# Elmer's Pumping Engine



## Sshire (Apr 18, 2013)

Elmer's pumping engine

Since I've been home from Cabin Fever for a few days, it's time to begin making engines for next year.

The first will be Elmer's Pumping Engine. As usual for me, I'm working bottom up. I had a piece of 1/2" 12L14 that will be good for the base. After squaring it up and milling to size, I flattened it with the face mill.







Even though all holes will be positioned with the DRO, I marked out all of the spots for drilling. This is just to prevent brain drift or reading a number incorrectly.*






Not much interesting or revolutionary here, but part one is done.






Next will be the catwalk. This should be much more interesting once I decide how I'm going to do the center opening. (drill corners and saw to connect or center cutting end mill and just DRO around the perimeter until the middle piece of aluminum falls out.)


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## Sshire (Apr 19, 2013)

Elmer's pumping engine 2

The piece for the catwalk was too wide for the vise to mill the edge. My first try was to stand it up in the vise, but it was too thin and chattered. I elevated it on pair of parallels and clamped it to the table after getting the reference edge perfectly aligned (for me, half a thou over the whole edge is perfect enough.)






I got a nice clean cut. No chatter.






Here's the catwalk plate marked out. Even though I'm using the DRO, this is a good check to make sure I'm not doing something I'll later regret. (My stupid preventer)






Plunged in the end mill and DRO'd my way around the inner part of the opening.







Switching to a smaller end mill and cutting the outer openings. DRO from A to B to C.







First time actually using the Oliver Die Filer that I got at Cabin Fever on an engine  It seems perfect to round the outer corners. I love the slow speed of the Oliver. Much more control for the filing-challenged. I got the three files (triangle, lozenge and crochet) from Victor in Brooklyn yesterday. Very nice. Can't wait to use those.







The completed catwalk. The Oliver rounded corners look reasonably similar to one another. I'm happy.






On to the engine's table. A quick cleanup with the facemill.






The table marked out.






I know the Haimer is probably overkill for edge finding but it works wonderfully and is dead on accurate. No more multiple checks with the Starrett.






Just lots of spot drilling, hole making and reaming.






And bolt hole circles with the DRO.*







Three horizontal pieces done.


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## Inky Engines (Apr 20, 2013)

Stan - its looking good!  

I was about to start this one, but decided to build the 3 cylinder radial first - the Pumping Engine will be next. It looks like it should deliver about 7 times the volume of the Vauxhall Donkey Pump. 

I'll follow your build with interest - I've seen a couple of examples of this engine finished, but never a build log. 

Kind regards

Geoff at Inky Engines


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## Lawijt (Apr 20, 2013)

This looks really great. How do you use the DRO for the holes?? I have one , but not ready installed.


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## cheepo45 (Apr 20, 2013)

Using the D.R.O. for holes is easy and much more precise than marking out.
You use an edge finder to set the D.R.O. to zero on an edge and just move over to the dimension you want then drill.
Round hole patterns are available on most D.R.O.'s-you enter the number of holes and the radius an it will promt you to go to zero for each hole in the pattern.
I use a D.R.O. at work and I recently installed one on my mill-drill-now it works almost as well as a bridgeport mill.
           cheepo45


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## Sshire (Apr 20, 2013)

The built in functions on the DRO (not to be confused with the digital caliper style with remote display) are extremely useful. In addition to the bolt hole circle that Cheepo45 described, the one that I use the most is the SDM (sub datum memory). Not sure what that means but it can remember hundreds of points. Let's say you need to spot drill, drill and tap 10 holes. You either do each one to completion - spot drill, change to drill bit, drill hole, change to tap and tap the hole. Now repeat this 9 more times. That's about 30 or so tool changes. 
The way I do it with SDM is spot drill, add that location as SDM #1. Move to next location, spot drill and add as SDM #2, etc.
When all 10 are spot drilled, change to the drill bit. Display SDM # 1 and move the table to x and y at 0 on the display. Drill the hole  Down arrow to display SDM #2. Go to x0 and y0 and drill. Etc.
Then repeat with the tap..
3 tool changes.
Another function thats nice is center-find. Edge find on one edge and zero that axis.. Edge find the opposite edge. Press the 1/2 button and the center of the part is now set as zero on the display.


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## Sshire (Apr 20, 2013)

I had expected to turn the 4 columns for Elmer's pumping engine today. Set up a 3/8" brass round in a 5C collet, end drilled for the live center, touched off the cutter, turned the knob for my independent carriage feed and the carriage didn't move. The motor for the carriage had no power. I checked all of the usual suspects; breaker to the motor's power supply, switches, plugs. Nothing wrong there. Time to get out the multimeter for in depth troubleshooting and the batteries in the multimeter were dead.*
In the car to the drugstore (they seem to have fewer drugs and more junk) to the button battery rack. Out of what I needed. On to the next drugstore. Success.*
Back home with fresh batteries in the multimeter. Power in is fine. 120 VAC. Power out is not 12 VDC. It's 0 VDC.*

Open up the power supply. Aha. Blown fuse on the circuit board. Of course I had every fuse but the correct one.*
Back in the car and off to Radio Shack. They actually had the needed fuse. 5 pack on hand and back home. Unsolder blown fuse. Solder in new fuse. Plug in power supply. Flash! Pop! Fuse blew. Careful inspection of components on the circuit board gave me no useful information. No loose electrons dashing madly about.*
Order new power supply from Amazon.*
Yes, I could reconnect the gears in the lathe for the carriage feed but even the slowest gearing is too fast for the finish that I want.*
Power supply will arrive on Tuesday.
The Pumping Engine's columns await.*


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## jwcnc1911 (Apr 20, 2013)

Radio Shack... they're still around?


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## Sshire (Apr 26, 2013)

Back in business! The power supply for my independent carriage feed passed away and the new one arrived a few days ago. It's now connected and all is well.
I had few hours today and turned the columns ( no pictures of the column turning. You've seen 3/8" brass turned before.)






I like the way they look but may flute the lower parts.

Assembled the "frame" just to make sure everything fit correctly.







I'm going to look at the drawings this evening and plan my weekend in the shop. Not sure if I'm going to work bottom to top (pumps then cylinder, piston, steam chest, etc.) or top to bottom.*
The fun continues.


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## dreeves (Apr 26, 2013)

Stan. Looks like you are getting some use with that new toy.  Looks great

Dave


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## jwcnc1911 (Apr 26, 2013)

I have so got tool envy right now.  Oh do I want one of those die filers...

Where'd you say you live?


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## Sshire (Apr 27, 2013)

Cylinder Saturday
Deciding to work top-down, (although that could change at any time) the steam cylinders were the next culprit.
I've made five of Elmer's engines and this one, without a doubt, has the most error-laden set of drawings yet. Either Mr. Verburg was in a hurry ("Elmer, will you get out of the damn shop. Dinner's getting cold") or he was thinking about the next one. (Hey! I wonder if I could make an external gear run around an internal gear?") *I've been really careful after I realized this and look at the part and any others that have any relation to it. He suggests drilling the cylinder ports before boring the "½ hole through the cylinder." The drawings specify a 5/8" cylinder, piston and heads. I'm pretty sure he knew that a 5/8" piston just isn't going to fit in a ½" bore. Just a caution if this is on your build list. On to today's parts.

Two pieces of 360 brass from the brass box. They need to be 1" cubes.





So face mill all sides until they're 1" cubes. One is actually a 1.002 cube and the other is 1.003 but that close enough. I figure that by the time I get them smooth and shiny with no tool marks, they should be there.









After centering a block in the vise, Spot drilled and drilled three intake ports. (Elmer sez "drill 9 holes" which is correct for the valve plate but not the cylinder.)





The exhaust ports are done with a 1/16" end mill. The finished depth is .125. I have broken one of these on another engine, so my procedure is 4 passes at about .030 depth each; high spindle speed and VERY slow feed. Worked perfectly. Two ports done.
If it's not obvious, I'm doing both cylinders. No sense repeating a setup.





Ports completed. Now onto the passage to connect the ports to the cylinder.





The passage is at an 11 degree angle. Elmer is right on that one. It's fairly important here to have the setup accurate as the passage needs to meet the 1/16" ports on the face. Time for the sine vise.
I can get the sine of 11 degrees just fine; I know that my vise is 4" long. I can multiply the sine of 11 degrees times 4, but as soon as I open this, I turn into a drooling, Johansson-challanged idiot. I've read the procedure; start at the right end of the number and work left. All that is behind me now. 99 cent iPhone app. Tell it how many blocks are in your set, what stack height you need. Magic! A list of the needed blocks is right there.









.125 end mill first to keep the drill from skating off target.





Then the 1/16" drill and , AMAZING!, the passage ends up dead center in the port.









Cylinder bore comes next. I gathered up an ascending size group of bits and a 5/8" reamer and made a hole.









Two cylinders nearing completion here.





Just put them where they will eventually end up. I'm pretty much done for the day here. Tomorrow I hope to get the 24 bolt holes (2-56 thread) finished. They're for the heads. 





Thanks for watching.


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## cheepo45 (Apr 27, 2013)

Nice work, Stan. Your pictures and documentation are excellent.
        cheepo45


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## dreeves (Apr 27, 2013)

Stan,  looks great!!!  Keep it up

Dave


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## Sshire (Apr 27, 2013)

Thanks guys. One part at a time. I need fresh stock for Cabin Fever 2014


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## Sshire (Apr 28, 2013)

Twenty-Four Holes
My plan for today was to drill and tap both steam cylinders (2-56 blind holes) and to make the steam chest valve plates and covers. (It also included the two steam chests but that didn't happen).

With two steam cylinders; 6 bolt holes at each end, I had 24, 2-56 holes to tap. I pulled the little-used Tapmatic tapping head out and re-read the instructions (which are minimal help.) 
I tried a few test holes and got the details sorted out (set quill stop on the mill, Tapmagic handy, breath held and cheeks clenched)

Center the bore with one of my best Ebay scores: the Blake Co-Ax indicator. I also put a small vise stop to the right of the cylinder to locate it when I turn it upside down to drill and tap the holes at the other end.





With the DRO handling the Bolt Hole Circle calculations, I just followed along. Spot drill all holes, change to the drill bit and drill all holes, tap all holes. Flip the cylinder over. Rinse and repeat.













I use form taps with the tapping head. They use a different tap drill size but instead of cutting the metal and creating chips, the actually press into the metal with no chips. They also seem quite resistant to breaking even with the 2-56. When I changed from spiral flute and spiral point taps for the Tapmatic, I didn't even consider "import" form taps. USA made Balax. The tech support people couldn't have cared less that my total order from Enco was three taps. They spent a long time on the phone discussing what I was tapping, what alloys, what size mill, etc. They sent me tap drill size charts. Gotta love support like that.





The cylinder was flipped and the process repeated. I indicated the second cylinder and with no issues at all, both are done.





The Steam Chest valve plates and cover plates are .065 brass. I cut four pieces and, since they are the same size, milled all four to size in one shot. 





I put the first one in the vise and set the DRO memory for all 13 holes (the covers have 4 holes, but the valve plate has those same four plus nine really tiny holes at the center. A number 57 drill bit.
Drilled the corners on all four (#47 IIRC) and then moved on to the #57 holes. I knew things were going too well.





Success! No parts were harmed in the extraction of the broken bit.





Not having another #57 bit, I was going to move to a #58. I thought that, because I'm just naturally curious, I would have a go at sharpening the #57 as most of it was still there. I approached this very scientifically. Pushed the belt straight into the 1" belt sander then turned the bit at what look like an angle that might be a drill bit. rotated it in my fingers about half way around and repeated the very precise angle. With a small scrap of brass in the vise I gave it a try. 
I cut way better than it did before it snapped. Huh!


So, a few more parts completed. The Steam Chest is next on the agenda. BTW, I know one of the plates is missing its corner holes (actually I didn't know until I looked at the pictures. Fortunately the hole positions were still in the DRO and I hadn't removed the vise stop)





Thanks for tuning in.


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## Sshire (May 3, 2013)

I've gotten some time to work on the steam chests. I got a bit sidetracked making table inserts for Oliver (my die filer; an Oliver S-4). I'm trying to make fairly close fitting openings for the various file shapes I've collected as I'd like support as close to the files as possible. In addition, I noticed that the moveable lower clamping jaw was not original. Actually, it is a very bad job. Oliver (the company) was great about sending me a PDF of the drawing for that part. You'll get to see some work with Oliver (the machine) later in this post.

These are the steam chests with a layout just to keep me and the DRO honest.





&#8539;" end mill. Follow the DRO corner to corner to corner. I'm doing the steam chest a bit differently than Elmer suggests. His method is to clock the part in on the 4-jaw and turn the ends for the valve rod hole and guide. All one piece. Then drill through and tap. My preference is to first mill the opening and then drill and press fit the valve rod hole and valve rod guide as separate pieces.





The orange nozzle is the newly installed air blower. Keeps the work area clear of chips. Quite happy with that. Thanks to Chuck Fellows for making me aware that there was such as thing.

Turning the valve guide piece that will be press fitted. I've done a stepped part rather than Elmer's curves.





I'm trying to do as much finishing on each part as it's done, rather than doing all of the dreaded finishing at the end. Wed/dry up to 2000 grit and then Brasso as a final polish.





The turned valve guides. After drilling holes for them on the mill, these four will be press fitted into the steam chest.









The ratcheting arbor press may be a bit too big for this part but it worked fine.





I seem to have overshot this corner and the press fit insert must be flush. A visit to Oliver is in order.





One of the parallel machine files I got, was a perfect fit for the team chest; flat sides, rounded ends.





A few minutes work yielded this. I'd love to have this shape file in a much finer cut. Oliver (the company) still has files in stock, but basics; square, round and triangular. Also Victornet.
I have gotten some half round files and ground off the teeth at the ends on the belt sander. With the tang cut off, they are clamped  "upside down" as the die filer cuts on the down stroke.





Now, drill, ream, tap.





The two fittings for the steam chests threaded and drilled from .250 hex stock. The steam chests are nearing the finish line.





The steam chests completed. A bit more filing, sanding, polishing and these will be ready to go.





I wanted to make sure that all holes in the cylinders, valve plates, valve covers and steam chests lined up. I did a test assembly. All is well.





Next will be the heads, the steam chest valves, the pistons and con rods. The fun never ends.


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## Philjoe5 (May 3, 2013)

Stan,
Just tuned into this build and I like it.  Your photo documentation is superb and is appreciated.  I know how difficult it can be to stop in the middle of a cutting operation to take some photos...kudos to you.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Sshire (May 4, 2013)

The gospel according to Verburg, shows a one piece valve rod.  First an .0625 section, followed by a 2-56 threaded section (.25" long) then a 1.25" section and finally a .1875 section with a .0625 slot to accept the eccentric strap. Not being thrilled with all of that rod hanging out of the collet, I decided to make the rod in two parts. My first thought was to silver solder the two pieces together but I was a bit concerned with everything aligning perfectly. So I'm going to thread the two sections and Loctite them.

With the rod in a 5C collet and extending just a bit more than the needed .375", I turned the .09 something rod down to .0625. I like this parting tool for this turning. Very light cuts on each pass and there is less than a thou variation on that section. 





Now the rod needs to be extended to turn a longer section for the 2-56 major diameter. Since my super small live center is still way too big, I took a piece of 6061 from the scrap box, and center drilled with a 1/16" bit and put a drop of oil inside. The already turned .0625 section slides in and provides good support.





The 2-56 threaded section is next. Die stock mounted in the tailstock chuck and done.









The right end was next threaded 2-56. 3/16 rod in the collet. Drilled and tapped





Then parted off.





My doctor seems to have an endless supply of these part catchers seen under the piece.

I wanted the end of this piece rounded over. Options were: 1. File to shape 2. Freehand turn 3. Make a form tool 4. Build a ball turner and . 5. A corner rounding end mill. 

I have no idea where that thought came from, but I first locked a .125 radius tool into a QCTP holder and got it centered and it looked too big.





The .0625 radius seemed right and worked perfectly.





The collet and the part came out of the chuck, went into a square collet block and onto the mill.
The part was centered and very slow passes with a 1/16" end mill made the slot for the eccentric strap without breaking anything.





Since the collet block and part were centered, it was just a matter of tipping the block on its side and drilling the 1/16" hole.





That piece was threaded onto the rod and two more parts are done. Remember, this is a two cylinder engine so nearly everything is times two.


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## Philjoe5 (May 4, 2013)

Beautiful work Stan.  Super pictures tooThm:
There are a few closeups where I believe I can smell the cutting oil
Phil


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## jwcnc1911 (May 4, 2013)

Holy crap I want one of those filers!  Beautiful work!


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## Sshire (May 4, 2013)

Thanks for the comments. 
I've wanted one and when I saw this at Cabin Fever, it was in the car immediately.


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## Philjoe5 (May 4, 2013)

Hi Stan,
I have a Oliver Die Filer.  Acquired from a friend.  In very good condition.  I've used it a few times and am getting some experience with it.





A nice tool for those of us that are "file challenged"

Cheers,
Phil


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## Sshire (May 5, 2013)

Valve and Valve Nut

It's tiny parts day. The valves are .25" x .28". The valve nuts are .25" x .125". Nothing out of the ordinary as far as milling. Just smaller moves.

Optivisor on. Let's start.

The bottom of the valve has a recess. A .125" end mill and just cranking from DRO coordinates to the next set. The air blower really is a help in clearing chips so I can see what's happening.









Looks a bit rough at this magnification.

Turning the valve to the upper side, there are cross grooves. One for the valve rod and the other for the valve nut. The 2-56 thread on the valve rod screws into the nut. This gives adjustment for valve position over the ports in the cylinder.

I milled the slots in three passes. Increasing the depth each time as I was hoping to not break the end mill. 





Two more parts completed. No end mills were harmed in the making of these valves.





Now to the valve nuts. a piece of .0625 thick brass; milled to .25" width. I did a layout of both nuts and center popped the hole locations. These will be drilled and tapped 2-56. The optical center punch worked perfectly, as I did hit my scribe lines. I had milled the right end square so I'd only have to file one side.





After the tapping, I cut one nut off with a jewelers saw. Then a visit to Oliver to file the next piece to the scribe line.





So, here are today's parts. One set threaded onto the valve rod in the steam chest.





Next time, the Top and Bottom steam cylinder heads.


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## dreeves (May 5, 2013)

Stan, sure getting good use on that filing machine.  Great looking parts

Dave


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## jwcnc1911 (May 5, 2013)

One would think, given his age, Elmer would have made BIGGER engines!


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## Sshire (May 5, 2013)

I keep saying that the next Elmer will be double scale.


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## Philjoe5 (May 5, 2013)

Looks like you're doin' OK with the small bits for now Stan.  

Phil


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## Sshire (May 12, 2013)

Steam Cylinder Heads, Pistons, Rods, Steam Manifold

Took time off from the engine to get the new bandsaw uncrated, disassembled, cleaned, hand carried in pieces down to the shop, reassembled and tuned-up with a Starrett blade. Cuts dead straight and very nice finish. Haven't named it yet, but I'm working on it.





That's it for the machine porn. Back to the engine.

The next parts are the steam cylinder heads. The top heads are flat with a 1/32" locating spigot on the back side. The bottom heads are drilled and tapped for the connecting rod pack nut.

I started with a brass round, turned to the needed diameter. I'm very happy with the finish from the round bit in the tangential tool holder. Unless I'm turning into a corner (as in the second pic), this tool is the one I like to use.





Turning and parting went without issue and then drilling and tapping for the piston rod in the lower heads.









The heads then (still in the 5C collet) were locked into a square collet block and moved to the mill for the bolt hole circle dance. Appropriate numbers were entered into the DRO and it's then just, DRO to Hole 1; display to 0,0. Hole2; display to 0,0. Repeat for all 6 holes. Replace part in collet. Do it all again.





On to the pistons. Another piece of brass round, turned until it fits almost nicely. 





Then the Sorcerer's Powder. I got the sample kit: 1 tin each of 4, non-ferrous grits. Looks to be a lifetime supply. Mix a bit of the powder in some oil.





The oil-powder mix is spread onto the piston. Lathe at slow speed and gently lap the cylinder until the powder stops cutting. The difference between this stuff and Clover is that Timesaver breaks down as it works until it will no longer cut. 
The instructions say to clean the parts with "Stoddard's Solvent." It took a bit a Googling until I found that Mineral Spirits are the same thing. 









I'm know that this isn't the recommended way to lap a cylinder and piston, but the piston now moves through the cylinder with no binding and, a thumb on the end will hold it in position until released.

Oil grooves cut into the piston. It was then drilled and tapped for the piston rod and parted off.





Some .125 brass rod in a collet, threaded and done.





Hex rod in a 5C collet to make the two packing nuts. Just turned to diameter and threaded.





The finished nut threaded into the lowed head then both are drilled and reamed. I'm probably the last person on the forums to realize that reaming these "in place" will result in no binding. I saw a picture of this last week on Jo's demonstration engine. Head slap ensued followed by "Duh."
I now owe Jo TWO dinners.





More pieces completed. Of course, filing, sanding and polishing are in my future.





Next in line is the Steam Intake Manifold. A bit of brass from the bin and 3/16 brass tubing.






Totally unexciting squaring, cutting, drilling resulted in these.





One of the manifold blocks has a through hole for the steam/air tubing. The other is a stopped hole.
That block is silver soldered to the tubing.





After soldering, I soaked the assembly in citric acid (sour salts) for 10 minutes or so. Now to get rid of the "pink" color. Don't know if this is correct but I've read that the pink color is copper migrating to the surface of the brass.






The secret formula to remove the pink color and get the brass color back is: 3 parts white vinegar and 2 parts hydrogen peroxide. About a 15 minute soak seems to do it. Be careful of leaving it in too long as it will eventually begin to attack the metal.





I just did a quick assembly to be sure the manifold fits. Filing, sanding. Filing sanding. All is well.


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## Sshire (May 16, 2013)

Yokes and Eccentric Straps

I've been thinking about how to produce these yokes since I first saw the plans.
My plan was to layout both yokes, machine the straight cuts in the vise and then move to the rotary table for the arcs.
Rather than do the setups twice, I made a fixture to hold the yoke pieces with screws. The fixture would also be a sacrificial base for the milling.

Here's the drawing and the two layouts. The left one is screwed to the base.





The first cut is always the hardest for me. I used a 3/16" end mill, plenty of cutting fluid and the air nozzle blowing chips out of the cut. I wanted to do everything in one pass (.25 depth)





All of the horizontal and vertical cuts on piece #1. I've got a small vise stop just out of the picture in case I needed to move the fixture. No need. Just unscrewed the first part and replaced it with the other one. I had saved each set of XY coordinates in the DRO.





With those cuts done, I replaced the vise with the 6" rotary table and centered it. 

I just kept rotating the table until the angled sides lines up with the mill's X axis. Trial and error.









After both angles were cut on both parts, the radius cuts were next.

Each piece had a pop mark at the center of rotation (between the clamp and the straight cut in this picture) so the pointy end of an edge finder was chucked up and placed in the pop mark. With that holding the part in position, I clamped the part to the rotary table. Now I moved the X axis to the radius to be cut. Crank the table, cut both arcs, replace the part, repeat.













You never have too many clamps





This was the perfect opportunity to give the modified half-round files a workout. I cut off the file's tang and belt sanded the teeth off both ends (to prevent damage to Oliver's clamps.) 





Switched to the flat file with rounded ends for this section.





Before and after. About 2 minutes with Oliver.









Since that went so well, I made some sanding files.





Some holes yet to be drilled, but enough for now.





The Eccentric Straps

I find it easier to make two-piece eccentric straps: the ring and the strap.

Start with what happened to be in the collet chuck and turn it down to 9/16" per Elmer.





Center drill, drill, ream and part off.





The parted-off ring fitted into a collet then into a collet block. The flat strap will be silver soldered to the ring. A .064 slitting saw cutting a bit deeper than ½ of the ring's wall.





Looks like this





The straps were layed out on .0625 brass and then tapered.





The almost-completed parts after soldering, a citric acid soak and then into the secret formula to remove the pink color (not so much a secret after the last post)





Some filing and sanding to do.

I'm hoping to do the eccentrics tomorrow and, depending on how that goes, some as-yet-to-be-determined part. There are plenty more but the list gets shorter.

Epilogue and note to self.

"When everything is going really well and you are on the last cut of about 12, REMEMBER TO TIGHTEN THE DAMN CLAMPS!"


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## Philjoe5 (May 16, 2013)

Looked good up to the last pic.
_ _ _ _ happens 

Phil


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## jwcnc1911 (May 16, 2013)

Love your pictures!  So clear and of such good subjects, even that reject (I was beginning to wander if you were perfect).

Did I mention, holy crap I want one of those filers?  Forget eBay, every one on there is way to proud of the one they have.


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## Sshire (May 17, 2013)

JW
Thanks for the comment. It seems that used machinery dealers always have 1 or 2 filers. Good place to look.


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## Sshire (May 17, 2013)

Eccentric

Yes, you're right. I could have done the eccentric in the 4-jaw, but I thought I'd show another way without using an indicator OR a 4-jaw.
Machining the eccentric in the Keats Angle Plate has the advantage of being able to remove the part for another operation and then return it without indicating again. Also, multiple parts (as in two eccentrics) work just fine. 

Here's the drawing and the piece of 12L14 steel that is big enough for the two eccentrics.





Into the 5C collet and turn to the correct diameter with my go-to, round HSS bit in the tangential toolholder. I've got the SFM display on the lathe showing 180 (that's for you feeds n' speeds guys) The finish is right off the tool. ScotchBrite? I don't need no stinkin' Scotchbrite!





Moving the collet to a block and centered at the mill.





Elmer's plans show a 0.05" offset for the eccentric. Dialed that in on the DRO and then center drilled.









I cleaned up the face a bit and then back to the lathe with the Keats Angle plate on the spindle.
I mounted the part in the V and then loosened both SHCS holding the Keats to the faceplate.
Bringing a tailstock center up to the center drilled spot and apply enough pressure with the tailstock to hold the Keats to the faceplate while I tightened the SHCS's.
Is this as accurate as a 4-jaw and an indicator. Not! But, the eccentrics on the engines where I've used this technique run just fine. If I were a real machinist, I'd probably get fired. 
This is quick and seems to work just fine.





Now, just keep doing that interrupted cut until it smooths out and the eccentric diameter is correct.





The test fit with the eccentric strap. 



 

My intent was to flip the piece around and turn the eccentric on the opposite end. The piece was a bit too short to keep the Keats jaw parallel and bear evenly on the piece. Now, here's why I like the Keats .
I unthreaded the faceplate from the lathe spindle, put the 5C chuck on and turned a spacer block to give even bearing on the jaws. Replaced the 5C with the Keats, put the part and the spacer in, tightened up the V jaw and turned the second eccentric.





Back to the 5C chuck for parting off.





Since the part is already centered in the 5C, I drilled and reamed for the shaft.





Two more parts. There are some cranks, rods, etc coming, but I think I want to move on to the pumps next.


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## Philjoe5 (May 17, 2013)

Nicely done Stan.  Is there a supplier for the round insert tool you can recommend?  Seems like a good tool to have.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Sshire (May 17, 2013)

Phil
It's the Diamond Tangential Toolholder. Uses standard square or round HSS toolbits. USA distributor is bay-com.com.


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## Sshire (May 26, 2013)

Connecting Rod
The connecting rods have holes for pins. At 90 degrees to these holes, one end has a slot and the other end a flat. 





I've done these kinds of rods on other engines, but was thinking about a different way to approach the problem. I enjoy the problem solving almost as much as the actual machining. so here's my "new" solution.

Since the rods are .25 in diameter and there would be about 1.5" hanging out of the collet, the import (from the U.K) thin live center seemed perfect for this. (Thanks for mentioning that one Bogs) With the .25 brass rod just a bit out of the collet, I center drilled.





Per Elmer's drawing, I marked the points for turning the rod.





This HSS tool allowed me to cut left and right and have the bevel at the ends. I made one pass and the miked the diameter. Set this diameter as X on the DRO and then turned until the DRO displayed .125. Parted off and done.





To deal with the 90 degree, self-induced, problem, I squared a small aluminum block in the mill, drilled  and tapped two holes to hold the fixture together, reamed a .126 hole through the center and then split it with a .02 saw.





Now we have this.





And when assembled, the rods are trapped in the block.





Now when the block is in the vise for drilling, It can be revolved to the next face for milling the slot and the flat faces at 90 degrees.









A visit to Oliver to round the end and I'm happy with the two connecting rods.


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## cheepo45 (May 26, 2013)

Nice work, Stan. Thanks again for doing a great job with the pictures and documentation.
 cheepo45


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## Sshire (May 26, 2013)

Marv and Bogs' Great Flywheel Adventure

My first engine, made when I only had a mill, was a Stan Bray wobbler. The flywheel was a .25" wide brass disk with holes drilled through.

Then next flywheels were aluminum with a shallow center recess and finally, built up flywheels with inserted spokes.

I realized that, while I could do another built up flywheel, It was probably time to learn how to make a one-piece spoked flywheel from bar stock.

I read and re-read John Moore's (Bogstandard) exceptional treatise on Soft Jaws and Flywheels many times. If you haven't read that one, you really must. It has an incredible amount of information. Why is it taking so long for the Queen to knight him?

I also had read many posts about how essential Marv Klotz's Flywheel Program is if you are doing spoked flywheels. Since I don't have a Windows computer, but my MacBook Pro can natively run Windows, I downloaded Flywheel, entered the appropriate numbers and printed the output file.

Jeez, Marv. That M.I.T. education was worth every penny. I did a test with a 6061 blank and a Sharpie chucked in a .500 R8 collet (highly recommended). Bang on perfect!

So step one of the Great Flywheel Adventure was to cut a chunk from a 3" bar of cast iron.





With the three-jaw on the spindle, I bored the soft jaws to just fit the C.I. blank. Faced one side and most of the edge, flipped it over and repeated.





Then drilled and reamed a .126 center hole.





The only other time I had machined cast iron, was the backplate for the three-jaw chuck. That was mostly complete as I received it, just needing a few thou off to make a good fit. This was a whole other story. My usual procedure in recessing a flywheel is to use the HSS trepanning bit that was ground according to another of Bogs' posts (the man never quits.) Obviously (now it's obvious) the C.I. ground the trepanning cutter better than my bench grinder.

So with an assortment of carbide boring bars, left and right hand insert tools and anything else that would work, I managed to recess both sides of the flywheel.













With that exercise taking most of the day, I was not about to put the "good" flywheel blank through the Klotz Maneuver without a test to "refine" my procedure and to make sure I understood it all.

I cut a 3" piece of 6061 to the same thickness as the flywheel (0.50"), put it in the soft jaws and drilled the 0.25" center hole. I did not recess it as my trepanning tool is in need of major regrinding after its meeting with Mr. Cast Iron.

With this mounted on the R.T., I chucked the aforementioned Sharpie in the mill and followed the output of Marv's Flywheel program.





That went well, so I replaced the Sharpie with actual cutters and proceeded to do the whole thing again. Excellent practice for the real thing.





My R.T. will accept a MT2 center. I've drilled and tapped it ¼-20 so I can make close fitting centering posts.





Ready to start. The part is clamped to the R.T. and Marv's instructions are close at hand.





Much handle cranking  and paying very close attention. Double and triple checking before each cut. Phone ringer turned off.





Almost completed with no mistakes on my part. Must be a first.





John did mention filing. Some quality time with Oliver here. The round edge file is a perfect match for the corner radii. 





My plan is to paint the flywheel and then sand the side flats and rim to a shiny finish. When painting my built up, spoked flywheels, I've had good results with bead blasting and etching primer. 
I still have a few spots that need attention but I wanted to see how the C.I. looks after a trip to the blast cabinet with glass beads.





Hoping to get to the bearing supports and bearings tomorrow so I can see how this flywheel looks (and turns) in place.


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## dreeves (Jun 10, 2013)

Hey Stan are you there?  Getting worried with no progress with ya.

Dave


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## Sshire (Jun 10, 2013)

Hey Dave
Thanks for asking. I've been making all of the little stuff that everyone has seen a million times.
I'll be doing a fairly long post tonight. Just have the intake and exhaust water thingies to do and then railings, etc. 
This should hold you over until then

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anNb0OuI0v0&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]


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## Sshire (Jun 10, 2013)

Whaddya mean its on backwards?

After completing the top end (engine parts), it seemed like a good time to do an assembly to see what needed tweaking (filing, debarring that was missed, large hammer.)

Disaster. I had minimal clearance between the yokes and the crank. With the pump piston in place, none of the mounting holes lined up. I disassembled and measured and compared every part to the drawings. Everything passed the QC Department but nothing seemed to fit correctly and had tight clearances.

Time for a single-malt and lengthy staring at the engine. It took way too long to realize that I had mounted the bearing support blocks backwards! The blocks have a cutout to allow the pump body to be positioned in toward the center. The absence of the cutout kept the pumps from aligning vertically with the piston rod and yoke. This led to minimal clearances, yada yada.

Disassembled the engine, reversed the blocks, reassembled and everything fit perfectly. Of course it did. It was designed that way. 

"Stupid is as stupid does" Forrest Gump

So let's start with the damn bearing beams





Just your basic drilling and tapping. Found the center of the part and DRO'd everything from there.





I had left the part a few thou high to allow for cleanup after drilling. I find these Machinist Papers to be quite consistent in thickness at a hair over 1/1000"









Then a bevel all around with a 45 degree end mill. I think it gives the pieces more of a finished look.





Both completed here. Wet/dry finishing will follow.





As with Elmer's square cylinders on the radial engine, I'm not in love with Elmer's bearings (you know, rounded top to look like a faux bearing cap.). After sketching a few shapes I kept coming back to a round bearing. Part off a few disks of 6061.





Scribe a line and, using my precision positioning tool which is resting on the vise jaw, align the part horizontally.





Remove what I don't need









And end up with this









Now, pay close attention here to the orientation of the bearing supports. In case you weren't sure, these are BACKWARDS.





Now, some drilling of the yokes. I clamped them in a small grinder vise and then clamped that vise in my mill vise.





And line boring the bearings. (interestingly, when I removed the bearing supports to turn them around, the shaft had no binding)









At Cabin Fever, Scott (Cheepo45) mentioned that he had used some 1/16" E-clips to retain a pin.
This seemed like a much better idea than Elmer's wire-through-the-tiny-hole. Especially after I replaced the wire 3 times on the Grasshopper on Saturday at Cabin Fever.

I got a bag of 100 - 1/16th" E-clips from McMaster and found the dimensions for the groove width and diameter in Machinery Handbook. All the model airplane and model car guys seem to use these a lot and most of the advice on their forums was "needle nose pliers" for installation and removal.
Not in my world. I seemed to shoot 4 out of 5 into oblivion and was just about to go back to Elmer's wire retainers when I found this. A miracle tool. Every clip slid into the groove and snapped into place. Even in tight places in the engine. I think around $20 from Tower hobbies.

























The clips are removed by pushing from the open end.





Done.





Next installment will be the pumps and valves. I'm closing in on the last of the parts, but have much more to do after that as soon as I'm happy with the COC drawings for the railings, stairs and floors.

Here's the first run of the top end (no pumps) running on around 8-10 pounds of air.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anNb0OuI0v0[/ame]


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## vascon2196 (Jun 11, 2013)

Wow....extremely impressed. Excellent job with that engine! I will never look at ZigZag papers the same again after this post!


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## cheepo45 (Jun 11, 2013)

Great work, Stan! I will have to get one of those circlip tools.
           cheepo45


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## jwcnc1911 (Jun 11, 2013)

Wow!  Microscope much sir?


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## moya034 (Jun 12, 2013)

I'm really enjoying this thread.


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## Sshire (Jun 16, 2013)

Pumps, Bolts and Railings

I went into these parts totally blind. I've never built a pump. Never made anything that had ball valves, so I had to trust Elmer on these parts.

The pump cylinder is straight turning, drilling and boring. Nothing complex here.





A 7/16-20 internal thread for the pack nut completes this part. 





The smaller diameter at the bottom will be soldered into a square mounting plate.





The pump pistons were a good fit but seemed a bit "scratchy" to me. I mounted each piston in a collet, mixed up a tiny bit of Extra Fine Timesaver with Mobil1 and that took care of it. The piston movement is very smooth with a bit of back pressure when i push them into the pump cylinder.





The pack nut drawings show a .500 hex bar for the nut. The assembly drawings show a knurled piece. I liked the look of the knurled nut and had another chance to use the shop-built knurling tool (Hemingway Kits)





Then thread, through drill for the piston rod and part off.





Pay very close attention to the above sequence: Thread, drill, part off. 
Drilling before threading gives you this.





Eventually, you get these:









The pump baseplates





Ready for soldering. 





The pump is threaded 3/16"-40 MTP (Model Taper Pipe). At Cabin Fever, I spent some time talking to the PM Research people about taper vs straight 3/16-40 threads. The major issue (that I forgot) is that I don't know of a way to make the taper tighten up AND have parts, like the intake and discharge valves, end up perfectly vertical. PM Research feels that the straight thread, with Loctite works just fine. 





The intake and discharge valves have two internal diameters. The larger is to be flat-bottomed. I drilled for the smaller diameter and then followed up with a 5/16" end mill for the flat bottom section. Finally a boring bar to .272

























Here are the 4 valve bodies.





A set of matching valve covers. I first marked out the major points.





Then turning, threading and parting off.





A bit of filing and polishing to finish these.





Off to the mill to drill the valve bodies for the 3/16" tubing. Note the Harbor Freight 3/16" drill bit.





Now, note the hole with a piece of 3/16" tubing inserted. 





After that, I went a few drill sizes under and reamed to a thou over. Much better fit









The 3/16" tubing that I had was fairly thick walled. Not wanting to impede what I'm sure will be a torrent of water from the pumps, I drilled the pipes to a larger I.D.





Ready for soldering. The blue-gray stuff is "anti-flux" so that I don't have solder all over valves.





The final pieces of the pump saga are the mounting bolts. Simple job with 3/16" hex.









Some polishing and a manicure finished the 4-40 bolts









A start for the railings

Elmer's drawings show 3/32" square stock for the railing top with square corners.
A. I had no 3/32" square stock
B. I don't remember ever seeing a factory railing that wasn't round.

After bending some not-attractive samples, I built this with some dowel pins. The scribe line allows a fairly precise placement of the mark for the radius center.









I found the the best looking bend came with hammering the rod around the corner with this, quite attractive ,drift. (a mismade part from another engine)





Another test. Even with very light pressure when center drilling, the damn center drill was not happy about staying on center and of course this drill bit liked it even less.





I very slightly flattened the top with a 1/16" end mill and that solved the problem.





Once the holes are drilled in the table for the railing balusters, I can move to the next railing piece. 





Getting closer a part at a time.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 16, 2013)

Maybe I'm a little strange (Hell, maybe I'm a LOT strange!!!) but I prefer the look of flywheels at this stage. Oh, I know, cut outs make it easier to see the engines running, and they are the accepted "norm" but there is something about plain flywheels that really appeals to me.---Brian


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## Sshire (Jun 16, 2013)

Brian
It would have been a whole lot easier to leave it like that

Best
Stan


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## Philjoe5 (Jun 16, 2013)

Stan,
Incredible documentation.  Anyone who has ever done a WIP can appreciate your stopping midstream to take these photos.  The e-clip tool reference was a bonus for anyone following this thread.  Thm:Thm:Thm:Thm:

Cheers,
Phil


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## Septic (Jun 16, 2013)

The old adage "a picture says a thousand words" is well demonstrated by your excellent use of macro photos and lighting.


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## Sshire (Jul 21, 2013)

Sometimes, Elmer just annoys me.

The engines run. They are, for the most part, not terribly difficult to build, but I get the impression that once Elmer had a runner, he said, "O.K., that's done. Next." Not a lot of thought to aesthetics. Case in point: The three cylinder radial. Square cylinders? Come on Elmer. When I built that one, I hated those square cylinders and so, after many hours of figuring how to run the air without external piping, cut cooling fins (just because they looked good), etc., that was done.

Occasionally, Elmer would throw in a "decorative" column. Most look like a second-hand, Victorian table leg. Which brings me to the current build: Elmer's Pumping Engine. It runs, it pumps. It's actually one of his more interesting designs with the catwalks and the unique shape to the yokes.

I don't call an engine done until the  tool marks are removed and has been shined up a bit (OK, a lot.) so this one was just to the phase where I was ready to take it apart and begin polishing. I did have one more piece to do: the ladder and the longer I looked at it, the more I thought it was out of scale with the rest of the engine. Initially I was going to scale it down to a more pleasing proportion. Then I thought about going a completely different route. "Why not a spiral stair with brass balusters and railing." "Hey, let's do the stair treads in diamond plate. Can't take that much time." So, two weeks later...

I began by cutting a handful of aluminum blanks for the steps on the bandsaw.





The 2" face mill did a nice job of evening everything out so I was, at least, beginning with blanks that were the same size. It doesn't read well in the photo but there is thin cardboard packing to account for size variations in the width of the blanks.









I flipped the stack and through-drilled. Lots of peck drilling here as the drill bit was in deep and the chips had no place to go.





Once the hole was drilled (it will also be the hole for the center post), I bolted the plates together and set it up in the sine vise. I wasn't actually using the sine vise to set the angle but it was a good size for this. I pretty much eyeballed the fan angle of the steps.





With the stair treads shaped, I was going to set up the rotary table to round over the ends while still bolted together. Or not





That was much easier and I didn't have to re-indicate the vise when I was finished. Thank you, Oliver.

I had decided on two steps up to the stair and a round base appealed to me. Rough cut a circle on the bandsaw and turned this. It will be painted black.





The balusters will be brass with a rounded top and a 40 degree hole to accommodate the handrail. I sort of held a protractor and said, "that looks about right for the angle."

The round top was done with a corner-rounding end mill in a QCTP holder at the lathe. Quick and easy.





Parted off, reversed in the collet and threaded 2-56.





Back at the mill, I put a baluster in a square collet block, set an adjustable angle thingee at 40 degrees and clamped all to an angle plate.





Very carefully found center (.095 rod with a .0625 hole) 





The only way I could see to drill at a 40 degree angle was with an end mill.





Since I had 10 steps (later reduced to eight) to drill and tap for the balusters, I made a locating fixture. 





The time spent making the fixture was well spent. All holes in the same place. No multiple setups.





Those parts are done.






Did I mention the crazy idea about diamond plate stair treads? I'm pretty sure that a CNC mill could have done it. This was perfect.









I put tape on each tread. (I know. The VHB is a bit of overkill but I didn't feel like driving to get carpet tape)





Trimmed to size.





Holes were drilled through the plastic diamond plate by hand. The material is quite thin and loves to catch on the drill bit and tear.





Into the State-of-the-Art paint booth they went.





Ready for assembly





And done. Now I can disassemble the engine, get it polished and finish. This has gone on way too long and I have a PM Research Horizontal boiler waiting to be built. Thanks, Elmer.


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## dreeves (Jul 21, 2013)

Stan, man that looks great. Your showing off with the spiral stairs 

Dave


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## Sshire (Jul 22, 2013)

Hey Dave
Thanks. I thought the escalator would have been over the top.


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## Inky Engines (Jul 24, 2013)

Stan

Thanks for a superb build log, I've just started my build of this engine and expect to make extensive use of your prior experience.

As for the spiral stairway  - not very Elmer, but very posh and certainly one of the most ambitious embellishments of these engines I've seen.

I see the staircase to the catwalk, any plans to extend it to the table?

Kind regards

Geoff at Inky Engines


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## Sshire (Jul 24, 2013)

Geoff
Thank you. Your comments are much appreciated. I had originally planned a spiral to the top with platforms extending to it from the catwalk and top table. Centering in the front didn't work due to the pumps and the water tank that will be placed there. The other issue in placing it on that face was the exit from the stairs would be directly into the flywheel. Thus, I moved it to the side. The problem in extending it took the top table was exiting into the cylinders. So it ends at the catwalk. I'm looking at dual, properly proportioned ladders from the catwalk to the top table. Either that or let the engine maintenance people bring their own damn ladder.


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## aarggh (Jul 27, 2013)

lovemanop said:


> Nice work. I like it



Kinda like your work myself!

cheers, Ian


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## Sshire (Jul 31, 2013)

I think that the end is near. 

I've completely disassembled the engine and am beginning to detail, file and polish.

The table and catwalk have diamond plate. When I put it on, I didn't want parts resting on it. I was concerned that the uneven surface might cause some "issues" and I'd rather have parts firmly touching actual metal, instead of plastic. The solution was to mill away the plastic in those areas.

In an earlier post I had made a bending jig for the railings, but after gazing at that railing for a week or two, I decided to scrap that design and make a flat top railing. I liked the width and it seemed like a more substantial line.

Now I need 28 posts that are the same length. If they are "pretty close", as they were on the original railing, getting all of them to drop into holes and keep the railing level is not something that I wanted to repeat.

With a 12" piece of brass rod in the 5C collet, the collet was tightened just enough to allow the rod to slide. 





Then a piece of brass tubing, as a depth gauge, was slid on.





A scale was handy, so I used that to press the rod back so that it was flush with the tubing and the chuck tightened.









Parted off into the collection tub. These tubs, with snap on lids, are the main reason I occasionally stop at KFC. (Kentucky Fried Chicken if you don't have them in your neck of the woods)





That finishes the first group of posts.





The railing tops were done with flat stock. Cut, mitered, soldered, filed and generally beaten into submission.
Each hole was drilled then reamed .001 over the diameter of the posts for a sliding fit. The hole depth was slightly over ½ the thickness of the brass flatbar.





The posts did end up level. Test fit here.





Drilling the blind holes to the same depth was easier than I thought. For some reason, many people on the various Bridgeport forums, never use the hand wheel to move the quill for drilling and, in fact, don't like it or have no idea when it was last seen.
I found that I could accurately move the quill in .0005 increments. 





The Plastruct diamond plate now gets attached to the table and catwalk. Plastruct recommended this adhesive. Spray the Plastruct and spray the aluminum. Wait 30 seconds and press together.





An Xacto knife with #11 blade was used to cutout the opening in the Plastruct.





As I mentioned, I wanted to mill the diamond plate down to the aluminum. I was concerned that the end mill might muck up the plastic, so I attached a test piece to a scrap of 6061. No problem at all.
Again, I used the hand wheel and milled to the thickness of the diamond plate.










With the parts in the vise, I milled the plastic where I wanted metal-to-metal contact.





















Painted the table and catwalk with gloss black spray enamel. Not concerned about the edges. They'll be finished a bit differently.

Most polishing done here and railing Loctited in place.





The next activity was to make the final adjustments a bit easier. Screwing the pump pistons up into the yoke is a "character-building exercise."
I wrapped small pliers with tape to prevent scratching as I turned the piston. The tape didn't do a great job and the entire process was generally a PITA.

I decided to mill flats on the shaft for a &#8539;" open-end wrench.

Quick work. Pump piston in 5C collet and then into a square collet block.





IMHO, the best tiny wrenches ever. Moody Tools. Made in USA somewhere. Beautiful tools.





1/16" end mill. .030 depth of cut. Very slow crank on Y axis handles.





Rotate collet block 180 and repeat.

Done.





Nearly ready to reassemble. Then I can begin the pipefitting for the pump intakes and exhausts. The 3/16' fittings and unions arrived the other day from PM Research and a few inches of 3" O.D.brass for a water tank from Online Metals. I love the ability to order by the inch.

Thanks for watching
Stan


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## robcas631 (Jul 31, 2013)

Terrific work!


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## robcas631 (Jul 31, 2013)

Wow! that is awesome work!


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## robcas631 (Jul 31, 2013)

He did a fantastic job with them!


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## Sshire (Aug 17, 2013)

I'm calling this done. Four months, to the day, since I began.

The pumps work wonderfully, but I'm still fooling around with the pump packing to eliminate a small leak fro the right side pump. This is why no liquid in the pix. 

If there are any questions about anything in this build: You know where to find me.

Thanks for coming along for the ride and for the tips along the way. I hope this build will be helpful to future builders of this engine.

Best
Stan





[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2q2Q5nrFaE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2q2Q5nrFaE[/ame]


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## vascon2196 (Aug 19, 2013)

Stan...great job on the Elmer! I look forward to using your build to guide me through this project someday! Because of course, this is yet another engine on "the list".


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## dreeves (Aug 20, 2013)

Stan. What a great looking engine.  I want to see some water coming out of those pipes. 

Dave


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