# Hit - Miss Horizontal from Brian's Plans



## black85vette (Aug 22, 2009)

First thing I'll say is that I rarely follow plans exactly. So it is with this project. I will substitute stock I have on hand that will do rather than buy more. Part of this is because I usually order enough for 4 or 5 projects and just pay for one shipping cost. Therefore I have a bunch of good useful sizes available.

Got my start yesterday. Printed out all the plans so I can have them on the bench. Got out all the stock that looked promising and here is my starting point:

Have a nice piece of round 3" aluminum which means the flywheels will be 3". Have some 1/4" aluminum and 1/2" aluminum but no big pieces so the frame will be 3 parts instead of milled from a single piece. The other reason for using 3 pieces is that I don't have a real mill. Just a milling attachment for the lathe. I try to keep milling to a minimum.

One piece you will see in the picture is an aluminum tube that is 1.5" OD and 1" ID. It was left over from a project I did for my department at work. Thinking I could save a good bit of time on the lathe, I am using it pretty much as is. I will just bore the cylinder to make it round and smooth.

I did a rough cut of the frame and cylinder and did a mock up and the proportions look OK.


----------



## black85vette (Aug 22, 2009)

This afternoon I got the pieces machined to size, most of the holes drilled and tapped. This is what the frame is going to look like. The two side pieces are 1/2" and should probably be 3/8", but I used what I had rather than order more. That and the larger cylinder dictated a wider frame. I went with 2" wide since I had some 1/4" x 2" aluminum for the upright piece. That leaves me with 1" on the inside which should be fine for the crank shaft. The screws I am using are 3-48 and once again it is because I had about 15 of them from a previous order.

Had 2 of the grandkids over today so I didn't get as much done (at least in the shop). Think I will get the flywheels done next since they are pretty easy. Then tackle the crank which I have never done before. May take a couple attempts, I don't know.

So here is the first fit of the parts.


----------



## vlmarshall (Aug 23, 2009)

Looking good!


----------



## Tin Falcon (Aug 23, 2009)

wow good progress


----------



## Brian Rupnow (Aug 23, 2009)

Looking good.---Brian


----------



## CrewCab (Aug 23, 2009)

That's coming together quickly 'vette and looking good 8)

CC


----------



## black85vette (Aug 23, 2009)

Managed to squeeze in some shop time. Had another pair of grandkids over today so work in the shop was during naps and after they went home. Got the flywheels made. (see pic) Couldn't fit my boring bar tools in the opening and make the 1/4" deep recess on the inside of the wheel. So I got out some HSS 1/4" stock and made a couple of cutters that made the job much easier.

Also got the crank lay out done and will cut and drill on it next.


----------



## black85vette (Aug 24, 2009)

woohoo1

Well I got the crank done in one evening and in one try. No need to bore you with long descriptions or many pictures because basically I did it just the way Brian showed in his build of this engine. I reviewed the pictures and steps a couple of times today. So you can go over there for the how to. Thanks again Brian!  :bow:

Here is the result:


----------



## black85vette (Aug 26, 2009)

Made and mounted the supports for the crank. Decided to put in brass bushings with a flange on the inside to set the space for the crank. I was looking at Chuck's posts and wanted to do bearings but didn't have any that would fit and didn't want to wait until I found some. I did determine that the frame will need to be a 4 piece frame. The crank end has too much flex and will require a spacer to keep things stable and parallel.

I think the piston and connecting rod need to be next. At least I can sit and spin the flywheels and watch stuff move while I wait for it to be finished.  ;D


----------



## NOI53Y (Aug 27, 2009)

Oooh caertainly looking good


----------



## black85vette (Sep 1, 2009)

Got the connecting rod and piston made. Piston is a little too tight in the cylinder so there is still some to be done. Better than too loose I guess. Decided again to deviate from the plans. Since I do not have a milling machine, turning the connecting rod was my choice. I put the crank end in the 4 jaw and supported the piston end with a live center. Worked out well. Learned this from one of Elmer's engines.


----------



## Maryak (Sep 2, 2009)

BV85,

Great work. :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


----------



## Rolland (Sep 2, 2009)

looking good , its fun to build and watch run. Are you going to use the governor?


----------



## black85vette (Sep 2, 2009)

Rolland  said:
			
		

> looking good , its fun to build and watch run. Are you going to use the governor?



That is my plan. Governor will be last. Head and valve are up next. This engine is sort of a practice run at this type of engine with the hopes of doing an internal combustion like the Farm Boy next.


----------



## black85vette (Sep 2, 2009)

Time to get the set screws into the flywheels. I have almost always put them at an angle. Here is how I did this one. Mounted the flywheel in my milling attachment and worked out the angle I wanted. Started with a 1/8" end mill just to give me an nice flat spot to work with. Then used a center drill to get the hole started. Swapped that with the drill bit for the tap and then put the tap in the chuck.  At that point I just get the tap started a few turns and then pull it out, dismount the flywheel and finish the job with the tap and T handle on the bench.


----------



## PhiberOptix (Sep 2, 2009)

looking great 
coming along a treat

regards
Andy


----------



## Bill Mc (Sep 3, 2009)

Hi black85vette
Just watching your progress on your engine. It is coming along just fine. I beleive that the operation of milling a flat spot on the hub of your flywheel is called Spot Facing (for imformational purposes only).
Billmc


----------



## black85vette (Sep 3, 2009)

Bill Mc  said:
			
		

> Hi black85vette
> Just watching your progress on your engine. It is coming along just fine. I beleive that the operation of milling a flat spot on the hub of your flywheel is called Spot Facing (for imformational purposes only).
> Billmc



Thanks. Machinist terminology is an area where I am not proficient. Not sure I will ever get there. I am now of the opinion that for every new fact I learn another one has to go away to make room for the new one. Problem is that I don't get to choose which fact goes away. Sometimes it is important stuff!


----------



## deere_x475guy (Sep 3, 2009)

black85vette  said:
			
		

> Thanks. Machinist terminology is an area where I am not proficient. Not sure I will ever get there. I am now of the opinion that for every new fact I learn another one has to go away to make room for the new one. Problem is that I don't get to choose which fact goes away. Sometimes it is important stuff!



Your coming along nicely, and don't worry about the terminology it will come...


----------



## black85vette (Sep 5, 2009)

Slight change in direction. My friend and I build hotrods on Thur nights at his shop and he sometimes brings me scrap pieces from his work. He had an end piece of some 1 5/8ths inch brass hex rod. I brought it home and sure enough it was just right for the head on the engine. This works out also because I was going to make the valve assembly separate from the head anyway and this gives me a nice flat vertical surface to attach the valve assembly to.

Here is the head and the rest of the piece my friend gave me:


----------



## PhiberOptix (Sep 5, 2009)

Adapt Improvise and Overcome I love it


----------



## black85vette (Sep 5, 2009)

More adapting. Now that I have a head with a flat surface I looked around and found some 5/8" square stock and figured I could adapt it for the valve body. Moved the body forward to eliminate the slot to carry the steam to the head and just aligned the hole at the head. Bored it to 1/4" then cross drilled the port for the steam and two mounting holes. I think it looks good. Dirt simple to make. Now on to the valve.


----------



## zeeprogrammer (Sep 6, 2009)

black85vette  said:
			
		

> I think it looks good.



I think you're right.
Very nice.


----------



## black85vette (Sep 7, 2009)

It is always such a cool feeling the first time an engine shows signs of life.  I finished the valve body and then made the valve piston yesterday. Got some time this afternoon and made the eccentric and a temporary connecting rod. Temporary because it is just made of threaded rod which made it easy to adjust the length, but also because it will be replaced by the hit-miss governor. Had to hold the air line to the body because I don't have a fitting on it yet. But getting it to run is always exciting.  I love the conventional valve Brian designed. Except for the body size and placement, it follows the specs of the valve and timing in his drawings. It was really easy to make and set up.

So here is the first run:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJWASvjrB5Y[/ame]


----------



## vlmarshall (Sep 8, 2009)

It's alive! ;D :bow: Looking good, too.


----------



## ozzie46 (Sep 8, 2009)

Looking good there Vette.

Ron


----------



## PhiberOptix (Sep 8, 2009)

Thm: way to go m8 Thm:

WOW Its alive before its finished :bow: :bow:

GREAT STUFF

regards 
Andy


----------



## black85vette (Sep 8, 2009)

I have no CAD skills at all, but here is a basic idea of how I built the valve / head. Not all holes are shown on all views to make important features easier to visualize:


----------



## Philjoe5 (Sep 8, 2009)

I apologize for coming late to this party. Nice build it is :bow: and I like some of the features you've brought into it. This engine is high on my to do list so I appreciate you sharing the build details.

Cheers,
Phil


----------



## Krown Kustoms (Sep 8, 2009)

Nice build, you answered a question I havent asked yet -does a horizontal need both flywheels- aparently not.
With all of the flat surface area it has it should polish up like a mirror without all of the foul language I use when polishing.
The hex is a nice accent.
-B-


----------



## black85vette (Sep 8, 2009)

Krown Kustoms  said:
			
		

> -does a horizontal need both flywheels-



Not needed to run, but I am going to use both because when I increased the bore I also increased the piston weight. With the piston and connecting rod I found that I had a lot of mass going back and forth and that created a pretty good shake when the engine is not in the vise. I am going to put some counter weights on the flywheels and I have found that it is best to add to both sides or you just exchange a front to back shake for a side to side shake.


----------



## black85vette (Sep 14, 2009)

Not much further to go. Made some progress this weekend and tonight. Have most of the parts for the governor done. Had to do almost as much sitting with the drawings, thinking and doing calculations as I did machining.  By choosing to use the conventional valve I had to have .300 travel out of the sliding cam / actuator lever. That meant that it needed to be almost 1 inch diameter. So, the valve actuator lever had to be bigger, etc, etc, etc.  One nice thing about going to bigger parts is that I was able to use 2-56 screws instead of the 0-80 called for.  The piece that has the pivots for the two arms and weights had me worried because I don't have a mill or a proper way to hold round stuff. Had to reposition it a couple of times and was not sure it would all line up. But even with a couple of issues it turned out OK. You can see it in the foreground.  Now on to the arms and weights. Then a test assembly to see if it will work.


----------



## black85vette (Sep 19, 2009)

Worked out all the dimensions and changes. Got the rest of the governor built and adjusted. Made some counter weights to bolt onto the flywheels to smooth out the piston. So here is the initial assembly of all the pieces. Now for the clean up and some bling.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rIDte6YCE4[/ame]


----------



## zeeprogrammer (Sep 19, 2009)

Looks great. I'm getting more and more interested in hit-n-miss. I love the sound.


----------



## cfellows (Sep 21, 2009)

Great build! By the way, I built the original engine with a poppet valve so there wouldn't be any air leakage while the inlet valve is closed. 

Chuck


----------



## black85vette (Sep 21, 2009)

cfellows  said:
			
		

> Great build! By the way, I built the original engine with a poppet valve so there wouldn't be any air leakage while the inlet valve is closed. Chuck



I kind of figured that was a better way to go after I got this far.  ;D  I built it first as a conventional engine and the piston valve worked great. Bit more difficult to make it work as a hit and miss, but it did run. Now that the engine is functioning I think I am going to use the engine as a test stand and build the poppet valve and ball valve configurations. Each of these will be new to me and I always like to try to build something I have not yet tried. On this build it was the crankshaft that I had not done before.


----------



## black85vette (Mar 27, 2010)

Well it has only been 6 months now. :hDe:  I finished building the engine but put it on a shelf because I was planning on having a mill and rotary table by the end of the year.  So I took it apart and reworked the upright and bearing blocks. I wanted them to be rounded rather than square. Also fixed a couple of minor fit and alignment issues that I was not happy with. So here it is with the parts finished, some paint, and brass all polished up. This is a new color for me. First time to try out a dark green.


----------



## chuck foster (Mar 27, 2010)

very nice build there bv. :bow:

chuck


----------



## Longboy (Mar 27, 2010)

........Great job on your "huffer" H&M engine B-Vette. Great camera work as it shows the musuem quality after the build polish and detailing. I've seen those flywheel counterweight overlays on just a few other engines and really like that approach. Thm:   Dave.


----------

