# Kyle's Edwards Radial build.



## kylenlord (Mar 6, 2016)

Hello everyone,
I've been chipping away at small parts to the Edwards radial for the past two months. It's with my recent acquisition of a used 10" phase 2 rotary table that this isn't a fleeting fancy, and that I'm truly enjoying this process. It is with full disclosure that I'm new to machining but am trying to have a steep learning curve. Any mistakes I make I'll post, so others may not make it and hopefully I won't make it again. As it stands I waited too long to get any precise measuring equipment. Last week I got a set of mitutoyo micrometers, and after checking my parts again most things are a bit big by a few thousands. Darn you harbor freight digital micrometers, never again.

I'll try to update my thread each day until it catches up to where I currently am. I'll start with the Pistons today. I started with 6061 borrowed from work. It's 1" rod and I grabbed enough to make 10 Pistons. I learned initially to ease into your last measurement. Many small passes beats going too small. Each rod I cut is enough for two pistons. Grooving tools were ground from hss blanks. Again, it's very easy to over grind, always ease into your measurement.

I bored out the back of the piston with my new 3/8" boring bar set. I went back and forth between moving the carriage and the compound. That's when I learned the make absolutely sure the compound is parallel. No biggie though the taper is just a couple thousands.

At this point I made a plate to hold my lathe chuck to my mill. I made the conrod clearance with a 3/8" carbide end mill. I didn't like the carbide... I also wished I used a 5/16" endmill and made two passes. It's not pretty but it'll work.

I still need to drill and ream the wrist pin hole, add the bottom groove and drain holes. Ultimately I trashed about four Pistons, but these were my first attempts at accurate parts. I learned a lot.

Bear with me everyone, still figuring out how to post here.
Thanks
Kyle


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## kylenlord (Mar 6, 2016)

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Another attempt at photos, when I upload multiple photos it only posts one.


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## kylenlord (Mar 6, 2016)

Okay I think I'm making some progress with the iPhone app. 

Here is how I located the piston to my spindle.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457243266.968109.jpg


I setup a scrap plate to rest my dual indicator so I'd know I was plunging in .500". I made a total of 10 passes going .050 deeper each time.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457243373.452531.jpg


Here is my new toy, it was $250 from a consignment store. It has some wear and tear, weighs a tons, eats up a lot of space but is amazingly solid. Everything else I'll work around.

To be continued 
Kyle

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457243550.993578.jpg


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## kylenlord (Mar 6, 2016)

After I made a genuine effort at the pistons, I decided to work on the cylinder liners. 

First of all thanks again to everyone who gave me advice on cast iron. 
My purchaser at work ordered me a 12" section of the easy to machine 1.5" ci from McMaster Carr. This was enough to make five, I'd like to have extra but I didn't want to buy another 12" section. I promptly cut it apart at my works horizontal band saw.

I learned a lot from this process. Cast iron is loud to machine, throws hot metal at me, covers everything including my hands in black, and left me with a cough for a day.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457304979.631162.jpg


I turned enough down just to hold the piece true and flipped it around to clean up the other side. 

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457305029.953573.jpg


After I had enough fun at home, I brought the pieces to work and drilled to 13/16" on the south bend we have.

My local machine shop supplier had a carbide tipped boring bar that I used to bore. I was having an awful time, the boring bar chattered and whined and left a rough finish. 

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457305234.775102.jpg


After I did some research, everyone recommended setting the boring bar just above center. Sure enough I must have been .010" too low. I quick adjust of height and I was pleasantly surprised at how much better it was cutting.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457305332.173904.jpg


All five are now bored about .004" under. I'm debating if I want to try the 3 blade brake hone or make a brass lap. I also left the length long, and still have to turn down to final od. I wanted to leave meat for boring in hopes it would keep any chatter down. Next up will be valves.

Thank you for looking 
Kyle


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## 10K Pete (Mar 6, 2016)

If it's that loud and hot, you're going way too fast. Cut the speed in half, use
a sharp tool and a feed that keeps the chips clean not powder.

Pete


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## petertha (Mar 6, 2016)

Another radial, yes! Looking good. Keep us posted.


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## kylenlord (Mar 6, 2016)

Pete,
Thank you for the advice. When I turn down the od of the cylinders I will get a fresh carbide bit and lower the speed.

The valves were quite a project by themselves. They are turned from 1/2" 416 stainless purchased off eBay.

I started by turning down the tip to just before the bottom of the valve keeper. When I used a flat tipped grooving tool it left the main stem as a straight shot for turning. 

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457324519.879747.jpg


I made it through two valves before I decided to figure out the gearing on my lathe for power feeding. I'm so glad I did power feed helped so much. I started with large cuts and worked my way down until I was only cutting .002" at a time.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457324715.725098.jpg


The bell shape was cut with a hss bit with a radius I ground into it. I left a little spud, marked the number one jaw in the chuck so I could go back and polish the stems. Well after I polished and parted the valve off, I decided to double check my measurements. 

Sure enough the radius started about .015" to high on each one. Backtracking through I found out where I went wrong. My mini lathe has the dial as .040" or 1mm per revolution. Well I used that dial to move the cutter 1.18" from the tip. It turns out that mm is correct and the discrepancy is .014" short.

Because I already parted the head off, I had to get creative. I held the valves by the stem, mounted my radius tool backwards and ran the machine in reverse.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457325251.911507.jpg


This was beyond the cross slides threads so I had to pull the slide in by hand. This worked surprisingly well although I was sweating it. I probably have about 20 hrs into these valves.

Lastly the compound was set to 45 degrees and all the seat areas were cut.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457325411.444088.jpg


Pictured is a model airplane tail wheel for size reference. 

Of course once I finally got a real measuring tool I rechecked the valve stems they're coming out at an average of .1255 to .126. I'm sure this would have been apparent in an 1/8" reamed hole. 

Not a terrible thing though, I plan to polish the stems further until they're the right dimension.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457326177.414097.jpg


In the next post I'll go through making the link rods.

Thanks for looking
Kyle


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## kylenlord (Mar 6, 2016)

Peter glad to have you along!
Ill do my best, I hope to not disappoint.
Kyle


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## Hopper (Mar 7, 2016)

Nice work indeed. Looking forward to following your progress


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## kylenlord (Mar 7, 2016)

Thank you Hopper, glad to have you along. 

The last post that will get my thread caught up is in the link rods. 

I ordered a small plate of 1/4" 7075 for the link rods, rockers and rocker brackets. The plans call for 2024 but it seems 7075 is stronger so I don't see an issue.

On the do-all bandsaw at work I cut the plate apart.

The rod blanks went into the mill and got squared up.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457410508.682921.jpg


I milled the skinny center section, and then the slot on both sides. This time I used a smaller than the slot endmill and it worked much better than the Pistons.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457410618.203006.jpg


One side was drilled and reamed to 1/4", the other to 6mm. The wrist pin comes from an O.S. Engine though I'd  like to make my own.

I made an mt-3 plug to fit the center of the rotary table. It was drilled and tapped 8-32.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457410758.891119.jpg


Next I made a spacer to center the link pin holes to the table.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457410887.788755.jpg


Fortunately I used this practice rod for my first attempt. I centered the table and moved .2" over for the radius. I neglected to add half the cutter, as soon as I cut into my .375 washer I realized my error.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457411012.867124.jpg


When I rounded the opposite side I ran into an issue where at a radius of .2" I was left with a small flat. The length was correct, upon investigating my holes are about .007" too far apart. I scribed this distance with my Harbor Freight calipers. It's reading smaller than actual, so very shortly they'll be getting repaired with a hammer.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457411204.981580.jpg


The small flats can be seen in the bottom. It's a small amount, though I'll double check when I do the compression check.

With the short time I had tonight I began on the valve guides. 

It's easy to machine bearing bronze from McMaster. The end was turned to 1/4" for a 1/4-28 thread.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457411414.341163.jpg


Then the center was drilled 3/32" and reamed to 1/8".

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1457411480.024328.jpg


I must admit I'm a bit confused though. I tested my valves in the reamed hole. The only one that went in fits snugly and measures at .1255". I would think that it shouldn't go in at that size. Does an 1/8" reamer leave an 1/8" hole or is it slightly larger? 

All the other valves are wont go in, but that's better than being too small.

Whew that was a mouthful, but it's taken me 2 1/2 months to get here.

As always thank you all for looking 
Kyle


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## petertha (Mar 8, 2016)

_Does an 1/8" reamer leave an 1/8" hole or is it slightly larger? 
_
Probably yes but hard to tell without knowing what you bought. Sometimes the 'nominal sizes are spec'd like -0.0000" +0.0002". So that would give you 0.1250 - 0.1252" hole. Or if its an ebay reamer, 0.124 - 0.126  Here is excerpt from Travers catalog just to show variations... dowel pin reamers go reverse tolerance looks like.


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## 10K Pete (Mar 8, 2016)

When one is concerned with the actual size of the hole, one always measures
the drill/reamer with a calibrated micrometer.

Never assume!!

Pete


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## CherokeeJ (Mar 8, 2016)

I've always considered calipers to be "precision guess-timators." Possibly nothing wrong with the reamer, the error may be in the measurement of the valve stem. Measure it with a micrometer instead of the calipers, and see where you're at.

$.02, and worth every penny.


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## kylenlord (Mar 8, 2016)

Ok, thanks guys. 

Well I measured the reamer, clearly labeled at 1/8". Can't read the name but it's from a local supplier. 

I set my mic at .126" and spun the reamer and felt for resistance. At .1255" I would feel a small amount of resistance, at .1254" I couldn't get it through a revolution and I didn't want to force it.

Upon measuring the widest part is at the tip is .1255, and it tapers back towards the mandrel to about .1245".

I guess this explains why a valve I measured at slightly over .125" would go in. I'm glad my valves are still slightly too large. I guess the next question is what's an acceptable valve clearance? The plans spec the valves between .124" and .1245" for an 1/8" hole so I'm guessing it's .001 to .0005 clearance.

Measure tools before drilling and reaming, lol I'll be writing that one down.

Thanks everyone
Kyle


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## MDurling (Mar 15, 2016)

Ok Kyle you asked for it, I'm on your 6 again.
I would expect to get .125 with a 1/8" ream. Mic your ream to be certain it's not an oversize ream. If it's on size I would look at the set up for run out. Slight misalignment of centers could easily give you 5 ten thousands.  That ream is hanging out there, did you chamfer the hole prior to reaming? A shorter piloted ream may be helpful.
What are your tolerances on the valve guides? Your valve stems are .0005 to .001 oversize right now correct? You might be in a good place, always better to have material to remove than be under your target dimension.

Michael


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## 10K Pete (Mar 15, 2016)

kylenlord said:


> I set my mic at .126" and spun the reamer and felt for resistance. At .1255" I would feel a small amount of resistance, at .1254" I couldn't get it through a revolution and I didn't want to force it.
> 
> Kyle



No, no, no, no.  Don't set the micrometer then spin the part through it!! No!

Hold the part in one hand, the micrometer in the other and slowly close the 
micrometer over the part while moving the parts slightly to feel for the large
area of the part. Gently! Then read the mic.

Micrometer is a measuring tool not a go/no go gage. But you wouldn't force those either!

Pete


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## kylenlord (Mar 16, 2016)

Hey Michael,

Per Pete's advice I'm going to recheck the size of the reamer correctly before I announce my findings. 

There is a possibility of my tailstock being off, I'm not a fan of the tailstock adjustment in the 7x12 lathe. It does not repeat the same settings very well. 

I may be wrong but I thought the reamer was meant to be that long, that its supposed to follow the drilled hole. I didn't chamfer the hole, but the very tip of the cutting flutes have a radius. 

The valves are meant to be at .124" to .1245" for a .125 hole. When I feel confident of where I'm at I'll sand the valves down accordingly.

Pete thank you for the advice.
I will try measuring again tomorrow the correct way and post my results.

I played around some more with the valve guides this past weekend.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458101887.989366.jpg


View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458101517.303030.jpg


I had made an undercut, but it wasn't deep enough. It wouldn't snug up against a tapped hole.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458101691.375382.jpg


I chucked it back into the lathe and put an undercut in like I meant it.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458101743.001091.jpg


This yielded a much better result.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458101780.569967.jpg


Thank you all for looking
Kyle


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## 10K Pete (Mar 16, 2016)

More teeny, tiny little parts! And that radial has a lot of them. 

Too small for me!  Looks good!

Pete


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## Lakc (Mar 18, 2016)

Some day I will get around to building this.  My boxer twin was basically modified edwards cylinders and heads. Dont forget to include the yahoo group.


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## kylenlord (Mar 18, 2016)

Thank you Pete
I rechecked the reamer properly, it looks like its coming in at .1252". I think I'm going to target the valves for .1245" and move on. The bigger issue I have now is the bronze isn't the right type. I was reading Mayhughs radial and he recommended phospher bronze, I have bearing bronze which is much softer. Next week I'll order some 3/8" from mcmaster. No foul though at least I got some good practice.

Hey Jeff,
Your boxer twin sounds cool, do you have a build thread?
Necer seen the yahoo groups, do you have a link?

Thanks
Kyle


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## petertha (Mar 18, 2016)

Re the bronze, if I recall one of Terry's posts, he started with 954 aluminum bronze, then switched to 544 phosphor bronze, but discovered later it was actually 660 bronze. Don't remember if this was the 9-cyl or 18-cyl now. Hopefully I have the story right. So just curious, what alloy numbers do you mean by 'phospher bronze' & 'bearing bronze' & which are you leaning towards?


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## Blogwitch (Mar 19, 2016)

For all you tailstock reamer jockeys.

Unless you have a floating reamer setup (almost any good gunsmith will confirm this), ANY, even by a tiny amount of tailstock out of alignment will result in a larger than reamer sized hole, purely because the reamer is being held off centre and not following the original drilled or bored hole.

Have a look here for details

http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/Floating_Reamer_Holder.html

Click on the picture for more details.

After reseaching them for a few years, I am just about to eventually make one, but because all my reamer sets are now parallel shank, it will have a keyless chuck instead of the MT taper holders, which will result in a much shorter unit. All my larger 3MT reamers will be used on my mill as I have both vertical and horizontal boring facilities.
If anyone wants to know more, then send me a PM.

John


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## Lakc (Mar 19, 2016)

kylenlord said:


> Thank you Pete
> Hey Jeff,
> Your boxer twin sounds cool, do you have a build thread?
> Necer seen the yahoo groups, do you have a link?
> ...


Kyle,
Build thread is here: http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=10465
For pics, your going to have to troll my photobucket. 
http://s1207.photobucket.com/user/lakethstadt/library/old default?sort=3&page=1
The Yahoo group is the only place to "officially" get Forrest Edwards plans for that motor. Apparently he had willed the rights to the group itself, who officially drew up the plans. There were some early mistakes in some of the plans elsewhere on the web, so join and get the whole story.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/R_and_R_engines/info


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## petertha (Mar 19, 2016)

Blogwitch said:


> For all you tailstock reamer jockeys.
> ... it will have a keyless chuck instead of the MT taper holders, which will result in a much shorter unit.  John


 
I got interested in this a while back & couldn't figure out why it wasn't common tooling, like a standard lathe MT# shank on the rear and ER or ordinary 3-jaw drill type chuck on the front to grip straight shank reamers. The closest I see are these straight shanks. 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BISON-GFI-ER-Floating-Reamer-Collet-Chuck-1-Straight-Shank-Size-ER25-/222047021762?hash=item33b308aac2:g:BAAAAOSwoudW7ANC

The good ones like this Bison seem spendy. Are there offshore equivalents? Is it kind of like a center finding principle where the mating faces might be precision ground? And I think these are different than floating tapping chucks, yes? Some of those look like rubber collets, but I know less about those.


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## Blogwitch (Mar 20, 2016)

Peter, 

When you actually see the drawings for home made ones, they are very basic, with just normal achievable machining tolerances involved.

All you are doing is allowing the reamer to point in the direction and offset that it wants to be without allowing it to rotate, basically a sloppy and floppy CV joint that allows the reamer to move sideways either way, up and down, plus at whatever angle it wants to go, all at the same time.

I have seen a few designs and chose two which I thought were frontrunners in ease of manufacture with good engineering practices and theories, and came to the final decision that the Hemingway one will be the one I want to make, and so I bought the full kit.
Looking at it now, it was grossly overpriced, not the very good drawings and build instructions, they can't be faulted, but the materials involved, I could have bought them for a very little money compared to what Hemingway charged me for them. But of course, you don't find out things like that until you have paid for and received the package. Maybe that is why they won't just sell you the plans, they make huge profits on basic materials.

John


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## kylenlord (Mar 20, 2016)

Hey Peter,

The Bronze I'm using is called Machinable 936 Bearing Bronze, also known as modified SAE64. It is from McMaster-Carr.

I noticed it was soft because after I reamed the center hole and used a die to cut the threads, the hole had closed in slightly. It was just coincidence I looked at MayHughs 9cyl build thread. 
I must admit I went and ordered Lee Hodgson's 14cyl plans and rear casting as a future project. 
I must also admit that material selection is somewhat new to me. I assumed that bearing bronze was the right material to get because of the valves sliding in and out. I didn't realize the vast array of types or levels of hardness available. I'm concerned if I do use this bronze, the guides may wear prematurely.

It's all part of the learning curve, at the very least I plan to cut the threads and then ream the hole, regardless of the material I use.

I'm not sure if it matters, but the reamer I have is slightly tapered. The very end is coming in at .1252" and towards the rear of the cutting flutes its .124" I'm guessing it is so the reamer has more clearance as it goes further in. Does this help at all if the reamer was to be slight off center? In accordance with you theory however, it did seem like the hole tightened up slightly towards the top. I'd be willing to bet my tailstock is off.

I'm considering using a center drill on the lathe, then when I put the valves guides into the rotary table I can drill and ream on the mill. Is this a better solution? 

Either way, I think I'm going to work on the valve rockers next. Take a break from the valve guides, and welcome in a new set of challenges. There seems to be quite a few steps so I think they'll keep me occupied for a while.

Thank you everyone
Kyle


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## petertha (Mar 20, 2016)

Hmm.. I'm going to have to check into this subject more myself. So far I'm just playing follow the leader. Found this link which lists a bunch of bronze grades, properties & alloy constituents. Look at the range of hardness numbers for example.

http://www.advancebronze.com/alloy-charts.php


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## kylenlord (Mar 22, 2016)

Hello everyone,
I had a little time this weekend and started cleaning up the blanks for the rocker arms.

I started by making sure the vice was square to the table.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458698372.572158.jpg


Then I milled one long side of the blanks.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458698444.207094.jpg


Then I flipped the parts over and milled the other side. I locked the quill  and fed parts through so they'd all be the same height.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458698597.817561.jpg


Now they're the same width, I stood them on the side and milled the first short side.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458698814.868443.jpg


I have to be careful with this method, the very last rocker blank shifted while milling. 

On the next run I did a batches of 3 which worked better.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458699187.266188.jpg


Here the blanks are ready for layout, I left them with about .015" extra on either side so when I mill the radius I'll come into my final length.



I went to kill time at Harbor Freight and walked away with these for $20. 

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458699658.200171.jpg


I know they're cheap, but the carbide tips are replaceable and I get the play around with carbide bits. So far they seem to cut through the bronze and drill rod very well. I plan on systematically breaking all of those drill bits when I get a chance.

I have phospher bronze on order as well, when it comes in I'll have another go at making valve guides.

Thanks for looking
Kyle


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## RonGinger (Mar 23, 2016)

I have tried to hold several pieces together to do a mill operation like you did and had the same problem. Since they are not all perfectly the same thickness the vise doesn't get a firm grip on them all.

Try gluing them together with super glue. Then you can handle the whole block as one piece for making several cuts. When you are finished a quick pass with a propane torch and the glue breaks down and the parts just fall apart. Glued together the block is easy to handle to set in the vise in various orientations for each cut.


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## ozzie46 (Mar 23, 2016)

You might want to take a look at the smallest drill bits under a magnifying glass. I bought 2 sets of those bits and there was no way that the smallest would drill a hole.

 Ron


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## ICEpeter (Mar 23, 2016)

Hello Kyle,
Your problem with holding multiple pieces of supposedly the same size in the milling vice I typically solve by putting a thin strip of rigid card board or hard plastic on one side in the vice between the vice jaw and the work pieces. The hard card board / plastic will give a little but will hold all pieces tightly and evenly while machining. Have had best of luck with this method so far.

Peter J.


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## kylenlord (Mar 23, 2016)

Hey Ozzie thanks for the heads up on the drill bits. I needed the 1.8 mm bit for something but I'll keep them separate and check them before using.

Ron and Peter,
Thank you those are great tips and fortunately I'll get to try each one when I remake the blanks for the rockers.

Well I trimmed the blanks too short. This became apparent when I started laying out. I marked properly for rough cuts on the band saw, but when I milled them I forgot to take into account the outside radius.

View attachment ImageUploadedByModel Engines1458784107.641012.jpg


I feel like an idiot, but believe me it isn't the worst or most expensive mistake I've made.

On the bright side a new 1/4" plate was just ordered for $15 shipped. 

I also ordered a 4" by 10" 7075 rod to make the crankcase and cam cover. It was $50 shipped and I think I'm going to set it on the bench for a while until I gain more experience with the smaller parts.

Thanks everyone 
Kyle


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## Blogwitch (Mar 24, 2016)

Kyle.

Because you will be making so many parts the same during the whole build of this engine, I would recommend you make or buy yourself a mill vice stop.

Once set up for each operation (minutes) it will take care of all your critical dimensions, say 8 rocker arms, all exactly the same length, all with their drilled holes in exactly the same place. Once you set up for one operation, just drop on the next one and cut to exactly the same position.

I made a rather complicated one that sits permanently attached to my vice, but one that clamps to the table would suffice.

http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,1306.0.html

The very first picture shows, next to the LHS of the vice, my old clamp to the table stop, it need not be a complicated job, I made it out of a redundant home made scribing block, or you can read on and make yourself a more permanent offering.

Sorry I had to send you to another site, as this build is also on here, but missing the pictures, and as we all know, we can't edit old posts to restore them all. Bad admin decision.

John


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## Lakc (Mar 24, 2016)

kylenlord said:


> I also ordered a 4" by 10" 7075 rod to make the crankcase and cam cover. It was $50 shipped and I think I'm going to set it on the bench for a while until I gain more experience with the smaller parts.
> 
> Thanks everyone
> Kyle


 
Where did you get that price? 12 inches at Mcmaster is $200.
The price of the case material, and that darned expensive internal gear, are a couple of reasons I have not begun this build. I can cast the case, but still have not figured out a good home shop method for the internal gear.


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## petertha (Mar 24, 2016)

7075 4" random length (10-12") is $140 at OLM. An honest 12" is $155. Plus they have 20% off now.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=7165&step=4&showunits=inches&id=192&top_cat=60


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## Lakc (Mar 24, 2016)

petertha said:


> 7075 4" random length (10-12") is $140 at OLM. An honest 12" is $155. Plus they have 20% off now.
> 
> http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=7165&step=4&showunits=inches&id=192&top_cat=60



A good price, and I would never quote Mcmaster as the cheapest around, (oddball things maybe), but its still close to 3x what Kyle got.


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## kylenlord (Mar 24, 2016)

John,
That stop looks great! The handles really look like they were worth the effort. I woke up around 5:30 this morning saw your post and it confused the heck out of me. I went back to bed and reread the post later. It makes so much more sense now at the end of the day. I'll consider making one when I have some down time, wherever I can I'll set up stops, I was already racking my brain to make a jig to mill the angles on the top of the rockers.

The chunk of aluminum is from eBay seller zetoscnc. He seems to only have one at a time, as I've been watching that auction for a couple months. When someone would buy that piece, he'd list another one. He doesn't have one for sale right now, but I'll keep my eyes open and if it's listed again I'll post a link to it.

The next thing I'd like to bid on is a used axle lengths made from 4140 steel for the crankshaft. You tell him how long you want it and he finds the closest piece. I believe he's asking $2.50 a lb. 

I got the plans and casting for the 14 cyl radial today, the plans in a word are intimidating. It must be about 4" thick. Think I'm going to study them for some time. Lee did say that if I was working on the Edwards radial that I'd be pleasantly surprised at how well his plans are layed out.

Thanks everyone
Kyle


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## Blogwitch (Mar 24, 2016)

Kyle,

I have a much better and more versatile vice to fit to my machine now, the only problem is, since the new vice already has the 8mm fitting hole in the right position, I need to remove that fitting from the old vice, and it has been loctited in for a fair while now.
The 160mm version of this

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catal...ine-Vices/ARC-Versatile-SG-Iron-Milling-Vices

I don't want to use heat on it, so I think I have a bit of a battle coming soon.

I would be lost without a backstop.

John


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## kylenlord (Mar 26, 2016)

Hey John what kind of vice? A lot of this stuff is new to me still. I find with my vice when using parallels the part will come up when tightened and I have to tap it back down and verify its touching the parallel.

Work continues on some smaller parts. I got some 3/16" oil hardening drill rod to make the rocker buttons.

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They are teeny tiny, and currently stuck on a magnet so they wont get lost.

I have another 7 to make and I'm hoping to get those wrapped up today.

My chunk of aluminum came in.

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It is massive, when I get a chance I'll bring it to work and chop it on the horizontal band saw.

Also, another piece is available on eBay, if anyone is interested I'll post a link.

Plans and casting came in for the 14 cyl radial.

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It took me about 4 hours to look through all the sheets and put them in a 3 ring binder. I'm really looking forward to it.

Thanks everyone 
Kyle


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## petertha (Mar 26, 2016)

kylenlord said:


> The chunk of aluminum is from eBay seller zetoscnc. Kyle


 
I tried searching on that name & not getting any hits. Typo maybe? Can you provide a link or past transaction number? That's insanely cheap for 50$ shipped.


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## kylenlord (Mar 26, 2016)

Here you go Peter, I've never had much luck searching for sellers. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/311575186440

Kyle


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## Blogwitch (Mar 26, 2016)

Hi Kyle,

I gave the link to the vices in my last post above.

Where you might be going wrong with your sitting down of the part is that maybe you are hitting it too hard and it is bouncing up off the vice base.

I always use a dead blow lead hammer that I make myself, but I don't hold it by it's handle but by the small head. That way you won't hit too hard, and it really is only a small tap. Gently tap down in different places on the part until both ends of the parallel are down solid. A large cylindrical fishing weight should be good enough to use as my small lead hammer heads only weigh about 8oz.

The small ones are the ones I use mainly, and once they are too flat to be used, I melt the lead off the stainless tube handles and recast new heads. This lot should last a few years.







John


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## kylenlord (Mar 26, 2016)

John, 
Sorry not sure how I missed that obvious link.

That vice looks great. I'd ask how much but well I'm planning for a wedding lol I think I'd rather not know.

Can you use a soldering gun to break the loctite free? I used to do that when working on rc helicopters.

As far as the lead hammers, I have a bunch of wheel weights and bullets which I don't reload that caliber. However, I'd need to coat the raw lead with something to seal it. 

I got the rocker buttons wrapped to their final shape and dimensions.

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All thats left is to harden and polish. I still am playing around with this oil hardening drill rod. I won't harden the buttons until I feel comfortable with the technique.

Thanks for looking 
Kyle


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## kylenlord (Mar 27, 2016)

I snuck away after Easter lunch and hammered out the oil pump plunger.

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I also got a nice Easter surprise. I never knew my grandfather on my fathers side, he died when I was three. When my dad found out I was working in this engine he said I have your grandfathers micrometer that I can have.

He found it, its a little rusty but seems in working condition. It even calibrated well and is pretty close to my 1" standard, which is a little rusty too.....

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The anvil is a little rough, I would love to be able to use them so I'm considering a trip to the Starrett repair place. Its about 1 1/2 hours from where I live. Can they fit a new anvil and rod part? 

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Thanks as always for looking

Kyle


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## kylenlord (Apr 2, 2016)

I've been making small amounts of progress though nothing is completed yet. An order from McMaster brought both a phospher bronze rod and a 1" diameter ductile cast iron rod for the rings.

Before I left work I hogged out the center and roughed out the center of the Iron.

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The south bend at work is in a bit of disrepair and Im not familiar with it. I left a decent amount to clean up on my lathe. I just found out the other day a bushing in the gearbox is seized, so no threading for a while.

I started to remake the valve guides. This time I'm going to center drill on the lathe, then drill and ream on the mill before making the flats on the head.

I also got in a replacement 1/4" 7075 plate and a 7/8" plate of 4340 steel. The steel was $10 shipped from eBay.

I printed two crankshaft drawings and counterweights to plan out my cuts. I know what your thinking, why two? Well lets be honest there's a good chance I'll have to remake it.

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Im going with the last picture, I'll lob of the counterweights with the horizontal bandsaw then cut the rest with the do-all at work on Monday. The actual turning will have to wait until I get a 4 jaw chuck.

Thats all for now

Kyle


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## kylenlord (Apr 2, 2016)

On a side note, I got a lathe threading bit yesterday. I wanted to learn threading, it seems less aggressive than the die on the valve guides. I pulled off the wax coating to find the tip was flat, about 1/32".

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Will this work for cutting a 1/4-28 thread? I always thought threading tools would have a sharp point, but Ive never seen one before.

Either way I'll have to wait until I get a 35 tooth gear so I can cut 28 tpi.

Thanks everyone 
Kyle


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## Blogwitch (Apr 4, 2016)

I personally would be reluctant to use that tool, purely because of all the different types of thread used.

You would get away with it if the thread had a round bottomed profile but not if a sharper tip was reqired, the thread would bind or even lock up.

ALL the brazed on tipped thread cutting tools that I buy go to a full point, to get over the above problem.

If you can measure the exact width of the flat tip, with a few calculations using this chart, you should find out if the thread form you want can be safely cut with that tool.






For a quick example, you WOULDN'T be able to cut either of the US Pipe Threads. 

Hope this is of help

John


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## kylenlord (Jul 21, 2016)

Hello everyone,

Although a did a short stint with model ship building, I've done some more work on the radial.

I was a bit frustrated with threading, I put it aside for a while. I finally committed and have twelve valve guides. I'm on the fence about using them right now but I'll consider it more when I get to the heads.

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I drilled and tapped a 1/4-28 hole into a block of aluminum, the guides were threaded in, located and drilled at .120" and reamed to .125". I still have to rechuck the valves and remove about .0015".

I started working on the crankshaft. It began with a 7/8" 4340 plate sawn to shape.

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I left each section except the threaded section over by .002", .001" to sand out a slight taper that I couldn't seem to dial out, the other half for after heat treating. It still needs threading for the prop nut, gear pin and counterbalance mounting threads.

I ordered 12" by1.75" 7075 for the cylinder sleeves. I chopped it up with a portaband. 

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Lastly I've been doing some work on the rockers. This time I left excess that will be removed on the rotary table.

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I've been using the wiggler to locate holes for drilling, line it up and dimple the metal. Compared it to my scribe marks and adjust. It's the best luck I've had drilling accurately located holes.

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Next they'll go on a mandrel on the lathe to turn down the side bosses. These are rather complicated parts to me so it's taken a while for me to come up with the order of operations.

Lastly I got myself a new toy. I was stressing about the larger parts to make, having the crankcase and cam cover pieces cut to length I was thinking about getting a larger chuck, though that still doesn't help with future projects.

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I know it's not old iron, but I couldn't stand to have the lathe stick so far out with my limited space and I had gotten comfortable with the mini-lathe. It's a 10"x22" grizzly variable speed, $1300 from Craigslist, never used and still in the cosmoline. He had the qctp for it, tailstock chuck, a bunch of lathe bits and factory 3 and 4 jaw chuck and faceplate. I have to wait until I can finish off the basement  to use it, but it'll be there waiting for me.

That's all for now
Kyle


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## Hopper (Jul 24, 2016)

A guy can never have too many lathes. Well done.


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## kylenlord (Jul 24, 2016)

Thank you Hopper,

I'm hoping the heavier and stiffer machine will translate into nicer and more accurate parts. 

Not much time this weekend, fiancé had wisdom teeth out and overtime at work.

I made a mandrel sized at .1252" from drill rod then heated and pressed a rocker arm on.

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Then I turned the width down to .200" and .170" where the boss is.

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I'm not happy with this part, it was difficult to keep the rocker perfectly true and as a result the holes for the valve adjustment and hardpoints aren't centered. I will bet emailing this one.

The second attempt I only focused on turning the inner section.

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This is the final width and when I radius the ends I will tie back into this section.

That's all for now

Kyle


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## tomb29 (Aug 16, 2016)

so far you look like you are doing good. Minor suggestion on your valves. Over the years I have found t6hat you want to change position of the valves as little as possible. I have used drill rod for mine and have never had as problem. In one setup you can do the OD, do the root radius The keeper groove and the valve seat taper and part them off all at the same setup in the lathe. Turn back the stem diameter to about .025 full back to about .025 past the valve end of the stem groove. use your groove tool now to cut the groove(remember to go to the full depth on the groove at this time. When turning the stem diameter you can use a tool with the root radius ground on it to do the turning at this point, leave about .0005 to polish off unless you can turn it to exact diameter w/a good finish. Now just come in with a tool with the valve seat angle ground into it and machine the face with just a plunge cut. Do it this way and the stem and angle will be concentric. part the valve off about .01-.015 full and later you will just have to face off the valve and not have to worry about concentricity. Before parting off break all edges with a ground tool used for making the valve seat angle (usually it is 45 deg.) So if you modify a threading tool to a 45 deg. left and right  will work great. 
    I had a special tool made up for doing the valve seat. when doing the head you can rough the valve seat with a 90 deg. counter sink or I like to use 90 deg. spot drill. now the tool was a 4 fluted countersink that I had ground back leaving a 1/8 pilot and 45 deg. cutting edges. Even if the stem size on future projects may be bigger all you have to do is add some brass tubing(K&S from the hobby shop or make your own pilots and keep as a set.Well I have spouted along enough now just wanted to pass on what I found easiest.Keep up the good work 
Tomb29


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