# Verical hit and miss engine



## Brian Rupnow (Jun 15, 2019)

I've caught up on all of my summer chores, and the weather outside is cold and rainy and horrible. I have been bored this week, and when I get bored, I start to design things. I have watched enough YouTube videos of Bob Shores Silver Angel to suss out the hit and miss mechanism, and I am impressed by it. I have ordered a set of 2:1 bevel gears off Ebay and I'm waiting for them to arrive. This engine will have a bore and stroke of 1", and a single flywheel. It will have an oil sump, and the same general configuration as the Angel. I will be using my most current carburetor design (without the offset in the carb body). The valves will be my standard 1/8" stem and 3/8" head. Sparkplug will be a 10 mm CM6 from NGK because they are available at autoparts stores. Probably as the design progresses I will support the horizontal gas tank on a pair of stand-offs from the engine. I do plan on building this engine, but it will take a backseat to other summer things and impending eye surgery in July.  This will give me an engine to run my face cam on. Follow along. it should be fun.---Brian


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## a41capt (Jun 15, 2019)

Looks interesting Brian! I’m following in anticipation of another great build.

John W


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 16, 2019)

I'm going to go with a couple of heavier ball bearings this time. The bearings I have been using are only .906" diameter x 5/16" thick. They get the job done, but I think they are a bit too light, especially with the weight of the flywheels. My new larger bearings are 3/8" i.d. x 1 1/8" o.d. x 3/8" thick. There is not a huge price difference, and I think I'll be a bit happier with them. I haven't modelled in the gears yet, as I haven't received them yet. When I do receive them I will model them and insert them into the 3D assembly. These will not be helical gears like I used in my last two builds, but will be bevel gears. You will also notice that the flywheel is not symmetrical about it's centerline.  The ignition points and cam will fit on that side of the engine, and I don't want the flywheel to stick out a long ways from the center of the engine to clear them. By making the flywheel non symmetrical I can fit it in much closer to the engine.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 16, 2019)

Yayyyy--We got a gas tank. It's so nice to be able to go back to previous engine designs and steal parts off them.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 17, 2019)

Today I ordered the aluminum to build the crankcase and two side-plates for the engine. All will be cut from 4" diameter round stock. None of these parts will be terribly difficult to make as individual pieces. The difficult part will be to have all of the outer surfaces line up perfectly. The holes in the center of the two outer plates will be 13/32" thru, to give clearance for the 3/8" crankshaft. The center hole in the main body will be 2.3" in diameter to allow for the swing of the crankshaft and big end of the rod. The side-plate on the flywheel side will have two tapped holes which will hold the ignition points. The other side will have two tapped holes for the camshaft support bracket. My plan at the moment (and that may change) is to put the three individual pieces up in the 3 jaw chuck and drill and ream the center holes in all three pieces to 13/32", then make up a 13/32" shoulder bolt long enough to pass thru all three pieces, and clamp them all together with a hex nut on the shoulder bolt. I will need one more bolt thru each side-plate, leading to tapped holes in the main body plate to act as an anti rotation device. I will then bandsaw and mill all three plates locked together to the final outside dimensions. After that, separate the three plates and set the main center body up in the four jaw, pick up on the reamed center hole to find exact center, then bore the hole out to 2.3". The counterbored bolt holes in the outer plates and the tapped holes for them in the center main body can be put in after the fact.


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## JimDobson (Jun 18, 2019)

OT so I apologise upfront, but how hard is it (and what program do you use) to draw these on a computer?


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 18, 2019)

Jim-Don't apologize. For me it is as easy as breathing, but I have been using this program (Solidworks) for about 19 years. I spent 32 years on a drafting table, then 3 years learning and using Autocad 2D before learning to use 3D.  If you are already proficient with a 2D software like Autocad, then it's not horribly hard to start using a 3D program. If you have no background in any software drawing package, it's pretty tough.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 18, 2019)

So--There we have 95% of the material required to build this engine. The three pieces of 4" dia. aluminum which will become the main center body and the two side plates, the flatbar to make the "feet", and the 4 1/2" diameter piece of 1018 round stock that will become the flywheel. That cost me $30, and the two new bearings cost $20.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 18, 2019)

At the last moment I decided not to machine things as I had shown in an earlier post. With the main body held in the 3 jaw chuck I faced the exposed side, then drilled and bored the center hole in one set-up. Then I flipped it around 180 degrees in the 3 jaw, made sure that the previously "faced" side was up tight against the jaws, and faced the other side. The sideplates both have a "register diameter" that will fit into this hole in the main center piece.


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## bigearl91 (Jun 18, 2019)

Keeping my eye on this one Brian.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 18, 2019)

First side-plate is machined and all is well. The tape is around the chuck to keep some spacers between the chuck jaw and the part from flying out and conking me in the head. Will do the second side plate tomorrow.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 19, 2019)

Well sir!!--that went amazingly well. Next step will be to drill and tap 16 holes and get everything bolted together. Once that detail is looked after I will begin profiling all 3 components together.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 19, 2019)

Everything has been drilled, counterbored, and tapped. I had the part set up and centered in the milling machine to do the drilling. Before tearing down my set-up, I put a sharp pointed rod in the mill chuck and used the DRO to measure off the distance to four of the "sides" in the X and Y axis, then kept a little down-pressure on the pointed end while I cranked the mill table  in X and Y to mark the lines. Then I printed off a 1:1 scale drawing of one of the sides, glued it to cardboard, and lined the cardboard up with the existing marked lines to allow me to mark the other four lines. I see a world of band-sawing in my future!!!


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## Joe (Jun 19, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> So--There we have 95% of the material required to build this engine. The three pieces of 4" dia. aluminum which will become the main center body and the two side plates, the flatbar to make the "feet", and the 4 1/2" diameter piece of 1018 round stock that will become the flywheel. That cost me $30, and the two new bearings cost $20.


Brian, 
Who supplied your material ?
I'm on the left coast and was recently quoted 60 bucks for a 4 by 4 piece of round 6061.

John


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 19, 2019)

A guy right here in Barrie has a one man company called A to Z Metals. His pricing is very good and he saws material to whatever length I ask for.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 20, 2019)

And after a world of band sawing and milling the outer profile is finished. I am kind of amazed at how small this main body actually is.


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## CFLBob (Jun 20, 2019)

Brian - just a tag so that I get updates and can follow Another Neat Engine Build.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 20, 2019)

At the very last moment, I decided to put an o-ring groove in the top of the main body. This engine will have a "wet" crankcase, and it's either go with an o-ring or put a gasket between the main body and the cylinder to prevent oil leaks.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2019)

So there we have it. the main crankcase and side-plates are finished. I was going to make the cast iron cylinder next, but there is a caveat. There has to be a cut on one side of the fins to allow clearance for the governor balls, and since I don't have the gears yet, I can't establish that dimension until the gears arive hear and  can model them. Not to fear though. There are plenty of other small parts to make while I wait for the gears to show up.


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## werowance (Jun 21, 2019)

looking good.  either that's a really large calculator or a very small crank case.   will you be splash oiling with a tang on the bottom of the rod like a birggs and strattor or anything like that?


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## a41capt (Jun 21, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> At the very last moment, I decided to put an o-ring groove in the top of the main body. This engine will have a "wet" crankcase, and it's either go with an o-ring or put a gasket between the main body and the cylinder to prevent oil leaks.



As soon as I saw the closed crankcase design, I wondered if you were going to build a wet crankcase with a con rod “splasher” for lubrication.

Looking good Brian, another cool build!!!

John W


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2019)

And now you know how I spent the rest of my day. Making little pieces.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2019)

I don't really think the con rod needs a "scooper" on it. If there is enough oil in there for the bottom of the con rod to hit on each rotation, the oil will certainly get to the crankshaft throw. In fact the entire crankcase will be filled with a very heavy oil mist. I am depending on that oil mist to also lubricate the wrist pin.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 22, 2019)

It was a lovely sunny day here today---and I couldn't think of a single damned thing to do outside. Good wife didn't want to do anything. So---After my fat mans walk, I spent the day building a gas tank. It turned out okay, other than the fact that the end of the 7/16" post ended up undersize by about .015". I knurled it to bring it up to a larger diameter. It is supposed to be a "snug" fit into the bracket bolted to the side of the engine. The post and the filler neck are silver soldered to the main tank body. The tank body is counterbored on both ends, and a piece of 1/2" thick plate is J.B. Welded into each end. I will let it set up for 24 hours, then spend a bit of time polishing out any imperfections and drill/tap one end for a fitting.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 23, 2019)

I was just about ready to change out my lathe chuck jaws to start machining the flywheel. I wondered "What else do I have to machine with these current jaws?"--An ignition cam!!!--So, a cam was made this morning and the cam and points were installed on the engine to make sure everything fit properly.---It did. Good wife just showed up and asked for help cleaning some rooms. Flywheel will be started later.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 23, 2019)

Here we have flywheel #1--A piece 1 3/8" long cut from a 4 1/2" dia. billet of steel. First set-up is with reverse jaws in the chuck, not worrying about centering  at this stage. Flywheel material has been tapped on the face with dead blow hammer to make certain it is "seated" against the three contact surfaces on the far side of the face you see.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 23, 2019)

Flywheel-2   First a couple of facing cuts across the entire face to get rid of the saw cut (saw cuts are never quite square to the central axis of stock.) After facing, drill and ream the 3/8" center hole completely through. Since the 3/8" center hole is not large enough to allow entrance of one of my heavier boring tools, I put a 5/8" endmill in the tailstock chuck and cut to the depth of the recess I want, which is 0.438" in this case. Then with my lead screw in reverse I start at the center and cut out towards the rim, taking 0.020" depth of cut each time. The 0.428"step" is where I am going to grip with the chuck jaws in my next set-up. This will allow me to turn the outer diameter just enough to clean it up. The recess in the other side of the flywheel is relatively small, so I will probably cut the recess in the same set-up, thus keeping everything hopefully concentric.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 24, 2019)

Flywheel-3  Flywheel has been flipped around 180 degrees, gripped on the inside of the .438" recess created yesterday. That allowed me to take a cut on the outside diameter to clean it up, and allowed me to put the recess in the side which is now exposed. All of the major machining is now finished. There will be a bit of polishing, and I still have to cut the keyway and drill/tap a couple of holes thru the hub for set screws.


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## a41capt (Jun 24, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I don't really think the con rod needs a "scooper" on it. If there is enough oil in there for the bottom of the con rod to hit on each rotation, the oil will certainly get to the crankshaft throw. In fact the entire crankcase will be filled with a very heavy oil mist. I am depending on that oil mist to also lubricate the wrist pin.



I always tend to forget the scale of the models being built! With that tiny crankcase, there should be no problem regarding splash.

This ain’t no damn 6 1/2 horse Briggs and Stratton!

Can’t wait for the next installment, and of course, the first run!

John W


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 24, 2019)

So--Gas tank and flywheel are mounted on engine. The flywheel is just posed for a picture. It still has to have the keyway and set screws added. Things look a bit out of proportion right now, but once the cylinder and cylinder head are mounted it will look more like an engine.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 24, 2019)

A big thank you going out to all of those who stopped by, said Hi, and left a comment. I like to hear from you guys.---Brian


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## werowance (Jun 25, 2019)

coming together nicely.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 25, 2019)

I just had a very cylindrical morning. Material is grey cast iron. Still needs some holes tapped and some trimming on the bottom flange, but  I'm happy with the results.


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## CFLBob (Jun 25, 2019)

By coincidence it's a cylindrical day here, too.  Mine is centered on the few holes to drill (and four to tap).  

Looking good, Brian.  I watch for every update.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 25, 2019)

Bob--I've lost track---Which engine are you building?--Brian


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## CFLBob (Jun 25, 2019)

The Webster.  

I've taken the cylinder off the lathe to add the screw holes, but won't lap it to final size for a while.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 26, 2019)

Cylinder head-1  The cylinder head has a finished diameter of 1.780" and a length of 0.800". A piece of 2" diameter stock was purchased and cut to 2 1/2" long. The chuck jaws extend out 1.25" from the face of the chuck, and I need some space between the jaws and where the turn down ends. Both ends were faced to be "square" with the central axis, and then the turned down area was turned to 1.780" diameter 1 1/4" long.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 26, 2019)

Next step was to mount the piece in my mill vice. Normally I would have a v-block on one vice jaw, but the 2" diameter piece was too big to allow for a v-block so I just mounted it between the jaws, setting firmly on the floor of the vice. Four bolt holes were drilled and counterbored, and the valve guide holes were drilled and reamed. The piece finishes off at 0.8" thick, so I made sure to drill at least 1" deep. Next step was to tilt the vice at 40 degrees to mill the angled part of the head and drill/counterbore the sparkplug hole. It is drilled blind at this point, and since I only have a tapered tap for the metric sparkplug hole I won't tap the hole until I have put the recess in the far side of the head.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 27, 2019)

Cylinder head-3   Cylinder head has been parted off from the parent material, then flipped over and remounted in the 3 jaw chuck, to be taken down to finished overall height of 0.80" Once it is faced to exact length, the exposed face is machined 0.050" deeper, and a 1.00" spigot left in the center. Next step will be over to the rotary table to finish off what is now the exposed surface.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 27, 2019)

And now we reach the end. The cylinder head is flipped over and mounted in the chuck on my rotary table. It is centered under the quill, and I have a piece of 3/8" round stock turned to 11/32" on one end. I dial in the appropriate offsets as per the drawing, and YES--- the end of the rod fits into both previously reamed holes, simply by moving in the X axis on my mill. I put in a 3/8" endmill to cut the very slight counterbores at each reamed valve cage hole, then dial in the position of the slot which exposes the tip of the sparkplug and mill it 1/2" deep. Then the cylinder head is removed from the rotary table, taken out to my main garage where my bench vice lives, and I tap the sparkplug hole. Then a little clean-up, and mounted too the engine.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 27, 2019)

The port holes which get drilled into the head will not be done until after the valve cages have been made and installed into the head. Then the cylinder head and the hole in the side of the valve cage are both drilled at the same time.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 27, 2019)

I have a stick of 7/8" bronze that I bought a while ago. I don't know exactly what composition of bronze it is, but it's nasty stuff to machine. However, it did work quite well for an oil filler cap. You can't see it, but on the 3/8"-16 threaded shank there is a cavity .030" deep for a 1/16" cross section o-ring to prevent oil from leaking out. Also, my $20 mitre gears came today, and they look quite good. The bore on the smaller gear looks a bit too small to me, so I may open it out to 5/16" diameter.


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## werowance (Jun 27, 2019)

Brian, mounting aluminum in the vice like that do you have trouble with it wanting to walk or move on you and also do you have trouble with making flat spots -referring to the head?  whats your setup and words of wisdom on this if not taking away to much from your build


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2019)

Whenever I buy bevel or mitre gears, they are never supplied with the dimensional data on how to set them up for a proper mesh. I can figure it out using the center finder and read-outs on my milling machine, but I always have to make a test block and put the holes for stub shafts in the right position to really confirm my numbers.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2019)

Werowance--I never have problem holding aluminum in my vice. Nor do I have any problem with it moving. Check that your vice jaws are perfectly parallel to each other, always position the part you are holding equal distances from the ends of the vice jaws, and use spray on WD40 as a machining lubricant for aluminum.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2019)

Sometimes ya just don't know--how big things are going to be until you have them "in hand". My bevel gears came yesterday from somewhere in China. They look great, they are well made---but--They look too big to really please me. They are big enough that I think they overshadow the engine. Of course this doesn't show up until you have modelled them and put them into the overall assembly. Now I have to decide whether I go ahead and use them, (they are 20 and 40 teeth) or reorder the next smaller set which are 15 and 30 teeth. I still have to make valve cages, valves, piston, con rod, a crankshaft, and a carburetor. And I'm scheduled for cataract surgery on 15th of July and again on the 29th of July. The gears are not expensive at only around $20 for the set. This shows the current gears that came yesterday. I have decided while typing this that I will go ahead and order the smaller gear set. Time is not supposed to be critical on this engine, and I think it may look better with a smaller gear set.


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## CFLBob (Jun 29, 2019)

There's nothing quite like having the parts in your hands - or ready to mount - for getting their size to sink in.   At least for my brain.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 30, 2019)

I may try something different here, and actually buy a set of two cast iron piston rings. My previous attempts to make my own have not been successful, so will try a purchased set. However, my Google-foo isn't working very well this morning. Can somebody please recommend a supplier of 1" piston rings in North America. I am ready to make a piston now, but if I do buy a set of rings for it I would much prefer to cut the ring grooves while the piston is set up for turning the outer diameter.---Brian


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## cheepo45 (Jun 30, 2019)

Hi Brian,
Try Otto Engine Works http://www.ringspacers.com/
They have all kinds of rings available - Reasonable prices also.
      Scott


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 30, 2019)

Thanks Cheepo45--I have just sent them off an email.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 30, 2019)

After a long and eventful war with Paypal, I ordered the rings from the source Cheepo suggested.--thank you.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2019)

After a two day break from machining, I came down to my shop this morning and made two brass valve cages and two 1018 cold rolled steel valves. I haven't trimmed the valves to length yet, as I have to drill  the 0.039" cross holes in the valve stems for spring retainers, and still have to lap the valves into their seats, which are part of the cages.


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## CFLBob (Jul 1, 2019)

OK - this is the part I need to watch closely.  

Don't spare the pictures - if you don't mind.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2019)

CFLBob--What specifically did you want to see?


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2019)

I'm trying something a little different here. I have always, in the past, drilled a 0.039" cross hole thru the end of the valve stem for a short piece of 1 millimeter round stock to keep the spring retainer from flying off. Last year I bought a hundred 1/8" circlips and 100 3/16" circlips, and I also bought the special tools to install them. The tools are really great and make installing the circlips very easy.--So--This time I have put a 0.025" wide slot in the ends of the valve stems and I will be using circlips instead of the 1 mm round stock.


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## CFLBob (Jul 1, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> CFLBob--What specifically did you want to see?



To be honest, I think I can see what you do.  I'd just like to look over your shoulder and make sure I'm thinking correctly.  

You have two valves that are not cut off.  You turned the stem down to its diameter.  Then you turned the valve itself to diameter and shaped the fillet between the stem and the valve seat (that's a radius, right?) where the seat will contact the valve cage.  You left that turned diameter rather long (half inch??) in case you have to cut away the fillet and start over.  I think you put 320 grit grinding paste between the valve and cage then spin the valve on its long axis.  With a drill?  Slowly or fast?  From the stem side or the barely turned stock side?  Once the fit is good, you switch to 400 grit paste and finally to 600.  Once that's complete you pull the valve (clean it off) and put it back in the lathe.  Then you part off the extra steel and face the valve.  

Am I really far off base?


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2019)

You've got most of it. Before you even start to machine the valve, drill and ream a hole to exact valve stem size in a piece of material about 1/2" long. This will be your diameter gauge. Then start with 3/8" rod at least twice as long as your valve , turn it to 5/16" . This gets around the fact that 3 jaw chucks never run absolutely true. You can't turn the entire length down in one shot, because it becomes too flexible as the diameter decreases. So, if the length below the head is 1.2" long, you break that up into 3 equal segments each 0.4" long. Turn down the first segment to about +.003" over finished diameter. Be careful not to go undersize, as then you will have to start over again. Then repeat with the second 0.4" length. Then repeat with the last .4" length. At that point, set your compound slide over to 46 degrees. (That is because you want to end up with an included angle of 92 degrees on the valve). Then take successive cuts from the stem diameter outwards until you have a finished valve. There is no radius nor transition. The valve now goes directly from .003" over finished diameter to the angled face. Now you start with the 220 grit sanding strips, holding one end of the strip in each hand with the strip looped around the valve stem. Do NOT knock your fingers on the chuck jaws. It hurts. Be prepared to let go immediately if the sanding strip wants to pull out of your grip. Work the sanding strip back and forth over the full length of the stem--the lathe is running while you are doing this. Stop approximately every 20 "strokes" from one end of the stem to the other. Now is the time to use that diameter gauge that you made in the very first step. Shut down the lathe and see if the gauge will slide over the valve stem. If it does, then great. You want a nice sliding fit over the full length. You don't want it sloppy, but you don't want tight spots in it either. It never ever fits over the stem the very first time. You keep repeating the last two steps over and over, until it does fit. This is a long and drawn out pain in the ass procedure, but it makes great valves. Once the gauge does fit properly over the full length of the valve stem, you are ready for the next step. Don't part the valve off from it's parent yet. The parent part gives you something to twirl back and forth between thumb and finger. Never use power tool to do this. only finger power. Coat face of valve with 400 or 350 grit grinding paste, push the valve all the way into it's seat, and twirl it back and forth (lift it up about every 15 twirls (Twirl is a semi rotating back and forth movement.) Don't always twirl in same place--every time you lift it off the seat (in the formentioned 15 twirls) rotate it about 30 degrees, because you are trying to "work" the entire face. Don't get any compound down into the guide area on the stem--you don't want to lap away the good fit down on the stem. After you have done this until your finger and thumb go numb, clean away all traces of compound, apply 600 grit, and do it all over again. I am assuming that you have already prepared the valve seat with something similar to the wonderful George Britnel tool, which leaves a true 45 degree seat, perfectly concentric with the guide portion of the valve cage. Note that the seat now has an included angle of 90 degrees, while the valve face has an included angle of 92 degrees. That is because you want a "line contact" between the valve face and the seat to begin with before you begin lapping.--and you want that line contact at the extreme outer side of the seat, not down in the bottom of the cone. After you have gone thru all of the above, and are somewhat confident that your valve will seat air-tight with the seat in the valve cage, you can part off the valve from it's parent part. Leave at least .025" of material above the taper because if you part off at the taper and leave a knife edge on the head of the valve, it will burn up from the heat of combustion.  Match mark which valve goes with which seat at this point, because if you mix them up bad things will happen. There are other more exotic things that you can do with the valve machining that will improve flow in infinitely, unmeasurable amounts but I don't do them because there is too much chance of screwing up the valve and having to start over. One more very important thing--when you first put the material in the lathe chuck, make sure you have sufficient length to make the valve  sticking out beyond the chuck jaws. You do not want to have to loosen the chuck off and pull more material out. All turning should be done in one set-up.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 2, 2019)

I said in my earlier post that I was using circlips to hold the keeper and spring in place on my valves. After a check of the names of these things, it seems that they are called "e-clips". They are small---Very damned small. Knowing the disaster which will be caused if one of these things flys off, I have redesigned the keeper plate. It now has a recess in the outer face, 3/16" diameter x .035" deep. The e-clip fits right down into the recess and can't fly off.


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## CFLBob (Jul 2, 2019)

Thanks for the in-depth summary.  I really appreciate that.  I've copied it off to my computer where I'm keeping notes on this process.

I'm going to modify all the dimensions to fit the Webster; the valve and stem diameters are 0.250 and 0.093 for example.  The basic design uses valves in valve cages, though, so it seems natural for this.  Unfortunately, I'm a long way from doing this.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 2, 2019)

The valves have been lapped and cut away from the parent material. Valve spring keeper plates, valve springs, and e-clips have been installed. Valves have been match marked so I don't mix them up. I may have to play with spring strengths when I get farther into this, but those springs were ones I had in a "kit". Whatever type of clip this is, it should work well when setting down in a recess in the spring retainer as you see here.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 2, 2019)

Just to set the record straight, those are neither circlips nor e-clips. They are sold by Spae-Naur and are called "external retaining rings". They are the R2000 series.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 2, 2019)




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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 2, 2019)

Here is a trick that is just so neat that I have to post about it. If you should be in a position to end up with a beautiful machined valve, and then remember that you haven't machined anything into the end of the stem for a spring retainer---(Not saying I did that of course). it becomes difficult. There is no way to hold the friggin' valve in your lathe chuck to add anything. Ta-Da!!! Just turn a piece of round stock to a larger diameter than the valve head diameter, drill and ream a hole the size of the valve stem and slit it lengthwise with a slitting saw. Then you can grip it in the three jaw chuck of your lathe to put in the groove.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 2, 2019)

I'm starting to run out of things to make. I'm waiting for a set of rings I ordered before I make the piston. I'm waiting for a smaller set of gears to arrive before I make the crankshaft or any of the governor parts. I took a closer look at the carburetor design that I used on the sideshaft hit and miss engine. I like the design. It is easy to make and runs very well. I had made the carb body a straight thru style with no offset when I designed this engine. After a closer look today, I decided that the body doesn't have to be rectangular. It only has to have a flat on the top and bottom surfaces. If I leave the other two sides round, I can skip a couple of machining steps. Also, the fact that I am silver soldering the fuel rail into place means that a lot of care must be taken to not get solder migrating into the threads on the top of the fuel rail. To avoid the problem, I made the fuel rail 0.080" taller. That way, even if I do get some solder in the threads, the cap and needle sub assembly isn't going to hang up on any migrated solder. I'm completely out of brass in the size that I need, so will make the body out of 1018 cold rolled steel. I still have brass to make the fuel rail and the adjusting screw from. I like to use brass for the fuel rail, because it has some very small holes thru it, which would be a real pain trying to drill if the fuel rail was made from steel.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2019)

That went surprisingly well. Carb body is made from 1018 steel. The only thing I would do different if I made this part again would be to put the threads on before I got everything else turned down to size. I waited until everything was turned to size, then found it very hard to hang onto while the threads were being cut with a die. I could have made this from aluminum, except for the fact that I can't solder aluminum. I can only silver solder brass and steel.


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## werowance (Jul 3, 2019)

Hi Brian,  if you have any close ups of the valve seat I would like to see them please.  I have read your posts about the britinellie valve seat cutting tool and how you just use finger preasure to cut your seat but wanted to see how deep it really cut and what I'm looking for when finished if I do the same thing.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2019)

Werowance-I don't have a picture as everything is assembled now. The 45 degree valve seat should only be about 0.020". That's not much, but its a lot easier to get a perfect valve seal on a narrow seat than a big wide one.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2019)

So---Here's my days work. I still have to buy a needle and mill the hole thru the center of the fuel rail. Now I've got to grab some lunch and go on my fat mans walk.


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## werowance (Jul 3, 2019)

so what is the purpose of the slit on the needle nut side for?


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2019)

Without the slit there is no way to keep the needle screw from vibrating out of position. When it is slit, then squeezed in a bit with pliers, it grips the threaded shank of the fuel rail and won't vibrate out of position.


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## el gringo (Jul 3, 2019)

Hi Brian,
don't mean to break into your build thread but I thought there might be some interest in pics of Bob Shores original Silver Angel I built in 2003,my second attempt at a gas engine...Bob helped me along with the build via telephone.
When might you expect to have plans available for your Silver Angel?











note fuel tank in base as all of my engines
Ray Monahan


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2019)

Hello Ray.--Bob shore's Silver Angel was the inspiration for my engine. All I have ever seen is YouTube videos of the Silver Angel, and I liked the look of it. I know that the original engine was 3/4" bore x 3/4" stroke. Mine has a 1" bore and stroke. I haven't come up with a name for mine yet. I have cataract surgery scheduled in mid July and the end of July, and I won't sell plans until I have ran the engine and made a video of it. Probably I will have plans for sale in September.---Brian


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## el gringo (Jul 3, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Hello Ray.--Bob shore's Silver Angel was the inspiration for my engine. All I have ever seen is YouTube videos of the Silver Angel, and I liked the look of it. I know that the original engine was 3/4" bore x 3/4" stroke. Mine has a 1" bore and stroke. I haven't come up with a name for mine yet. I have cataract surgery scheduled in mid July and the end of July, and I won't sell plans until I have ran the engine and made a video of it. Probably I will have plans for sale in September.---Brian


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## el gringo (Jul 3, 2019)

I'll be waiting for your plans...possible raw material list preview?
I had my cataracts done last year. No big deal, actual surgery about 20 minutes but big improvement in vision.
Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2019)

Ray--there will be a complete bill of materials with the drawings I release. There is certainly nothing exotic about the materials, but it's too soon to release any information at this point.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 4, 2019)




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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 4, 2019)

And just for general knowledge---I want to build one of those crankcase vent valves that let air out but won't let air back in. This keeps the crankcase in a state of semi-vacuum and prevents oil from leaking out around the main bearings. I am going to use a 3/32" diameter check ball, but nobody in Barrie sells springs that small. I went to Sayal Electronics and bought a bag of assorted springs for about $7.00  Oh Joy--there are probably half a dozen or more compression springs that are 0.085" in diameter, and some 0.123" diameter springs.


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## minh-thanh (Jul 5, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> --I want to build one of those crankcase vent valves that let air out but won't let air back in. This keeps the crankcase in a state of semi-vacuum and prevents oil from leaking out around the main bearings.



Brian Rupnow !!
I like valve of this type and want to see how the valve work


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## werowance (Jul 5, 2019)

wish you well with your eye surgery.  and thanks for explaining the slit.  that's a good idea.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 5, 2019)

Things are progressing.  I found a short piece of "mystery bronze" and turned it into an exhaust pipe, with a bit of mild steel pressed into one end to give it the "look". Carb is installed, and I rescued a bronze or brass gas tank filler cap from one of my extra gas tanks. Now that I have sourced some very, very small compression springs, I can go ahead and figure out my crankcase vent valve.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 5, 2019)

A quick look at a crankcase valve and description of how it operates.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 6, 2019)

The crankcase vent doesn't look all that impressive, but it's made and installed. At the last minute before I started to machine anything, I realized that I could use a 3/8" bolt for the main body. The head size was correct and I could thread it right up to the underside of the head and then cut it to length. I did that, but drilled out the center to 1/4" and threaded the end of a brass rod both externally and internally, then loctited it into the bolt. The knurled screw on cap ended up being made from cold rolled steel, because I have lots of that. I won't know how well this is going to work until I get the engine running. I can vary the spring pressure on the ball by tightening or loosening the set screw that the end of the spring fits into.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 6, 2019)

The gas tank plumbing is finished, and with that I'm going to ride off into the sunset. There is nothing left to do until my gears and piston rings come in. Will post some more after I get all the bits and pieces.


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## el gringo (Jul 7, 2019)

Found these picks you might find useful or interesting.
Ray Monahan


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 7, 2019)

Thanks Ray. That is a lot of parts. I never have pictures like that, as I assemble things as I build them. I know that some people will completely disassemble an engine for polishing or painting and then reassemble the engine. By the time I'm finished building an engine, I don't have the will to tear it all apart again. I want to proceed directly to seeing if the engine will run.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 9, 2019)

Today we're not machining anything much. I have been thinking about engine oil levels and a dipstick. This view, with some of the near side pieces hidden, shows the position of the crankshaft and con rod with piston at bottom dead center. I'm thinking that the oil level should be such that it comes up to the centerline of the big end of the conrod and not any higher, when the engine is "at rest" with crankshaft in the position shown. If anyone has a different idea for oil level, please let me know.  Secondly, there is nowhere inside the crankcase for a dipstick. The entire cavity is filled with crankshaft and con rod as the crankshaft travels thru 360 degrees. I have the beginning of an idea---Right now the oil drain plug is a solid piece of steel screwed into the bottom of the crank case. If I ran a pipe horizontally from the oil drain plug, then a 90 degree elbow "up", and then a short piece of vertical pipe, the oil level in that short vertical pipe would be the same as the oil level in the engine when the engine was not running. This would let me have a screw on cap that would be air tight. On the outboard end of the screw on cap, I would solder a dipstick. I want the crankcase to be sealed so the vacuum fitting can do it's job properly and maintain a semi vacuum in the crankcase. I don't want a separate dipstick which would surely get lost. Making the screw on cap and the dipstick one piece seems like a good plan to me, but I'm open for suggestions. What do you think? (This picture does not show what I am talking about re: dipstick.) It shows the engine in it's current state with only a screw in plug in the bottom of the crank case.


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## TonyM (Jul 9, 2019)

Hi Brian
Nothing at all wrong with the dipstick idea. I recall some of the old engines just used a filler with a small resevoir with a level incorporated set at the required level. You simply remove the cap and fill till you see oil remain up to the filler level. You checked before starting and top up if necessary.
You might not want to consider this one but some even simply used an overflow. Remove the filler cap which is set at the full level. Fill till it overflows then replace the plug. This one was often used in auto transmissions.


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## TonyM (Jul 9, 2019)

This is a Lister one  so you can see the idea.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 9, 2019)

I checked the idea of a sight glass, and I could fit one. This option was suggested by Jason from the U.K. Just tap one of the sideplates ( it would have to be on the governor side) at the level you want the oil to be. Take out the bolt, fill engine with oil until it starts to run out the bolt hole, then put the bolt back in. It is simple and gets the job done. A 5/16" shcs with a fibre washer will work just fine. Thank you Jason.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 9, 2019)

Position of tapped hole in sideplate that will determine oil level in engine.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 10, 2019)

Today my smaller gear set arrived, along with my piston rings. The smaller gears seem to be just about perfect size-wise. The large gear set was 20 and 40 teeth---the smaller set are 15 and 30 tooth. The piston rings appear to be fine, but they will need a bit of clean up on the top and bottom, because they appear to be "as heat treated" with no farther work done on them.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 10, 2019)

And a short and sweet video of the new gears mashing---


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 10, 2019)

I modelled the new gears and adjusted everything in the governor train to match them, and I like the new proportions much better. The new gears have a bore of 6 mm, which is slightly less than 1/4". Since I don't have any metric shafting, I will either use 1/4" and turn the ends of the crankshaft and cam shaft down to 6 mm or else run a 1/4" reamer thru the gears. I have gotten lucky and don't have to machine away any of the fins on the cylinder, as the governor balls will clear them with my new set-up. The crankshaft will be 3/8" diameter and the camshaft will be 1/4". I will have to sleeve the bore on the face cam, as it is currently bored for a 3/8" shaft.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 12, 2019)

Today seen the first bit of jewelry finished and installed. This is the topmost governor bracket. There will be many more small pieces like this one, but I've made a start.


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## CFLBob (Jul 12, 2019)

Polished brass can make nice looking jewelry.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 12, 2019)

Bob--It looks like gold, and when you go to buy any, it seems to cost about as much!! Some good hearted soul sent me two 12" square x 1/4" thick plates of brass about 5 years ago because they liked my posts, and I'm still nibbling away at them.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 13, 2019)

Today I made the lower camshaft bracket along with it's oilite bronze bushing. The gears mesh very nicely. For all of you who have made engines or machinery with gears which must mesh correctly, you will know that what sounds very simple has much more to it!!! The shaft which was used for alignment may very well become the cam shaft. My original plan for the top bracket was to have two pieces of brass silver soldered together. One to support the cam shaft and the other to be a pivot for the rocker arm. I'm thinking I may change that to two pieces bolted together. If I can do that, I can make the pivot part from aluminum.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 14, 2019)

Today I made the very TINY rocker arm pivot. (The part with the drill stuck thru it.). It is my hope that I can bolt the rocker arm pivot to the brass bracket it is setting on top of. But, there is a catch---when the rocker arm is installed, one end of it has to be perfectly centered over the exhaust valve, and the other end must hold the contact roller perfectly in line with the center of the track on the face cam. Being old and filled with wisdom, I know damned well that if I just arbitrarily bolt the rocker pivot to the top cam shaft bracket, that's never going to happen. So, I won't do any bolting until I have built the rocker arm and installed it and the pivot shaft in place and then, with everything lined up "dead nuts", I will proceed to clamp things together and drill/tap the holes for the bolts which hold the rocker pivot in place. Tomorrow I'm off to the hospital for a cataract operation, so I'm not sure when I will post again.---Brian


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## billco (Jul 14, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Today I made the very TINY rocker arm pivot. (The part with the drill stuck thru it.). It is my hope that I can bolt the rocker arm pivot to the brass bracket it is setting on top of. But, there is a catch---when the rocker arm is installed, one end of it has to be perfectly centered over the exhaust valve, and the other end must hold the contact roller perfectly in line with the center of the track on the face cam. Being old and filled with wisdom, I know damned well that if I just arbitrarily bolt the rocker pivot to the top cam shaft bracket, that's never going to happen. So, I won't do any bolting until I have built the rocker arm and installed it and the pivot shaft in place and then, with everything lined up "dead nuts", I will proceed to clamp things together and drill/tap the holes for the bolts which hold the rocker pivot in place. Tomorrow I'm off to the hospital for a cataract operation, so I'm not sure when I will post again.---Brian



Good luck with surgery


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## LorenOtto (Jul 14, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Today I made the very TINY rocker arm pivot. (The part with the drill stuck thru it.). It is my hope that I can bolt the rocker arm pivot to the brass bracket it is setting on top of. But, there is a catch---when the rocker arm is installed, one end of it has to be perfectly centered over the exhaust valve, and the other end must hold the contact roller perfectly in line with the center of the track on the face cam. Being old and filled with wisdom, I know damned well that if I just arbitrarily bolt the rocker pivot to the top cam shaft bracket, that's never going to happen. So, I won't do any bolting until I have built the rocker arm and installed it and the pivot shaft in place and then, with everything lined up "dead nuts", I will proceed to clamp things together and drill/tap the holes for the bolts which hold the rocker pivot in place. Tomorrow I'm off to the hospital for a cataract operation, so I'm not sure when I will post again.---Brian


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## LorenOtto (Jul 14, 2019)

God Speed Brian.


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## Cogsy (Jul 14, 2019)

Good luck with you surgery Brian!


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## Ghosty (Jul 15, 2019)

Good luck with you surgery Brian! I am sure you will be back soon with better vision


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## minh-thanh (Jul 15, 2019)

Good luck with you surgery !


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 15, 2019)

The surgery went well this morning. I had a bigger pain in my arse from setting around waiting for three hours at the hospital than I had from the operation that took about 15 minutes. Everything is blurry in that eye right now, and I feel like I had something the size of a pea in my eye, but they tell me that is normal for the first 48 hours after surgery. After that I should be able to see like Steve Austin. I have an amazing list of things I can't do for the next two weeks, and then I get the other eye done, so it looks like I will be out of commission until mid August.


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## Johno1958 (Jul 15, 2019)

All my best Brian on a speedy recovery.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 16, 2019)

I have worn single lens glasses from 40 to 50 years old. Then I had to go with bifocals from 50 to 60 years old. Then at 65 I had to go to trifocals with my "walking around" glasses, and get a second set of bifocals for computer and close up work. Today I feel a little bit like Mr. Magoo. However, if this surgery does all it is supposed to I plan on being called "Hawk-eye"!!!


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 18, 2019)

So--I'm 72 hours into this thing since the surgery. I've had no pain, and vision has cleared in that eye, a bit every day. It still isn't what I had hoped for, and a follow up appointment with the surgeon today left questions. The "super duper" ocular device which was surgically implanted in my left eye may not have been able to totally fix the astigmatism in that eye. Or--it may get better as it heals more. Or--due to the extent of the astigmatism, I may have to go in for laser surgery to smooth off the surface of the cornea. This left me disappointed, and prompted a call to the laser surgery people. "Oh yes, we can fix that in one easy step!!"--Sounds familiar. $2500 of my fine Canadian money for that quick little "step" with the laser people.--And--they won't do it until at least four months after the cataract surgery. Damn--I wasn't expecting this. Big hope is that with more time for the eye to heal it will clear up better without having anything else done to it.


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## CFLBob (Jul 18, 2019)

For some reason, the forum didn't update me on this thread until today, so this is all news to me.  I knew you were going to have surgery, just not that you just did!  Glad it apparently worked out with no major problems, just not as great as you hoped for.  Yet.  

Unfortunately, I don't have even the least bit of knowledge that might be useful to you!


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## werowance (Jul 18, 2019)

best of luck Brian.


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## el gringo (Jul 18, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> So--I'm 72 hours into this thing since the surgery. I've had no pain, and vision has cleared in that eye, a bit every day. It still isn't what I had hoped for, and a follow up appointment with the surgeon today left questions. The "super duper" ocular device which was surgically implanted in my left eye may not have been able to totally fix the astigmatism in that eye. Or--it may get better as it heals more. Or--due to the extent of the astigmatism, I may have to go in for laser surgery to smooth off the surface of the cornea. This left me disappointed, and prompted a call to the laser surgery people. "Oh yes, we can fix that in one easy step!!"--Sounds familiar. $2500 of my fine Canadian money for that quick little "step" with the laser people.--And--they won't do it until at least four months after the cataract surgery. Damn--I wasn't expecting this. Big hope is that with more time for the eye to heal it will clear up better without having anything else done to it.


Damn! I thought medical care was free in Canada?
Ray Monahan


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 18, 2019)

Ray--It mostly is. Operations, disease curing, a lot of the heavy duty stuff is free. Some things which are judged to be "cosmetic" in nature are not. Government won't pay for laser surgery, but they will kick in some of the cost of glasses.


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## el gringo (Jul 18, 2019)

Yeah, only the gov could classify vision improvement as 'cosmetic'


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 26, 2019)

I can't see well---But I can see well enough. One eye is fixed. This coming Monday other eye will be "fixed". Then I get to wait for a month to get proper glasses. I was so bored that I decided to do a little machining, and this is the result. I have machined both parts of a two part rocker arm. Eventually, they will get silver soldered together to make a single rocker arm. This is a case of "form follows function". Originally that 1/2" diameter cam follower was 3/8" diameter, but I had interference issues between the "rise" on the cam and the underside of the rocker arm. All is well now, so I will go back and change my drawings "to suit".


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## CFLBob (Jul 26, 2019)

Good to hear you're getting better.  Is it something that magnification helps, like an Optivisor, or is it just blurry?  Poor correction?  I guess.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 26, 2019)

My old glasses no longer work for the eye that has had surgery. So yes, anything close up like reading a book is blurry. Reading with the one remaining unoperated eye gives me a headache. Four weeks after having the second eye operated on, I will get new prescription glasses.


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## JohnBDownunder (Jul 28, 2019)

For what it's worth Brian, when I had my cataracts done Dr said to just get some Dollar shop reader glasses to help until I could get new prescription specs. I did as suggested and found it useful as a cheap interim measure.
John B


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 28, 2019)

Thanks JohnBDownunder. I have been told the same thing by my doctor.--Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 28, 2019)

Today is the last day for me to play in my machine shop. I go in for my second eye surgery tomorrow, so won't be able to do much for the next week or so, except fumble around like Mr. Magoo. Something I did do this past week was to make the two part rocker arm and assemble it, and get the complete gear train and face cam and rocker arm finished. This has worked out very well, and I am pleased with it. The face cam is one which I used previously on a horizontal hit and miss engine, so I know it works. Enjoy the video.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 28, 2019)

Whenever I have two pieces that must be silver soldered together and must also hold a very close angular relationship, it calls for either a welding jig to hold the two pieces together in the correct relationship, or to scribe a line on the two parts while "in place" and then match up the center holes and scribe marks in a holding vice. I chose the second of these two options, which is the less accurate method. I got lucky. With everything reassembled as in the previous video when the cam follower is not "up" on the cam, I have room to slip a 0.004" feeler gauge between the end of the valve stem and the round part of the rocker arm which sets directly above it. There must always be an air gap there when the cam follower is not "up" on the cam, because if there isn't the exhaust valve will never seal tightly to hold compression.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 29, 2019)

I had my second eye surgery for cataracts this morning, and everything went amazingly well. Great news about my left eye, the one I had done two weeks ago. It has improved a lot over the past two weeks and will not require any further surgery. Now I get to wait 4 weeks until I go see my usual optometrist to see what glasses I will need. Today is the first time I've been able to read my email without any glasses on for many, many, years. Why, just looking out my back door I can see Giants turning cart-wheels, statues wearing high-heels----


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## CFLBob (Jul 29, 2019)

Look at all the happy creatures dancin' on the lawn.  

Good to hear it went well.


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## JohnBDownunder (Jul 30, 2019)

Glad it all went well for you Brian, trouble now is that you will see some of the teensy, tiny faults you missed before getting your eyes fixed. ha ha.
   As a surgeon (who was about to sew several tendons back in position for me after a tumble that tore em.) Cataract and joint replacement are the ones that give almost immediate relief. Thus making them the best to have when needed I guess. 
    I know from personal experience that a hip replacement done right is brilliant - pain is all gone, doc when can you do the other one? "Not until it gets much worse mate."

John B


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 30, 2019)

Nothing earth shattering made today, but I'm being very careful of not aggravating my new eyes. I did manage to make the governor thimble from 01 steel and harden it, and pressed a 1/4" i.d. oilite bronze into the bore. The thimble has to slide up and down on the shaft, and I figured steel on steel wouldn't do very well.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 31, 2019)

Today I'm right down into George Britnell territory. These governor weights are right at the lower limit of what my new eyes can see. Those fly-weights are so small that I just trusted my DRO and kept cutting until they were finished. Tomorrow I will probably go up to the drugstore and buy some cheap "cheater" glasses to use until I can get my new prescription glasses.


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## CFLBob (Jul 31, 2019)

Those are the weights?  I've got to see the restoring force.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 31, 2019)

I called them the wrong thing. They aren't the weights. They are the mechanism that lifts the tapered slider in the valve train. The arms and weights attach to those parts.


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## CFLBob (Jul 31, 2019)

There doesn't appear to be a smiley for a thumbs up, but I think I see how that's going to work.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 31, 2019)

My bad, Bob.--It's been a long day.--Brian


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## LorenOtto (Aug 1, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Today I'm right down into George Britnell territory. These governor weights are right at the lower limit of what my new eyes can see. Those fly-weights are so small that I just trusted my DRO and kept cutting until they were finished. Tomorrow I will probably go up to the drugstore and buy some cheap "cheater" glasses to use until I can get my new prescription glasses.


Brian, I see you are still using the standard edition of the Machinery's Handbook.  I opted for the 'Large Print' version years ago and it made a big difference in how often I refer to it.  Much easier to use.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 1, 2019)

Loren--That copy was given to me by the German head of engineering at Volkswagen Canada about 25 years ago, when I worked for Volkswagen.  Volkswagen Canada is gone now, and Karl has retired in Germany.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 1, 2019)

Now that, me darlin's, is a beautiful thing. I don't have a ball turner, so my governor weights are shaped a bit differently from what I originally designed them as.  I have to hunt up a proper size compression spring, and then I am almost ready to finish the governor assembly. Then I can move on to a piston, con rod, and crankshaft. The shaft that is in the engine right now is just a plain piece of 3/8" cold rolled.


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## tractor162003 (Aug 2, 2019)

Brian
What size balls and  thread do you need. Alu or steel

Tom


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 2, 2019)

Tom--Thanks, I'm happy with the weights that I have now. As I tune this engine, I may well find that the ball size has to change to make everything work right. If you look for YouTube videos of the "Silver Angel" engine by Bob Shores, you will see none of the engines shown seem to be "missing' very much. I hope to have better results with this engine.
I've just had one of those days where much work was done but damn little was accomplished. Today I machined that S shaped part which is the governor latch. It works very well. The governor swings it in under the rocker arm to lock out the exhaust valve. I have had it installed, then uninstalled and machined a little bit---repeat---repeat---repeat. The issue is that there is very little difference between the rocker arm position when it is "up" on the cam and "down" off the cam. Literally, thousandths of an inch. At the moment, it is about 0.030" too short, and will happily swing under the rocker arm no matter what position the cam is, either "up" or "down". Tomorrow I will take my trusty mig welder and build the short end up, then reshape and file it and hopefully get it to swing under the rocker only when it is "up" on the cam.


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## davidyat (Aug 3, 2019)

Brian,
   Hope you're healing from the eye surgery. Don't know if you're doing this for your bi and tri focal lenses. When I had to get bifocals, my late wife told me to get "progressive" lenses. She said I'd be cursing and swearing for a month or two. She was right. Now I love my "progressive" lenses. 
Grasshopper


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 3, 2019)

davidyat--I tried to wear progressive bifocals, but they made me sick to my stomach. The same kind of sick that you get from drinking too much cheap red wine. I like the old style bifocals much better. I have to wait 4 weeks after my most recent surgery before they will consider prescribing new glasses. They told me that your vision keeps changing for up to 4 weeks after the surgery.---Brian


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## dethrow55 (Aug 3, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Tom--Thanks, I'm happy with the weights that I have now. As I tune this engine, I may well find that the ball size has to change to make everything work right. If you look for YouTube videos of the "Silver Angel" engine by Bob Shores, you will see none of the engines shown seem to be "missing' very much. I hope to have better results with this engine.
> I've just had one of those days where much work was done but damn little was accomplished. Today I machined that S shaped part which is the governor latch. It works very well. The governor swings it in under the rocker arm to lock out the exhaust valve. I have had it installed, then uninstalled and machined a little bit---repeat---repeat---repeat. The issue is that there is very little difference between the rocker arm position when it is "up" on the cam and "down" off the cam. Literally, thousandths of an inch. At the moment, it is about 0.030" too short, and will happily swing under the rocker arm no matter what position the cam is, either "up" or "down". Tomorrow I will take my trusty mig welder and build the short end up, then reshape and file it and hopefully get it to swing under the rocker only when it is "up" on the cam.


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## dethrow55 (Aug 3, 2019)

wow im impressed with your work. im starting my first motor build  nelson 2cc rc. just built crank case will be posting soon.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 3, 2019)

Dethrow55--I was pleased to hear from you this morning, and I thought "Wow--El Paso". Which of course made me think of the old song by Marty Robbins. Then this afternoon we heard about the terrible mass shooting there. I hope you and yours are all right.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 3, 2019)

Not a lot of shop time today, but some---This cute little devil is the lockout lever. This is the fun (mystery)part of every hit and miss engine I have ever built, and to a large extent this part determines how well the engine "hits" and "misses". As you can see, I've added a 0.070" thick boss to one side. This is to move the lever out farther away from the rocker arm pivot--the farther it is from the rocker arm pivot, the more movement there is in the rocker arm. And it is the difference between "up on cam" and "not up on cam" that I have to take advantage of. At the extreme right end, you will see that the lever is notched for clearance. When the engine is running slowly, the governor weights are in a position that lets the end of the lockout lever set beside the rocker arm. When the engine fires and begins to run faster, the governor balls kick outward away from the camshaft, and cause the end of the lever to move in under the rocker arm, which prevents the rocker arm from moving through it's normal travel. This in turn prevents the exhaust valve from closing, and consequently the engine can make no compression--so---the engine slows down. As soon as it slows down enough, the governor balls move in closer to the camshaft and moves the lever out from under the rocker arm and lets it travel though it's full arc, and the engine fires again. Thus the "hit and miss" cycle. Tomorrow I have to add about 0.050" to the extreme right hand end (Thank God for mig welders) and do some more fitting.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 4, 2019)

Today I deposited some mig weld on the short end of the lockout lever and filed it to shape. It now will swing under the rocker arm when it is "up" on the cam lobe, but not under it when it is "down" on the cam lobe. This is exactly what I wanted to achieve, so will be moving on to the piston tomorrow. I have been in a terrible fight with my computer all day. I bought an external hard drive to back everything up on my computer and plan on keeping it in my safety deposit box at the bank. Somehow this has affected my email, and it isn't working right. I've had two trips up to the computer shop today--no joy. I guess that I will call in "Geeks on wheels" this week and have them figure out what the heck is going on. And--Good news--You have no doubt heard me talking about my "Fat man's walk". After getting a too high blood sugar count in mid May, I decided to lose 50 pounds. My target is to lose it by sometime in November. Sixteenth of August is the half way mark in time between mid May and the end of November, and I have lost 25 pounds as of today.


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## dethrow55 (Aug 4, 2019)

hello brian thanks . el paso is a great town once they got rid of the problems. people here are very helpfull and nice. thanks again


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 5, 2019)

Today we're off and running with a piston. I have decided to use cast iron rings on this engine, so the ring grooves are what was recommended by the ring supplier. I had hoped that there would be enough room on the piston to put in a groove for a Viton o-ring, (In case I couldn't get the cast iron rings to seal). Unfortunately, there isn't enough room.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 5, 2019)

So here I am, using up a butt end of cast iron that was originally part of a longer piece which was used for an air cooled cylinder. The o.d. has been turned and polished with 200 grit sanding strips, until it "just about" slides into the cylinder (which you can see setting on the lathe bed). It actually just starts to enter the cylinder but won't slide all the way in. the round counterbore has been put in in this set up, and next step will be to cut the two ring grooves, still in that same set-up. Then the piston will be parted off for other operations.--Have also included a pic of the engine without cylinder on it.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 5, 2019)

This is the finished piston fitted to an arbor and held in the lathe chuck. The piston is coated with 600 grit aluminum oxide paste and with the lathe set on its lowest speed (Which is really quite slow) the cylinder is gradually worked back and forth until the entire piston will fit thru the cylinder. This is not for the faint of heart. You have to be able to let go of the cylinder very quickly if it "grabs",  then stop the lathe and work the cylinder loose before starting again. This makes an extremely good fit between piston and cylinder. The method works very well, and it doesn't take very long at all.


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## Cogsy (Aug 5, 2019)

Brian, I'm curious as to why you're lapping the piston to the bore if you plan on using rings? I'm thinking that if your lapped fit is good enough you won't need the rings and I would assume if it's not a good enough fit, the lapping process will make the bore so smooth that the cast iron rings won't be able to bed-in well enough to achieve a proper seal. 

Again it's more intuition thank actual knowledge, but I would guess full contact of a lapped piston would also have a lot more drag than a more traditional fit with the rings doing the sealing and would give you a 'free-er' turning engine and potentially more misses between hits. Just my thoughts, I could be wrong.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 6, 2019)

Cogsy--I will let you know how it works.---Brian


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## el gringo (Aug 6, 2019)

I have the same (if not identical), thoughts as Cogsy... Good luck.
Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 6, 2019)

Today was con-rod day at the Rupnow Ranch. Cast iron piston from yesterday, 6061 aluminum con rod from today. I have found that the rings I purchased (and which call for a 0.094" wide slot in the piston) are such a very very close fit into a 0.094" slot that tomorrow I will put a bit of 600 compound on a sheet of glass that I save for things like this, and "dress" the width of the rings just a tad.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 7, 2019)

There comes a point in every build where one must machine the horriblest, awfullest scariest part. And that for me is the crankshaft. I have made any number of these one piece crankshafts, using 1144 stress-proof steel. Some turned out perfect. Sone turned out mediocre, and some were downright awful! I put the same amount of care and breath holding into every one I make, but the results are never consistent.  Far as I know, the only things left to machine are the crankshafts and counterweights, so here we go--


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## CFLBob (Aug 7, 2019)

What's your plan for making that?  

One solid bar or several parts soldered together?


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 7, 2019)

First step with crankshaft is to cut it to length (allowing 1/2" extra at each end where it will be center-drilled.) Second step was to set it up in the three jaw lathe chuck and square up the ends. Third step was to set it up in the vice, paying particular attention that it is setting parallel to the bed of the milling machine. The material is 1 1/2" diameter, but the crank has a maximum width of 1/2" at the crank throws, so 1/2" of material was machined away. Trust me, at 0.015" depth of cut, that's a lot of travelling back and forth.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 7, 2019)

Now that you have one truly flat milled side on the round piece of round 1144 steel, you can scribe a line 1/2" over onto the uncut portion and clamp it to a piece of wooden 2 x 4. Then cutting "close to the line" you can cut off a lot of the excess material with the bandsaw, then finish up in the milling machine, to end up with a piece of flatbar.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 7, 2019)

And here we are, finishing up that rough sawn side on the mill. Note the way the part is supported on dolly blocks at both ends and is not supported by the vice at all. This ensures that when milled to finished size, the two sides will be perfectly parallel. All the vice is doing is providing gripping power so the part doesn't move. Tighten vice lightly, whack each end of part to make it lay flat against the dolly blocks. Tighten vice some more, whack the part some more. When vice is fully tightened and dolly blocks are held tightly against mill table by overhanging ends of part, then its time to start milling.


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## deeferdog (Aug 7, 2019)

Very good tip, one that I will definitely use.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 7, 2019)

So here we are, all ready to rock and roll. The cad model shows the crankshaft overlayed on the material which it will be cut from. The crankshaft will actually be 1/2" longer at both ends to match up with the raw material. Then it will be trimmed to length after all turning is completed to get rid of the countersunk ends. The picture shows the 1144 stress proof all ready to go into the lathe. I am going to spend some time tomorrow making a new lathe dog that doesn't rattle back and forth between the chuck jaws. That scares the Hell out of me.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 8, 2019)

First section of crankshaft is turned between centers. I kept checking it with my con rod until I was happy with the fit. Last evening I had all kinds of ideas for a new, super duper lathe dog that would fit on both sides of a chuck jaw. This morning I looked at what I had, and decided to just drill and tap another 1/4"-20 hole in the opposite side of the machinists clamp. Now I have a bolt setting on each side of a chuck jaw, so it doesn't rattle back and forth between chuck jaws. Works great!!!


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## werowance (Aug 8, 2019)

Brian, when you drilled the holes for the centers to run in,  did you do that on the mill or something before hand?


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 8, 2019)

Yes, I drilled them while the crankshaft was held in the milling vice, on the mill. 
So there we have it gentlemen--a crankshaft at 95% finished. I still have to trim the ends and do a little clean-up, but that is a full days work. I really liked the way my new improved lathe dog worked. Now my back hurts from standing at the lathe all day, and I still have to go for my "fat mans walk". That blob in the center is a spacer glued in place with hot melt glue to keep the center gap from closing up when I tighten the tailstock center.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 8, 2019)

The crankshaft is finished except for the keyway, which I will probably cut tomorrow. The main thing that I don't like about turning between centers, is that you can't readily check the size you've turned to by sliding the bearing over the shaft. You just keep checking with your micrometer and praying you don't turn undersize. In a perfect world, I like to leave about 1/2 a thou on the shaft and take that down with 200 grit carborundum paper.  In this case, I must have guessed right, because a 3/8" bearing will just start to slide onto the shaft ends. A bit of sanding should bring things right. 1144 stress-proof steel does move a little when machined. Not anywhere near as much as cold rolled or even A36 steel, but it still moves some. The crank as shown has about .010" total indicated run-out. If that poses any problem when I assemble the engine, I will set one end up in the 3 jaw chuck and whack it with a dead blow hammer. These little one piece crankshafts are amazingly flexible.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 9, 2019)

Today was major assembly and gasket day. Everything was calculated to have the outside to outside measurement of the crankshaft hubs to match the inside dimensions of the side-plates and bearings, with the cylinder being exactly in the center.  It was close---really close, but no cigar. However, I knew that by the time I put a 0.030" gasket between the side-plates and center section, that it would free up a bit of room. It did, everything cleared and went round and round. I was afraid that I was going to break the cast iron rings when trying to put them on the piston. 10w30 oil saved the day, and I got them on VERY carefully. Then came the question of how in heck do I compress the rings so I can get the piston into the cylinder. This lead to dismounting the cylinder, putting it up in the lathe, and turning a 30 degree internal chamfer on the end which sets closest to the engine. That worked, as with a good deal of butt-clenching I tapped the piston with rings mounted on it into the cylinder  (again with lots of 10w30 oil. So--Engine is assembled and everything clears when I turn it over by hand. All I have left to do on the engine is to make the counterweights which mount on the crankshaft.


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## Johno1958 (Aug 9, 2019)

Almost there Brian and looking good. How are your eyes going?


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 10, 2019)

Johno--My eyes are doing great. I have never had any pain thru this entire eye thing, and my vision is much clearer now. I go in to see my optometrist at the end of august to get prescription glasses for "close up" work. I don't need any glasses for distance vision. The only aggravation I have had is trying to remember to put all the different eye drops into each eye for a month following the surgeries.
Yesterday evening I filled the crank-case with oil, made certain that the crankshaft would rotate a full 360 degrees, then took the engine out to my run-in bench. With a 2.5" pulley on my electric motor and a 6" pulley on the engine shaft, I connected the two with a v-belt and let things "run in" for 20 minutes. The engine is turning at about 800 rpm. Some people agree with this "run in" period, some disagree.  I always run my engines in for a period of time to free everything up before trying to start the engine. This run in time MAY help the rings to seat. It will certainly take the high spots down.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 10, 2019)

After a successful half hour run in, the engine was completely torn down this morning so I can mount the counterweights to the crankshaft. If you wanted a look inside, here it is.


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## minh-thanh (Aug 10, 2019)

Hi Brian !
I have a question : your  crankcase valve  prevent oil from flowing out of the around main bearings ?


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 10, 2019)

Minh Thanh---Yes.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 10, 2019)

Took one of my grandkids and went to the steampunk fair in Coldwater today. A great day, ice cream was eaten, soft drinks were drank. Very few steam engines (I seen one) but lots of weird and wonderful creations and many people both young and old dressed in what they considered "period costumes" .  Steampunk is far more about fantasy that any reality that ever existed, but I love it. Bren's day was made when I bought him a fancy hat. I tried to buy one for myself in black, but the guy didn't have anything big enough to fit my fat old head, so I custom ordered one "to be built". I gave the guy $10 and a business card. I may never hear from him again, but probably will. It was a great, fun day.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 10, 2019)

Okay, I admit it. I had to do a little work today. I made these brass crankshaft counterweights this morning before I picked Bren up to go to the fair.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 11, 2019)

The engine has been completely reassembled, with gaskets between the side-plates and the main body, between the cylinder and the main body, and a head gasket. All clearances have been checked. I will let the engine "run in" with all its components in place for about 20 minutes before setting the valve and ignition timing. I have to buy a set of points and a condenser tomorrow, and after they are installed, we should be ready to go.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 12, 2019)

Laying in bed last night, going over the starting procedures for this new engine, I suddenly thought "Oh my God-I may have created a monster!!" I thought I was being very clever by hiding the points and ignition cam in behind the flywheel. Bingo!! How do I adjust the position of the ignition cam to time this thing. This morning I opened the 3D cad model, and breathed a sigh of relief.--One of the grub screws in the ignition cam is accessible from the side, even with the flywheel in place. That means I can set the ignition timing, and when the engine runs satisfactorily, I can loosen the flywheel grubscrew, slide the flywheel back a bit on the shaft, tighten the second ignition cam grubscrew, then slide the flywheel back into place.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 12, 2019)

I didn't feel like "builder bear" today, so I went to Part Source and picked up my ignition points and condenser. I have never taken the time before to model a condenser, so when I built the engines I just mounted the condenser wherever I could find room for it. I took half an hour and modelled it, so I can put it into my engine models from now on. I have had the Dodge ignition points and the NGK  CM6 sparkplug modelled for years now.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 12, 2019)

Forgot my starter hub. This one will be a little different. I made the part this afternoon from steel. You will also notice that I changed the orientation of the condenser.--This way makes the wire lead lay flatter so it isn't rubbed by the flywheel.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 13, 2019)

If any of you "Newbees" ever wondered--This is the electrical wiring required for one of these engines. The condenser wire attaches to the only terminal on the ignition points. So does the blue wire, which runs out to one side of the coil  which is not shown, Another wire runs from the other coil terminal back to a 12 volt battery. From the battery a wire runs thru a switch and then back to a ground anywhere on the engine. When the points open, it breakes the circuit, and this induces a spark in the sparkplug wire. If the engine runs away on you and starts to over rev, you shut the switch off.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 13, 2019)

Like I said--Something a little different. The starter hub bolts to the flywheel. The starter spud fits into my 3/8" variable speed drill.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 13, 2019)

So, here it is guys.--First run. I tried to get it to start for about half an hour. It would fire and run if I put a few drops of gasoline down the sparkplug hole, but then die off once those few drops were burned. This lead me to believe that the spring on the atmospheric intake valve was too strong. I removed the spring and cut two coils off, then reinstalled it. The engine started right up, as you see in the video.  My next trick will be to get the engine running properly with the hit and miss lever in place.---Brian
.


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## CFLBob (Aug 13, 2019)

Congratulations!  That seems like it went just about as well as it could have gone.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 13, 2019)

Bob--The angels were with me on this one.---Brian


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## Johno1958 (Aug 13, 2019)

Nice Brian congratulations. Is this the first ringed engine you have made ?
Cheers
John


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## Moper361 (Aug 14, 2019)

Love it Brian that thing is running as sweet as a nut really looking forward to hear it with hit and miss lever in place


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 14, 2019)

This is the first engine I have successfully built with metal rings. The compression is phenomenal, and the ability of the engine to coast is much improved over a similar engine using Viton rings.


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## Bighoss (Aug 14, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> So, here it is guys.--First run. I tried to get it to start for about half an hour. It would fire and run if I put a few drops of gasoline down the sparkplug hole, but then die off once those few drops were burned. This lead me to believe that the spring on the atmospheric intake valve was too strong. I removed the spring and cut two coils off, then reinstalled it. The engine started right up, as you see in the video.  My next trick will be to get the engine running properly with the hit and miss lever in place.---Brian
> .



Great running engine


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 14, 2019)

I have adjusted the valve and ignition timing a bit to slow this current engine down, and have it running at a much more sedate pace now.


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## gus (Aug 15, 2019)

Hi Brian .I back into the fold but I have cold feet. Now embarking on the lasy DIY Amplifier. Been messing with Stereo Amp Building and winding tranformers.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 15, 2019)

Hello Gus--I'm so glad to hear from you. I thought maybe you had gone to that big engineworks in the sky. I am still fooling with these little engines and loving it. I'm happy that you are well and still finding creative things to do.--Brian


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## werowance (Aug 15, 2019)

Hey Gus  good to see you again.  hope things have been good.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 15, 2019)

We're finished. The engine hits and misses and runs excellently. Keep in mind that there are variables which can be tweaked to give even better hits and misses. The strength of the spring directly below the face cam, the height of the fixed collar below the ring supporting the counterweights. The ignition timing, and the needle valve on the carburetor. Even the size of the brass counterweights.  I sell the complete drawing package as .pdf files for $25 Canadian funds, payed into my Paypal account to [email protected]  The solid models can be included as .step files or x_t Parasolid files, or even as native Solidworks 2015 files. This has been a fun build, and a relatively fast build. ---Brian Rupnow


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 15, 2019)

What is my final opinion of the purchased cast iron rings? They work great. They are a damned snug fit into a piston groove cut with a 0.094" cut off tool, so I had to lay them on a flat sheet of glass with some 600 grit aluminum oxide lapping paste and lap then on both sides to get a proper fit into my piston grooves. They do go onto the piston with much breath holding and much 10W30 oil. I was really afraid that I was going to break them, but didn't. Before being installed on the piston I tried them for fit inside the cylinder. One ring had  a gap of 0.004" so was fine. one has an end gap of about 0.002". so I worked the gap a little bit with a points file to widen the gap to 0.004". I couldn't get them to compress enough to go into the cylinder after they were installed on the piston, so I put the cylinder up on the lathe and cut a 20 or 25 degree lead in chamfer on the end closest to the crankshaft. That, along with more 10W30 oil made it possible to install the pistons. This engine rotates very freely with the sparkplug out. Considerably easier than an engine using Viton rings. would I buy these rings again?--Most definitely


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 15, 2019)




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## 34_40 (Aug 15, 2019)

Hello Brian Rupnow. I was pleasantly surprised to see your name attached to this little engine. You probably don't remember me but You used to frequent another site regarding Hot Rods.  I first "met" you there. 
Do you still have the canary yellow rod?   Excellent work on this piece, I am about to go to the beginning and have a good read I'm certain.   Congrats on the project and maybe I'll see you in the funny papers?!?!


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 15, 2019)

34-40--Hot Rodding was my lifetime hobby up until about 10 years ago. I got arthritis so bad that I couldn't lay on the cement floor and roll around doing all the things required to keep a hot rod in fighting trim. I sold the little yellow roadster pickup and bought a lathe and a mill and started designing and building small engines.--A hobby that can be done standing up at a machine or setting at my computer. Fifty years as a design engineer designing special purpose machinery and automation is a good background to have for doing this.---Brian


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## Johno1958 (Aug 15, 2019)

Well done Brian ! A beautiful little engine and runs nicely . Given some time  will you have plans for sale ?
Cheers
John


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## JohnBDownunder (Aug 16, 2019)

Hooray! 
         Another great write-up and video of the end result. As usual well worth the reading time over the build.
Thank you Brian for your efforts in building and posting progress or lack thereof as sometimes happens.
         The few things I make never get a write-up as I get too involved in the process. (Usually fixing my newbie mistakes that I seem rather good at making in the first place.)
Thanks again for posting.
John B


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 16, 2019)

Here is a video of the engine driving the ball lifting machine. Engine is working fine, but ball lifting machine doesn't appreciate being run so fast. It is dropping balls out one side, but my grandson Bren wanted to see it running, and I figured I might as well make a video at the same time.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 16, 2019)

I have an idea for a varying load machine which basically is turning a shaft supported in bearings with a weight offset to one side, driven by a gear reduction and pulley system. Engine under load will have to fight gravity when the weight is being lifted on one side. When weight goes "over the top" and begins to descend, engine will go into "miss" mode. I have sold the plans for this engine and have spent all day updating and correcting all of the 70 drawings involved. Tomorrow I will save them as .pdf files and send them off to the people who purchased them.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 16, 2019)

Johno--The plans are for sale now.--Brian


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## 34_40 (Aug 16, 2019)

Thanks for the update Brian, glad to see you're still having fun.

I did let the fella's "over there" know you're doing fine.


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## Johno1958 (Aug 16, 2019)

Hi Brian .
May I have a contact address please because I'm definitely up for a set of plans.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 16, 2019)

Johno--I sent you a private message.--Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 17, 2019)

Johno-Did you get the plans okay?---Brian


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## Johno1958 (Aug 17, 2019)

Yes thank you  Brian . Sorry for the delay, I work and sleep pretty strange hours.
These plans are excellent ,very easy for me to follow. I may have to change some of it  slightly reaming and tapping to metric because that is all i have.
Thank you Brian for your for your work on this forum  and making plans like these available.
I probably won't get a start on this project for a couple of months and I am slow when I do get going.


Cheers
John


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## Jmccrack (Aug 18, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Johno--The plans are for sale now.--Brian


Brian
Please let me know how i can get a set of drawings for you hit and miss 
Tks
Jerry McCracken
PS Here is a pic of my car. 5 year build started driving it last year. 34 Ford


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## dnalot (Aug 18, 2019)

I am curious to here how your cylinders and rings worked out. I saw in your build that you lapped the cylinders. Did you leave them that way or did you need to rough them up a bit to seat the rings.

I had my eyes fixed as you did and it was life changing. I can see perfectly far but need readers for up close. 1.25 power for general use but when at the lathe or mill I keep a pair of 2.5 and 3.5 power readers.

Thanks for another informative build.



Dnalot


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 18, 2019)

Aostling and others wanted to see how this engine reacted under load/no load conditions. I don't have any machinery designed to have a varying load, but I did want to show him and others how a varying load affects these model hit and miss engines. So--Turn up your speakers, click the video link, and set back and listen.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 18, 2019)

I lapped the piston into the cylinder and made no other change to either, other than to add the cast iron rings. Engine has extremely good compression. I think the engine would have ran equally well if I had given about.001" radial clearance. The rings work great. Anyone wanting plans, go to Paypal and put $25 Canadian funds into my account under [email protected] and be sure to send me an email giving your name and which engine you want plans for. As soon as Paypal notifies me that the funds are there, I will send you a package of drawings as .pdf files. there are about 70 drawings, and some of them are multiple sheets.---Brian---Jerry McCracken your car is beautiful!!


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 18, 2019)

I just listened to my video, and noticed that I spoke in error. The engine under load hits every other stroke, same as any four cycle engine, not on every stroke.


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## CFLBob (Aug 18, 2019)

Brian, do you know how much power the engine generates?  Or given the bore and stroke, I could guess.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 18, 2019)

Bob, I have no idea. Some people are asking me to make a Prony brake set up to measure the power, but I'm not going to.


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## ShopShoe (Aug 19, 2019)

Brian,

You probably remember this, too:  When I was a kid and the farmers were elevating square bales of hay up to the haymow with the old farm elevator, the engine running it would sound like that whether working or idling. Of course, the "newer" farmers had a PTO driven elevator, or one with a Briggs and Stratton engine.

--ShopShoe


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 19, 2019)

Actually, no. I don't remember, but that's mainly because there weren't all that many farms where I grew up. Once I moved away from home and went "down south" to Belleville, Ontario, the farmers were using electric motors on their bale elevators.


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## cds4byu (Aug 20, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Bob, I have no idea. Some people are asking me to make a Prony brake set up to measure the power, but I'm not going to.


Tell me how heavy that hunk of steel is and I will give you an estimate.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 22, 2019)

I am now in that "post building slump" that always follows a successful build. The engine worked great, started and ran almost the first time I tried it, and ran well. I did manage a video showing the engine running under load conditions while lifting a weight. Rather crude, but it did the job. I have had numerous ideas for making a machine to drive that has a variable load, but that is not as easy as you would think. It would have to cycle in and out of the "load" side automatically, but can not transfer any load back into the engine when being ran in the "no load" situation. --In other news, I got stung by a damned bee yesterday. I was mowing my lawn with my garden tractor, when I felt a small "jab" in my right hand. I looked down at my hand and seen a big yellow and black bee, and immediately gave my hand a shake to knock it off. The bee drilled me, and damn, did it ever hurt. I haven't been stung by a bee since before my dad died, so it had to be over thirty years ago. I'm not allergic to bee stings so  finished cutting the grass and came in the house and held an ice cube against the sting for an hour until it finally quit hurting.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 22, 2019)

If I do build something with a variable load. I want it to be fully automatic. The problem is that when you slow something down enough that it can be easily seen, the motor gains a great deal of torque advantage. When the motor gains a great deal of torque advantage, then you need an even heavier load. And whatever it is, I don't want it to be much larger than the motor. I also don't want the machine to "feed back" to the engine when the engine is in it's "no load" side of the sequence.---thinking---thinking--


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## Gordon (Aug 22, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> If I do build something with a variable load. I want it to be fully automatic. The problem is that when you slow something down enough that it can be easily seen, the motor gains a great deal of torque advantage. When the motor gains a great deal of torque advantage, then you need an even heavier load. And whatever it is, I don't want it to be much larger than the motor. I also don't want the machine to "feed back" to the engine when the engine is in it's "no load" side of the sequence.---thinking---thinking--


How about an air compressor with an air operated clutch. Build up pressure and the clutch disengage. Bleed off some pressure and the clutch reengages. An air compressor is just an engine.


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## werowance (Aug 23, 2019)

maybe some sort of grain grinder or mill.  when you drop a hand full of hard dry corn kernels in it puts a load on the engine until it s ground through it?  then enjoy a pan of cornbread afterwards?


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 23, 2019)

Here she is boys, my mother 99 years old today. That handsome (slimmer) fellow with her is myself, turned 73 in July. Drove up north and had a little birthday party at the senior citizens manor where she lives. Good time was had by all, my back is sore--driving 400 kilometres will do that.


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## Moper361 (Aug 23, 2019)

Brilliant Brian she looks very happy to see you .


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## el gringo (Aug 23, 2019)

Dummy cannot understand how to make  the oval hole in the carb? 
Raym


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 23, 2019)

ElGringo--After the tube is soldered into the carb body, set the carb body up in your milling machine vice and after picking up the center of the main air passage in the carb body use an endmill of the specified size, plunge cut a circular hole thru the tube . Then just offset the spindle in one direction and plunge cut thru again. Then offset in the other direction and plunge thru again. That will give the oval hole.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 25, 2019)

I'm in thinking cap mode this afternoon. As the engine sets right now, there are only two ways to adjust the speed at which the engine kicks in and out of "hit and miss" mode. One is by changing the weight of the governor balls, and the other is by changing the strength of that light green spring on the vertical cam shaft. I think the governor balls are very close to the correct weight right now. The light green spring is a real pig to change, requiring almost complete disassembly of the cam shaft and brackets. However--If I were to add a third factor into this, I believe I could fine tune the kicking in and out of "hit and miss" mode. The way the engine works right now is that once the engine reaches a certain speed, centrifugal force makes the balls fly outward away from the cam-shaft (as it is shown in the model). The cams on top of the governor arms force the grey governor thimble upwards, compressing the light green spring and in turn makes the dark blue "hit and miss lever" rotate and end up underneath the rocker arm, which prevents the exhaust valve from closing. It works great, but I have no control over when this happens. If I were to make the yellow bracket which bolts in place with two of the head bolts, then I could tap a hole in it, and add the bronze colored adjustment screw and lock nut. The spring from a ball point pen would be Loctited to the bronze threaded adjustment screw, and the other end would bear against the dark blue "hit and miss lever". Any pressure applied to the "hit and miss lever" by the spring would counteract the force applied by the light green governor spring. This should give me the ability to fine tune the rpm at which the engine kicks in and out of "hit and miss" mode.


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## dethrow55 (Aug 26, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Here she is boys, my mother 99 years old today. That handsome (slimmer) fellow with her is myself, turned 73 in July. Drove up north and had a little birthday party at the senior citizens manor where she lives. Good time was had by all, my back is sore--driving 400 kilometres will do that.


well happy birthday and many more my mom is 99 and will be 100 april 12.


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## redryder (Aug 26, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I'm in thinking cap mode this afternoon. As the engine sets right now, there are only two ways to adjust the speed at which the engine kicks in and out of "hit and miss" mode. One is by changing the weight of the governor balls, and the other is by changing the strength of that light green spring on the vertical cam shaft. I think the governor balls are very close to the correct weight right now. The light green spring is a real pig to change, requiring almost complete disassembly of the cam shaft and brackets. However--If I were to add a third factor into this, I believe I could fine tune the kicking in and out of "hit and miss" mode. The way the engine works right now is that once the engine reaches a certain speed, centrifugal force makes the balls fly outward away from the cam-shaft (as it is shown in the model). The cams on top of the governor arms force the grey governor thimble upwards, compressing the light green spring and in turn makes the dark blue "hit and miss lever" rotate and end up underneath the rocker arm, which prevents the exhaust valve from closing. It works great, but I have no control over when this happens. If I were to make the yellow bracket which bolts in place with two of the head bolts, then I could tap a hole in it, and add the bronze colored adjustment screw and lock nut. The spring from a ball point pen would be Loctited to the bronze threaded adjustment screw, and the other end would bear against the dark blue "hit and miss lever". Any pressure applied to the "hit and miss lever" by the spring would counteract the force applied by the light green governor spring. This should give me the ability to fine tune the rpm at which the engine kicks in and out of "hit and miss" mode.




Why not just add a collar with set screws on top of the green spring? Just leave enough room above it for height adjustments.

Or if you know the spring is too strong, pull out the top or bottom winding enough to snip off 1/2 to 1 coil at a time. When it is right, just stop. Disadvantage to this method no ability to easily reverse a change. The movable collar is an easy and adjustable solution.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 26, 2019)

It works!!!  I have attached a still picture and a video showing my "fine tuning adjustment screw" that affects the rpm at which the engine kicks in and out of hit and miss mode.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 26, 2019)

I've never had a real problem getting engines to run fast. I like my engines to run slow, and it takes more fiddling to get them to run slow than fast. In a perfect world, I'd like the hit and miss engines to fire once, then coast for seven or eight revolutions, then repeat. I have came to the conclusion that although Viton rings seal extremely well, the penalty for using them is that they create more drag on the piston than cast iron rings. This drag has a rather dramatic effect on how many coast cycles a hit and miss engine will have before it hits again. This engine has a pair of cast iron rings that  purchased, and it does seem to have an improved coast cycle. The only thing wrong with having them run as slow as I like is that they lose the ability to take over and keep running when a load is applied.


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## Cogsy (Aug 27, 2019)

I think it would be worth your time to make another piston with some small amount of clearance with the bore. You know your cast iron rings are sealing now, so you don't need the piston to be lapped in tight. I believe removing the drag the lapped piston is generating will further improve the number of coasts you get between misses, as well as increasing engine power at low RPM. I know it's a pain to do but I think it'll provide the results you're looking for.


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## ShopShoe (Aug 27, 2019)

Brian,

Kudos for continuous experimentation and the resulting improvement on this engine. I certainly like the way it operates and sounds now, even though I was impressed with this one quite a few posts ago.

I am also mesmerized watching the governor-weight arc change in response to the hits and misses, proving that is working very well. I have been following all of your projects with fly-ball governors and I am always entertained by them.

Thanks again for your contributions to these forums,

--ShopShoe


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 27, 2019)

Thank you Shopshoe, I'm glad you enjoy my posts. Cogsy--You may well be right.---Brian


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## werowance (Aug 27, 2019)

Nice,  I like the adjustment setup.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 27, 2019)

The people who have purchased this engine plan set will be interested in details of this fine tuning adjustment for the hit and miss function. Rather than email every individual, I will post it here.


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## Johno1958 (Aug 27, 2019)

Thanks Brian.


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## johnmcc69 (Aug 27, 2019)

That's a nice solution Brian & seems to work very well.

 Being a CAD "junkie", I have to ask how you modeled the knurl on the screw. A revolved/patterned cut? Or does solidworks have a better & more elegant solution?

 Sweet engine Brian,

 John


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 28, 2019)

Johnmcc--Solidworks doesn't have a "good way" to add a knurled surface. I modelled the round blank with the hole in the center on the front plane. Then I started a sketch on the front plane, drew a circle the same diameter as the blank, then went to annotations and added a helix while still in the sketch. then I flipped it over to the top side and started a sketch. I drew a very small rectangle, and used the pierce command to attach it to the helix. Then I used the "swept cut" command to chase the small rectangle around the helix. Then I used the pattern feature to pattern that cut 10 times around the diameter. Then I repeated all of the steps, only I chose the "reverse rotation" feature. It gives a rather strange looking knurled pattern, but it shows up well on the part and on drawings.


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## johnmcc69 (Aug 28, 2019)

Thanks for the knurl modeling explanation Brian!

 John


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 29, 2019)

I'm still thinking about a mechanism which would automatically give a variable load to the hit and miss engine. The idea of an offset weight mounted on the end of a rotating arm is great, except for one thing. When lifting the weight against the pull of gravity, the engine would be forced to actually "work". However, once the weight went "over center" and began to drop, that force would feed back thru to the engine, which is what I want to avoid. I could use a one way clutch bearing so the drive wouldn't feed back to the engine while the weight was swinging down under the force of gravity, but there is no way to predict when it will stop swinging. A few years ago I was messing around with worm gears. I had read about making your own model sized worm gears, and wanted to try it for myself. I was impressed by how well it worked, and created the following thread.
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/63038-Fun-with-Worm-Gear-Drives?highlight=worm
The interesting thing about a worm gear, is that once you get beyond a 40:1 ratio, they won't feed back to the driving shaft. This feature has been successfully used on many small hand winches. I still have the worm drive created back in 2014, and I may do something with it.


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## tractor162003 (Aug 29, 2019)

How about a water pump that feeds back on it self with a gate valve in the hose to restrict the flow.


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## CFLBob (Aug 29, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I could use a one way clutch bearing so the drive wouldn't feed back to the engine while the weight was swinging down under the force of gravity, *but there is no way to predict when it will stop swinging*.



It won't stop swinging.  Well, it eventually will but that could take hours.

Other than a mechanical brake, which would be tricky, it's just not stopping.


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## Johno1958 (Sep 1, 2019)

Just to let you know I've made a start Brian and I will start my own thread when I actually get going . This is about 2 and a 1/2 hours cutting with my 
little 6x4 horizontal band saw .Got the bevel gears also.

Cheers
John


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 1, 2019)

John--I'm glad you were able to get the gears. I am looking forward to someone starting a thread on their build.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 1, 2019)

CFL Bob-it will stop swinging, but I don't know where. Once the arm has reached the top of it's arc and began to fall under the influence of gravity, it will "free swing" 180 degrees, then it's momentum will carry it past the bottom of it's arc and that is the circumstance where I "don't know". I have no way of knowing how far past the bottom of the arc it will swing. As soon as it stops "free swinging" the engine will pick up the load again because the engine is still running--it never stopped. I have an arrangement set up in the garage which I hope to finish today using a worm gear. If it works I will post a video. If it doesn't work, I may buy an one way clutch bearing.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 1, 2019)

A very important milestone reached today. You have all heard me making reference to my "Fat mans walk" which I started after getting a "too high" blood sugar report on a blood test. I have been walking a mile a day since then, and forgoing my regular intake of chocolate bars, donuts, soft drinks, and any other sweet things. As of this morning I have lost 30 pounds.  I find that fact amazing. After three months of such extreme dieting and exercise, I'm finding it more and more difficult to stay on such a monastic diet. I have already told my wife months ago that if I ever lost 30 pounds, I was going to go down to the Dairy-Queen and have a banana split. Today could be the day!!!


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 1, 2019)

This morning I ran the engine with my worm drive varying load. It worked, but not as well as I wanted it to. I made a video, but I'm not happy with the results. The big weight (two pieces of flatbar taped together) did make the engine run in the miss cycle at a very brief angle near the top and bottom of its swing, but when the offset weight went over the top of it's arc, it still resisted turning easily. So, while the engine should have been popping and missing thru the full 180 degrees of swing as gravity pulled the weight down, it kept on hitting trying to overcome the worm gear and worm binding. Engine was supposed to miss under no load condition for 180 degrees of arc while gravity pulled the arm down and then work without missing while the weight was lifted up thru 180 degrees. It didn't work out that way. I have just ordered a one way clutch bearing, and when it gets here we will try things again.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 5, 2019)

Today I received my one way clutch bearing in the mail. It looks exactly like a sealed ball bearing, but it definitely has the "turn only one direction" feature. I am going to mount it in the offset weight arm, so that as soon as the engine has lifted the weight arm over the top, the arm will swing back down due to gravity, and having no "binding force" transmitted back to the engine.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 5, 2019)

The one way clutch bearing had an inner diameter of 12 mm, so I made a hub of cold rolled steel, put two set screws in each end and drilled/reamed it 0.312" for the 5/16" shaft it is going to mount on. The hub is pressed into the bearing with an interference fit of .0005".


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 5, 2019)

Well, the one way clutch bearing works exactly as advertised. I'm impressed. However--the set up didn't work. The one way clutch bearing was mounted in the steel bar which gets rotated, but--Once the bar goes slightly past vertical, it free swings thru almost 350 degrees. The engine has to hardly work at all. I thought for a moment that I had invented perpetual motion.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 5, 2019)

-I am going to either give up on this or try a totally different approach. The absolute best video of the engine hitting under load and missing under no load was the video in which the string with a weight on one end  went over a pulley and down to a small winch drum attached to the clutch. My current system with the worm gear gives the engine too much mechanical advantage--it never sees enough load to function the way I want it to. In a perfect world, the winch drum would turn clockwise for a measured number of turns, then stop and turn counterclockwise for a measured number of turns. I want this loaded and unloaded cycle to repeat, with no intervention from myself. I actually have enough ceiling height to put the top pulley that the string goes over up higher, and have something attached to the string running down to the weight in two places. At the upper and lower limits of travel, the "thing" attached to the string would move a lever, which would reverse the drum rotation. I have looked at all manner of "automated reversing systems" and they either beyond my machining capabilities, or look like they wouldn't work. I am in no rush to build another engine, so am still searching for an automated reversing system that looks like i could build it. There is one in the booklet "507 Mechanical Devices" that shows promise, but it would be a lot of work.


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## Shopgeezer (Sep 6, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Today I received my one way clutch bearing in the mail. It looks exactly like a sealed ball bearing, but it definitely has the "turn only one direction" feature. I am going to mount it in the offset weight arm, so that as soon as the engine has lifted the weight arm over the top, the arm will swing back down due to gravity, and having no "binding force" transmitted back to the engine.



Where did you get this bearing/clutch?  I want to use one to put an electric start on a 4 stroke model airplane engine. Hooking up a small electric DC motor with appropriate reduction on an unused transmitter channel with this type of clutch would let the DC motor drive the gas engine but prevent the gas from driving the electric motor once it starts.. 

Of course driving a simple DC motor would produce a dynamo that could be used for on board power and reduce the need for heavy high power radio/servo batteries. Just need a small battery for electrical ballast and drive the servo load from the generator. Hmmmmmmm.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 6, 2019)

Purchased from Bearings Canada
CSK12-One-way-Sprag-Backstop CSK12 One way Bearing Sprag Freewheel Backstop Clutch:One Way Bearing
1 at $25.34


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## Shopgeezer (Sep 6, 2019)

I’ll check it out. Thanks.


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## Barnbikes (Sep 6, 2019)

Not sure if it is helpful but the next time you see one of those Nordictrack ski machines for free grab it. The wood skis you stand on are sitting on one way bearings. One on each side of the center flywheel.


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## el gringo (Sep 6, 2019)

well... its a start.
Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 6, 2019)

Nice work Ray.  Would you please start a new thread about your build.---Brian


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## Johno1958 (Sep 6, 2019)

Hi Brian quick question.
Would any thing be gained by removing the inside seal from the crankshaft bearings seeing they will well and truly be splash lubed.
The bearings I have bought are very gummy stiff feel to them as though they are packed with heavy grease.
Cheers
John


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## Cogsy (Sep 7, 2019)

John, Brian is probably in bed at this time so I thought I'd respond. Bearings running with a splash oil system will run with far less friction than in grease. Your only problem might be the seal quality of the bearing - with only the outside seal left, and if there's lots of oil getting fed to the bearing, then it might weep oil from the seal. Then again, our engines always need a clean up after a good run so I'd say the definite gains outweigh the possible drawbacks. Rip those inside seals out and rinse the grease out, then add a couple of drops of light oil to protect them until your engine suns and supplies its own oil.


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## Johno1958 (Sep 7, 2019)

Thanking you.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 7, 2019)

I left the seals in both sides of my bearings. I thought about pulling the inner seals out, but didn't want to risk it in case it created oil leaks.--Brian


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## Johno1958 (Sep 7, 2019)

Thanks Brian I'll leave them in and see how it goes.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 8, 2019)

After much playing about with this engine, under both load and no load conditions, I have come to notice this phenomenon that I have seen before on other hit and miss engines. When the engine is running very slowly, with a good number of "misses" between "hits", the fuel in the line running to the carburetor wants to all run back down in to the tank during long "miss" cycles. Then when it finally does "hit" again, there is no fuel at the carb and the engine stops. I use clear neoprene gas line, and I can see it doing this. The answer of course is my venerable one way valve, as shown in the .jpg. This one way valve only works well in the vertical position, and the best location is immediately below the carburetor fuel inlet. Experience has shown that a 3/32" diameter ball is the optimum size. If the ball is larger, the venturi vacuum from the carburetor may not be strong enough to lift the ball consistently.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 8, 2019)

That fixed it!! You can see it setting directly below the carburetor fuel inlet. (there really isn't much to see, because the gas-line pushes on from both ends of it). Now when the engine is on "miss" cycles, the fuel doesn't run back from the carburetor at all. The engine starts a lot easier too, with much less manual choking.--Also of interest to some will be the gear reducer with the piece of tape on the output shaft. I built that reducer about ten years ago, using gears from a couple of dead electric drills. It has an 8:1 overall ratio. That reducer was built back before I purchased my own complete set of 24DP gear cutters.


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## CFLBob (Sep 8, 2019)

I'd like to see a short video of that running.  I'm guessing the tape goes slower than the engine does.  

The engine pulley drives a bigger pulley, which will be slower (RPMs) than the engine.  That drives a small shaft which uses a chain to drive a bigger gear which will be slower than the intermediate gear's input.   Is that tape running at 1/8 the RPMs of the engine or something much slower, like 1/64 speed?


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 8, 2019)

Bob--lets pick a random number--say the engine is turning 1000 rpm. The initial belt drive from the engine to the clutch big pulley is 8:1 ratio, so the clutch shaft is turning 1000/8=125 rpm. The clutch is a straight thru drive with no gear reduction, so the small sprocket is turning 125 rpm. The ratio between the two sprockets is 4:1, so the big sprocket is turning 125/4=31.25 times per minute. The gear box has an 8:1 ratio, so the output shaft is turning 31.25/8=3.9 rpm. that is why I have the tape on it, to be sure I can see it turning.


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## CFLBob (Sep 8, 2019)

Thanks.  That's slower than I thought it would be.  

Interesting to see it's almost 1/256 of the input.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 8, 2019)

Here you go Bob. The engine was probably going a bit faster than 1000 rpm, but the reduction math stays the same.


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## el gringo (Sep 11, 2019)

hi Brian
the axial dims on the vertical engine crank shaft don't seem to work with the side plate gaskets ?, the the .375 journal doesn't work with the conrod .438 big end hole...which is correct? I have already turned the 3/8 crank journal so I guess i'll use that unless it is critical for some unforseen reason.
Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 11, 2019)

Ray--I will investigate and get back to you later today.---Yes Ray, my bad. I am sending out new drawings of the con rod and cap this evening  to everyone who purchased the plans . As far as the axial dimensions on the crankshaft go, it will work with the gaskets with no changes.---Brian.


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## el gringo (Sep 11, 2019)

How  is the amount of  crankshaft end play controlled  and how much should I end up with? I am concerned  with gear spacing...

Thanks , Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 11, 2019)

Ray--The crankshaft endplay ends up being controlled externally by the ignition cam on one side and by the small bevel gear on the other side. My original plan was to have it controlled on the inside by having the two registers on each side of the crank-throws riding against the ball bearings. There are enough accumulated tolerances to make this a very iffy thing. The real story is that the crankshaft is centered by the con rod, which is positioned by the piston, riding in the bore of the cylinder which is bolted to the crankcase.  Originally I had made no provision on the crankshaft for the sideplate gaskets. Then when I went to assemble everything and seen exactly how the crankshaft was being centered as explained above, I was glad that I had left that 
.030" clearance on each side of the crank throws to the ball bearings. You may find that you have to put a small spacer washer between the small bevel gear and the shoulder on the crankshaft. That is something that you won't know if you need or not until final assembly.


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 27, 2019)

I've had all of the fun I can have with this engine. Today it's going up on a shelf with all of it's friends. This is the first engine I have built with cast iron rings, and I must say, they do coast a lot better than previous engines with Viton rings. I will probably use cast iron rings from this point on for any new i.c. engines that I build. I don't really think that I have learned anything new building this engine, but knowledge is cumulative, and every engine does get a bit easier as I go along. I may go back and revisit some of my existing engines, but right now I'm a bit burned out on machining in general. One of the people who purchased a plan set from me asked if it would be reasonable to remove the inner grease seal from the crankshaft bearings and wash out the grease, as the engine has an oil sump and the bearings would get lubricated that way. I think that would be a good thing to do in terms of how long the engine would coast, but I don't know if the one remaining outer grease seal on each bearing would be sufficient to prevent crankcase oil from leaking out. this is something that would be good to know if it made an improvement to the engines coast time, and whether or not it made the engine leak crankcase oil around the bearings. Thanks again to the many people who followed this build.---Brian


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## Gordon (Sep 27, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I've had all of the fun I can have with this engine. Today it's going up on a shelf with all of it's friends. This is the first engine I have built with cast iron rings, and I must say, they do coast a lot better than previous engines with Viton rings. I will probably use cast iron rings from this point on for any new i.c. engines that I build. I don't really think that I have learned anything new building this engine, but knowledge is cumulative, and every engine does get a bit easier as I go along. I may go back and revisit some of my existing engines, but right now I'm a bit burned out on machining in general. One of the people who purchased a plan set from me asked if it would be reasonable to remove the inner grease seal from the crankshaft bearings and wash out the grease, as the engine has an oil sump and the bearings would get lubricated that way. I think that would be a good thing to do in terms of how long the engine would coast, but I don't know if the one remaining outer grease seal on each bearing would be sufficient to prevent crankcase oil from leaking out. this is something that would be good to know if it made an improvement to the engines coast time, and whether or not it made the engine leak crankcase oil around the bearings. Thanks again to the many people who followed this build.---Brian


That is what I have done also. I have over 20 engines which I have built and I really do not need any more. I have been going through the existing engines and getting them to run better and in some cases look better. I have learned a lot since I made my first engine in 2006. Things that were difficult back then are much easier now due to better knowledge and better machines and better tooling. I frequently end up finishing an engine and getting to run OK and moving on. At this point I am better able to figure out why it runs for three minutes and then quits for instance. Also I have used o rings on some of the engines and I am replacing them with CI rings. Still interesting and beats TV any day.


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## el gringo (Sep 27, 2019)

Gordon said:


> That is what I have done also. I have over 20 engines which I have built and I really do not need any more. I have been going through the existing engines and getting them to run better and in some cases look better. I have learned a lot since I made my first engine in 2006. Things that were difficult back then are much easier now due to better knowledge and better machines and better tooling. I frequently end up finishing an engine and getting to run OK and moving on. At this point I am better able to figure out why it runs for three minutes and then quits for instance. Also I have used o rings on some of the engines and I am replacing them with CI rings. Still interesting and beats TV any day.


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## el gringo (Sep 27, 2019)

Gordon, If I wrote about where I stand regarding my engine building it would be very, very close to your post.
My first IC was ~2006...have built aprox 20 engines...I spend some time periodically running and cleaning them up.  I make all the rings out of cast iron. The one exception is the "henry ford fiirst engine" which is viton 'o' rings. Ironically one of my first engines (2003) was Bob Shores "Silver Angel", I am currently building Brian Rupinow's larger version.
I find myself taking more time adding finishing touches/changes to each part...
Like you say beats TV anytime, especially for  an old man...83.
Ray M


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## el gringo (Oct 1, 2019)

Hi Brian,
If I use the .030 bottom cyl gasket it will alter the combustion chamber volume (compression ratio) to some extent. Should I alter something or disregard.
Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 1, 2019)

Ray--The top of the crankcase body is configured to hold an o-ring  to provide the seal between the crankcase and the cylinder. As luck would have it, the day I assembled everything I didn't have an o-ring the right size, so I used an 0.030" gasket instead. It will work either way, with a gasket or with an o-ring.---Brian


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## el gringo (Oct 1, 2019)

Yes I'm sure it will, only with less displacement than an 'o' ring.
Ray M


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 7, 2019)

I forgot to dimension the depth of the piston ring groove.---Here is the drawing
---Brian




​


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## Harry. (Nov 22, 2019)

I used to have an issue getting hold of o rings, not many places stock them because of their shelf life. I'm not sure if you have the same issue in Canada, but I've found this online shop that stock them and offer express delivery which might help you: https://www.accu.co.uk/en/1619-o-rings


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## el gringo (Nov 22, 2019)

Harry. said:


> I used to have an issue getting hold of o rings, not many places stock them because of their shelf life. I'm not sure if you have the same issue in Canada, but I've found this online shop that stock them and offer express delivery which might help you: https://www.accu.co.uk/en/1619-o-rings



Years ago I bought an assortment of buna-n o-ring material in different lengths and diameters. It is a fairly simple process to make o-rings to size using 'super glue'. They work well for small model belting and even static seals in a pinch...
I haven't had a noticeable problem with shelf  life, does the durometer change?
Ray M


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