# First steam engine----Building a Wobbler



## Brian Rupnow (May 25, 2008)

Work is progressing on my "wobbler"---(somehow that sounds vaguely dirty!!) I am following a set of free plans that I downloaded off the internet. So far, so good. I did go up to Busy Bee this afternoon and spend a whole $15.00 for a 3/8" reamer to do the cylinder bore with. I just didn't trust my ability to bore it to a good enough finish to have it work right. I am glad that someone on the home machinists website told me about these free plans that could be built from bar stock. I saved $100 thru not having to purchase a "kit", but have now spent over $100.00 for tooling to build the darn thing!!!


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## Brian Rupnow (May 25, 2008)

I am a design engineer, specializing in prototype machinery and factory automation. I bought a lathe 3 months ago, and am enjoying building this model steam engine. I haven't ran a lathe since my apprenticeship, 43 years ago. After I downloaded the plans, I converted them to 3D cad files to get a feel for the construction of the machine, then I added a virtual motor to the CAD model to see it run and understand the "wobble" of the cylinder. I am attaching both the 3D model, and a short vidio clip of the machine running.--- 






View attachment FULL ASSEMBLY.avi


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## Tin Falcon (May 25, 2008)

Welcome to the world of model engine building. 
tin


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## Divided He ad (May 25, 2008)

Hello Brian, 

Firstly, welcome to the fun  

As I'm sure your aware, the good point about buying the tools instead of the kit is now you can make a lot more than just the kit! ;D By far the best choice.

Thank you for the running cad image, since I'm about to find and make my first steamer it will help to have that visual image of the cylinder/port layouts  


Ralph.


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## Brian Rupnow (May 25, 2008)

Divided Head---If you want I can hunt down the internet link that I downloaded the plans from and send you the link, or post it here.


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## SignalFailure (May 25, 2008)

Brian Rupnow  said:
			
		

> Divided Head---If you want I can hunt down the internet link that I downloaded the plans from and send you the link, or post it here.



Brian, I'm pretty sure almost everyone here knows the link for your Elmer's 'Wobbler' 

For a first engine that's looking great so far! Reamers are expensive aren't they? I bought a job lot of odd sizes off e-Bay a year or so back (about 15 of them for around $50) but I've bought some retail at £15 ($30) each. Ouch!

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Paul


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## Divided He ad (May 25, 2008)

Thank you for the offer Brian, I've got about 50 sets of plans to choose from.... Been collecting them for a while and have a few new links as well!!

I have just now got to the point where I decided I am at a level to start to try to machine from plans.
It is not as easy to some of us as it is to others out there, I have trouble adhering to a set plan and always want to change stuff! 
I'll try but will probably end up re-styling something... But it should be a runner if I keep the heart of the plan intact ;D 


Ralph.


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## Brian Rupnow (May 27, 2008)

This weekend, just as I was preparing to make the "throw" on my model steam engine crankshaft, the on/off switch buggered up on my lathe!!! If I hold the green button on with my finger, the lathe runs, but as soon as I let my finger off the button, the motor quits. I thought it might be the centrigugal switch in the motor, but my neighbour who is an electrician said that the relay in the start button that is supposed to "latch in" to keep the lathe running is not "latching in". I phoned Busy Bee in Toronto on Monday morning, and they sent me out a new switch (free) the same day by mail. I hope to be up and running again later this week.


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## Brian Rupnow (May 29, 2008)

Well, my lathe is up and running again. I made the throw for my crankshaft tonight and pressed it onto the shaft. ---Haven't tried my hand at silver soldering yet. I can not get over how small this engine is. I have never built anything this small before. I have a devil of a time machining to size on my lathe. I try to sneak up on the measurements with my lathe, but there is a mighty fine line between "just a little more" and "Oh Damn---too much"!!!! I have the connecting rod finished, so I guess the next thing will be to machine the cylinder. I did buy a 3/8" reamer, so I will hopefully finish the cylinder first, then machine the piston to fit it.---Brian


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## CrewCab (May 29, 2008)

Brian Rupnow  said:
			
		

> but there is a mighty fine line between "just a little more" and "Oh Damn---too much"!!!!



Don't worry ............. your not alone ;D ............ but hopefully with the help of "this lot" ........... we'll get there  8)

Dave


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 3, 2008)

Well, I'm 95 percent finished. The finish isn't quite as horrible as it appears in these digital photos, but it certainly has room for major improvement. Today was my first experience with silver solder---it worked okay, but damn, its messy stuff!!! I got silver solder everywhere that I wanted to, and a whole lot of places I didn't want to. Fortunately most of it was in places that were easy to clean up with some carefull file work. The piston really dragged in the cylinder, so I sawed a slot into an end of 3/16" mild steel rod, wrapped some 400 grit sandpaper around it, and "honed" the inside of the brass cylinder with the rod chucked in my variable speed drill. When everything was first assembled, there was a lot of friction. I put a little wheel bearing grease on the piston and the bearing surfaces and kept working it by hand untill it freed up quite a bit. I may rig up a wide rubber band for a drive belt and use my electric drill to drive it for half an hour to "wear the bearing surfaces in". I'm certain that these things must have to spin really freely to work on 5 or 6 PSI of air. I still have to make an air inlet adapter to screw into the #6-32 steam port, and I have to track down a proper compression spring to hold the brass cylinder block tight against the side of the aluminum frame. I have been building custom cars, drag racing cars, and hotrods all of my life as a hobby, and I don't ever remember building anything this small before. I quickly found out with this project how limited my machining options are with a lathe, so this week I went in and ordered a milling machine from Busy Bee, where I purchased the lathe.---This has been an exceptionally good year for my business, so I thought that I could probably afford some "write-offable" machinery.


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## mklotz (Jun 3, 2008)

Good job, Brian.

Elmer Verburg's version of this engine was the very first engine I finished (though not the first one I started.) I still remember my elation the first time it ran (using a tire inflator powered from the cigarette lighter on my car).

Obviously you've really been sucked in. If completing your first engine has already induced you to buy a milling machine, all I can say is...

Ok, guys, our work here is done. 

Seriously though, I'm glad you're enjoying your new-found skills and your entry into a hobby that can provide you a lifetime of rewarding pleasure and save you from the need for psychiatric treatment.

Oh, and BTW, the parts on these tiny engines get bigger the more you build.  it's a psychological thing.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 5, 2008)

I just went to drill a 1/16" dia.hole through the center of the peice of round aluminum rod that I am using for an inlet steam port,and my tailstock mounted chuck won't close up enough to grip a 1/16" diameter drill. I assume that there must be collets or something that I can use to overcome this problem. Any suggestions?


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## Bogstandard (Jun 5, 2008)

For a quick and dirty fix, you should be able to wrap some adhesive tape evenly around the shank so it holds, three or four wraps should do it. Don't drill too heavy handed, and only use this on bits that are non critical. As long as you have wacked a centre in it first, all should be ok.

John


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## shred (Jun 5, 2008)

You could chuck the rod in the tailstock chuck and the drill bit in the lathe chuck if those jaws will hold the drill.

Otherwise, look up the threads and video on drilling really tiny holes with a hand-held pin chuck. That might work as well.

Long-term, you'll probably want a drill chuck that grips tiny sizes.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 7, 2008)

Sometimes its being aware that a certain type of tooling exists. I did a web search for "pin chuck" and found out what a "pinchuck" was. then I went up to Busy Bee Tools where I bought the lathe, and sure enough---they have pin chucks with 3 different collets which will hold drills from 1/64" up to .100". The shank of the pin chuck is 1/4" diameter and fits my tailstock chuck just fine. Problem solved!!!


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## Divided He ad (Jun 7, 2008)

Good to know you are back in business Brain ;D 

I'm just starting to make my second offering... It is very similar to your engine but has a little twist... I'll post my progress on that soon 

Yours should be running by the time I get round to that though??  


Good luck with the drilling, 


Ralph.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 7, 2008)

I actually had mine running the other night. I just held the air gun from my compressor up to the steam port (couldn't wait to see if it would go). It almost went a number of times, but wouldn't quite kick over. Then I had the thought of putting the air gun to the exhaust port. When I did that it did take off and run quite well---IN REVERSE!!! I was very thrilled---Now to finish it off the right way!!!


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 7, 2008)

IT RUNS!!! IT RUNS!!! My God---its setting beside me right now, running like a ---well---like a steam engine!!!! I got the steam port machined and drilled this afternoon, and took apart an old mechanical pencil for the spring that holds the brass cylinder block tight against the side of the main frame. I ran up to the hardware store and got a peice of 1/8" i.d. polyurethane tubing and machined a small coupler and silver soldered it into an air chuck fitting. I tried it at a real low air pressure, and it wanted to run, but there was just a bit too much friction. I kept turning up the air pressure, and flicking the flywheel, and finally it started to run all on its own. I immediately had to call my wife down to the workshop to have a look, and then my next door neighbour!!! After it ran for about 10 minutes, it must have worn down some of the friction points, because I was able to turn down the air pressure significantly. I am totally stoked!!!


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## ksouers (Jun 7, 2008)

Congratulations!!!

Now. Stop smiling and build another


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## Bogstandard (Jun 7, 2008)

Well done Brian.

Now you know how we all feel when we get an engine running. Grinning like a Cheshire cat and punching the air in jubilation. That feeling never stops, whether it is your first or hundredth engine.

Maybe to get it running on lower air pressure, try slackiening the spring tension until the air blows the cylinder off the face and then just tweak it back to just reseal. That will be your least friction running setting.

Again, very well done.

John


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## Divided He ad (Jun 7, 2008)

Good stuff Brian ;D 

Now where's the video??  


I hope to be joining in with the running steam engine smile brigade very soon.... well a few weeks maybe? : 




Ralph.


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## kvom (Jun 7, 2008)

Only a couple of weeks since you posted you were starting. That's a fast learning curve  :bow: Congrats!


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 7, 2008)

I get that tremendous rush with every machine that I design, when I see it built and operating. Of course, this is special, because its something that I actually machined and built myself. People ask me---Why do you get so excited about something that you have been doing for 43 years, designing prototype machinery. I tell them---Every time is like my very first time!!! Every machine I design is something new, that never existed before. I know the absolute jubilation that goes with seeing something I created draw its first breath and actually run as I intended. I also know the despair and frustration that comes when they don't work. Of course, everything works eventually, if you throw enough time and money at it, but when that happens, its not just me that is affected. I have to deal with irate customers who want to know why they just spent all that money to have something designed that doesn't work 100% first time, every time. thank the good Lord that I don't have that happen very often.---Brian


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## Philjoe5 (Jun 7, 2008)

Nice going Brian. I know the rush of watching an engine run for the first time. Happened to me not long ago....it's what keeps us going, eh? :big: 

Cheers,
Phil


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 8, 2008)

Here is a rather horrible video of the machine running, taken with my digital camera (I have never actually done that before). It is not going to win the Cannes film festival, but it does show the machine running. 

View attachment vido-3e002.MPG


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## Divided He ad (Jun 8, 2008)

Good enough Brian... It sure is a runner ;D 
If you do a bit less dancing around with all that excitement the camera might stay focused :big:

I've just had a catastrophic failure of my phone (life in a box) so I'm going to have to take my camera out to the shop with me.... This I don't like doing cause it gets dirty in there! Oh well ces't la vie!! 

Thank you for the vid... always good to see a runner running ;D


Ralph.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 8, 2008)

Ralph---I have found a 1/4"-20 tapped hole in the base of my old digital camera---it must be for a tripod mount. My first thought was to screw in a bolt, set the camera up in my vice, then focus it properly and make a "hands off" video of the steam engine. But---Right now I am in the middle of a design for a prototype cookie dough manufacturing machine---which is based on parts salvaged from a now defunct strip-dough rolling machine that my customer bought out of California. My work table (and my garage as well) are totally covered in peices of "cookie dough machine". In order to create the design for a new machine, I must take all of the existing parts which will be re-used, completely disassemble them, then measure and create dimensionally accurate 3D solid models of them to use in the design of a new machine. So---The crummy video is all Iwill post today.---Brian


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## chuck foster (Jun 8, 2008)

brian, that engine looks great.................who cares about the video not being perfect ???

now that you are hooked on this engine building whats your next project going to be??? :big:

if you go to cookstown steam show bring the little engine with you...........then i can see it first hand!!!

chuck


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 8, 2008)

Not sure Chuck. I was so impressed with owning a lathe that I ran out and ordered a small Busy Bee mill. Not the smallest--the next size up. Still 120 Volt, but with dial read outs. Its supposed to arrive here at the end of this month, so I'll probably wait untill its set up before I tackle another project. Next project will be steam, but not a turbine nor an oscillator. Probably either a beam engine or a horizontal fixed cylinder engine.


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## kvom (Jun 8, 2008)

Brian's desription of his excitement at seeing the engine run, even though he's been designing machines for years, made me think that the feeling applies elsewhere as well.

I used to develop and manage development of complex software, and even after 30 years I would get the same excited/satiefied feeling the first time a new program worked, even partially.

No doubt the same could be said in many other fields where creative effort yields results.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 10, 2008)

I ran my new engine on and off over the last 4 days. One of my silver solder joints let go, where the crankshaft throw attaches to the crankshaft counterbalance. I took it apart and resoldered that. It ran okay after that fix, but it didn't want to run at anything much below 20 PSI of air pressure. (It never did.) In an attempt to get it to run at a lower pressure, I machined a larger, heavier flywheel. Even with the larger flywheel it doesn't want to run on anything less than 20PSI. I have been working all day on the computer, and the engine has been chugging away all day next door in the garage. I am pleased with the engine, and for a "first ever" I judge it to be a success. Hopefully, when I get my new mill, and get better at holding parallelity and tolerances, I will eventually build an engine that will spin on lung power.


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## mklotz (Jun 10, 2008)

It would be interesting to know what a human being, acting as an air compressor, can produce.

Frankly, I'd be surprised if a human could generate 1 psi at any sort of flow commensurate with turning an engine over.

Also, consider that, with a wobbler, you're fighting the not inconsiderable friction provided by the spring holding the cylinder against the frame.

Personally, I wouldn't expect any but the tiniest wobblers to be capable of being breath driven.


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## Bogstandard (Jun 10, 2008)

Marv,

When I was doing my training we did an experiment on how much puff we have.

If I remember rightly as your figure states, the average person can do a normal blow around 1 psi, and by forcing it a bit by getting bulging eyes and a red face they could sometimes reach around 2psi. We also had another group to experiment on, namely trumpeters and bagpipe murderers.

These showed that the trumpet person normally generates 1.5psi with no problem, but a piper with a couple of years practice regularly reached 2.5 psi.

So this shows that if you want to take to running engines on lung power, take up a wind instrument at the same time.

It doesn't really depend on the pressure, that can be overcome by having a grossly oversquare engine, it is the volume required that makes your eyes bulge.

Breathless Bogs.


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## mklotz (Jun 10, 2008)

About what I expected. A human can do about 1 psi. (I refuse to believe that bagpipers are truly of our species.)

And, yes, of course, it's the flow that will get you.

Definition of a gentleman: Someone who can play the bagpipes, but doesn't.


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## Divided He ad (Jun 10, 2008)

Brian,

I was not taking the Michael... just making a joke of the erratic movie style that you used :big:
I did say I liked it too! ;D

I like the sound of your job... Not thinking I'd know where to start with such a venture! ???

Marv, 

Didn't you display your tiny huff n puff engine last week? ( the one I gave up on due to lack of talent last year!)
surely you could measure the PSI required to run that little beastie?


Ralph.


P.S. I love the sound of bagpipes....Makes the hairs on my neck stand up when I hear them....... must be some ancient ancestral psychic thing??!! ??? ;D


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## kvom (Jun 10, 2008)

"The best thing that can be said for bagpipes, is that they do not smell." -- Oscar Wilde


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 10, 2008)

Divided Head---I too love the sound of bagpipes. All the hair on the back of my neck stands up, I get a shiver in my spine, and it just makes me feel good. Really Good!!! Then again, it might be some ancestral thing. My moms family came from Ireland (McMullens), and Scotland (Christie). My dads family, as far as we know, came from Russia or Prussia about 6 generations back. I believe my name originally had a v, not a w at the end of it.


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## Divided He ad (Jun 10, 2008)

Brian, 

I've got pale skin, freckles and red hair... I might have been born in the middle of England but I am most certain my roots are further north! 

My dad has been tracing our family tree... still waiting for the northern connection to arrive :big:

and if we're quoting things....
"The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scott's as a joke, but the Scott's haven't seen the joke yet." 
Oliver Herford

Do you think your mum's family had anything to do with this? :big:


Ralph.


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## CrewCab (Jun 10, 2008)

Brian ........... I'm sure I can see the glow around your house from here ............. only 3000 miles away :bow:

Congratulations an your first "runner" ............. and well done, I hope to join that club before too long, time permitting.

CC  ..... aka Dave


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