. A final deburring, and the piston seems a good fit in the cylinder, not too loose, not too tight. 






To test the fit I placed a piece of tape across the steam ports, and closed off the exhaust port and put the cylinder on a piece of oiled paper. If the piston crashed to the bottom its too loose, then Id have to start over. If it didnt descend it would need a bit of polish. The piston very slowly descended under its own weight so I think I have a winner. Though I can explain what I did in a few sentences it took me a number of hours to finish the piston to my satisfaction. Lots of light cuts and deburring near the end.






At this point I have all the parts needed to test the function of 3 assemblies Ive made. I took the cylinder and attached the upper head, crosshead base and rails. I poked the piston rod with piston attached through the upper head and attached it to the crosshead.






Movement of the crosshead is slightly tight but its what I would call ready to be worked in. So, Im ready to make the crankshaft and test the fit of the con rod assembly.

This is going to be a tall engine  18+ inches. 






Cheers,
Phil


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## zeeprogrammer (Mar 23, 2010)

That's looking great Phil.
I liked the tip on fitting the piston. That's an area I need to especially work on.


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## Metal Butcher (Mar 23, 2010)

Hi Phil. Your project is coming along real well with excellent machine work.

I see what you mean. That is a large engine at 18 inches, and without a base under the platform. With 3/4" columns, a big cylinder, a large piston, and a 1/4" rod, just to mention a few items, will also make it pretty hefty engine too.

Keep up the good work!

-MB


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 24, 2010)

Thanks Zee, MB. Zee, glad you found the tip helpful.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Mar 26, 2010)

I spent this week working on the crankshaft. I wanted to test the function of the 5 assemblies: the base, cylinder, piston, crosshead, and crankshaft. When I began building model engines a few years back I would make each part without thinking too much about how it fit into the overall build. As a result I would make all the parts and then in a mad burst of energy Id assemble them all and ..oops, this wont rotate, or this part wont fit into this part etc. etc. :wall: Then it was back to studying all the subassemblies to try to locate the source(s) of the problem(s). Now that Im older and just slightly wiser, as I go along I try to test as much of the engine movement that I can. Now I usually have no big surprises at the end.

The crankshaft is a classic two piece design for a single cylinder engine. A shaft is press fit into a crank web. I went for a tight fit and will eventually make it permanent with a pin and/or loctite.

The web starts as a 3+ inch round of alloy (1144). A short length is turned down to form a hub. Lots of chips are produced.






I drilled/reamed the web then sliced it off on the bandsaw. Holding the hub in the chuck, the major diameter was faced to length.

I clamped my 4 three jaw chuck to the mill/drill table and held the workpiece by the hub. I drilled/tapped threads for the crank journal. Then I drilled two 5/8 holes to form the radii for the web cutouts. A slitting saw was used to remove material up to the radii. Some light sanding with the Dremel sanding drum and the crank web is complete.

A piece of 5/8 drill rod was cut to a length of 7, and the end turned down to fit to the crank web.  






Since I have made modifications to the original plans for the connecting rod assembly Im reluctant to permanently assemble these unless necessary. As it turns out this was a good plan because when the crankshaft was connected to the con rod assembly I was getting interference between the crank web and the crossarm of the con rod. By backing off on the screws of the cap of the con rod arm and lifting the crossarm I found I had about 1/8 of metal to move out of the way.






Several fixes were available to me. I didnt want to just mill away metal from a good part to accommodate a bad part so I chose to simply make a new con rod arm with an extra 1/8 between the crossarm notch and the journal. 






Please ignore the garishly painted flywheel - it is temporary. I have no idea what I was thinking when I chose that color ???. 

Full rotation of the crankshaft was now possible. Now I wanted to test the functions of the piston, crossarm and con rod assemblies. I belted the engine to one of my steam engines to check for smoothness of movement. Heres a short video of this test. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhUwY-MuiaE[/ame]

Everything seemed to move OK , so Im ready to begin working on the valve linkage. 


Cheers,
Phil


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## Metal Butcher (Mar 26, 2010)

Looks real good Phil! :bow:

The connecting rod mod Was a good way to do it. 8)

A steam engine, running a steam engine! simply brilliant! :bow: 

-MB


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 4, 2010)

Ive made the rocker arms for the valve linkage mechanism. I spent a bit of time trying to decide how to sequence my operations. I picked some aluminum to test out my decisions instead of screwing up some expensive brass. Good thing too, because I made 3 prototypes before getting a reasonable part. Here is what I came up with. 
	Mill some brass blanks to size
	Drill 3/16 (big end) and 5/32 (small end) holes
	Drill tap 6-32 threads on big end for a locking screw
	Mill most of the small end of the rocker to a thickness of 0.156
	Mount the big end on a fixture using a #10 screw
	Turn the big end round to a depth of 0.156 on the lathe using a profiling toolbit
	Ream the big end 7/32 to specs and to fit one of the pivot pins 
	Profile the remaining thickness of the big end using the rotab with 1/8 end mill
	Profile the small end and guesstimate how far around to mill
	Mill the 5º angle on each side on the mill/drill. Use a 5º angle plate for a guide

Heres a picture of the fixture I used to round the ends of the arm.






Here Im about to round half the depth of the big end. I tried cutting the full depth of the profile with a 1/8 end mill but was getting too much flex to get a good finish. I had to use a 1/8 end mill because of the clamping bar on the fixture. 






I have no idea if this is the easiest way to make this part, but with a bit of polishing they should function OK.






A lot of tool swapping when I was making these drill, drill, tap, mill, turn on the lathe, ream, mill, mill but I liked the challenge.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Maryak (Apr 4, 2010)

Phil,

Neat fixture and I like the method. :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 4, 2010)

Many thanks Bob. I think I got the idea for the fixture from someone on this forum though I can't exactly remember who it was.  ???

Cheers,
Phil


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## BigBore (Apr 5, 2010)

Making the PDF file of this build is like reading a suspense novel. I can't wait to turn the page.

This is a goodin' Thm:

Ed


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## arnoldb (Apr 5, 2010)

That's coming along nicely Phil; good job!

Regards, Arnold


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## kendo (Apr 5, 2010)

Hi Phil
     Just picked up on this build, so i had to read it from the beginning.
     Absolutely brilliant, loved reading it. Your doing a fantastic job, can't wait
     to read more.

     This really is a Goodin :bow:

                   Ken


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## tel (Apr 5, 2010)

Philjoe5  said:
			
		

> Many thanks Bob. I think I got the idea for the fixture from someone on this forum though I can't exactly remember who it was. ???
> 
> Cheers,
> Phil



P'raps it was this one Phil - that would be my mine.





I see you are maintaining the high standard on the build - great stuff!


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 5, 2010)

Ed, Arnold, Ken Tel,
Thanks for the support and praise. 

Tel, it could have been one of your builds that gave me the fixture idea because I followed most of them all the way through. 

Thanks for the inspiration to you :bow: and all others :bow: who post their tips, WIPs, photos and ideas here. You are making this a great learning place.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 17, 2010)

Since my last progress report Ive been working on the valve gear. I started with the valve connecting rod. This is a two piece affair with a ring having a slot cut into it and an arm or rod that fits in the slot. The pieces are soldered together according to the plans.

I decided to make (yet another) change. By making the ring slightly larger in diameter and cutting the slot slightly deeper, Id have enough meat on the arm to pin it to the ring with no need to solder. So thats what I did. But then that changed the plan dimensions for trimming of the arm. Using my crude drawing program I made some calculations for cutting. I experimented with a piece of aluminum for cutting arcs and angles. Then I made the final product in brass. 

The next part on my list is the eccentric. This starts out as a 1.50 round of steel. Rooting around for some stock I found I didnt have this size in my alloy of choice, 1144. I did locate a fairly crusty looking iron round that was 1.58 in diameter, an odd size I thought. When I cut it I realized it was cast iron, probably Durabar. 

I drilled/reamed the offset crankshaft hole to 5/8 using the 4 jaw chuck on the lathe. This time I remembered that an offset of 0.125 in the eccentric means opposing jaws on the 4 jaw need to be 0.250 apart. I still had to stop and think about what I was doing when I saw the end of that workpiece wobbling around. At first I was sure that once I touched the center drill to it my drill bit was going to be ripped out of the drill chuck. It was only when I drilled up to ½ that I could finally focus on the hole and confirm in my mind it was running concentric to the lathe spindle axis. After I drilled to 0.562, I bored to 0.610, then finally reamed to 0.625. The connecting rod and eccentric are shown here:







A valve link block was made from a block of brass. Nothing tricky here. Just drill mounting holes, ream for the valve link rod, and trim off the excess with an end mill. 

The valve links were completed without any problems. I used my trusty fixture for rounding the valve links. I made a new pin that had a 5/16 slot milled into the head to prevent the valve link from rotating during this operation. I made a third rocker arm from brass like the previous two except this one is a little beefier with a longer boss. This rocker arm ties to the valve connecting rod. I also made one link pin out of 5/32 drill rod to see how it would fit in the rocker arm. I need to make two more of these.

The valve link cross arm came from some 3/8 hex CRS stock. The ends were turned to 5/32 for a close fit through the ends of the valve links. They were drilled with 1/16 holes on the ends to hold cotter pins. Heres a photo of the valve gear arranged temporarily in place. Ill eventually put these parts in place permanently with some loctite.






Next week I may not spend much time in the shop making chips. I want to connect up the valve gear and check it out for free movement. That will be the last mechanical to test. Once that passes muster its a matter of making the remaining fittings to finish the enginesome pins for the valve links and rocker arms, flywheel (spoked from a casting), steam chest cover, intake/exhaust pipes, and finials. 

Cheers,
Phil


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## zeeprogrammer (Apr 17, 2010)

Those are great looking parts Phil.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the run.
It's a nice engine.


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 17, 2010)

Thanks Zee. You may see it running for real at one of the Kinzers, PA shows, after early June, if all goes well.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 26, 2010)

I made some valve link pins, and a third rocker arm which is driven by the valve connecting rod. Drilling 1/16 holes in the ends of 5/32 drill rod link pins required some care. Milling a flat with a 1/8 end mill, followed by a center drill before drilling resulted in no broken drill bits. 

I had a piece of cast iron rectangle left over from the cylinder block stock. The plan dimensions called for stock 1/8 thick. I decided to make 1/8 boss to give me extra material to cut 1/4  28 NF threads for the inlet pipe. So I milled my stock to ¼ thickness. I center drilled it for a #10 screw, then mounted it on a fixture for turning the 1/8 thick boss on the lathe. 






I machined a flywheel from a casting I bought at Martins Models at Cabin Fever. Its 6 diameter and turned very nicely, no hard spots or voidsa treat to work with. I mounted the casting to the faceplate and machined the outer surface, the hub, the rim face, drilled/bored/reamed the center hole without removing the workpiece. 






With the outer surface true I mounted the flywheel in the 4 jaw and machined the other side. Then I drilled/tapped for two 10-32 set screws at a 30º angle in the hub boss. Finally I removed the flash using a Dremel tool with various sanding and grinding bits. I fastened the flywheel on some 5/8 drill rod in the lathe and spun it at 150 rpm and I could not detect any wobble. 






Finials are made for attaching the table to the supports columns.  I made them from 7/16 brass hex rod and some ¼  20 NC allthread. The brass hex was cut to length, threaded ¼  20 NC on one end. A 60º toolbit was used to cut two grooves and finally the end is tapered 30º. A piece of allthread wass cut to length, screwed into the brass hex rod and permanently attached using threadlocker. The result is a nifty Victorian era hex bolt. In this photo I havent yet removed the excess threadlocker.






Finally I made some fittings for the intake and exhaust ports from some brass hex stock.

Ive made all the parts to the engine. But an engine is more than the sum of its parts. I have the engine all put together with a temporary flywheel and standard hex head screws holding the table to the support columns. I decided to try a test run to make sure all my clearances and tolerances were going to cut the mustard.

With the steam chest cover removed I started adjusting the timing to the engine with the valve linkage assembled. Id never timed a sliding D valve engine like this before. The eccentric dimensions determine the travel length of the valve. The rocker arms on the link rod are used to adjust the position of the valve over the ports. With a few tries I had the engine running smoothly. This is the magical moment in every model engine builders life. All of a sudden, the reason for all those months of efforts are right there in front of you. I had a huge grin ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D planted on my face that took hours to wear off!






[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx3ETDxRR_U[/ame]

Many thanks go to enginebuilder Tom for providing a great set of plans in a scale I can work with. All the dimensions were right on and the assemblies work nicely together. Also thanks go to all you HMEM members that took the time to look in and offer some encouragement, tips etc.  it is much appreciated. I have truly learned a lot by looking in on some of the works in progress here. 

Now, all that remains is to strip this engine down, clean it, polish it up and paint some of the iron and steel and get it in show condition. Ill post the final result as soon as its truly finished.

Cheers,
Phil


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## zeeprogrammer (Apr 27, 2010)

Really cool Phil.
Congratulations.
I was struck by the smoothness and sound.


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## kustomkb (Apr 27, 2010)

Nice job Phil!

Congratulations.


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## SAM in LA (Apr 27, 2010)

Phil,

I am adding this engine to my build list.

This design has the classic, stately lines from the steam powered era.

Of course, it looks and sounds great.

Thanks for sharing.

SAM


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## enginemaker1 (Apr 27, 2010)

Phil

Congratulations! You've done a wonderful job. ;D

My be we can put our engines side by side in York. It runs real nice.

Tom


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## Maryak (Apr 27, 2010)

Phil,

Great work. :bow:

Great runner. :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## rake60 (Apr 27, 2010)

Beautiful build Phil! :bow:

Rick


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 27, 2010)

Zee, Kevin, Sam, Tom, Bob, Rick,

Thanks for the cheers guys. It was a fun trip for me. There were some nice challenges in this build and I tried doing a lot of new things. Thats what its all about. Glad you all looked in from time to time and offered support and encouragement. Be sure to stop in one more time when I have her really finished.

Tom, see you at the next Cabin Fever in York, PA. 


Cheers,
Phil


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## Philjoe5 (May 11, 2010)

As promised I have photos and a video of the engine finished to my liking. Ive been playing around with timing the engine and seemed to have gotten a smooth running engine. Here are two photos of the finished engine:











Finally, a video, though at this stage I was still tweaking the timing

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RTtqfSGhLw[/ame]

When I first began this engine there were a number of parts I wasnt sure about making. But gradually, taking one step at a time, progress was made. It is unfortunate that I cant personally thank all of those folks on this forum that gave me the solutions to making many of the components of this engine. But thanks to all of you for taking your time to post suggestions, or how-tos, or pictures and videos of your work.  Lots of ideas came from what Ive seen on this forum. Add to that some experimentation plus good luck and voila = success!  

Im very pleased with how this engine runs. It has an interesting characteristic that I havent seen in my other horizontal or vertical engines. The connecting rod assembly is constructed of five brass parts and as such, has a fair amount of mass, much more than a normal connecting rod for an engine of this size. When I spin the flywheel from BDC, I have to give it quite the push to get it over TDC. Then of course, gravity takes over and pulls that mass (toward the center of the earth, I expect). I know I can counterbalance this mass, but I dont believe the original engine did that. I wonder what kind of power curve this engine has compared to other designs?  Did this make for a more suitable water pumping engine? Any thoughts on that? 

As always thanks to all who stopped in and looked or chatted. :bow: 

Cheers,
Phil


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## zeeprogrammer (May 11, 2010)

Looks (and sounds) great Phil.
I notice some tweaks..but also the flywheel. Why'd you change it?
Just wondering.


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## Maryak (May 11, 2010)

Phil,

Congratulations on another very fine engine. :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## SAM in LA (May 11, 2010)

Phil,

Your engine looks great. I like the color combination you chose. The engine has a nice sound to it. Keep up the good work.

SAM


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## rake60 (May 11, 2010)

Very nicely done Phil! :bow:

Rick


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## GailInNM (May 11, 2010)

Great runner and a fine build thread. Thanks for sharing Phil.
Gail in NM


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## Deanofid (May 11, 2010)

That really runs nice, Phil. Great sound, and a neat motion with the extra parts.
I never would have thought of blue for a steamer, but that combo you used really sets of well.
Good running, and good looking, too!

Dean


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## Cedge (May 12, 2010)

Nicely done Phil!! It has a wonderful lick in the video and the color scheme works well. Excellent work!!

Steve


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## arnoldb (May 12, 2010)

Very well done indeed Phil :bow:

 ;D I like the colour scheme; my favorite shade of blue !

Kind regards, Arnold


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## tel (May 12, 2010)

A grand effort Phil - congratulations are in order.


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## Philjoe5 (May 12, 2010)

Thanks for the complements Zee, Bob, Sam, Rick, Gail, Dean, Steve, Arnold, Tel. Your words of encouragement now and during the build are much appreciated. :bow:

Zee, the blue flywheel I originally had on the engine was one I had in the spare parts box. I used it to test out the mechanicals during the build. I have come to appreciate making these model engines in some respects like their original full size counterparts. I have a long way to go, but the spoked cast iron flywheel was more commonly found + making one makes use of the faceplate that came with my lathe and sat on a shelf for about 3 years, unused (LOL) ;D.

Dean, I saw a steam engine finished with satin finish blue last year at the NAMES show and just knew Id use that color someday.

Cheers,
Phil


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