# RUBY KOUHOUPT MARINE ENGINE



## Don1966 (Jun 15, 2012)

I had started this engine before I started taking photos and documenting. I have attached the photo of the parts that were already made and will start for there to the final assembly. The cylinder is made from bronze, the shaft and throw lobs were made from tool steel, steam chest is brass, piston and steam chest linkage stainless and the frame and steam chest all brass. 






Squaring off the pillar block bearings




I will start by setting up the steam chest into the lathe and align it with the laser to the center punch mark and Boring and reaming.








Now I set it up in the mill and mill the steam passage.




Milling complete




Will thats all for today 

Don


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## steamer (Jun 15, 2012)

That's beautiful Don!  Nice Job!

Dave


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## Herbiev (Jun 15, 2012)

Looking great Don. Im looking forward to following this build of a really nice engine


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## rhitee93 (Jun 15, 2012)

I'll enjoy seeing you finish this one Don. It is on my to do list.


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## Don1966 (Jun 15, 2012)

Thanks guys for you interest. I will continue to post as I make progress, work is slow right now. Being summer it does not hurt my feelings any. I plan on making this a motor generator setup. I will be building a lamp post with an LED lamp for demo. All will be mounted into a Doll Case when complete. This is why I went with all brass and bronze. Below is the PM Research Dynamo I will be using. 

Don


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## Don1966 (Jun 16, 2012)

Well started off making the eccentrics and the eccentric straps. I used 5/8" cold rold steel for the eccentric. First off was to cut off a piece of stock big enough to make two. Then to the mill to drill the shaft passage in the eccentric. I set it up in the mill vise and used my coaxal indicator to center the mill. Then move to desired measurement and drilled through. Next was to move to the lathe and chuck it into the four jaw chuck. One thing I did wrong on the start was to cut the groves in the eccentric first in the three jaw chuck and then chuck it in the Four Jaw chuck to cut the offset, big mistake I cut the eccentric to size and then chucked it. The photo below is what happen to it.




Now to the new setup and doing it proper. First I center the shaft passage with the coaxal indicator and cut the offset then set up to cut the groove and then use the cutoff tool to remove it from the parent stock. 




Drilled and Ream




cutting the offset




The eccentrics complete




I started the eccentric strap with a piece of 932 bronze stock chucked in the three jaw chuck in the lathe cut and bored it to size.





That is all I got done today.

Don


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## Don1966 (Jun 18, 2012)

I had some time in the shop today and managed to get some work done. I started off by completing the Eccentric straps. The Flywheel was next in line and was cut from a 1 1/2" 360 brass round stock. I started cutting the resection and hub side and then drilled and reamed to 1/4". Then I rechuck to the oposite side to cut about a .125" resection on that side. After I had completed the turning process, I decided to add a little more to the flywhee. So I installed my rotary table and using an endmill cut eight holes around the inside perimeter of the hub.

The completed eccentrics and eccentric straps.




The Flywheel is beginning to take shape




Reaming the 1/4" shaft hole.




The completed flywheel and I decided to add some holes around the inside perimeter.




Using the rotary table to drill the holes




The completed flywheel finally and I believe I like that better




I will continue this on a new post.

Don


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## rhitee93 (Jun 18, 2012)

It's looking good Don. I like the flywheel.


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## ozzie46 (Jun 18, 2012)

Looking great Don.

  I'm here till the end.

 Ron


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## Don1966 (Jun 18, 2012)

Next I decided to drill the holes to install the cylinder top and bottom covers. I installed my vise and mounted the cylinder block on the mill. using my edge finder located the top and left corner and using my DRO to drill and taps the holes.




The bottom cylinder cover.




I also completed the steam chest and covers in the same setup.
So having more time to kill today i decided to start the crankshaft. I had been dreading to silver braze. Fear comes over me every time I think of it. I have silver braze before when I wound motors years ago but that was copper wire. So here is my take of brazing. I set it up in a small vise I had and made a piece of 3/16" brass shim and clamped the crank webs to keep them at the proper distance. I like to soak it good with flux.




Well the first crank web and really is not to bad jst trying to get my confidence up for the next one.




OK first step I have to square this thing off. So I set the first square point.




Next the second square point and i had to flip the vise over to its side for this one.




I decided to use my jewelers saw to cut the crank web openings.




Ok that ws not too bad and the crank is complete.





Well thats about all for today and I will try tomorrow to have more.
Ok I had a photo of it partial assemblied and I decided to post it.





Don


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## steamer (Jun 18, 2012)

A karma from me for the use of the jewelers saw!  A very underated tool that can be very handy!
Looking good Don!
Dave


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## Don1966 (Jun 19, 2012)

Dave thanks for the karma and your comments.

Brian and Ron thanks for the interest in my project.

BTW I sandwiched paper in between the bearing and installed and squared them to the bedplate. I started out by setting up the bedplate and bearings on to my angle plate and DTI them in the vertical side. After securing the bedplate to the mill I used my edge finder to located the top left corner and dialed to center point on the first bearing. I center drill the top bearing but do not have a center drill long enough to center the next bearing in line. So I used a half size drill to drill all bearings and finish with the last under size drill bit. I then reamed with an under size reamer and finished with the final size reamer. 




Making the first pass through all bearings




Reaming the bearings to final size.




I then install the crankshaft and connecting rods and install it on the lathe to break it all in.




While I had the engine on the lathe running on low speed I started to mill the slide valve body the photo is only the start of the process I got carry away and forgot to take more. I just line it up to cut the slit down the middle of the valve body.




Next I started the steam inlet manifold by milling the flanges out.




Using the slitting saw to cut the flange to size.




Here I am bending the Manifold tubing with my micromark bender. I first fill the tubing with glass beads to pervent it from crushing the tubing. ???




Setting the manifold up for silver brazing. Oh!! a lot of flux. Thm:




Not to bad for a beginner. ;D




And the manifold all cleaned up. As I was cleaning the manifold up, I decided to polish it. Well that was almost a big mistake. Thinking I had it in my hand securely and buffing away it went flying and I held my breathe :wall:. I was lucky today is all I can say.


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## Rayanth (Jun 19, 2012)

I've never soldered anything in my life, it always amazes me when i see the photos like your last two - something so ugly can become so pretty and nearly flawless...

keep up the good work, watching every step!

- Ryan


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## steamer (Jun 20, 2012)

As I am sure Don will agree...no real magic there Ryan.
Just patience, and hard work and some good planning.

Nicely done Don!

Dave


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## bearcar1 (Jun 20, 2012)

I appreciate the ovoid shape you put on the mounting flanges Don, nice going Thm:

BC1
Jim


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## Don1966 (Jun 20, 2012)

Jim, Ryan and Dave thanks for you comments and interest I really appericate you guys watching.

BTW
Well I had another day of playing and today I decided to give the engine a pair of shoes. Ruby design this engine with just to bedplate but it just don't look right so here we go. I started out with milling some stock to 3/4" x 1/4"diameter. 




I then wanted some mounting bolt holes and mill some opening about .125" deep by 3/4" wide to match the bedplate.




Just having the opening in the sole plate was not quiet good enough so I mounted my Sine vise on the mill and using my angle cube set it up for 15 degrees.








Here I am milling the angle.




after fitting the shoes to the engine here is how it looks. The engine is not complete as you see it I still have a few thing left to do to it. I am waiting for some 2/56 taps to come in. I managed to break three of them on this engine. One I dropped and it broke when it fell and the other two while tapping. No I don't have any excuse why just get too careless thats all.








tomorrow is another day so I will try to have more progress.

Don


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## Don1966 (Jun 21, 2012)

Today I started out to make a lamp pole. The photos below show the progression of the built. I started with a piece of 1.5" 360 round brass to make the base assembly with. In the turning process I had some pratice at graving. I had done some graving before, but needed more practice. I also had to make a bending fixture to bend the tubing with. After I had brazed and clean up the lamp pole I set everything up on the MFB which came with the Doll case to get an idea of how everything will look.
First process making the base unit.




http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg629/don1966/MARINE%
20ENGINE/NO61.jpg
Some graving with the end of a file.




Tapping the completed base unit




I then started the pole shaft by tapping the treads to screw to the base unit and center drilling.




The pole column is starting to take shape.




Almost complete




Made the jig to bend the lamp pole head, first I filled the tubing with glass beads then bend to shape without crushing it.




Starting the lamp cone.




More graving practice to cut the funnel opening.




Setting up for silver brazing.








The pole complete




The setup with engine, Dynamo and lamp pole.








I am still waiting on taps to complete the engine but I will continue to mount everything to the platform. I will post as I progress.
One thing I want to ask everyone is, what color to paint the Dynamo so it will match everything. Are do I just leave it as is.
Don


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## ozzie46 (Jun 21, 2012)

Don, Thats very nice work. That lamp pole is fantastic. 

  As far as what to paint the dynamo, myself, I would leave it as it is.

  What ever you decide to do I'm sure it fit the theme.

 Ron


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## steamer (Jun 21, 2012)

Oh I like that Don!  I like brass!!!!

Dave


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## idahoan (Jun 21, 2012)

Wow the light pole is a work of art!

The engine is pretty darn nice also.
Thanks for sharing your build with us.

Dave


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## Lesmo (Jun 22, 2012)

Hi Don 

Have just finished your thread and am very impressed. Like Dave, I just love brass and you have certainly made good use of it on this lovely engine I think your work on that lamp is pure artistry, it is something I have never tried myself. One day maybe.

Cheers Les :bow:


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## rhitee93 (Jun 22, 2012)

That is inspiring Don. I used to do a lot of work with gravers and a watch maker's lathe back when I was doing antique clock restoration on a regular basis. It never occurred to me to set up a bar in the tool post to act as a tool rest for gravers on the big lathe. thanks for opening my eyes


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## moconnor (Jun 22, 2012)

Hello Don,

The lamp pole, base and shade are fantastic! I love to see gravers being used for complex profiles like your lamp project. George Thomas advocated their use quite often for model engineering in his written work. Keep practicing and develop the skill set, it sure is faster than grinding form tools. And as you just showed, spectacular results are possible.

Very well done! Oh BTW, your engine is pretty nice too. Thm: I am looking forward to seeing you complete it. All of your engines are finished so beautifully.

Regards,
Mike


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## Don1966 (Jun 22, 2012)

Thanks Dave, Ron, Idahoan, Les and Brian I too love working with brass. Thanks for all you kind works it keeps my focus and glad you guys are watching over me. 

Don


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## Don1966 (Jun 22, 2012)

Thanks Mike for the encouraging words. I did start out model engineering graving. A good friend of mind had a watchmakers lathe and he introduced me to graving. Thanks again for the kind words.

Don


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## Marty Feldman (Jun 22, 2012)

Very nice work - so nice, in fact, that I am prompted to suggest that you do something to alter that green color on the dynamo. To me, it's a designer color that just doesn't go with the rest of the plant. Matt black would do. Some of them were very dark green, or dark brown.


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## smfr (Jun 22, 2012)

Wow, Don, both engine and lamp post are looking great. You made that lamp post look really easy!

Simon


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## vcutajar (Jun 22, 2012)

Beautiful work Don. As you have asked, I would paint the generator black.

Vince


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## mklotz (Jun 22, 2012)

I vote for black as well...

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=6522.msg69647#msg69647


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## ronkh (Jun 22, 2012)

Black as well Don. Black (Matt?) gets my vote along with Marv and Vince!

Really sweet looking engine and such a good thread. Thanks for sharing.
I agree with Steamer in that brass looks so good. Especially on a good build such as your's.
 :bow:

Ron.


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## seagar (Jun 22, 2012)

My vote is for mat black to go with your beautifull brass engine. :bow:

Ian (seagar)


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## Don1966 (Jun 22, 2012)

First thanks guys for all you kind words and input, so Matt Black it will be for the dynamo.
Simon graving the parts was easier then you think. 360 brass machines real easy and graves just as easy. 
Marv I check you built on the motor generator setup real nice.

Ok BTW.
I had some time in the shop today and did not do a whole lot, but managed to make the pull for the engine to drive the Dynamo with. I start out with 360 rd brass 1 1/2" chuck it in the lathe to cut the slot for the belt and the hub. I then mounted my rotary table on the mill to do a little practice at doing something I had neve done on it. This was cutting the inside ridge of the pulley and holes for spokes. One mistake I made which could of cost me to redo the pulley was to leave the chuck on the mill. I first left the chuck to cut the holes throught the pulley. When I did this I had not put the tommy bar in to secure the chuck. All went well drilling the holes, but when I decided to cut the ridge inside the pulley guess what. :wall: Yea the chuck fell down into the pulley. Make a note do not mill with the chuck. :fan: I managed to salvage the pulley just cut the ridge a little deeper. The photos below I will detail the progression.
First I turned the hub and using a round nose tool to cut the pulley belt slot and used a rat tail file to finish it with.





Seeting it up on the rotary table on the mill and adjust it for zero position with the taper part of the edge finder. Note using the micrometer to check movement of the edge finder.




Cutting the hole pattern 




Cutting the ridge aound the wheel












The pulley all completed




Just a shot of the setup with the pulley and belt.





My taps still have not arrived so today I ordered some more just to make sure.

Don


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## Don1966 (Jun 25, 2012)

Today I had a little time in the shop and my taps finally came in. I have a short video of the engine running. Although I had a mishap with the engine I managed to get it running again but it is still tight. When I set it up to video it I turn the air on and the engine started and vibrated of the counter before I could pick up the camera and make the video. It bent the shaft some and the eccentric strap, but all in all it was OK. I will have to run the DTI on it tomorrow and try to finish straighting the shaft. The engine would run on 2 PSI with no problem now it take 10. So here is a short video.




Now I have to disassembly it and clean it all up to mount it with the dynamo.


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## steamer (Jun 26, 2012)

Sorry to hear about your mishap Don! It seems you got it repaired very well! :bow:

A suggestion if I might.  Its bad practice to use a drill chuck to hold an endmill. The shank on a drill is soft and the drill chuck will grip that very well, on the other hand a endmill shank is extremely hard and the chuck will fail to grip it.

The result will at best be the end mill will pull out of the chuck in use.

Additionally, most chucks don't have a draw bar.  The cutting forces on an endmill tend to be in the down direction. Trying to pull the endmill out of the spindle. The result can be disasterous!  I think you suffered this failure. 

Definitly get a collet set or even better a set of endmill holders with a proper drawbar.  That's the right way to do it.

Warm Regards,

Dave


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## Tin Falcon (Jun 26, 2012)

RK would be proud
Tin


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## Don1966 (Jun 26, 2012)

Thanks Tin and Dave for your comments. Dave I do have collets and collet chucks. It was one of those dumb things I do sometimes. Today I will try to sraighten my shaft to better tolerance. Then disassembling to pretty it up. I was rather proud of it till it fell, but it could of been worse.

Don


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## steamer (Jun 26, 2012)

You should still be proud!

I was in the shop pushing the cross slide back and forth and I slide it forward only to realize that the gibs on the saddle....when the whole thing fell!.....lucky for me I caught it but it made me say a lot of bad words at myself!

Excrement Occurs!

Dave


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## arnoldb (Jun 26, 2012)

What Tin & Dave said Don - A nice engine you can be proud of :bow:

The "stuff" will happen; the first engine I built got knocked over accidentally and now has a wonky flywheel  - unfortunately one can not do much about accidents happening. If an engine is damaged, it's sad, but that's better than getting injured.

Kind regards, Arnold


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## Don1966 (Jun 26, 2012)

Thanks Arnold for the boost, I will manage to get the shaft straight. I use to straighten shaft on electric motors year ago, when I was in the motor shop. I seen your finished engine and I will try to document the finishing process of my engine with a few photos to show how much time and effort goes into finishing an engine. I have not read any threads on it. So I will do my best to show it.

Don


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## rhitee93 (Jun 26, 2012)

It's looking great Don. I hope to build one of these some day. Yours will be a build to strive for.


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## steamer (Jun 26, 2012)

Some Karma from me for stickin with it!

 :bow: :bow:


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## Don1966 (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks Dave for the karma I had not given up yet, it would take a whole lot more that that to make me stop.

Well had some more time in the shop. First off was the straighten out the shaft. When the engine fell it also pulled the air regulator with it, so this help break the fall. It did hit the flywhell and this is how it bent the shaft. I set the bedplate up on my bench and clamped it down and using my anvil to support the DTI. I rolled the shaft with the flywheel and started hitting the shaft with a brass hammer litely on the high spot till I noticed the reading start to change. Then it was just a matter of repeated taps till the reading was at .001 and that was good enough. I also repeated this on the opposite shaft just to make sure. I was very happy with it as is. The amount of time to straighten the shaft was 30 minutes.
Next I started disassembling the engine and set my finishing bench up to start polishing the engine parts. I shot some photos of some of my progression and ways of polishing. 
This photo is the setup of for straightening the shaft.





This photo is my finishing bench. The bench is a B&D workmate and perfect for finsihing. I have a piece of saftey glass to sand and a vice for work holding with soft jaws. I also have an assortment of sanding sticks and wands. I am showing the color chart to show you the different grit sizes. I also havwe a small hand held vise made of brass to hold small parts with.




This photo is a shot of the cylinder and I purposely polishing it with marks on it to show that any scratched in the brass will show up like a sore thumb. The brass has to be polished until all scrtatches are removed. This take a lot of work.




A shot of the disassemblied engine.




Using a square edge to sand the cylinder.




First coat on the base.




This is the progress so far you are looking at 10 hours of work to get to this point. I will probably have another 15 hours left to finish polishing the engine and assembling it.




As of now the engine has a total of 121 hours total in it to get it to this stage.

Don


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## steamer (Jun 27, 2012)

Don.   I have complete faith.  Like the sun is coming up tomorrow!
 :bow:


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## rhitee93 (Jun 28, 2012)

I'd say you know your way around the polishing tools Don. This is not something I am very good at.

Do you lacquer your parts when you are done?


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## Don1966 (Jun 28, 2012)

Thanks Dave for the vote of confidence. I will try not to let you down.

Brian I do not lacquer any engines, not as lone as they have moving parts. I perfer to clean them when they need it.

BTW today I had 8 hours in the shop, so I managed to finish polishing the engine. I also will continue to show the process of cleaning brass. 
I started with the bed plate today and laided it on the glass plate. I grabed the bed plate with all three fingers and putting a small amout of pressure on it while making a figure eight pattern. I start with 600 grit WD and if I have deeper scratches I will use 400 grit and work down to 1500 grit. Even using 1500 grit as the metal is removed from the plate it will create problems because it is still between the work piece and the sanding. The metal that is being removed is still scratching the surface. So cleaning of the sandpaper has to be done frequently to avoid this. Or keep frequent water flow on the work as you sand. I will used the soft sanding wands to finish it with before I use the dremel to polish with MAAS metal cleaner. After the polishing I use Preps-it a surface cleaner and degreaser to clean the MAAS off using a soft brush then flush it with water and blow dry with air.
This first photo is the bedplate being sand using a figure eight pattern and holding with all three fingers.




Then I stand it on end against a squares edge to sand the sides, but pulling it towards me only.




Now I make use of the dremel to buff spots my regulator buffer can not get to. I still use the dremel to finish all parts even after I use the regulator buffer.




Then it is a matter of cleaning it with the Preps-it using a soft brush and flush it with water. I also use a soft rag like terry cloth to keep from putting my fingers on it or I would lose the shine.




This is the engine all cleaned up.








I still have to finish mounting the engine and Dynamo for final comnpletion.
Don


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## rhitee93 (Jun 28, 2012)

That is fantastic Don 

Thanks for showing the steps you use.


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## steamer (Jun 29, 2012)

Hey the Sun came up!  ......looks like a glorious engine! :bow: :bow:

Thanks for the blow by blow, safely packed away for when I need to do that...hopefully I won't let you down!

 :bow:

Dave


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## arnoldb (Jun 29, 2012)

Thm: That's pretty as a picture Don - WELL DONE!

Kind regards, Arnold


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## Don1966 (Jun 30, 2012)

Thanks Dave, Arnold and Brian for your interest and standing behind me on this built. When I get more time I will finish mounting the engine and video the engine and Dynamo.

Don


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## Don1966 (Jul 2, 2012)

For anyone interested I have completed the engine mounting and have posted the video in the finished projects area. http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=19120.msg198818#msg198818

Don


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## Aydelott (Sep 27, 2012)

beautiful!!!!! can you post a picture of how the valve hooks to the valve spindle does it just slide in to a slot? im making the same engine thank you


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## Don1966 (Sep 29, 2012)

That's correct the valve has a 1/16th slot and the rod is turned to the same diameter. Thanks for the kind comment.

Don


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## Aydelott (Oct 3, 2012)

does the eccentric spin inside the brass strap?


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