# 90 degree V-twin engine



## gbritnell

I have just finished the drawings for my winter project. It will be a 90 degree V-twin engine with a 1.00 bore and 1/25 stroke. It will have a pressure oil system with a Hall effect ignition trigger. The timing will be controlled by a slotted disc which will fire both plugs at the same time. I have a twin fire coil just waiting for this project. The cover side that you see in the picture will have the crank gear driving an intermediate gear which in turn will drive the cams. This will keep the cams on the centerline of the cylinders. It will be a scratch built engine as per my latest engines. Most of the components will be aluminum but the cylinders will be iron. I thought about putting dual carbs on it but didn't need the aggravation of trying to get them both running equally. Heaven knows it's hard enough to get one to run well. 
gbritnell


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## LADmachining

That's a nice looking engine! I look forward to seeing the progress on this project.

Will the plans be available to us in the future? 

Regards,

Anthony


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## PhillyVa

Looks good, I'll be watching with great intrest.

Philly


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## RobWilson

Looks great ,, twin cam too Thm:

Regards Rob


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## Deanofid

Having seen your work and shop methods here, I'd imagine this is going to be a stunner!

Dean


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## seagar

Have got to follow this one !

Ian (Seagar)

 th_wwp


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## gbritnell

Well the drawings are finished except for the things I will catch as I start building this thing. I'm starting with the crankcase. I milled the blocks to size, put in the perimeter holes and reamed a pilot hole on the mill. I then moved them to the lathe where I indicated the reamed hole and started boring out the internals. 
gbritnell


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## chuck foster

looking like a very interesting build.............will be watching this one step by step 8)

chuck


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## Metal Butcher

That's a very interesting project George. It amazes me that not only will you machine all those complex pieces, but that you also did the design work.

I look forward to seeing your progress and posts. 

-MB


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## gbritnell

I got a little time in on the lathe today so I bored out the inside cavities. The large bore is for the crankshaft, the next bore is for the ball bearing and the last bore is clearance for the crankshaft. I then turned the one crankcase piece around and turned off the excess stock. Next up is to make a fixture to hold these pieces for all the profile work.
gbritnell


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## cobra428

Looking Very Nice as always George

Tony


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## gbritnell

Here's the progress for today. I milled out the oil sump area on both halves. I roughed it out with a .50 endmill and then went around the bottom edge with a .187 ball mill to put a fillet in it. On the one half I cut some of the bolt boss away so that the oil will drain back from the front side to the rear. I drilled and tapped the cover holes on the left crankcase half and also cut the crankcase vent opening. I have the fixture made up to hold the halves for the profiling. I'll start roughing them out tomorrow.
gbritnell


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## gbritnell

I have no idea what happened to all the pictures. I went to my Photobucket account and my bandwith is fine. Maybe the moderators can help.
gbritnell


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## Deanofid

Mine are all gone too, George. I use a paid server, and all my pictures show up on my own web site. Looks like a problem with the forum picking them up from the various servers.

Dean


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## Deanofid

Well, now that the pictures are back, I can see! 
They look great so far, George. Such a neat project.

Dean


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## NickG

George, just seen this. That's a really nice engine design. I will be watching with interest :bow:

Nick


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## gbritnell

I mounted the crankcase half on my locating and set up fixture plate and layed it out. The next step was to start milling to my lines leaving stock in the corners for my fillets. The block was square to begin with so all of the surfaces are being set up off of the bottom surface of the crankcase. One shot is the cylinder surface being cut and the other picture is the fillets being machined out. The last two show the crankcase half to this point. When I get the other half machined to this point I will tear down my vise and put up my rotary table to spin the crankcase radius. The bolt bosses will be cut down so they are .25 long from the split face. The motor mount pad will be .50 long from the split face. 
gbritnell


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## Deanofid

Hi George;

In the two shots of the piece where you show it being milled, there is a shaft in the crankshaft bore. What is its purpose? Does it fill the inner cavity of the crankcase for some work holding purpose?
It appears to be the same piece as in your surface plate jig, but it's got me a little puzzled. 

I figure if it's there, you put it there for a reason. Just curious.

Thanks.

Dean


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## gbritnell

Hi Dean, it's a setup plug. I find it easier to indicate over a small diameter than trying to pick it up from the inside of the bore for layout purposes. I also use it to bump up against with my edge finder when I'm setting up on the mill. I also put a very small center drill dimple in it to use as a point for my dividers to layout the radius of the crankcase. 
gbritnell


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## Cedge

George
You can bet I'll be paying close attention to this build. 

Steve


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## 4156df

> ...it's a setup plug.


Neat idea and new to me. Thanks.
Dennis


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## Deanofid

Thanks for the explanation, George. I knew there would be a good reason for it!

Dean


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## gbritnell

I made a little more progress on the right crankcase. I drilled all of the holes, machined the oil pump pocket and started roughing the inside of the gearcase. I tried to design it so that most of the bores or counterbores are standard sizes so that standard tooling, end mills, drills and reamers could be used. The second photo shows all the internal operations completed. I then started roughing some of the stock from the outside. I made a chart up so I could plunge out the fillets on either side of the bolt bosses. After that operation I went back and cleaned out the stock between the fillets. In the second to last picture you can see how I step around the bolt bosses. I make up threaded plugs that match the radius of the boss, screw them in and then bump up against them with the end mill. This gets me close so that I don't have so much hand work to do. The next two pictures show the step off milling around the lower radius of the gearcase. I was debating doing it this way or using the rotary table but I have many more operations with the vise set up so I just stepped it off. The last picture just shows the pile of aluminum chips. What's not shown is there's just as many on the floor. Time to shut down and get the shop vacuum out. The chips are starting to follow me all over the house.


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## cobra428

George,

Beside the great machining you do. The only thing we have in common is the chips!

Thanks for the Lessons

Tony


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## gbritnell

I wouldn't say just the chips. I've seen some of your work and it looks pretty good to me. I really enjoy scratch building. It makes it more interesting seeing the part emerge from the block of aluminum. With this side of the crankcase it's going to take a lot of whittling to get it to it's finished state. I'm used to reindicating my part every time I move the head up and down but at times it get a little frustrating when I get ahead of myself and don't leave enough room for one tool. Building this thing from my own drawings helps me find omissions on the print. 
gbritnell


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## NickG

Wow this looks complicated! :bow:


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## kvom

I know nothing about this type of engine, so excuse the question: are you going to turn the block over and machine a matching section on that side?

In any case, everytime I see your builds I learn something new.  :bow:


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## gbritnell

Kvom, yes, when I get finished machining this gear case I will start on the other half of the shape. Although I have a fixture to mount it on I wanted to get as much cut in the vise first. A rigid setup is always the best way to cut. I have to cut the two lower angled walls, drill the oil passages and bore the lifter holes and then I can cut the other half. I will also need to drill my fixture to hold the gear case side so that I can finish up the rotary milling on the other side. When both halves are machined they will be set up to do some ribbing on the bottom of the oil sump, much like the oil pan on the Whittle Aero v8. Other than the camshafts the remaining machining is quite straightforward. The gears are all 32 D.P. I have gear cutters for making the larger ones but will have to order the 2 small 8 tooth gears for the oil pump. I looked in the tool catalog for a cutter to cut these gears but they only list down to 12 teeth. I receive the iron for the cylinders the other day and also the main bearings which will be sealed ball bearings. The oil pump will lubricate the cams and the big end of the rods by way of the crank. 
gbritnell


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## steamer

Great looking engine George!....That is going to be a bit of "wittling" isn't it.

Dave


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## zeeprogrammer

I've always been interested in this kind of engine. Looking forward to seeing and learning more.

This kind of project and quality is WAY down the road for me.


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## gbritnell

I got some more chopping done. Little bits at a time because it's to the point that I don't want to start over. I go by my dimensions but leave everything about .01 heavy until I can see where I'm at. The oil galley hole goes from the pressure side of the pump up to the crank and then up to the cams. I drilled cross holes, .081, to meet the main hole. I then milled down .187 with a .062 end mill to connect the drilled holes to the cams. This slot will have a cover plate over it as you can see the tapped holes above and below the slot for securing the plate. Right before the oil passage goes into the cam cavity it will have a restrictor bushing with a .03 hole in it. This will keep pressure in the system. I then mounted the part on the fixture plate and in my dividing head so that I could rotate it to do multiple surfaces. I finished trimming around the gear cavity and then started on the lifter bores and spotfaces. I rotated the part to 45 degrees from vertical and made a witness cut to within .005 of where I needed to be. I then rotated the part 8.3 degrees to either side of 45 to put in the lifter holes. Each hole required resetting center as the part is rotating around the crank hole. The clearance for the camshaft is .562 diameter so I inserted a piece of brass rod into the hole and touched off my edge finder then moved to center. The bores were put in and then I had to step off the counter bores as they overlapped each other on an angle. You can see the angular contact line between the two bores. I then picked up my radial steps with a ball mill and carried them around the counterbore witnesses. The last thing I did for the day was to remove the excess stock from the cylinder base area. Here again I left about .007 stock so that when both halves are bolted together I can clean them up together. The two halves are located by a .140 hollow dowels. The 3-48 screws go through the center of them. Now on to the pictures.
gbritnell


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## steamer

Geez George, that looks fabulous!

Nice Work and I am amazed as usual! :bow: :bow:

I have been admiring the Westbury Wallaby for some time....think I'll finish modeling that up.....for a "hogment".....ah yet another project... :

Dave


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## Deanofid

Very interesting and nicely executed machine work, George. 
Any compliments I can think of seem kind of underwhelming considering the scope of your project!
I'll just say "wow".

Dean


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## Cedge

George...
I'm in awe, not only of the machining process, but all the pre-planning that is becoming so obvious as you work.

Steve


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## gbritnell

I put the two crankcase halves together and scribed the outline from the one to the gear side case. I then sawed the big chunks off and then set it up in the vise and started milling close to the lines. After roughing everything off I put the case halves back together and set them up in the mill to match all the surfaces. The first case had all the major surfaces to size so it was just a matter of indicating them and trimming the gear side case to match. Now that all the roughing and vise milling is complete I can tear everything off the mill and set up the rotary table to do all of the radii. That should do it for the milling and then I'll have about 6 hours of hand work, radiusing corners and filing and sanding. 
gbritnell


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## cobra428

Looking good George!
Tony


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## Twmaster

Holy macaronis!

That is really starting to take shape George! Bravo!


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## NickG

Wow, an impressive sculpture!


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## gbritnell

I took the vise and dividing head off the mill and set up the rotary table. The first shot is indicating the center of the table. In the next two pics I made up a plug to go in my holder and locate the center of the crank hole. With the table on center and the part located it was clamped down.


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## gbritnell

These pictures show the progression of cuts at the desired radius. The first cut was to the top of the motor mount pad, the second was to the top of the bolt bosses and finally down to the fixture plate. The last cut was the trickiest cut because there wasn't much room between the bolt boss and the motor mount pad. First one side was cut, then the other.


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## zeeprogrammer

I've been learning to indicate my rotary table in the mill.
I've had all sorts of problems trying to get it right...in part because I don't have sufficient reach. (I see that holder of yours providing a little more offset.) But also because I just haven't figured out a good process.

I'm at the point now where I throw a dead center in the table (MT2) and indicate on the sides of that. It's been relatively easy and seems to work well but I'm not convinced it's the most accurate.

I'd be interested in your thoughts about using the dead center and/or any tips on technique to indicate without it (although I think an offset holder would help).

Thanks.

I've got a ways to go before I can make something that complicated. Very nice.


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## gbritnell

I then cleaned everything up and started setting up for the cam boss radii. I had to make another set up plug for the cam holes as they are .562 diameter. The same procedure was used. Center table, locate part, clamp and cut. I was using a .25 diameter cutter for all the fillets so I first cut the largest area with a long 4 flute and then went back with a ball mill and stepped around the lifter bosses. They will late be cleaned up by hand.


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## gbritnell

The last two pictures for today show the cam cover bolt bosses cut back and a little bit of filing that I did between surfaces. Just a little bit more machining and then the hand work starts.


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## cobra428

You amaze George. I guess you'll be spending time now with the files.

Tony


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## Deanofid

That's a lot of work already, George, and well done!
It's good to see your hands or fingers in the shots now and then to be reminded of the size of the pieces you're working on.

Thanks for the write up and pictures!


Dean


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## ozzie46

Before I saw the thumb in the picture I didn't realize how small this is!!

 Amazing!!! woohoo1 woohoo1 woohoo1

 I can only aspire to such work. 

 Ron


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## GailInNM

As always, George, very nice.
Gail in NM


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## ariz

there aren't words to comment...
I silently admire such a high level of craftsmanship
and hopefully I will learn


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## gbritnell

Sorry for the deleted pictures. I was loading the new ones and thought that the old ones were doubles. Anyway on with today's work. The first picture shows the pin gauge that I use for cutting down the bosses. I screw it into the tapped hole and then grind and file till I match it. In this first picture you can see the boss as it was roughed from the initial machining. I probably could have left a little more stock but it was o.k.
The next picture shows the boss after grinding with the burr which is shown in the next shot.


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## gbritnell

The next picture shows the boss after filing. I support the file on the bushing to keep the surface flat. I work around the boss until I get the radius even. The next picture shows the boss after a little bit of cleanup with small mounted stone, about a medium grade grit. (brown)


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## gbritnell

The final three pictures for today show the gear side crankcase with all the filing and sanding done on the bosses and surfaces surrounding the gear case. Aluminum is so unforgiving with tool marks. The slightest little mark and it shows up from a mile away. It requires a lot of filing and sanding with a piece of emery wrapped around a small flat stick to get into the tight spots. I finished getting the tree decorated for the wife so I have most of tomorrow to finish up the bolt bosses that hold the cases together. The other side doesn't have near the finishing work as this one so I might even get it finished also. The only machining remaining is to bore for the cylinder flanges and put the fins on the oil pan.
gbritnell


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## gbritnell

I know they're now out of sequence but here's the two pictures that I removed.
gbritnell


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## Deanofid

Great craftsmanship, George!
It takes a lot of practice to know when to stop when it comes to forming things like the thread bosses, and breaking sharp edges on the crank case. 
What an enormous amount of work you've done already.
Very nice, indeed.

Dean


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## Metal Butcher

Wow, George that's really trick! :bow:

The case is coming along real nice. With the machine marks vanishing it's starting to look like a cast aluminum crank case. I newer imagined that was the look you heading for.

Can't wait to see more!

-MB


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## Twmaster

I too did not realize just how diminutive that engine is. Wow. I am pretty much awestruck. Thanks for taking the time to show us all the detail on how some of those processes go.


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## NickG

Amazing work, looks just like a casting but with a much better finish!

Well done.


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## zeeprogrammer

Wow George.
This is a great example of what one can do with their hands and some patience.


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## steamer

zeeprogrammer  said:
			
		

> Wow George.
> This is a great example of what one can do with their hands and some patience.



Couldn't say it any better! :bow:

You can tell a man by their hands and their chips....George....you work!
 :bow:


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## gbritnell

I got more done than I had hoped for. I finished up the large bolt bosses around the perimeter of the case, cleaned up the tool marks and polished it up. I used the same procedure for the large bosses. I made up a filing plug, screwed it in the hole and ground and filed until the boss matched the plug. I then drilled the threaded holes out of the off side, they had been tapped so that I could mount it to the fixture plate for machining. The two halves were then bolted together and the surfaces were matched. A final lick with emery and the hand work is done. The assembly then went back to the layout plate to get the centerlines marked on. From there into the mill vise where I calculated how much head space I would need to get the several tools in without having to change the height, hopefully. First the centerlines were picked up with a wiggler. Next the cylinder mounting holes were drilled. After that I used a progression of end mills to get the bore hole up to 1.00 diameter. Finally I put my boring head in and took the hole out to size, 1.125 diameter. This Enco mill isn't the best machine in the world for boring but I helped it out the first time I took the spindle out for cleaning, greasing and readjusting. While the spindle was out I drilled and tapped two 5/16 holes on either side of the spindle hole as high as I could above the locking clamp. Upon assembly I inserted 2 brass plugs followed by set screws. When I'm boring I keep them snugged up a little that way I don't get as much movement out of the spindle. Necessity is still the mother of invention. OK, enough chatter, I'm sure you want to see some pictures. The first four shots are the crankcase with all the bosses finished, the tool marks cleaned up and everything polished up with emery paper.


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## gbritnell

The next four pictures show the progression of the machining for the cylinder flange, wiggle centers, drill holes, used successively larger end mills and finally bore to size. After that the other surface was set up and all the steps were repeated.


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## gbritnell

The last two pictures show the mounting holes tapped, everything cleaned up and one shot with a penny for comparison of size. Tomorrow the ribbing and the most time consuming part will be finished.
gbritnell


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## cfellows

That's nothing short of amazing! Very, very nice work.

Chuck


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## cobra428

George,
Man-O-Man what beautiful workmanship :bow: :bow: :bow:

Thanks for the show

Tony

Just noticed the penny.....that's worth a million :big:


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## MatiR

Lovely work!

The engine looks small enough to be doable on Sherline equipment. What do you think?

M.


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## gbritnell

MatiR, I suppose it's possible with some creative setups but I don't think I'd want to tackle it. It's not so much the metal removal but being able to see around the piece when you're cutting into corners. People with small equipment say, "man I'd like to have something bigger like a mill/drill" and people with a mill/drill say " man I'd like to have a Bridgeport". I have done a lot of work over the years on small machines and the thing I find the most lacking is the rigidity and the special tooling required. 
gbritnell


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## kvom

Very nice.  :bow:

Lots of holes there, and I don't know what any of them are for.   I guess all we become clear as we go along.


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## steamer

Gorgeous!....and a wheat penny too ;D

 :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:


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## Deanofid

George, it's simply a pleasure to watch this piece take form. The time you spent on what we _don't_ see is still evident. Things like thinking through the numerous steps and setups before the cutter touches the work piece. You must be looking quite a ways ahead. There's a lesson in that. 
Thanks.

Dean


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## Artie

George.. this is simply beautiful. No other words describe your efforts mate. Well done.

I particularly like the fact that you dont need to use the mill to do everything.... Ive seen a couple of jobs done on this site where I thought that a file would be simpler and less stressfull.

There is an old admirable skill to using a hand tool where suitable. I like it.

Good stuff!

Artie


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## gbritnell

Well gentlemen the crankcase is finished. I got some time this morning and cut the fins in the oil sump. I've used slitting saws in my career but I'm not a big fan of them. The best thing I've found is to run them quite slowly, sometimes a little lube depending on the material and keeping the chips blown out or brushed out. The first picture is the start of the fining, the second is about a third of the way through, and the last is with everything cleaned up, a little file work between the fins, the radius on the corners a touch of emery and posing for the portrait shot. I'll probably start on the outer covers next, one for the gear side and one with an 'O' ring groove for the off side. There's also a couple of small internal covers that I'll make while I'm at it. I have iron for the barrels so they'll get started after the covers.
gbritnell


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## steamer

I find myself lacking the vocabulary for the proper superlative....

How's this...

 th_confused0052 :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:





Dave


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## 4156df

George,
Wow!
Dennis


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## Mutley

Just goes to show,,, it doesn't have to be shiny to be a jaw dropper th_confused0052 woohoo1 th_confused0052


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## mu38&Bg#

That hand finishing really gave it a nice look! Excellent!


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## Deanofid

It's beautiful!

Dean


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## 1Kenny

I like the detail for the oil drain, along with everything else.

Kenny


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## Maryak

steamer  said:
			
		

> I find myself lacking the vocabulary for the proper superlative....
> 
> How's this...
> 
> th_confused0052 :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dave




George,

Bloody Bewdy, Bonza machine, Ripper Rita, &#1054;&#1095;&#1077;&#1085;&#1100; &#1061;&#1086;&#1088;&#1086;&#1096;&#1086;.

Best Regards
Bob


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## gbritnell

Bob and everyone else, your comments are well received. Bob what the heck is that last accolade on your list? 
gbritnell


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## Maryak

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> Bob and everyone else, your comments are well received. Bob what the heck is that last accolade on your list?
> gbritnell



George,

Literally, very much good. ;D

Best Regards
Bob


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## gbritnell

With the crankcases finished it's time to move on to some of the covers. The first one will be the gear case cover. It will have a lot of drilling, counterboring, spotting, chopping, radiusing and hand work similar to the crankcases. The first picture is the block of aluminum. It was squared up and layed out. I use an edge finder in the mill but I like to have some scribe marks just for future reference. The next step was to center drill all the holes. After center drilling the appropriate machining was applied. The cam holes, the oil pump shaft hole and the idler gear hole will all have bronze bushings so they were drilled and jig milled to the proper depth. The mounting holes were drilled for a 2-56 tap to mount to the fixture plate. When everything is finished they will be opened up to .086 for the screw. The last operation on this side was to mill the slots for the oil feed. The oil that gets splashed around inside the case from the gears will run down into the slots and the bushings will have a drilled hole to supply oil to the shafts. I used a .062 end mill and took .04 cuts till I got to depth, .125. I then moved left and right .01 to open up the slots a little. My Enco mill will only spin at 1800 rpm so a gentle touch is needed for .062 end mills.


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## gbritnell

The block was removed from the vise and the burrs cleaned up and then flipped to start on the other side. After setting my height to clear my longest tool I repicked up my centers and moved to the distributor hole. I successively plunged end mills into the hole until I got to .95 diameter. (1.00 sharpened many times) I then went back with a .375 end mill and walked around the inside cavity to cut the bottom surface flat and to depth. Finally I put the new 1.00 end mill in and opened up the hole. The little bit of bottom relief on the end mill won't bother anything for .025 per side. The next step was to drill out the extra hole for the timing cover.


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## gbritnell

With the timing pocket finished I roughly layed out the radius around the bolt bosses on the timing boss and proceeded to rough away the extra stock to get down to the .25 thickness of the cover. The 2-56 socket head screws have a .14 diameter head and I needed to spotface the bosses down to .100 thick and also add a little clearance for the heads so I made up a .165 dia. drill rod cutter. Just a quick 2 flute. I center drilled a small hole in the center of a piece of .375 drill rod, filed the flutes to center, backed it off, hardened it and then stoned the cutting edges. I then spotfaced each of the holes down to leave .100 thickness for the mounting ears. The last thing for today was to step off the bottom radius. As per my normal habit I made a little sine/cosine chart, but on AutoCad, and walked around the radius. You'll notice in the last picture that I plunged out the tangent radii to each mounting ear. That way I have a witness to mill up to when I make my finish cuts. Tomorrow the rotary table will go back up to put the outside shape on the timing pocket.
gbritnell


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## Deanofid

Very interesting, as usual, George.

Why did you drill the center hole in the cutter? Was it so the two edges don't meet?
I can see it trying to wobble in the cut if the edges don't meet precisely, but can't think of another reason.

Thanks,

Dean


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## gbritnell

Hi Dean, I just thought it would be easier to file the flutes into the small hole rather than trying to make them meet in the center. I already had a drilled hole so I didn't need it to center cut. Normally if I'm making some type of spotting cutter I take the flutes right to the center but I didn't want to set up my dividing head just for this quick tool. 
gbritnell


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## steamer

Ripper Rita? ;D


Bob, you and I will need to consume a few pints and establish an Aussie to American translation guide......sounds like fun to me though..

George I'm gob smacked by your work as usual......I think....check that for me Bob.....thats a good thing right?


Dave


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## Deanofid

Thanks George, about that cutter. That's a good trick, actually, filing to the center of a hole. 
I usually index to make my cutters, but sometimes spend two hours doing one up for a cut that takes 30 seconds.  Your method will save me some time on the next flat bottom one-off cutter I make.
I can see this as being handy for a quick(er), odd sized piloted counter sink, too.

Dean


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## Maryak

steamer  said:
			
		

> Ripper Rita? ;D
> 
> 
> Bob, you and I will need to consume a few pints and establish an Aussie to American translation guide......sounds like fun to me though..
> 
> George I'm gob smacked by your work as usual......I think....check that for me Bob.....thats a good thing right?
> 
> 
> Dave



Yes, gob smacked is good - gob is slang for mouth so it's a long winded very good verbal exclamation mark. Between this and Russian, I think we have done our share and let's allow George to continue his magnificent build.

Best Regards
Bob


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## gbritnell

Continuing the machining of the gear cover I next set up the rotary table and then went in with a .25 ball mill and roughed some of the stock from around the timing boss. Once the heavy stuff was out of the way I started spinning the boss down to the desired dimension being careful to just touch the witness plunges I had put in several steps back. I then switched to a .25 four flute and cleaned up the outside radius to the same reading I got when I was using the ball mill. Slow and steady is the key here. 
With the timing boss out of the way I moved the cover over to the center of the other radius and spun it. Next I indicated the fixture square so that I could rotate the table to make the final cut on the angular surface, again going between the witnesses I had cut.


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## gbritnell

The next step was to round over the edges. I had called out a .20 radius on my drawing but I already had a .188 cutter made up from the past and conveniently it didn't reach past the tops of the bolt bosses so the radiusing began. I did the angled face first as I was already there. With that done I did the corner radius because it was on center for the cleanup operation. The two lower side were next. I had planned on filing the stepped off radius on the bottom of the cover to my witness marks so I didn't want to move everything to that center to do the corner radius on it so I just bumped some witnesses with the radiusing cutter so that I would have something to file to. The first two pics show my homemade radiusing cutter, made out of a .50 two flute end mill and the start of the corner radiusing. The next two pics show the part with all the machining done and ready for the hand work.


----------



## gbritnell

One other step before the hand work commenced was to open up the 2-56 tapped holes to .086 dia. for the mounting screw. The second picture shows an edge that was formed by the different cuts that were made. The next picture shows the corner roughed off with a small burr. One thing that I have learned when using small burrs is to let them do the cutting. By that I mean just a light touch is all that's needed otherwise the burr will grab and walk across your job leaving you drained of all spirit, especially after all this work. The next picture is some file work applied to the same area, a small triangular file and a homemade round riffler file doing the job.


----------



## gbritnell

The next two pictures show various stages of filing, in the fillets, around the bolt bosses and on the large corner radius.


----------



## gbritnell

After filing everything, flats, bosses, radii etc. I used varying grades of emery to clean everything up. Once that was done I went over everything with a fine Scotchbrite pad and then up to the utility tub for a scrub with scouring cleanser and an old toothbrush. It gives it a nice satin finish. Here's the result, one timing cover with nary a screwup, some close calls but nothing that couldn't be hidden with some judicious filing and sanding.


----------



## vlmarshall

Wow, such a beautiful engine. Ever done any mold and die work?


----------



## gbritnell

It's actually starting to look like an engine now, or at least a neat mechanical lump. I generally always use hex bolts for my engines but this one being of the motorcycle type just cried out for stainless socket head screw. I think it adds to the character.
Tomorrow the timing cover and the crank cover and I can start on some of the internals. I'm not going to post every part but just the ones that take several setups to do, the crank, the cams and most certainly the cylinder heads.
gbritnell


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Vernon, I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the machining field. I learned metal patternmaking from some of the greatest old timers in the business. That was many years ago and most of them are gone now but their skill lives on in what I do. I worked on patterns and coreboxes for the Ford Motor Co. foundry in Cleveland, Ohio. When I got into the trade most of the work was still hand fitting and filing. It was a craft from a bygone era now replaced with CNC.
gbritnell


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## Cedge

DAMN!!!.... just Damn!!. <crickets chirping>

Steve


----------



## cfellows

Holy [email protected]! This thing just keeps getting more amazing. I couldn't make something like that even if I were willing to spend the thousand hours it would take me!  :bow: :bow: :bow:

Chuck


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## Deanofid

That's just beautiful, George. You're hearing that a lot now, but what else can be said? If someone told me that was not a casting, I'd be inclined to think they were full of meadow muffins. Looks like something that came out of the Norton Villers custom shop during the UK's great motorcycle heyday!

Would you do us a favor next time you get into the shop, please? Take a photo of the rifflers you use for this work so we can see what you're working with. (I'm kind of interested in files and filing..)

Thanks for this great sharing/teaching/learning thread.

Dean


----------



## steamer

Im still searching for the superlative....latest in the running is Cedge's



			
				Cedge  said:
			
		

> DAMN!!!.... just Damn!!. <crickets chirping>
> 
> Steve




That doesn't begin to describe it......but its getting closer

Nice George!....

Dave


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## zeeprogrammer

Gee whiz...one day I'm looking at some hunk of metal with some bits being chewed off...I turn my head and look back...and today I see an amazing piece of work. Wow.


----------



## Artie

I cant think of the right words.... like Zee said ...WOW...... gorgeous.. you must be so proud..... :bow:


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## PhillyVa

George,

Your a true :bow: Craftsman :bow: and a great story teller of how you learned the craft...

Thanks for sharing

Philly


----------



## NickG

Amazing, really don't know what to say any more - just keep watching in awe! :bow:


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## ozzie46

OH MY!!!!! th_confused0052 th_confused0052 th_confused0052



Ron


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## CMS

Most definitely a tough act to follow here and the bar has been lifted far beyond any of my abilities. But to work on some of these shortcomings, I would like to see how you make some of your tools.


----------



## kvom

> the bar has been lifted far beyond any of my abilities


 And he makes it look so easy.  ??? :bow:


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## SBWHART

Smashing bit of work.

Thanks for sharing

Stew


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## gbritnell

I finished the two outer covers, the one over the ignition housing and the one over the crankshaft end. No WIP's on these, just some turning, drilling and hand work. I purchased some stainless oval head screws for the crank cover. I really like the way they look. 
gbritnell


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## Deanofid

Thanks for the additional pictures, George. Besides your fine work, you've got a pretty good handle on lighting shiny objects.

I have the feeling that I'm watching the construction of a museum quality piece, here.
Functional art in the making.

Dean


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## Powder keg

Yes, Your pictures are top quality! Thanks for sharing this with us.


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## cobra428

George,
Are you doing 2 stick cams or planetary cam (like a Radial)? I can't seem to tell yet, looks like 2 sticks are going to happen. If you are going to hobb your own gears (which I already know you will) Lesson please....please. With index RT.

Tony


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Tony, it is going to have two cams. The crank gear drives an intermediate gear which then drives both cams. The cams can then be on the cylinder centerline instead of offset. I am cutting the gears for the cams. All of the gears are 32 pitch and I needed to order the gears for the oil pump so with only having two 32 pitch gear cutters I ordered everything but the cam gears. I will make a WIP when I get to that point. 
George


----------



## gbritnell

Not a great amount done today. I made the oil galley cover and the 0-80 screws and also the oil pump cover with 1-72 screws. I realized that the oil drain back hole in the bottom of the gearcase is a little to close to the hold down screw so I'll have to change the drawing. I guess the good thing about building from one's own drawings is the features that need modifying can be done right away. 
gbritnell


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## cobra428

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> Hi Tony, it is going to have two cams. The crank gear drives an intermediate gear which then drives both cams. The cams can then be on the cylinder centerline instead of offset. I am cutting the gears for the cams. All of the gears are 32 pitch and I needed to order the gears for the oil pump so with only having two 32 pitch gear cutters I ordered everything but the cam gears. I will make a WIP when I get to that point.
> George



Thanks George, I think I've got a handle on how to do gears but it would be nice to see it happen.

Tony


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## gbritnell

This one's for you Tony and any others that haven't done it. The subject is gear cutting. I had a 32 DP cutter for my cam gears but didn't have the right ones for the others so I ordered them. It was less expensive than buying two more cutters at $25.00 each plus shipping. 
 This particular gear is 28 teeth. The pitch diameter is .875. The outside diameter is 1 divided by the pitch giving .0312 (addendum) .9375 diameter. Dedendum is 1.156 divided by the pitch, .036. The whole depth is addendum plus dedendum, .067.
The stock was turned, drilled and reamed then mounted in the dividing head.
Everything was indicated to make sure it was running true and parallel to the table.





Next was to change index plates. I had to switch to a 49 hole plate to cut this gear. After the new plate was installed the quadrant and handle were reinstalled and the pin in the handle was engaged in the 49 hole row before tightening the handle clamp screw. 













The quadrant arms have to be set for the proper spacing which in this case was 21 holes on the 49 row. You count 21 holes from you handle pin, not the hole that the pin is already in. 

Next was to set the cutter height. I use a piece of .002 stainless shim to touch off my tool. With that set I calculate my drop to center which is half the cutter width plus half the stock diameter. You can see it on the x reading of digital readout.









Now I touch and go in .004 and make a trial cut around the part to make sure I've got the right amount of teeth. My numbers are right but the old adage holds true, measure twice, cut once.





Everything looks good so being as I'm cutting brass I only need to make one pass so I go to the full depth, y reading, and start my passes. My procedure is this: make my cut, disengage the handle pin and rotated 1 revolution plus the 21 holes on my quadrant spacing, rotate quadrant until it's up against the pin and then make the next cut. On a gear with large teeth like this it's not hard to tell where you're at but with fine pitch teeth and a great number of them you have to remember to be consistent with moving the quadrant every time. 





A number of cranks and cuts later this is what you end up with.





The last picture is the blank with the edge filed and the teeth deburred ready to be parted off to the appropriate thickness.





It's not that complicated of a job. The most important thing is to keep track of where you're at. If you get an interruption finish your pass, stop and don't move anything until you get back. 
I know there are all kinds of tutorials and videos out there on the subject but it never hurts to see it again, especially if you don't do it often.
gbritnell


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## zeeprogrammer

Fantastic George. Always good learning to watch your posts.
How did you deburr the teeth?


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## tel

zeeprogrammer  said:
			
		

> Fantastic George. Always good learning to watch your posts.
> How did you deburr the teeth?



With a good tooth brush?


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## mu38&Bg#

Scotchbrite? Very nice. Progress is quick.


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## moconnor

Hello George,

Beautiful work and a fantastic job of documenting your progress. I am thoroughly enjoying every post. Thank you for taking the time to do so, you are inspiring many with your efforts.

With regards to your gear cutting set-up, did you climb cut this gear because it was brass? Would you have done the same if it were made of steel or cast iron and the same relative size?

Kind regards,
Mike


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## gbritnell

Hi Mike, thanks for the comments. As to your question I'll give you my take on milling. I was taught by some very accomplished machinists and they only conventional cut stock when it had scale or dirt on it to get underneath so it didn't wear out the cutter. Otherwise they always made a climb cut. Another reason for a conventional type cut is when the machine is worn, ways, leadscrew, and by climb cutting it will try to pull the job/table into the tool and possibly break it or pull the job loose. I only have an Enco mill and I climb cut 90% of the time. If I'm taking a fairly heavy cut I will snug up my gib screw so the table won't creep. Just listen to the sound of the cutter when making both types of cuts. Which one sounds smoother? When conventional cutting aluminum it will scrub the swarf onto the surface of the job whereas with climb milling it leaves a nice smooth cut. I worked in a shop that made cuts into tight corners, a lot of times with ball mills. If you were to conventional cut it will suck the cutter into the job leaving tool marks. This happens more with high speed tooling rather than carbide but it still happens. As with many machining subjects I'm sure others have their own opinions, this just happens to be mine.
gbritnell


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## gmac

George;
I've never cut gears so pardon the question; when cutting gears in this manner and with this size/material, how much would you cantilever the stock out of the chuck before you start encountering poorly cut gears (taking a single full depth cut)? 

It's a backhanded way of asking if you could cut a "length" of gear stock in this way or would you soon need to use some sort of tailstock support? If I were to do this I'd just as soon generate a bar of gear stock - just cut gears to length from it as required.

Thanks
Garry


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## gbritnell

It just depends how rigid your tooling is. Actually the bigger the stock the more you could project it out of your holding device. A smaller diameter would need a tailstock support long before the gear that I cut. The gear that I cut was .067 deep and the cutter has multiple flutes so the tooth loading is minimal. If you needed alot of one size of gear you could cut a long length of stock and then just chop off what you needed. 
gbritnell


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## gmac

Thanks George!

Garry


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## ksouers

George,
Thank you for the primer on gear cutting. :bow:

I've been interested in gear cutting but so far it appears to be a black art. I understand some of the nomenclature only in an academic way. I'm really befuddled by how this information is used to determine the diameter of the gear blank. I realize it's just geometry, but so far the light bulb hasn't come on.

I also don't understand the workings of the dividing head. How did you determine what hole circle to use? How did you determine you needed one full turn plus 21 holes per tooth?

I'm sure the more I learn the more questions I'll have. Could I impose upon you to give a tutorial about gear cutting at some point after you've finished this wonderful engine?

Thanks.


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## gbritnell

Kevin, there's a complicated answer and a simple answer. The simple answer is they have charts made out that tell you the right amount of turns and partial turns for a specific number of increments. The complicated answer it you could do it mathematically. The gears used on this side of the pond are generally calculated using diametral pitch. The gears on the other side are module. It's nothing more than the relationship of the specific number of teeth to a given diameter. 
gbritnell


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## kf2qd

Most larger dividing heads are built with a 90:1 worm drive. So you have 4 degrees of table motion for 1 turn of the crank. Plates with various holes let you subdiivide the 4 degrees up into smaller pieces. So - you turn the cranks some number of turns - take the turn *4 to get those degrees, then you turn so many more holes of or a given ring of holes. To your degrees from turns you add Holes Moved/total holes *4 and you have the total number of degrees moved. Sounds real complicated when you try to describe it, but when you look at the setup with the plates full of holes and do it once or twice it makes perfect sense. And then you get comfortable and tehn you get careless and screw up that $4000.00 part. The you get REAL CAREFUL...

An example - a 5 hole flange - that 18 degrees = 4 turns for 16 degrees and 10 holes on a 20 hole circle (or half the holes on any even numbered circle)
 a 6 hole flange is 15 turns.
8 holes is 11 .25 turns of the crank.

For some angles it is easiest to dig out the book and find the angle you want in the tables.


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## Powder keg

Kevin, My old LeBlond had some busted teeth when I got it. I was scared to attempt them. We took them apart and brazed them up and filed then to shape. That held for about 6 months. I had a machinist buddy make some new ones. He made them from the wrong material and they went out a couple months later. At this point, I'm thinking that I couldn't do worse. So I bought some 4340 and made all the gears. I had them sent off and heat treated. We put them back in and they have been running great sense. About 2 years now. Don't be afraid to try!!! Remember, If you think you can, or, you think you cant. Your probably right.


George, You've given me something to try out. We climb cut on the CNC's at work all the time. But I was always told to never climb cut on a manual mill. So I haven't. Your gears look Awesome!!!


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## Jared

ksouers  said:
			
		

> I'm really befuddled by how this information is used to determine the diameter of the gear blank. I realize it's just geometry, but so far the light bulb hasn't come on.



 I've never cut gears before but I want to. When I do I plan to cheat a little. I've got a catalog from https://sdp-si.com/eStore/ that I can look at the size of gear I want to make and it will tell me the outside diameter. You can do the same thing on the website. Tell it what diametral pitch and number of teeth you want, click on any gear that it comes up with and look at the CAD drawing.


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## mklotz

Kevin et al,

Download GEARSPUR from my website. It has all the calculations for everything you might ever want to know built into it. Below is an example output. Note that you need to know only two facts about your gear in order for the program to provide all the relevant information about that gear.



		Code:
	

[I]mperial or (M)etric units?

Enter whatever data you know. Enter zero (0) for unknowns.
You must enter two data items to obtain an answer.

OD of gear [2.35 in] ?
Number of teeth [45] ?

Diametral Pitch = 20.0000
Module = 1.2700
Number of teeth = 45
Outside Diameter = 2.3500 in = 59.6900 mm
Pitch Diameter = 2.2500 in = 57.1500 mm
Addendum = 0.0500 in = 1.2700 mm
Dedendum = 0.0600 in = 1.5240 mm
Whole Depth = 0.1100 in = 2.7940 mm
Circular Pitch = 0.1571 in = 3.9898 mm
Tooth Thickness = 0.0754 in = 1.9151 mm

B & S cutter number used to cut this gear = 3


DIVHEAD is my dividing head program. Via a simple data file, it will handle any dividing head, regardless of the gear ratio or which hole plates are available. Example output below:



		Code:
	

DIVIDING HEAD CALCULATIONS

Number of workpiece divisions [14] ?

DH Worm Gear Ratio = 40:1
Holes in rapid indexing plate on spindle = 24
Divisions of Workpiece = 14
Ratio/Divisions = 40/14 = 2.857142857
Turns required = 20/7 = 2 & 6/7

2 full turns of crank
and 18 holes on 21 hole plate
or 42 holes on 49 hole plate


Even if you intend to learn how to do all these calculations yourself, it's worth having both of these programs on hand to check your work.


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## ksouers

Everyone, thank you very much for the help and the links to understanding this. :bow:
I appreciate it very much.

Marv,
I downloaded GEARSPUR. Yes, it gave me exactly what I was looking for. I also sneaked a peek at the source code and liberated the calculations (I can't believe you used goto  )
Thanks for many great routines.


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## mklotz

Kevin,

Only yuppie code theorists are afraid of gotos. Physicists and other folks who really know where they're going, use them with impunity to get there.  

Seriously, I'm not now nor never have been a computer programmer. I write programs to get jobs done and, so doing, use every tool available - much as I do in the shop. 

Now, do you want to hear about the string editor I wrote in Fortran?  

Get the DIVHEAD program too. In addition to the program I described, the archive contains some other useful programs. For example, if you're into making your own hole plates, there's a program to tell you the hole circles you'll need for all the divisions up to some input maximum.


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## ksouers

mklotz  said:
			
		

> Only yuppie code theorists are afraid of gotos. Physicists and other folks who really know where they're going, use them with impunity to get there.


I use them too for expediency in one-off programs. Our production code goes through a peer review process before moving to User Acceptance Testing. A goto in production code will get you an audience with the Grand Inquisitor to explain and defend your transgression.



> Now, do you want to hear about the string editor I wrote in Fortran?


 



> Get the DIVHEAD program...



Got it. 
Again, many thanks.


George, sorry for the detour...


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## gbritnell

This morning I got started on the valves. They are made from .50 diameter, 303 stainless steel. I finished them in about 1-1/2 hours and then started on the spring keepers and retainers. The retainers were a son-of -a-gun. They're only .03 thick and when I parted them off they ran about .002 over so they had to be filed and sanded to thickness. The notches were then filed down to meet the drilled hole, 047 diameter.


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## gbritnell

I'm making parts in no particular order while I wait for steel for the crank and rods. I got the gears I ordered today so with the ones I made the other day I'll be able to start making shafts shortly. This evening I started on the rocker arms. I had called out bronze on the drawing but then thought they would fit the rest of the engine better if they were made out of aluminum. This required a change to the boss to allow for a thin bronze bushing. I started out by roughing a piece of aluminum long enough to get all four rockers plus enough to clamp in the vise for cutting off. After roughing to the size I needed I set it up and drilled the pivot hole. I just drilled it undersize and then finished it with a new drill. It came out as an odd size when I made it large enough to accept the bronze bushing so I'll make the bushing to fit.


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## mu38&Bg#

How do you make the valve stems? Do you turn down to size a short section at a time then clean up with backed sandpaper, or do you use a follow rest? To me, this looks like the scariest part about building a four stoke. The sealing face looks like it might be ground?


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## gbritnell

The next step was to cut the bottom profile using a .25 ball mill. I first roughed some of the stock away and then with my step off chart I milled the contour. With this finished I turned it over to do the top. On this side I used a .50 ball mill which allowed me to have fewer steps and still get small cusps to file.


----------



## gbritnell

The next operation was to mill of the back up material from the short end. You can see the shape of the rocker appearing as I mill the stock away. I then set up one of my small milling saws and started cutting the individual rockers away from the stock. I took this picture with the spindle running as you can tell. Finally for today I have four rocker arms. I'll have to make up a fixture for the lathe to turn down the sides. The total width is .250 and the rail will be .188. They will then get the tapped hole for the adjusting screw and the pocket for the pushrod. 
gbritnell


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## gbritnell

Hi Greg, first of all the stems are .078 diameter so I start by cutting about .25 down to about plus .0005. I then cut the notch for the retainer, .030 wide. I now cut about another .25 of stock down to the same dimension. With about .50 cut I can now put a new mill file lightly on the stem just to clean up the two cuts. I then work my way back toward the head of the valve doing the same procedure. Once I get to the head I leave a piece of stock in the corner so that I can take a cutter with a radius on it and cut out the root fillet. Now I take a piece of crocus cloth lapped over the end of my file and polish the stem. As I'm laying it on the stem I also put a finger under the stem to help support it. It's not removing any stock, just polishing it up. I now take my cutoff tool and make a small witness about .005 longer than my finished length so that I will have something to clean up when it's cut off. This also gives me a witness to cut the 45 degree seat to. I turn my compound to 45 degrees and just cut the seat leaving about .015 of turned stock. This will go down to about .01 when I face the valve off. The seat has that grayish color to it because it was just cut and you're comparing it to the stem which has been polished
gbritnell


----------



## Metal Butcher

Hi George, That's a neat way to make multiple rocker arms.

Almost looks easy from were I sit. Hopefully I'll remember how its done and use the technique some time in the future. 

Thanks.

-MB


----------



## NickG

Very nice work gbritnel, some great techniques there that will be useful.

Nick


----------



## gbritnell

In the last installment I had cut the rocker arms off of the stock. I was getting ready to drill them and I noticed that their proportions were a little different than the drawing. After a quick measurement I realized what I had done. I used a .50 piece of stock and when I flipped it over to cut the large radius on the top I had forgotten to take the extra stock off before cutting the radius. I made up this little fixture to locate the arms for cutting the radius down and also for putting the drilled hole in. I then used the back side of the fixture to put the ball socket in for the end of the pushrod.


----------



## gbritnell

With that out of the way I turned up a mounting mandrel on the lathe. I then mounted the arms on it and took .031 off of each side. Now the hand work begins. As with the other parts a lot of grinding, filing and sanding to finish them up. Probably about half as much time as all the machining took. Anyway these are finished. I just have to make the bronze bushings but I'll do all of them for the whole engine at one time. 
gbritnell


----------



## cobra428

George,
 I can't say a word....speechless

Tony


----------



## cfellows

George, you are truly a master at the "hand work". Your work looks as if you really get a lot of enjoyment from the filing and sanding!

Chuck


----------



## Deanofid

I love the results of your hand work, George. 
These look great!

Dean


----------



## NickG

Just can't believe the amount of work in those! :bow:


----------



## gbritnell

I just got two pieces made up today. A lot more work than meets the eye. I made the profile in one piece and when I had the rest of the machining done I cut them in half and then cleaned them up. Tomorrow I should get the pivot bolts, nuts and adjusters made up. That will take care of the upper valve train.
gbritnell


----------



## hobby

Sensational, Beautiful handiwork.

I try to stay away from the forums as much as I can, (during a project) so I can spend more time on my projects, or else I get swallowed up browsing in the variety of great threads on these forums, and spend less time actually building,

*However* I visit this thread for *educational purposes*, you inspire me to start learning how to make, barstock material parts look like castings, professionaly finished and polished, as if they came out of a mold, because I only work from bar stock, (scratch), that's my endever in this hobby, scratch building, and your thread is a 

WEALTH of instructional educational material, that is guaranteed to make us all better at our hobby.

Thanks for doing an excellent job on sharing your methods with this build thread.


----------



## Cedge

Hobby
You just said a mouth full....LOL. You and me, both.

Steve


----------



## cobra428

Cedge,

Hobby said 2 mouth fulls!

Tony


----------



## Deanofid

Those two pieces look like a great deal of work to me, George.
They look great.

Dean


----------



## gbritnell

Gentlemen, here's today's installment. It's quite lengthy so hang in there. In this section I am machining the connecting rods. They are a fork and tongue type. I am making them out of 12L14 steel and they will have bronze bearing inserts. 
I had a piece of 3 inch round stock that had a slice taken off of it. I needed .75 and luckily it was .79. I layed out the rods on the surface and then bandsawed the stock off. The first couple of pictures are center drilling and progressively drilling up to the desired size.


----------



## gbritnell

The next operation was to cut the material out of the forked end of the one rod. As I progressed I figured I wouldn't have anywhere to hold it securely so this step came next. 





I then started taking the rods down to the finished thicknesses. I am only showing the forked rod in these sequences as the machining is the same for both.


----------



## gbritnell

I had a machining fixture from another job and it still had room on it so I drilled, tapped and counterbored the required holes for this job. You can see the plate, bushings, spacers and screws required for this job. I have a box with many fixture plates and bushings that I have used over the years. Most of them I don't even remember what they were for but they certainly come in handy for new work. 





In these pictures you can see the roughed out rods, both forked and tongue and one of them mounted on the fixture plate with the required spacer under the small end.


----------



## gbritnell

At this point I had to take my dividing head and vise back off of the table to set the rotary table up. The usual rough centering with a piece of stock in the spindle then indicating the center hole. I have to make sure I leave enough head room for the longest cutter that will be used or else the head has to be moved and everything reindicated. Darn round column mills! The next photo shows me picking up the big end counterbored hole. I have a selection of mandrels that will usually fit the size I need. The second picture shows me indicating the side of the fixture plate. I make all my holes parallel so that I have a reference should I need it. In this case I indicated the side of the fixture and set the dial on the table to an even number. I will need to rotate the rod to cut the side at about 2 degrees.


----------



## gbritnell

I started spinning the big end being careful not to go to far to the inside. After getting the radius to size I then rotated the table and started reducing the sides, sneaking up on the tangent point of the end radius. Even if the radius is heavy I can go back and rotate it a little farther until I get a nice corner. When I'm close I put marker ink on it so I can see where my cut is and how it's blending with the previous cut.









With that step finished I put in a .50 ball mill to spin the tangent radius on the top.


----------



## gbritnell

The next step was to cut the relief in the face of the rod. I used a .125 cutter with an .03 radius on the corner. I made an initial cut with the rotary table squared up, working down to the .05 depth and establishing the end dimensions. I then rotated the table back to the 2 degree angle for each side and cut till the outside rib was .05 thick. Once that was finished I squared the table back up and cleaned up the end cuts to match the angular walls. On this type of job there is no quick way. To get it right you just have to take your time and pick away at it.





In this picture you can see the progress of all the work.


----------



## gbritnell

With the same procedure carried out on both rods it was time to move the fixture plate to the small end counterbore. The same steps were required as the first hole with the exception that I didn't need to indicate the side of the fixture. Spinning the small end and cleaning up the beam with a radius cutter are the two final machining steps.









The last picture of this series is the fully machined rods. They will now go to the bench for usual filing and sanding. I will post a picture when they are done.
George


----------



## Powder keg

Hey George, Thanks for posting that! I might try some of that on the con rods on my Mega Cyclone. I'll be starting those soon. Nice work!!!


----------



## steamer

OOOH nice rotary table lesson there George! Thanks!
 :bow:


----------



## Deanofid

It's great watching your setups, George. I get a good feeling when I see that I do things in a similar way to your methods. Like I'm doing something well and proper.

The rods look really good. Thanks for the photo essay!

Dean


----------



## ozzie46

Now that is Craftmanship!!!  Thm: Thm: Thm: Thm: 

  Another post to be converted to .pdf for my growing reference files.

   Ron


----------



## zeeprogrammer

It's just so great to be able to watch this kind of work in progress.
Thanks George.


----------



## arnoldb

I've been quietly following along on this build... 
Quiet because I'm dumb-struck by the brilliant work you're doing here George.

Very well done and documented; thank you for sharing with us!

Kind regards, Arnold


----------



## NickG

Brilliant George, I'd be more than happy with your roughed out rods as finished items!


Nick


----------



## gbritnell

First I want to thank everyone for following this thread and replying. It sure makes the extra time photographing and loading the pictures worthwhile. 
Ok, the rods are finished. I cleaned them up this morning, made the bronze inserts and pressed them in. I took two finish shots and then thought I would take one more to show a size comparison to the Canadian penny. I used it for all the Canadian followers this time. 
George


----------



## Metal Butcher

Beautiful George! You never cease to amaze me.

You have more work in two of those connecting rods, than I have in any one of my complete builds. Wish I had the amount of patients and skill you exhibit..

Just Super!

-MB


----------



## 2CYL4STROKE

Very nice rods

 Jani


----------



## vwone

I don't even know what to say, unbelievable! Being a motorcycle fanatic I thought this would be a good project but I didn't expect all of this. You are doing some great work! 
Dean D.


----------



## Deanofid

Another "wow" moment. Getting my mind blown every time I check your build. 
The skill with machine tools is certainly worth watching, for anyone, but it's what you do after the lathe/mill stops turning that puts the filling in the Twinkie. Finish work is just something you really have to work at. All the final touches you put on parts that will never be seen. Inspiring. 

Mighty fine, George. Mighty fine.

Dean


----------



## hedgehog

i and the rest of Canada thank you for taking the time to post pictures of your build


Great engine. :bow:


----------



## ariz

every time that I come here your work astonishes me george
really great :bow: :bow: :bow:

note to myself: next time that I have to make something, think 'how gbritnel would make it?'
note2: to make a rod use a fixture, use a fixture, use a fixture, don't hold it by hand!


----------



## kuhncw

Those are very nice looking rods. Were your finishing techniques, tools, and materials the about same as you used for your aluminum parts? Do you ever use Cratex abrasives for smoothing and buffing?

Regards,

Chuck


----------



## JohnLanark

Wonderful build George. Thanks for taking the time to photograph and post the detailed setups for us. John


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Chuck, yes I use about the same techniques for finishing most materials. The only difference being how polished of a finish I want. I have used Cratex but for finishing I don't like to use too many spinning abrasives as they can put irregularities into the surface. By that I mean just enough surface finish so when the light hits it it looks like it's wavy. Kind of hard to explain. The biggest part of hand finishing when you're trying to make something look like a casting is filing. I have quite a few good jewelers files and a small selection of rifflers. I'd like to have more rifflers but they're about $16.00 apiece so I only buy one every once in awhile.
George


----------



## zeeprogrammer

Saw your post George and my first thought was 'what a fantastic finish'...'he does great finishes'.

Then I read everyone's replies and see that I'm not the only one.

Amazing work. Always gives me something to work towards.


----------



## gbritnell

With the rods finished I started on the crankshaft. The crankdiscs were turned from 1144 stressproof steel. For this application almost any steel would do as there is not much that could warp but I didn't have anything large enough in my stock bin so when I ordered material I got the 1144. For those who haven't worked with it before it is a very machinable material and for one piece crankshafts it has the added benefit of no warpage like CRS. I don't have any pictures of the turning operations as they were straightforward. With both pieces turned, cutoff and faced to length I started doing the operations that would be more difficult after it was pressed together. First was to drill the oil passage from the outside edge to the center of the crank. Having to go through the throw hole I turned up a plug and clamped it in place to guide the .062 drill through it. After that I moved to the key slot for the crank timing gear. It is also .062 wide. 









Here's a shot of the disc.


----------



## gbritnell

The next step was to put the hex, for the starter, on the end of the other crankdisc. 
I set the dividing head back up on the mill, indicated it square again, and cut the hex.





The pieces went back into the lathe to reduce the size of the crank web. I did it in this progression because I wanted to leave as much stock on the discs for the other operations. After the lathe work they went back to the mill to cut the extra material out leaving just the counterweights. I originally designed the crank to have the extra material cut away from the sides of the throw webs and my friend said, " why don't you leave the discs round like a motorcycle crank?" I made up a test throw shaft and hung the rods from it to check the balance of the crank. I found that by leaving the discs round I wouldn't have enough counterweight to balance the crank so I will remove the extra material as I had originally planned. 









Here is a picture of the assembled crank. The throw shaft is .375 drill rod which is actually .3755 diameter. When I put the throw holes in I reamed them .374 allowing for a .0015 press fit. The timing side disc will be pinned to the throw shaft using the already drilled oil passage. This will lock that side and also plug the oil hole. The flywheel side will need to be removable for servicing the rods so It will only rely on the press fit. The reason for assembling the crank at this point without the rods installed was to see if it could be trued up. Although I took extra care indicating everything when reaming the throw holes I wanted to check everything out before progressing. I pressed the throw shaft into the gear side and then lightly pressed the flywheel side on. I then put the assembly into my vise and squeezed it square. It was then pressed together the rest of the way. I then mounted the crank between centers to check the runout. I had about .005 which I didn't think was too bad for just squeezing them together for squareness. I then mounted the long shaft on the crank side in my lathe collet and set the indicator on the other shaft. With a small layout jack I pressed the crank up a few thousands at a time all the while rechecking the concentricity. Eventually I got it to within .0006 so I was quite sure at that point that down the road when I had to take it apart and put it back together I could achieve a pretty close runout dimension. The next step will be to cut the material from the sides of the webs.


----------



## Powder keg

th_confused0052 th_confused0052 th_confused0052 th_confused0052 th_confused0052

speechless......


----------



## gbritnell

New Years day! It's kind of quite around here today. My wife and I went to a friend of my son's for a party last night. We're all motorcyclists so we had a good time eating and telling lies. I don't drink much anymore, just a little bit of wine now and then but my wife had a good time so that's mainly why it's quiet. I went to the shop fairly early but a friend stopped by with some Mercedes hub caps that he want's masked and he had a Bridgeport mill on his trailer which I had to go look at. I finally got started about 11:00 am. 
I made a spacer to fit between the crank webs so I could clamp it in the vise. I had to get the crank pin square with the mainshaft so it took a little bit of bumping and rotating to get it where it needed to be. I then started thinning the webs down. 





When I got them to the proper thickness I took an endmill with a small radius on the corner and cut the final depth. The next step was to go back and drill the oil hole/pin hole through the throw shaft. At the same time I drilled the oil holes that will lubricate the rods. 





The final operation for today was to cut a radius on the corners. I got them close to where I wanted them and will file the rest later. The crank won't stay like it is. I will hang the rods and pistons from the crank pin and slowly remove the stock from the counterbalancer until I get it close to balanced. I also have to plug the open oil hole in the end of the crank pin. 
George


----------



## cfellows

Very nice, George. It's fun to watch you work.

Chuck


----------



## Deanofid

cfellows  said:
			
		

> Very nice, George. It's fun to watch you work.
> 
> Chuck



It sure is. 
Thanks George.

Dean


----------



## Jadecy

Will you be at Cabin Fever? If so will you be bringing that work in progress? I'd love to see it in person. Very nice!


----------



## Twmaster

George, Like others here I have been following your build. This is magnificent work. I seem to learn something with each new installment as you post. 

Once I get moved I need to get a set of those 'Kant Twist' clamps.

Thank you.


----------



## gbritnell

Jadecy, I would like to go to Cabin Fever. The last time I went it was in a snow storm so I'll have to wait until next week to see what the weather looks like. 
gbritnell


----------



## SBWHART

Great work George :bow: :bow:

I'm having problems visualising the scale of the engine would it be posible for you to post a pic with a rule in vew to give me some idea of size.

Thanks

Stew


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Stew, this picture is for you. I layed out some of the parts I have made till now and took a shot with a 6" scale.
gbritnell


----------



## gbritnell

Today I started on the camshafts. They are made from W-1 drill rod. (water hardening)
I turned both blanks on on piece of .50 dia. rod. The one with the threaded end will be the shaft that operates the ignition. The front bearing surface was turned to size .25 dia. and the lobes were roughed out (width). I indicated my dividing head to get everything true and clamped up the first blank. As is my normal procedure for making cams, I lay out the lobe in AutoCad and calculate the steps that will be needed to profile the shape. I then make a chart for each lobe, one step for rotation and one for depth of cut. I start at -O- with my dividing head and rotate around till I get back to the starting point. I then rotate the head to the next lobe centerline and start my cuts again from that angle, not -O-. Once I have my first chart it's just a matter of adding the dimensions to the lobe centerline angle. This is one of those jobs where you have to pay close attention to where you're at. If you have a brain fade you'll be starting over.


----------



## gbritnell

After stepping off both lobes I went to the split angle between them and put in a .062 diameter hole for a dowel pin. This will be my key for the slot in the gear. I am also going to drill and tap a 0-80 hole into the shoulder behind the gear to keep it in place. 





The next picture is the other shaft being cut.


----------



## gbritnell

From the mill I went to my small lathe. I chucked the piece on the far end and supported the other with my live center. My chuck runs out about .001 so by the time I get out about 6.00 to the center the runout is negligible. I then cut the inboard bearing surface. I didn't want to cut it when I first did the shaft because I might have got some chatter when I was milling. The next picture is the cam blank machined.









At this point I leave the cam on the bar to use as a handle for finishing. I paint over the cam surface with a marker so that when I start filing I can see where I'm removing stock and that I'm staying parallel to the shaft axis. 





The next couple of shots show the lobe after lightly filing it. I just rest a good sharp file on the lobe so that I keep everything parallel. As I'm filing I rotate the shaft so that there is a nice blend between the machine cusps. 









The last picture in this set show all the tool marks removed by filing.


----------



## gbritnell

The last two pictures in this set show the cams, polished and cut off from the bar and with the gears slipped onto them. By the middle of the coming week I should have the bottom half of the engine complete. I'll start on the cylinders after the lower end is finished. I usually do the cylinders and then the pistons. It's easier to remake a piston than a cylinder. I have a stock of piston rings from when I built the Holt. They were 1.00 diameter also. I probably won't post any more until I get to the heads, there's not much to see in cylinder turning. 
George


----------



## Powder keg

Thanks for sharing again George!!!


----------



## 4156df

George,
I know I've said this before, but...Wonderful job! Thank you for taking the time to show these fabulous posts.
Dennis


----------



## Deanofid

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> I then rotate the head to the next lobe centerline and start my cuts again from that angle, not -O-. Once I have my first chart it's just a matter of adding the dimensions to the lobe centerline angle. This is one of those jobs where you have to pay close attention to where you're at. If you have a brain fade you'll be starting over.



George, for the second lobe, (reading the quote above), you mean you add each number on your chart to what ever the starting angle of that second lobe was, is that correct?

Then keep adding or subtracting, according to the same chart you used for the first lobe, but always using the second lobe angle as your base number, right?

This definitely sounds like one of those setups where I would write down every step before starting, or I'd be doing the job more than once!

As an aside, I'm sure if you decided to take photos of the cylinder work, no one would mind. : )
(I know it takes time from the shop work, though.)

Thanks again for this write up, and for the pictures. The progress shot with the rule helps show the scope of the project.

Dean


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Dean, you're correct. I start at the centerline of the first lobe and step around until I get back to -0-. My next lobe centerline is 135 degrees apart from the first one so 135 is now my -0- and I just add all of the dimensions from the first lobe to 135. 
I have the oil pump gears fitted so when I get the rest of the gears keyed and mounted in their bushings I'll take a picture of the gear set. It's not a problem to take pictures of the cylinder machining I just felt that there wasn't much to see. Most of the modelers on the forum have turned a cylinder at one time or another. 
George


----------



## Powder keg

I think they just want to see how you "Skin this cat" George. I'm a foreman in a machine shop. I've found that you can give the same job to ten different guys and all ten will go about the same job in a different way. But they all "usually)" end up with the same part.

They just want your "take" on machining a cylinder)


----------



## gmac

George;

+1 on Powder Keg's comment!

I'm also curious about the toolbit shown in your photo of cutting the inboard bearing surface. It's got such a small included angle, smaller than I'm used to seeing. Is this a tool form you've used for specific jobs/materials? Any rake/clearance angles?

Also why W-1 rather than oil or air hardening? Or is this a case of "I had some!"

Great WIP, I'm all eyes and ears.

Cheers
Garry


----------



## kvom

Just to clear this in my head re the cams. Is it true that for each cut you are adjusting the tool height and moving the table in the x-direction?


----------



## gbritnell

The tool doesn't have any top angle. This was the only tool I had that was narrow enough to get into the space and cut up against the right hand shoulder. I have some tools ground up for cutting to the right with top rake on them but they were too wide and I didn't want to destroy them. I used water hardening drill rod because I find it easier to cut then the other two.
For each cut I adjust the Z depth and in this case I'm moving the table in Y, across the lobe. 
George


----------



## SBWHART

Hi George

Thanks for posting the pic with the rule, I've got the size firmly fixed in my head now, its larger than I was thinking. (love the nibble out of the rule by the way :big

Some great posts and information on making the cams, I realy must have a go at a IC engine one day, its the ignition system that puts me off, I realy can't get my head round that part.

Watching with interest.

Stew


----------



## steamer

Looks great George!

Thanks for sharing that..... :bow:


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Stew, the ignition system is not that bad, it's just the added expense of purchasing an electronic system. I do have one ignition system that I made years ago with a standard 12v. automotive coil and condenser in a box. The engine has a set of points and I plug a battery into it. It works fine but it has all the high amperage issues, point wear, battery size etc. Don't be afraid to tackle an IC engine, maybe just a hit and miss style, they're great to have running.
George


----------



## ozzie46

I second the thoughts on the posting of cyl. machining. I have not turned individual cyls yet and it would be most welcome.


 Ron


----------



## NickG

It's all brilliant George, really impressive stuff!

How does this compare to other projects you have built? Is this your largest / most taxing?

Nick


----------



## rockets

Wow that looks like it should be up front of a Morgan three wheeler! Superb.


This man is without doubt a genius. This is the greatest work I have seen in 21 years of engineering.


----------



## ANIMATE

amazing work George .......thankzz for sharing  :bow: :bow: :bow:


----------



## gbritnell

I'm in the process of cleaning up all the little jobs to get the bottom end finished. I plugged the holes that I drilled for the oil galleries, I made all the bushings and pressed them into the crankcase and outer cover and I broached the keyways in the gears. I made up a broaching tool from a piece of 3/8ths drill rod. I milled it down to .062x.25 wide. I then filed some top relief on it, a couple of degrees, just enough so it wouldn't drag in the slot. I then hardened it and stoned the edges sharp.






I then mounted the bar in one of my holders with the v-notch in the bottom. I adjusted the tool holder until I had the top cutting edge .03 above center and parallel with the ways. I had layed out the slot location on the gears so I could get as close as possible with the broach. I then started taking .005 cuts by cranking the carriage back and forth. 





In this picture you can see the finished slot. Sure beats the heck out of filing. I get enough of that anyway!


----------



## gbritnell

Here's a picture of the gear train, minus the drive gear for the oil pump. I left it and the outer cover off so you could see the internals of the pump. I used a small round burr to put the dimples in the gear and used my 1/16th stamps to identify the front and rear cam. I never gave the orientation any thought when stamping the gears so F on my front gear is upside down. Oh well!
George


----------



## Deanofid

Thanks for the shot of the timing works, George.
Are the oil pump gears/pinions a standard pitch?

Dean


----------



## steamer

Never ceases to amaze me gentlemen.....George you are are Master in the truest sense of the word....

 :bow:

Dave


----------



## NickG

George, that gear train looks superb!


----------



## gbritnell

Dean, all of the gears are 32 DP. It's curious that when I looked in the tool catalog for gear cutters they only went down to 12 teeth but the supplier that I buy from, https://sdp-si.com/eStore/ sells them down to 8 teeth. The reason that I went with 32 DP. gears in the gear train is because I thought I would have a better chance at picking up the center line of the teeth to put the keyways in. With a finer pitch like 48 DP if I was just a little bit off then my cam timing could be 3-4 degrees out. 
George


----------



## kvom

George,

I went to the SDP website, and couldn't find any gear cutters in their online catalog.


----------



## gbritnell

I guess I should have said the supplier that I buy gears from has gears down to 8 teeth but the tool supplier only sells cutters that go to 12 teeth. Sorry for the confusion.
gbritnell


----------



## cobra428

George,
Thanks for the link to SDP/SI. It's funny they are here on Long Island and not far! I had forgoten all about them.

Tony


----------



## Deanofid

George, thanks for explanation on your choice of 32 vs 48 pitch gears. Makes perfect sense to me!

The gear pump gears kind of had me fooled. Once pinion sized gears get so small, the flank starts to look kind of odd. Like the teeth on a small clock pinion, they get sort of a "club" profile.

Dean


----------



## rake60

George your works in metals can not qualify as even good machining.

Artistic sculpting would better suit the results!

If they were castings, cleaned up in the critical areas to fit the engine, it would 
be very impressive. Watching it come together from flat stock is amazing.

Drop dead beautiful work!

Rick


----------



## gbritnell

Gentlemen, I know it's been awhile but I have been working on the engine. I pressed the crank back apart, put the rods on it, trued it up, (now within .0005 runout) and put it back into the crankcases to make sure everything fit. I have the lifters made, the various small screws made and the crank key made from steel. After assembling the rods and reinstalling the crank I found that I didn't have enough clearance at the top of the crankcase to allow the rods to clear properly so some surgery with the Dremel was required. After getting everything where is should be I changed the drawings to eliminate that problem in the future. I was going to start on the cylinders next but the motor on my Logan decided to act up so it's in the shop getting looked at. I wanted to keep moving so I started on the heads. There's going to be a lot of work on these things. I started out with two pieces of 7075 aluminum. I cut the flats where the intake and exhaust manifolds will bolt and then drilled and counterbored for the head bolts. (5-40)


----------



## gbritnell

I then mounted the blanks in the four jaw chuck in my small lathe and counterbored and put the corner radius in.


----------



## gbritnell

The blocks had to go back into the mill to do the spark plug holes and clearance counterbores. Nothing out of the ordinary, just drilling and c'boring. With that operation out of the way it was time to step out the combustion chambers. As is my normal habit I made up a step of chart to put the angle into the roof of the combustion chambers. I also had to make a companion chart because as I was stepping up the bottom angle I would be working around the radius of the chamber. I set up the piece, found the center with my edge finder, zeroed out the digitals and starting stepping. I was using a .125 ball mill to match the corner radius from the previous machining. 









With the stepping finished I had to tilt the blanks to the spark plug hole angle to remove stock from the chamber side surface.


----------



## gbritnell

Here's a shot of both of the heads with the chamber machining finished.






Now it was time to start the hand work, filing, stoning and polishing. The first picture shows the starting procedure, I cover everything with marker ink so I can see where the high spots are when I'm removing stock. 





The next picture shows the start of the metal removal. I put a layer of duct tape over everything so that when I bump the head face with the grinder collet I won't put any deep gouges in it, at least not deep enough that I can't take a light cut to clean it up. 
You can see the high spots showing as I file across them.





Next is a picture showing all the filing finished and the stone work to remove the small bumps in the corners where I can't file.


----------



## gbritnell

The last couple of shots show the finished combustion chamber sanded and polished out and both heads completed.
gbritnell


----------



## Deanofid

Thanks for the update, George. There's a lot of work in those holes!
A good tip, using the duct tape. 

Dean


----------



## Powder keg

I wish some of you guys lived closer ;D Those are pretty George!!


----------



## ksouers

Very nice, George.

How do you sand in a cavity like that? Calibrated finger tip?


----------



## gbritnell

I have several pieces of hardwood sticks, some flat, some with radii and some rounded on the end. I wrap a piece of emery around each stick and proceed to sand. Nothing scientific just plain old elbow grease.
George


----------



## ariz

there is a lot of work in the head that could be avoidable, obviously without ending with that particular shape
so, there must be a reason to do it in this way: is it to have a spark plug that is about in the middle of the combustion chamber, so that the combustion itself could be better?
and the perimeter, the circumference?
why is it better if it is rounded instead of plain?
maybe something that has to do with the 'squish' to promote turbulence in the charge?

anyway, every part that you make is really plenty of care :bow:


----------



## gbritnell

The simplest reason is the valve centerlines go from the center of the camshaft up to the rocker arms which is about 8 degrees from centerline so therefore the valves need to be canted at that angle so the pushrods push in a straight line. This necessitates that the roof of the combustion chamber be canted at that angle so the valves are square to that surface. On Jerry Howell's V-twin he uses 2 cams per cylinder which allows the pushrods to go straight up to the valves. Believe me it certainly would have been easier that way but I didn't want to copy his design.
gbritnell


----------



## gbritnell

Here's today's efforts. First up I had to make a bushing for a drill to drill an undersized hole for the .187 valve guide hole. All of the tools that I would be using for this operation were relatively short and I didn't want to put a drill chuck in. As a lot of fellows have found out, valve guide to valve seat concentricity is very important and with the mill/drill machine you don't want to have to move anything once you are set up. I had made the holding fixture last week but didn't have any 5-40 screws long enough to hold the head down plus I needed some bushings to locate in the counterbores so I cut up some stainless threaded rod for the job. 





With the head securely bolted down I used the old fashioned wiggler, a piece of modeling clay and a phonograph needle. Here again I didn't have the head space to use my regular wiggler.


----------



## gbritnell

The next steps were center drilling and drilling the undersized hole that I mentioned earlier.









The ports on this head are .375 diameter so I first went in with a .312 ball mill and stayed .01 shy of the depth. This was followed with the .375 ball mill to depth. I used a ball mill to give the port a rounded top. When I come in from the end of the head it will give me a nice radius where the two come together.


----------



## gbritnell

The next tool is a .187 diameter jig mill. For those who aren't familiar with this tool, it is a short rigid cutter with somewhat of a reamer end on it. It is bottom cutting and is used for machining accurate dowel holes. I didn't want to use a reamer for fear that if the hole were the tiniest bit off I would have trouble seating my valves, and the length thing comes into play again.





Now I went in with a .50 diameter end mill and cut down just enough to spotface the area around the valve seat. The valve seat inserts will be .46 diameter and I will need a square edged hole to get them started straight. The last operation was to go in with the .46 diameter end mill and cut the valve seat pocket to the right depth. I moved off center the radius of the end mill, .23, and came down till the cutter just nicked the head face at the centerline. This would establish my depth starting point. The area that I touched will be machined off later anyway. Now that my depth was set I went back to my center readings on the digitals and cut the seat pocket.









And the last two pictures are the finished valve pockets and seat.


----------



## vlmarshall

Amazing heads. :bow:


----------



## Maryak

George,

You have the patience of a saint - beautiful work as usual :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


----------



## Deanofid

You sure work well in close quarters, George. The holes/bores are almost like people crowded into an elevator, shoulder to shoulder. 
Looks very professional. Thank you once again, for sharing.

What are you using for the valve seat inserts? Brass?

Dean


----------



## gbritnell

Thanks guys, Dean the seats will be made out of cast iron.
George


----------



## slick95

George,

I look forward to your posts every day. What a fantastic build and if I just learn a fraction of what you present here (and all your tutorials, etc.) I've come a long way in improving my skills.

Thank you for the extra efforts to photograph and document then share... :bow: :bow: :bow:

Jeff


----------



## cfellows

George, you continue to amaze me with your skill and patience.

Chuck


----------



## rklopp

George,
Where can I buy jig mills? MSC's search engine draws a blank. Are they also called rose reamers?
RKlopp


----------



## gbritnell

Rklopp, my cutters are made by Weldon. I bought them from our tool supplier when I was still working. I would think that any over the counter tools supplier would have a Weldon tool catalog. They also go by the names of jig mill, jig borer and jig reamer. 
gbritnell


----------



## MatiR

Outstanding work, George.

In view of the many superb photographs, discussion, drawings, do we see an article for MEB or HSM here ;D

Best regards, Mati


----------



## gbritnell

I didn't get a lot accomplished today. I was over at my friend's shop using his cutter grinder to touch up a box full of end mills. 
The fixture block that I made for doing most of the machining operations on the heads has become invaluable. Once I make a setup I can just rotate the head to the other port or whatever I'm cutting without having to pick up lines and centers again. Today I clamped the block in the vise and squared up the angled surface I put on the bottom surface that matched the angle of the valves and combustion chamber. With the head located on the dowel bushings as per the last operation I picked up my centers, set my digitals and started cutting. Basically it was a center drill, drill, undersized ball mill and finally the .375 ball mill to match the port coming from the combustion chamber. The final two pictures are a closeup of the combustion chamber showing the valve seat inserts and the other tries to show the exit of the port from the combustion chamber.
gbritnell


----------



## gbritnell

Thanks Mati, I won't say it's out of the question but for now there's enough work with the machining and documentation as it is. Once the engine is finished I could probably contact someone at those publications and see what they would like to do.
George


----------



## MatiR

Yes, it would be a lot of work to put it all together, but much of it is done already. On the other hand, it is a hobby, and if one feels pressure to publish, then it's not a hobby any more. I'm author or coauthor of about 150 various publications in "real life" so I know the pain. But, there is a lot of satisfaction in doing so.

Looking forward to the next installment.

M.


----------



## gbritnell

The next machining operation on the heads was to counterbore the valve guide pockets. I'm not posting any pictures of that step as it was just a matter of bolting the heads to my fixture bar, picking up center and with a flat bottomed .438 dia. endmill quilling down to the proper depth. The next step was to cut the relief on the cylinder side of the head. For that I would need another fixture plate which I also would need for machining the outside shape of the head. It is just a flat plate with a countersunk center hole and four tapped holes for the head bolts. With the plate finished I took the vise off of the table and mounted the rotary table. I put a rod with a chamfer on the end into the spindle and brought it down into my countersunk center hole to locate the plate while I was bolting it down. The plate was indicated parallel with the table so that I would have a reference point to rotate and cut the relief. The relief is .015 deep. 









This photo shows the counterbores for the valve guide pockets and the step for the rocker post mounting.


----------



## gbritnell

Now it was time to cut the radius on the outside of the heads. The reason it wasn't turned in the lathe is because there's a flat where the manifolds bolt to. I layed out the width of the flats, mounted the heads and spun the outside radius. 









These two pictures show the heads to this point.


----------



## gbritnell

With the rotary table work complete, it came off and the vise went back up. The heads got mounted on my fixture bar and the top angle of the head was cut.


----------



## kustomkb

Beautiful work George!

Its coming along great.


----------



## gbritnell

Now the operation that I have been worrying the most about, cutting the fins. In all my years of machining the one tool that I don't care for is the mill saw. At least this one is a relieved type and with using 7075 aluminum there shouldn't be a problem. LOL!
With the head bolted to the fixture bar I mounted it horizontally in the vise. I then took the one mounting bolt out of the vise and kicked it over the required angle. A quick check with the dial indicator and the fun is about to start. 









The wall where the lifter bracket bolts to is the outside of the one fin so that was my starting point. With an indicator in my surface gauge I picked up the top of the fin and then set the top edge of the flutes of the saw at this height. Each fin is .062 wide with .093 spacing between them. With my Z readout zeroed I moved down .062, lightly touched the head and cut a .003 witness. I wrote down all my steps on paper so I proceeded to cut witnesses across the head to make sure everything ended up where it was supposed to be. With using a saw you want to make sure you slow your rpm down, in this case the saw is about 4" so I was running at about 475 rpm and conventional cutting. Everything looked good so I went back to my starting number, went to depth, .230, and started cutting. No glitches!!!









The last two shots show the competed fins, at least on the top. The corners will have to be radiused but that's all file work. 
This thing is actually starting to look like an air cooled head!!
George


----------



## gbritnell

I should have mentioned that when I got finished cutting the one side of the fins at the set over angle of 8 degrees I was going to take this head off of the fixture bar and start on the other one. The more I thought about it the more I realized that if it didn't get bolted 'exactly' in the same spot my fins might have a mismatch so I loosened the vise, rotated it 8 degrees the other direction, touched the top of the head and finished cutting the fins without removing it. This turned out to be the way to go. After posting this part I'm headed back to the shop to finish the other head. Tomorrow will be the horizontal fins. 
George


----------



## Metal Butcher

Hi George. Your project and progress is very impressing! :bow: 
It might be hard for some to believe that complex parts like the ones in your posts can be made with a basic manual mill/drill. I saw it with my own eyes, and still find it hard to believe.

What they say is true, "It's the man, and not the machine." 

-MB


----------



## ozzie46

Nice work George.

  Why use 7075 instead of 6061? Sorry if this has been covered before but I can get 6061 fairly easy but not 7075 unless I order it. I can get 6061 at the scrap yard. They get a lot of jig plate aluminum which I assume is 6061.

 Ron


----------



## stevehuckss396

Hey G!

When you use a saw like that is it best to take one cut at full depth?

Seems that you should have the saw conventional cutting also. Is that what you did there?

I ask because i have cut with a saw twice now and both times looked like a$$%^&*!!

Thanks G!!

Steve


----------



## joeby

Nice work George!

I agree with the others on the workmanship, but the pace you are working is what really amazes me. If I were to try to keep up, I'd probably hurt myself!

BTW Ozzie, jig or tooling plate is probably not 6061. Most jig or tooling plate is rather gummy to machine, but some, as MIC-6 is cast. We have been getting tooling plate at work for some time now that is also cast, but not MIC-6 either. 

Back to the WIP.

Kevin


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Ron, 7075 is a harder or should I say not as gummy as 6061. Don't get me wrong, I use plenty of 6061 it's just with having to cut the fins I didn't want the chips to bind up. It's kind of like comparing 1018 crs to 12L14. They're both steel but cut completely different. 
Steve, with a big saw like this I always conventional cut. My machine is not that rigid and the head was being held by four 5-40 socket head screws. For smaller parts I will sometimes climb cut when sawing. It just depends on the width of the saw and the material I'm cutting.
Kevin, when you've been at it as long as I have you kind of know 4-5 steps ahead what you're going to do so it flows along quite well. You have to understand that I made the drawings so I've thought out most of the operations while I was making the drawings. I designed it with building it in mind. 
George


----------



## ozzie46

Thanks for the info,Kevin.

 George,I guess what I'm really asking is can you use 6061 instead of 7075 for IC engines? I have plans that call for 7075 but have 6061 on hand. If I have to get 7075 I need to started stock pilling it.

 Ron


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Ron, sure you can use 6061. The only time I definitely use 7075 is if I'm going to make aluminum connecting rods. I just used it for the heads because of the deep fins.
George


----------



## ozzie46

Thanks George. 

 Ron


----------



## Powder keg

Isn't it kind of funny how certain jobs get under a guys skin? George dosen't like using slitting saws. I think it's kind of fun. I don't mind taping small holes. But large ones I dislike to do? No reason really that I can think of either. I just don't like it much.

Ok, Back to the program. Nice job on those fins George!!! :bow:


----------



## Deanofid

The heads are looking great, George. I don't know what else to say. I think I've use up my lifetime's worth of superlatives in commenting on this mechanical work of art.  If I could think up something new, I'd say it here! 

Thanks again, for the photos and narrative.

Dean


----------



## arnoldb

Excellent job George ! :bow: :bow:

Regards, Arnold


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## ariz

amazing thread and great job on those heads :bow:

thank you george


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## gbritnell

Today's work was to put the horizontal fins into the heads. The first thing was to clean up the mess from yesterday's fin cutting. The mill saw makes very small chips and they were everywhere. I had to take the vise off to make sure it was clean underneath from rotating it back and forth. Once that was finished and the vise was remounted and indicated I clamped my fixture bar into it. As with the top fins I set my indicator to the rocker arm surface and made sure the top of the cutter was at -0-. The horizontal fins are more complicated because I have several depths to go to on each side and then there are scallops that remove the extra metal and are tangent to the manifold faces. My original drawings and layouts were to use a 1.50 inch saw but they never came in from the supplier so I changed my layout and went with the 3.00 inch saw. The difference in the remaining metal is minimal. The first two pictures are both sides of the head with the fins cut on the fixture bar. The last two pictures are the finished heads. Tomorrow I'll clean up all the burrs, radius the corners and polish everything up. Just the valve guides left to machine and these parts will be done.
George


----------



## CMS

Man I hope my next tattoo looks as good as this engine does!!! Hay Gbritnell, can you draw??? :big:


----------



## gbritnell

Thanks CMS, as a matter of fact I can, draw that is. It's a little of topic but here's a sampler. These are all colored pencil. I started working with colored pencils about 7 years ago, till then I mainly worked in watercolors.
gbritnell


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## crankshafter

George
You don't stop impressing/ amazing me. Thank you for showing your great project. :bow: :bow: You are a real wizzard. I wonder, is there anything you do't manage :big: 
Crankshafter.


----------



## CMS

Sense I'm into the antique farm equipment, the Baker will do. I think the right forarm will work. ;D But the picture of the car is, with the reflections, is neat too.


----------



## Deanofid

It seems we have a renaissance man in our midst.


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## steamer

Deanofid  said:
			
		

> It seems we have a renaissance man in our midst.



hehe....SEEMS!?......George you are one amazing individual! :bow:

Dave


----------



## Cedge

George...
Definitely nothing of the one trick pony to you. Beautiful work on all fronts.

Steve


----------



## joeby

George, pardon the interruption, but a while back Dean had asked about the riffler files you were using on this project:



> Would you do us a favor next time you get into the shop, please? Take a photo of the rifflers you use for this work so we can see what you're working with. (I'm kind of interested in files and filing..)



 I was thinking about this while I had a few minutes in the shop this evening, and I took a couple of pics of some of the ones I have. Pretty standard stuff, I imagine similar to what you are using.





















 An overall view, and a few closeups of the styles I have. The "shepherds hook" and the loop style come in very handy for working in areas like the screw bosses on George's engine. With a little practice, you can get into some very tight spaces with these. I have some #0, #2, and #4 cut in the various shapes with #0 being the coarsest and #4 the finest cut.

 George may have replied to the question already, and if so, I apologize for the distraction.

Thanks,

Kevin


----------



## gbritnell

Kevin, I didn't reply and those are exactly what I use. I don't have quite as many as you. I have the shepherds crook, some bent flats and a few others. I buy them on occasion as they are real pricey.
George


----------



## cobra428

George as always....Beautiful stuff. Both the machining and the art. I was looking into getting a set of Rifflers. I have the needles but there is always the "spot" you need to get into!

Tony


----------



## dsquire

George

There are a lot of words used to describe what you have done both on a mechanical and artistic level and they all seem to be lacking. I don't have any better words to use so I'll just sit here and drool. th_wav

Cheers 

Don


----------



## gbritnell

Well this wraps up the cylinder heads. I radiused all of the fins last night and I finished the valve guides this morning, pressed them in and rereamed them. They tightened up a little from pressing them in. I then mounted the rocker assemblies on to them just to see what they would look like, kind of like jumping ahead to see what it will look like when it's finished. I even held the head in the approximate position over the crankcase to get this imaginary vision. I'm happy with the way it's coming out. 
George


----------



## cobra428

George
I'd be very happy how it's coming out too :bow: :bow: :bow:

BEAUTIFUL

Tony


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## vlmarshall

Awesome... this thread is so much fun to watch... :bow:


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## rake60

Beautiful work George!

When I look at pictures of your finished parts, I catch myself
looking for tool marks. Every machining operation leaves tool marks.
With your attention to detail they are often very hard to find.

I look forward to every new picture!

Rick


----------



## Deanofid

First, George, they look fantastic! If I have to use the same old words over and over, I guess I will, because I can't pass these photos without making some kind of remark. Looking back over the other parts, and putting them along side the cylinder heads in my imagination, I'm getting pretty excited to see the first assy pics.

Secondly, Kevin, thanks for the shots of the rifflers. Many of us like to see what tools others use for certain procedures. It's part of the learning process.

Dean


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## ksouers

George,
Every time I look in on your build I'm truly lost for words.
It's just a masterpiece! That's all I can think of. A true work of art.


----------



## ariz

rake60  said:
			
		

> When I look at pictures of your finished parts, I catch myself
> looking for tool marks. Every machining operation leaves tool marks.
> With your attention to detail they are often very hard to find.
> 
> Rick



in fact, that is one of the most important merits in the works of gbritnell (among many others!)
I try often to achieve the same results in the finish of parts, but inevitably some scratch here or there appears... :-\
and when they are done, they are difficult to remove
it is better to prevent them, but not so easy


----------



## Cedge

> When I look at pictures of your finished parts, I catch myself
> looking for tool marks. Every machining operation leaves tool marks.
> With your attention to detail they are often very hard to find.



Rick..
I thought I was the only one doing that. I'm at a total loss for adequate superlatives over this project.... and I know lots of big words...LOL. I can truthfully say that I come on the board looking to see if George has posted new photos.

Steve


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## NickG

Wow, an absolute work of art :bow:


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## hobby

Nice machining job on those fins, your choice of depth of cut for those fins is very well thought out, it gives a nice balance to the rest of the part.

Very nice attention to detail, as you filed the fins to give a nice smooth corners, that takes good filing skills.

As well as the sheen you were able to get on the rockeers them selves. very nice round over on the edges.

Verry good choice of sizes of the individual components, everything put together has very nice proportion to the overall part.

I like how you took the time to do rotary table work on the individual pieces, that encourages me to take the extra time  and set up my RT. to get that extra detail, I would like it to have.

All in all good progress on your build....


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## gbritnell

It's been awhile since my last update. I started on the cylinders, got through roughing the O.D.'s and started drilling and boring when my Logan started acting up. I've had the lathe about 12 years and bought it from the original owners wife. On several occasions it would start, hum and trip my breaker so I had it looked at. The repairman said it was in good condition and could find nothing really wrong so I put it back together which is no mean feat in itself. Over the years it would do the same thing once in awhile. I found that by cycling the switch (rotary) several times it would go away. Well this latest occurrence could not be overcome so I took it to another motor shop. The fellow there said that the starter switch was jammed so he bent the tab allowing it to open with the governor. I paid my money, took it home, reinstalled it, fired it up and starting making chips. That lasted for 2 days, and then back to the same old shenanigans. I called up the motor guy and he said there were no parts available for it and he didn't know what to do. After a short conversation of how it didn't even last a week he said bring it back and he would look at it again. I'm getting pretty good at lugging that brute out from under the lathe cabinet so back it went for 3 more days. Long story short, he could find nothing wrong and in fact he couldn't get it repeat the problem. I picked it up installed it again for the umpteenth time and so far it's working. 
Now that you've heard my motor story I'll get on with the cylinder build.
The cylinders are made from Durabar, a continuously cast iron having very fine grain structure. I didn't have a large boring bar so I took a piece of .625 drill rod and made one up. Nothing fancy just 3 inches of full diameter and 2 flats milled on the other end to fit in my QC holder. I drilled the cutting end .25 and drilled and tapped a hole from the bottom to hold a round piece of carbide from a broken end mill in place. Although I have used high speed necking tools to do fins in the past they have always been in aluminum and I didn't want to stop and sharpen the high speed to keep a good edge on it while cutting the iron. I looked into buying a carbide tipped cutoff tool but it was rather pricey so necessity being you know what I took one of my brazed carbide tools, milled the stock out from under the carbide leaving a .09 blade and then ground the carbide down to .096 wide. I must say I had a little doubt as to it holding up but it did both cylinders with no problem. 
The first picture is the tool and the fins on the cylinder. I didn't show the turning or boring as it was a straight forward operation. 






From the lathe I put the cylinder with it's chucking lug into the mill and drilled the mounting holes. While it was set up square to do the holes I milled the mounting flange square.





From the mill I took the cylinder out to my vertical bandsaw and cut the cylinder off of the chucking lug. This was at the time when my big lathe was down and I know my small lathe would have groaned at that task. I had a mandrel from my Holt build so all I had to do was drill and tap corresponding holes to mount the cylinder. I mounted the cylinder and faced it to length in my 6" Atlas lathe.


----------



## gbritnell

Now the whole affair, cylinder and mandrel went back to the mill. I clamped the mandrel between two small v blocks to make sure it was secure. I indicated the lower flange to make sure it was parallel then indicated the bore so that I could put the head mounting holes in (5-40).


----------



## gbritnell

With the drilling complete I mounted the same mill saw that I used for the cylinder heads and relieved the excess metal from between the upper two fins. I wanted to leave stock where the head bolts are so that's the reason for this operation. 





Here are two more pictures of a finished cylinder.


----------



## gbritnell

The final three pictures are, one with the head mounted to the cylinder and two with the cylinder sitting on the crankcase. As the parts get made I just have to fit them together to see what it looks like. All that's left to do on the cylinders is a little sanding and honing the bores out. 
George


----------



## slick95

WOW, I really like the look and style of your V-Twin George.

I continue to look forward to your future progress   

Jeff


----------



## Deanofid

It's a stunner, George. Besides all the quality workmanship, which would be impressive on any type engine, your design has a very pleasing line. The contrast between cylinders and heads looks great, too.

Thanks for outlining how you made your parting/fining tool for us.

Dean


----------



## zeeprogrammer

That is a fine looking engine. Excellent. Always a lot of 'wows' in your threads.


----------



## engineman1

Hallo George, 

this engine is magnificant, excellent work!


----------



## spuddevans

Outstanding work there, I cant wait to watch the video of it running.

Tim


----------



## kendo

Wow George.
         Takes a man of real skill and patience, to achieve such an amazing
         piece of art. If only i had a quarter of your talent i would be very 
         happy man. I look forward to seeing more. :bow: :bow: :bow:
                       Ken


----------



## arnoldb

Amazing workmanship George :bow:

Regards, Arnold


----------



## gbritnell

Thanks everyone for your gracious comments. With the big lathe back in operation I turned up the flywheel yesterday. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a disc type, 3.00 diameter, .86 wide with a .50 bore and a recess cut out of one side to lighten it up a little. I have to run over to my buddies shop to broach the keyway into it. I have a .062 and a .125 broach but not a .094. I have to order some 7075 aluminum for the pistons so my next update will be delayed a little. I just have the pistons and pins to make and everything can be fitted and put together. The only remaining parts are the intake and exhaust manifolds. I was wondering what to do with the intake manifold as it has to be fabricated because of the bends in it. My original thought was to make it out of brass and silver solder it but really didn't want to go that way because everything else was aluminum. Along the way I remembered that my son and I had been to a motorcycle show and one of the vendors was demonstrating how to weld aluminum with a bernzomotic or small propane torch. At first I thought it was a gimmick but as he demonstrated it and had me weld a couple of pieces I thought, "this is amazing". I say that because I have a TIG welding outfit that uses Argon gas for shielding and I can weld aluminum with it. I thought why on earth do I have to use my sophisticated welding outfit when I can weld with a small gas torch. In my poking around on the internet I have found that there are different grades of this welding rod, some very good and some not so good. I bought a sample pack and plan to use it on my intake manifold. I'll post some pictures of the process when I get to that point.
George


----------



## stevehuckss396

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> onee of the vendors was demonstrating how to weld aluminum with a bernzomotic or small propane torch. At first I thought it was a gimmick but as he demonstrated it and had me weld a couple of pieces I thought, "this is amazing". I say that because I have a TIG welding outfit that uses Argon gas for shielding and I can weld aluminum with it.
> George



I have made repairs with that stuff and once I re-machined the part, the repair was undetectable. The bad part is that some pieces wont get hot enough with the propane torch to flow the rod. It works great on thin parts. On thick aluminum parts you may need to switch to the oxy/acet torch to get enough heat.


----------



## mu38&Bg#

Try the hardware store for the Bernzomatic aluminum soldering rods. They seem to work well on wrought aluminum. I've only tested a few pieces. I was hoping it would work on a model engine casting, but it didn't.

http://www.bernzomatic.com/PRODUCTS...etail/mid/1255/xmid/6935/xmfid/3/Default.aspx

Greg


----------



## gbritnell

I think I'm down to the last complex part on the engine. I got the pistons and wrist pins made and Wednesday I made up 8 piston rings, just to be safe. I use the George Trimble method for making rings and have had good success with it. What's also nice is I already had the fixture for annealing the rings so that saved me some time. I already have enough fixtures for this engine. Ok, on to these parts. They are the exhaust manifolds. They are simple in the fact that they are for only one cylinder but as you'll see by the steps and pictures there were many steps to create them. 
My drawing showed that I needed a piece of stock .946 diameter to whittle these things out. I used a piece of 1.00 and left the extra stock on it. It would get cut away later anyway. The first couple of steps were center drilling, drilling and plunging with a .375 ball mill to form the radius at the bottom of the port. 









From the lathe it was over to the mill to complete all the remaining steps.
First was to drill for the mounting holes. These were clearance holes for 2-56 socket head screw. I drilled them .80 deep, the length of the part, as I would have to pick them up later to cut the clearance for the screw heads.


----------



## gbritnell

With the drilling complete it was time to put the flange shape on the part. As is my usual procedure I made a layout in AutoCad so that I had all my positional dimensions layed out to use a .312 end mill. Two side of the flange are only .039 deep and the other two sides go the length of the part. 

















Here's the part with some light filing just to clean things up. Much more filing would come later.


----------



## gbritnell

The part now had to go into the dividing head to cut the pipe flange surface and put the port and drilled holes for the mounting studs. The port is .375 like the outlet side and was cut with a .375 ball mill again, going down to the first hole to leave a nice radius inside. I set my dividing head on -0- and with the piece lightly clamped kept turning it by hand until my indicator read -0-. The head was then rotated to the appropriate angle for milling and drilling.









After the surface and edge milling was done I put a dowel into the port and picked the center up with my edge finder. Now the holes were put in.

















This last shot is of the part removed from the dividing head and ready to be sawed off the chucking piece.


----------



## gbritnell

I lightly clamped the piece in the vise and cut it to length, .800. You can see where the drilled holes came through the part.






The part was raised in the vise to give enough room to cut the clearance for the screw heads. I needed to cut for .075 radius but not having a .150 end mill I just used a .125 and shifted it .012 on both sides. 





The next step was to start trimming away the extra stock to form the circular shape on the outlet flange. I turned up a plug to fit in the port and also the diameter I would need to scribe the layout and do the final fitting to. With the face blued I scribed a layout line around the plug.





The outer shape was just a matter of nibbling away the stock close to the line.


----------



## gbritnell

Cutting the radius on the inside would require using a .125 ball mill. I touched the outside of the part and went in .020. I worked my way down to the angled face on the flange and cut back till I just bumped the layout line.









After successive cutting and stepping this is what the part looked like.





Now it was over to the bench for a little work with the Dremel, some filing and finally some sanding and polishing.


----------



## gbritnell

The next operation was to form the outer radius around the end of the fitting. I roughly layed out my centers with a small tipped marker and then with the part held with a dowel pin in the port I roughed it out on my belt sander. The first picture show this. The next picture is the part with filing applied. Working both along the spine and over the sides with the file I formed a nice radius continually checking with my radius gauge. 
The final picture shows the sanding done on the radius.













I took the part up to the utility tub and scrubbed it with cleanser and an old toothbrush to get that nice satin finish. Here's four shots on my photo table.


----------



## putputman

George, I just marvel when I track your parts from a piece of metal to the finished product. You end up with all the details of a nice casting. Is that how you visualize the part before you start cutting or do you model it with CAD?


----------



## gbritnell

These last series of pictures show the flanges bolted to the heads. If you hadn't noticed they are symmetrically opposite parts because of the angle that the exhaust pipe will have to go. You will also see that I have installed the valves and springs into the heads. I purchased stainless steel, .375 OD. x .035 wire springs. I had to cut off about 3 coils to get them to the right length. I have wound springs in the past but it's not one of my favorite jobs. With these parts done, the cylinders honed, the pistons and rings made I can clean and assemble all of the parts. Once everything is fitted with the necessary gaskets I can start constructing the intake manifold. I will have to use the engine as a jig to build it so everything has to be in it's proper place to finish it up.
George


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Arv, the parts are only drawn in AutoCad. Although I have a 3d modeling program I don't use it. Having been trained as a patternmaker I know where all the fillets and radii need to be. It takes much more time to do it this way but to get the cast look to it there is no other way. If a person had access to CNC equipment the part could be modeled and cut but for something like this piece it would require a 4th axis CNC to rotate it to get to all the surfaces. I do it the old fashioned way, hand CNC, LOL!!!
George


----------



## cobra428

Dam George,
That is some awsome work :bow: :bow:

Tony


----------



## slick95

I continue to marvel at your talent George. Very Very Nice :bow: :bow: :bow:


----------



## stevehuckss396

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> I made up 8 piston rings, just to be safe. I use the George Trimble method for making rings and have had good success with it.



I am going to look into that method. The rings in the peewee suck. Must have lost tension. Smokes more every time i run it.

Looking great G!!


----------



## Deanofid

Thanks again for showing us in a step by step sequence, George.

Although these two ports on their own _may_ be somewhat overshadowed by the engine as a whole, they are full of setup and cutting/tooling tips. Besides that, they're beautiful, as with everything you've shown us with this engine.

A lot of the best machining education some of us will ever get is to be seen in this one thread. 

I surly appreciate it.

Dean


----------



## kustomkb

Beautiful pieces you've made George.

Some fine art indeed!


----------



## NickG

Stunning as usual, I just don't know how you do it - amazing :bow:


----------



## Cedge

George
I remain in awe of your work. Those heads are works of art themselves.

Steve


----------



## gbritnell

Hi everyone. Just a little update on my progress. I had to notch the bottoms of the cylinders a little bit for rod clearance. I made Teflon head gaskets. I made the intake manifolds. I should have documented them but at the time I didn't think they would be as much work as they turned out to be. I had debated how I was going to make the manifold with the bends and flanges. My original design was to make the assembly out of brass so that I could silver solder things together. After some thought I decided to make it out of aluminum to keep everything uniform. I thought of making the flanges and then bending some aluminum tube and welding them together but finally went the way you see in the pictures. I machined the manifold elbows from a piece of .75 round stock, drilling and cleaning up with a .375 ball end mill. I removed the stock behind the flange with a small necking tool taking it back to the start of the bend. From there they went to the mill to cut away the extra stock from the pipe shape and the flanges. They were then set up at 45 degrees and the matching hole was put in and the stock around the outside was stepped off to form the radius. After machining came all the hand work. The connector tube was turned from a piece of .75 diameter aluminum. The through hole was drilled and the outside was turned down back to the carb box. On the end I reduced the diameter so it was a good snug fit into the elbows. At final assembly I will probably Loctite the three pieces together. The pictures show my progress to this point, one from the front one from the rear and a closeup of the manifold flange. I have ordered the stainless tubing for the exhaust and I purchased some Cerrobend low temperature alloy to aid in bending. My tubing bender only goes up to 5/16 tube so I will have to try and bend this around a piece of stock with the alloy inside the tube to keep it from collapsing. I am going to start out with a carb similar to the one on my OHV engine. I only have a few more pieces to make, carb, motor mounts, ignition parts and exhaust pieces and then I can tear it apart for the final fitting. Here are today's pictures.
George


----------



## stevehuckss396

Looks great as usual G!!

How did you joint the 3 pieces together? Is there a inner tubing with a slip fit?


----------



## Deanofid

I could look at these pictures for a long time. It's really a beautiful piece of work, George.


----------



## ksouers

George, it keeps getting better.

Thanks.


----------



## rake60

That crankcase looks like a highly polished precision casting.
Knowing that all of those were contours were machined and hand 
blended is mind boggling.

I'll say it again, *Beautiful Work George!* :bow: :bow: :bow:

Rick


----------



## NickG

Hope you're going to get that thing insured! Brilliant. :bow:


----------



## jpaul

George,


Absolutely beautiful!  Can you tell us a little more about machining sculptured surface with conventional milling equipment. 






For example, the compound fillet on your exhaust manifold. You stepped milled at pre-established locations to prescribed depths. How did you arrive at these locations and depths?


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Paul, if I'm doing a radius without an intersecting surface I lay out the radius I need plus the radius of the cutter in AutoCad and then put in the coordinate dimensions. The angle of the steps is determined by the cusp (the height of the bumps between the cuts). I establish the center of my part, move off center the required amount and then start stepping around the radius. When I was a patternmaker we were always machining radii into the pattern and corebox equipment. I had to do this type of thing almost daily. In trigonometry terms it's called sine and cosine. In the case of the part you posted I would do the same thing but I would have a layout line for the front face to work to. It seems tedious but after you've done it enough it's not to bad. Sometimes there is no alternative, by that I mean some parts could be rotated on a rotary table but for something small like this there would be practically no way to hold it. Most all of the radii you see in the construction of the crankcase were done this way. 
George


----------



## 1hand

George,

I've been lurking here on your thread for quite some time. I haven't posted, since I've been speechless. You are truly an amazing individual. From your designing, to your machining ability, and your artistic hands, you inspire myself and everyone else here. Thank you for sharing your inspirations, and showing us anything is possible.
 :bow: th_wav :bow:

Matt


----------



## Davide.C

oh my God...
everythings are great...but the "cast effect" looks fantastic!


----------



## gbritnell

Hi gang, I guess it's time for an update. I have been working on parts but with my big lathe being down I'm making all the small bits or pieces that will fit on my small lathe. The next piece that I finished is the base/motor mount. I wanted something to compliment the finish and style of the engine so I kicked around a few ideas. This is what I came up with. The front mount is a little different than the rear in the fact that part of it is cut away. This is to accommodate the bend in the front exhaust pipe. The pipe will then pass partly under the engine and through the hole in the rear mount. I made the uprights and then milled small pockets in the rails, .45 wide x .094 deep. The uprights were then radiused on the ends to fit flush into the pockets. They are held in place with one 2-56 socket head screw from the bottom.


----------



## gbritnell

Next on the agenda was the carburetor. I have had good luck with the simple air bleed type carbs so basically that's what this one is. The bore is .260 diameter with a tapered inlet and outlet. Here again I wanted it to match the aesthetics of the engine so I tarted it up a little. I added the dummy float bowl to cover the needle valve body. The upper flange is held in place by the needle valve body and the bowl has two tabs on it that twist locks into the upper flange. In the back of the bowl is a relief pocket for the fuel tube to stick out. On the top of the carb I made an extension tube to somewhat replicate the shape of a motorcycle carb. The shaft on the rotating barrel goes up through this tube and sticks out of the top by about .100. I then made a dummy cap replicating the type of cap that holds the spring and slide in the full sized edition. I made up a .375 drill rod tool to cut the little ribs on the outer diameter. It is held in place with a 2-56 set screw. This will be the actuator to open and close the carb, just by twisting. I then got a little carried away and added the dummy fitting where the cable adjuster is on the top. The socket head screw on the front is to hold the barrel in place and to adjust the stopping point for the idle. The brass screw is to adjust the air bleed on the side. Once the engine is running and adjusted these will be shortened and locked in place so they don't protrude as far. The body is aluminum, the barrel is 303 stainless and the needle valve body is brass. I used a hard bronze for the needle valve. I held it up to the intake manifold on the engine and it looks quite realistic. I might do a little more sculpting on the sides to refine the shape even further. 
George


----------



## hobby

Very beautiful work.

Your an artist with metal. 

How long (roughly) does it take for you to make a piece ike that from start to finish.

It's the craftsmanship of the builder, that makes the piece,
but is there any special tooling or somethin...

I don't know I guess my question is, 

Does this stuff just come to you naturally, are you a natural born artist with this kind of work, and I do mean this with all due respect. 

OR, did you have to learn this through trial and error, with lots of time and materials invested to get the PERFECTION, that you are getting in your workpieces???

Hope ya don't mind me asking... 

Thanks...


----------



## slick95

George,

It just keeps getting better :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

NICE

Jeff


----------



## Deanofid

George, the carb is a showpiece in itself. It looks fantastic.

Dean


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Hobby, first thanks for the accolades. I'm not quite sure what particular piece you're referring to so you'll have to be a little more specific. As far as the way I go about making my pieces I guess part of it is the talent that I was born with. I don't mean for this to sound facetious but it's just the way I do things. The second part of that is I was trained as a metal patternmaker and pattern designer so I had to look at the way parts were made and how I could replicate them as a casting. As far as trial and error, I've had my share of mistakes along the way but I've been doing this for a very long time so I've had time to learn from them and hopefully not repeat the ones I made. 
I take no offense to anything you said, in fact I'm very appreciative that you would ask.
gbritnell


----------



## Twmaster

George, 

Every time I visit this thread I am absolutely blown away by your work. I can only hope to reach something approximating half the level of skill you exhibit with this project.


----------



## hobby

Hi George.

Thanks for replying,

Don't worry, it is NOT, taken as being facetious,

there is nothing wrong, in, ac_ knowledge_ing, a God-given talent.

You have taken that talent and refined it with years of experiance,

and the results show..

Your build threads are very encouraging to go the extra step, in a setup, or taking the time neccessary, to produce a better looking part, rather than just settle for mediocre, 

Thankyou for living up to your quote at the bottom of your posts.

Your talent being shared with us is, what gives us the incentive to go farther in our builds.

Have a great day...

Again,...Those, are beautiful, workpieces..


PS, ...

from up above in my post 4th sentence down...

"ac", looks right, "knowledge" looks right, "ing" looks right,

BUT......putting it all together "acknowledgeing" dosen't look right,
maybe that last "e" gets dropped, but when I drop the "e" 

"acknowledging" still looks funny, :-[

any way everyone thats why the spaces in that word up above... ;D


----------



## gbritnell

The next step was to bore the hole in the manifold for the carb. I put it in the mill because it was easier to pick up the centers and put the rough hole in. After that I put it in my four jaw chuck on the lathe, indicated the hole and bored it to a nice snug fit for the carb. There will be a small set screw in from the bottom to hold everything secure. With that done I mounted the carb and took a couple of pictures.
It's looking more and more like an actual motorcycle engine.
George


----------



## gbritnell

Next up was and air filter plate and cover. Although there won't be any filtering material I just thought it would add a finishing touch to the carb. With the throttle stop screw and the air bleed screw protruding from the carb I didn't have enough room between the head of the screw and the outer diameter of the inlet to make a thick enough flange so I went beyond the screws and then relieved the rest of the material away. With this setup I can adjust the screws without removing the backing plate. The cover was machined and buffed before drilling the holes. I had found out years ago that when you buff over a hole it rounds the edges so by buffing the part first and then drilling it leaves nice sharp edges on the holes. Once buffed it only requires a little polish now and then to bring the luster up. The cover is a nice snug fit on the backing plate so no mounting screw is required. As for the buffing, I thought by adding a touch of shine here and there it would just set off the other finishes on the engine. I think I will do the oil breather cap also. Next up will be a bender for the exhaust pipes. 
George


----------



## cobra428

It's a good thing that I sit down when I look at your posts.

It's closer to the floor! :big:

Tony


----------



## NickG

It really is mind blowing, I actually got the shivvers and goose bumps when I saw the engine on its frame then. Just incredible.

Many thanks for sharing this with us George.

 :bow:

Nick


----------



## Deanofid

It's just amazing to me that this stuff can be done by one man and his brain.
What an example to follow..

Dean


----------



## zeeprogrammer

The craftmanship is awesome.


----------



## hobby

Works of art, Goerge,
 excellent workpieces...


I realize a lot of filing and sanding go into your workpieces, 
but if I bought a buffing wheel for my (bench grinder), would that be all I need
to get a somewhat shiney finish on my parts, than the dull finish that aluminum aquires with age?

Also how do you keep a shiney finish, on metal, by using a urethane of some sort?

Thanks...


----------



## ariz

I have no more words to describe my feeling when watching at your work


----------



## gbritnell

Once again I thank everyone for their more than gracious comments.
Hobby, In preparation to buffing aluminum you need to progressively sand the metal to the point that there are no scratches in it. At that point it takes virtually very little buffing to get the metal to a high luster. I use a sewn cotton buff on my bench grinder for the big areas and small felt buffs for small pockets. The buffing rouges come in several grades, red, white and brown. Each one has a different cutting ability. I generally use the red for aluminum. A word of caution, always buff from the metal toward the corner and not into the corner, if not you will round over the edge. And believe me it doesn't take much to round the corner. Another thing to watch when working with the small buffs, apply light pressure and keep moving. It doesn't take much to polish little valleys into the metal. They might be only .0001 deep but when the light reflects off of them it gives the surface a wavy finish. On coating polished metal, I don't do it. As long as the parts, brass mainly, aren't handled alot, they will hold their shine for a long time. The problem I've found with overcoating with a clear lacquer or such is that if it starts to tarnish underneath the coating then the entire finish must be removed to re-clean. It's just easier to polish the base metal.
George


----------



## Paulsv

George- Beautiful, amazing work! Your photographs are really excellent as well. Thanks so much for such a complete build record!


----------



## Metal Butcher

Hi George. Your project looks fantastic, and is moving along much faster than I imagined. You have managed a huge amount of work in a very short period of time. The patience you exhibit to execute the fine detailed work on your build is beyond my my comprehension. Your work is true craftsmanship of the highest degree.

Have you ever tried putting a coat of Automotive Poly Sealant on bare metal for long term protection. It seems to be working well to prevent oxidation caused by exposure and handling. The product I use is not really a wax or polish. Its some sort of Polymer that bonds with the surface of the raw metal. Sometimes its referred to as "a once a year car polish".

-MB


----------



## Tad Wicks

gbritnell, I want to thank you for making me aware of this website (from Smokstak), (my first post here) it seems like there are a lot of great people on here that share the same intrests as myself. I have taken the time to post my projects on other websites with very little interest or response, it kinda makes one feel as though it is time wasted, anyway, I think you have raised the bar out of reach on this one, I mean that in a good way, fantastic job, I think we all can agree this one is going to set the standards for some time to come. I look forward to more.
Metal Butcher, I like to leave my things without paint for two reasons, the colored paint can cover up detail and secondly when painted, some things are hard to tell from Chinese die cast. I have not had good luck with clear paint (lacquer or polyurethane) over bare polished metal, somehow it seems to rust or tarnish under the paint, or maybe I did something wrong, if there is a way to protect the shiny stuff with clear that someone knows of, I am certainly listening. 

 Thanks Tad


----------



## gbritnell

Gentlemen, it's been awhile since I updated my build. I had to make a tubing bender for the exhaust which I posted under the tools section. With the front exhaust having to fit through the engine stand I didn't know how many times I would have to put compound bends into a piece of pipe to get what I needed so I opted for a small joint in the pipe. Along with this was the necessity to pour Cerro alloy into the tubing for bending. I didn't want an extremely long piece of tubing. 
 The first set of pictures show the assembly and fitting of the front header pipe. I bent up two pieces of tubing, one with a 30 degree bend for the upper pipe and one with a 90 degree bend for the lower pipe. I took it slowly, removing only .06 at a time till everything lined up. I turned up the coupling from a piece of 303 stainless. I drilled it under size and then bored it out to the pipe diameter leaving a stop in the middle so that it would be evenly spaced on the pipes. I then turned a piece of aluminum to locate the rear of the pipe relative to the hole in the rear frame. 
 With everything fitted I fluxed it up and silver soldered it together. A quick dunk in boiling water to remove the flux and then some polishing with emery paper.


----------



## kustomkb

Looks awesome George,

Nice bends, and the scale of this engine is remarkable!

A real beauty.


----------



## gbritnell

The rear pipe was completely different from the front one. I couldn't assemble it the same way because I wanted the rear pipe to locate above the extension of the front pipe. Had I used another 90 degree bend for the bottom it would have stuck out too far from the engine and stand the chance of being banged while moving the engine around. 
 I bent up a short piece for the upper pipe, silver soldered the retaining ring on it and bolted it in place. I then bent up another piece of pipe for the lower, this time going 135 degrees. I melted out the Cerro alloy and then started fitting. I set up a parallel to the height of the top of the front pipe as a gauge and kept nibbling away at the upper and lower pipes until I had a good lineup at the joint. Once satisfied with the fit I silver soldered them together. While soldering I added the extension pipe to the front exhaust tube. Everything was cleaned up and bolted together for some pictures. I might add that since I have my big lathe back in operation I cleaned up the flywheel and mounted it. 
George


----------



## Deanofid

Wow, George. It's pretty fantastic, for sure. 
I've used up all my fancy words in other parts of this thread. They could all go right here, though. 
Beautiful.
Thanks for the new pictures.

Dean


----------



## cobra428

I'm with Dean,
I can't think of another superlative to use..... It's a beauty George!

Tony


----------



## crankshafter

George
BEAUTYFULL. you are real wizard George, wish I have a tiny % of your skills :bow: :bow:
Crankshafter.


----------



## Metal Butcher

Unbelievable George!

It just gets better, and better!

Looks like you'll have it done for the N.A.M.E.S. show.?

-MB


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Rick, well it'll be done for the NAMES show. As with every engine I've ever built they don't start and run without tinkering out of the gate. It would be nice if it did but we'll have to wait and see. In any case I'll have it there, running or not.
George


----------



## 4156df

George,
I know I've said it before...you are an inspiration. Beautiful work.
Dennis

P.S. Glad to hear that even your engines don't always start and run out of the gate!


----------



## slick95

:bow: :bow: :bow: OUTSTANDING :bow: :bow: :bow:


----------



## zeeprogrammer

I was actually worried that people wouldn't post for lack of something suitable to say.
I know I haven't had anything more suitable than 'awesome' for some time.
It's just wonderful work.


----------



## ozzie46

th_confused0052 th_confused0052 th_confused0052






Is all I can say.

 Ron


----------



## mu38&Bg#

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> Hi Rick, well it'll be done for the NAMES show. As with every engine I've ever built they don't start and run without tinkering out of the gate. It would be nice if it did but we'll have to wait and see. In any case I'll have it there, running or not.
> George



Oh cool. I hope to be there again this year. I can't wait to see it in person.


----------



## putputman

George, just a fantastic engine. It is hard to believe it is a bar stock engine. Your attention to detail is unmatched. 

Look forward to seeing you & the engine at NAMES.


----------



## spuddevans

Absolutely stunning piece of engineering art. A beautiful engine that reflects well the creators skill.


Tim


----------



## ariz

zeeprogrammer  said:
			
		

> I was actually worried that people wouldn't post for lack of something suitable to say.



you're right! watching at george's work is something that makes me mute, I stay without no more words


----------



## cfellows

Not sure what I can add that hasn't already been said. How about... I'm really surprised you've gotten this close to finishing it without at least trying to start it!  ;D

Chuck


----------



## gbritnell

Thanks everyone. Chuck, I'm just finishing up the ignition. Today I got the Hall transistor wired and epoxied into the notch in the timing cover. I then took the whole thing apart. I needed to drill the motor mount pads on the engine and drill and tap the stand. I also decided to put a tapered pin through the crank cheek and pin on the flywheel side, just to be safe. I have a few other small items to take care of with the crankcases split and then I'll start putting it back together, this time for good. I'm looking at trying to start it somewhere around the third week of the month. I'll definitely post a video when I try to start it.
George


----------



## hobby

Amazing workmanship George.

This thread is very educational for us hobbyists,
thanks for a great learning adventure.

Very nice design...
Beautiful engine...


----------



## NickG

Incredible! :bow:


----------



## gbritnell

The engine got torn down. As I had mentioned I pinned the crank with a tapered pin. I added an oil level plug to the side of the crankcase. I put the mounting holes in the crankcase and base. I made up a dummy shaft to run the oil pump to check it out, it puts out plenty of oil. I gapped the piston rings and installed them on the pistons. I made up gaskets, cleaned all the parts up and reassembled it. 
 After putting it all back together I chucked the crank in my lathe and starting off at slow speed and ran it for about 1/2 hour. I then increased the speed a little bedding in all the parts and rings. I didn't have the magnet put in place in the timing pocket and the oil came pouring out of there while I was running it. I jammed a piece of wooden dowel in the hole while I finished putting some time on the engine. 
 Over the years I have bought numerous ignition systems and every time I buy one I always buy an extra magnet or two. The problem is I didn't mark which was the south pole on them. The Hall effect transistor will only work off that pole. I have some extra Hall transistors so I added leads to one and hooked it to my ignition system to check everything out and mark all of the magnets (6) properly. 
 With that done I epoxied the magnet into the timing cover and while I was at it I filled the drain back hole that I had thought I would need. If some oil gets in there it won't hurt anything and I can always take the cover off to wipe it out. 
 Another 1/2 hour or so of running in on the lathe and I'll finish mounting the intake manifold and carb. I
 I have to add another post on my ignition box for the second plug wire. The last coil I bought from Jerry Howell was the dual lead one, how fortunate, the don't sell them any longer. 
 It looks like sometime next week it'll be ready to run. Now I'm really getting excited.
 I'm attaching several pictures of my timing disc and Hall trigger setup. You can see the magnet through the window in the disc.
George


----------



## cobra428

I can't wait George. Hurry up will ya!

If you have a compass you can tell the South pole easy. North needle is south poled. Take the magnet and .....well you know where I'm going.

Tony


----------



## Tad Wicks

Gosh, it just gets better and better every time, I think that I will have to go and throw rocks at my junk ;D I haven't been around the hall effects much, I tried it on my hit or miss on the valve push rod and had the magnet slide past the pickup, it would not work and kept causing the pickup to fail, the fellows who made the ignition box did not know why and said that they had never had a pickup fail, I went through three or four and got tired of having to solder them. I went to points and everything works well but they are still the weak link in the engine with the open crankcase. I like how you use the interrupter plate for the timing, What are you going to do for a distributor ?    Thanks; Tad


----------



## slick95

George,

I'm with Tony, can't wait for the V- Twin sound!!!

What a Master Piece :bow: :bow: :bow: 

Jeff


----------



## gbritnell

While bolting things back together and fooling with the ignition I realized that it would be beneficial to have some timing marks. There wasn't much available space around the flywheel except at the front of the engine so I made a reference pointer from .032 stainless steel and bolted it to the motor mounts. I then put a tap in the spark plug hole to run the piston up against to get TDC. I first marked it in one direction and then the other. With the two marks I split the difference for the true TDC mark. 
 I then put my newly made high speed spindle to work and cut the reference lines, one at TDC and every 5 degrees up to 30. Most of my small engines have never needed more than 30 degrees, generally 10-15. 
 As a side note, at one time I had purchased a set of stamps from Harbor Freight, don't bother. I decided to get a good set and when Enco had a Young Bros. set on sale I bought one. These are 1/16th stamps. I set up guides as best I could but they didn't come out perfect. After looking more closely at the stamps each one varies just slightly from the squared edges of the stamp body, Oh well! Anyway here's the results.
George


----------



## gbritnell

This is what it looks like cleaned up with the scribed lines darkened and mounted on the engine. 
George


----------



## Deanofid

George, I have a hard enough time getting nice decent numbers without having the stamps being defective!
I've been though the far east route with stamps. Some things, they make well, some things, definitely not.

Every time I see another post with your name, I'm thinking "maybe there will be some sound!". 
Yes, I'm pretty excited to see it run.

Dean


----------



## gbritnell

Well it looks like tomorrow or Saturday for the first start up. I modified my ignition box by adding four more plugs, one for the extra spark plug lead and three for the Hall trigger wiring. I am using this box as a multi-purpose box as I don't want to buy yet another ignition sysem. This way I can use it for a points set up and a Hall trigger also. 
 I made up plug wires with boots made from vacuum fittings and the wires are from the local hobby store. They're the battery pack wires for RC cars. 
 For you that have followed the build you can see from the picture of the timing pocket that I made a brass timing disc. Well brass doesn't work. When I hooked everything up and switched the power on my indicator light came on signifying that there was power to the ignition but when I rotated the engine the light never went out telling me that the Hall sensor was still getting a magnet signal. I am using a .125x.062 magnet (very strong). I took the timing cover off and ran a spare magnet across the Hall sensor and it worked fine, firing both plugs simultaneously. I then took the timing disc out and layed it on the Hall sensor and ran the spare magnet over it, the magnetism goes right through the brass disc. I then took a piece of aluminum and tried it with the same results. Only one material left, steel, so I got a piece of .025 steel and set the magnet on it then set it on the Hall sensor, no signal, great. 
 I then machined a new timing disc from steel and bolted it in. Not knowing at what point the Hall would trigger I just set the crank on about 15 degrees and rotated the timing disc until the magnet was just about covered. I then screwed the cover back in place, turned the ignition on and rotated the engine. When the crank was at about 50 degrees the indicator light came on. As I continued to rotate the crank when I got to about 12 degrees the light went out and the plugs fired. Eureka!!
 Tomorrow I'll rig up some type of fuel supply and give it a try. I hope the gremlins are all on vacation while I give it a go. We'll see. 
 I'll keep everyone informed of my progress.
George


----------



## Deanofid

I'm anxious to see it, George. 
Pretty sure the gremlins will leave you alone, since they are all at my house right now.

Dean


----------



## cfellows

No pressure, George, but ya got a lot of people hanging on this... Hope it starts right up.

Chuck


----------



## crankshafter

Hi George
Looks like start-up day is here soon.
I'm curios of how it will sound. In my opinion every engine have its own specific sound/ beat that's create music in my ears.
BTW, George your building log on the V-twin has been a real inspiration for me,and others here at HMEM. :bow: :bow:

CS


----------



## slick95

George,

Why is it the brass disk will not work? Not quite understanding this. Can you enlighten us?

I'm anticipating your first run   

Jeff


----------



## Metal Butcher

Hi George. You'll geter running. Every one of your engines runs, and runs well!

I would invite my self over to be the first one to see your beauty running

But I don't want the entire forum to be jealous. :big:

-Rick


----------



## stevehuckss396

Why would we be jealous? We can just meet you there. Do you have enough food in the house to feed 4600 people G!


----------



## steamer

Best of luck with that AWESOME build start up George!.....Were pulling for ya!

I am in awe every time you post George...I have learned a great deal from you...thank you!

Movies please!...... ;D


----------



## gbritnell

Hi Jeff, I don't know in scientific terms why the brass won't work. I'm assuming that the magnet is so strong that the Hall sensor gets a signal even through the brass. I think the reason the steel works is because when the disc is covering the magnet the magnetism is spread out through the steel and therefore there's not a strong signal focused at one point. If anyone out there is more versed in this area please add your two cents worth because I would be interested also. All I know is if you're going to use a stationary magnet with a window timing disc, make it out of steel. Most people who use a Hall sensor for timing mount the magnet on a rotating disc, cam gear, flywheel etc. and have the sensor stationary so it's not an issue. On this engine I didn't have the room to do that so I went with the automotive type control. 
George


----------



## gbritnell

Rick, I'll give you a call when it fires up and you can come over and see it. 
George


----------



## Metal Butcher

gbritnell  said:
			
		

> Rick, I'll give you a call when it fires up and you can come over and see it.
> George



Thanks George, that sounds great!

Call me any time your ready, I'm always available.

-Rick


----------



## slick95

Thanks George,

I was kind of on the same thought pattern as the brass is a nonferrous material and some how this caused your problems...but I would have found this out the same way you did :wall:

Thanks again...

Jef


----------



## metalmad

looking great :bow:
Pete


----------



## NickG

I can't wait for this! could be the highlight of the weekend!

Nick


----------



## gbritnell

Hi everyone, Rick got in touch with me and asked how the engine was going as he hadn't heard anything. Here's the latest on the engine. 
 As you'll recall in one of my last posts I said that I've never had one run great right out of the box, well this one is no different than the others. Here's the events up to this point.
 My original idea for starting it was to put a hex on the end of the crankshaft and use a socket on a cordless drill. Several days ago I tried starting it for the first time. The engine would hit but when it did I couldn't get the socket of in time and it wouldn't keep running but along with that I wasn't sure of the ignition setup. The first thing that needed to be done was to make a starting clutch for the engine. 
 I had an extra .50 dia. one way roller bearing in my parts box so I made up a flange to bolt to the outside of my flywheel. The next step was to see if each cylinder would start on it's own so I hooked up one plug and pulled the other out of the head. I cranked it over and it fired right up on the rear cylinder but man did it shake. I then tried the front cylinder. It would try to run a little but I noticed the compression was down a little. At that point I hooked up both plugs figuring that the higher rpm would overcome any loss in compression on the front cylinder. It worked to some extent. 
 Yesterday afternoon I pulled both cylinders off to see what was going on. The back cylinder was fine but the head gasket (Teflon sheet) on the front cylinder was burned through. I made a new gasket and bolted everything together but the front cylinder was still down on compression. While I was tightening the 5-40 socket head head bolts I noticed the one near where the gasket blow out had occurred seemed soft. By that I mean it didn't seem to tighten like the others. I looked between the fins where the tapped hole exits and noticed that the screw wasn't as deep as the others. When I was tapping the holes I forgot to run the bottom tap through that hole and the bolt was bottoming out in the threads. I fixed that but the compression was still down a little. I pulled the head again and turned the engine over with the heel of my hand over the cylinder. It had tremendous vacuum and compression as I turned it over so the cylinder was sealing ok. 
 The only thing left was the valves. I pulled each valve and checked the seats. When I first made the heads I had made a seat cutter that aligned with the port and valve guide hole so I was quite confident that the valves were sealing ok. and with the rear cylinder having great compression I just figured the front should too, wrong. I then lapped both valves and kept checking the seats with my magnivisor. I finally got a nice gray color all the way around on both seats so I cleaned everything up and reassembled the engine. Now it has good compression on both cylinders. This was last night at 9:30 pm. Today is supposed to be nice so I'm going to try and start it again. As far as the ignition, my rear cylinder is the one with the bad waste spark. It occurs just as the intake is opening. Having worked on engines most of my life I figured that without compression and what little fuel was being drawn in at that point it shouldn't pose a problem. When I ran each cylinder separately the rear one ran great so it seems like my guess (at this point) was correct.
 Well that's where I'm at right now. I'll keep you appraised of my progress.
George


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## kustomkb

I hope you get her going George, all the best!


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## slick95

Great update George,

No doubt you'll have her running soon 

Looking forward to the video!!!

Jeff


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## gbritnell

Gentlemen, today I went out for the second trial. All it needs now is some fine tuning on the carb. As with other small engines it doesn't have near enough flywheel action but to this point I'm thrilled.
George
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opvp1sGQtJU[/ame]


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## Deanofid

That's great, George! I'm really smiling right now, but I'll bet you've got me beat by a mile. I'll bet the next run will be even better!

Dean


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## gbritnell

Hi Dean, like the proverbial Cheshire Cat!!!!
George


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## kustomkb

Awesome job George!!

Thanks for the great build article and sharing the thrills. Your craftsmanship is outstanding!

Happy tuning!


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## 1hand

Congratulations on you build. First class craftsmanship for sure! th_wav


Thanks for sharing it with us;
Matt


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## SAM in LA

George,

What a great build. :bow:

The engine sounds great. :bow:

The engine looks great. :bow:

What a great build diary. :bow:

Every day I look into this forum I see what a talented bunch there is.

I'm so glad that I am allowed to absorb the lessons that you and the other members provide.

Please keep up the great work. :bow:

SAM


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## putputman

George, you should be totally thrilled. That engine sounds great for the first run. I don't know how you can improve on that.

It has been a pleasure following along with your build log.

I hope you plan to take it to NAMES this year.


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## gbritnell

Thanks everyone. It's been quite a journey from the design to the build along with the documentation. The other day I was excited to hear it pop, today I'm thrilled with the results. Arv, yes I'll have it at NAMES. I'm going to have to mount it to a cement block because it sure likes to jump around. I'm going to retard the timing a little and see if that helps. Right now I have it at about 12 degrees BTDC. I'll try about 6 or 7. 
George


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## cfellows

Wow, George! Runs Great, Sounds Great, Looks fabulous. That's going to be one tough act to follow!

Chuck


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## 1Kenny

George,

It has been a thrill to watch this engine go from the drawing through the making of the parts to seeing and hearing it run. The engine sounds real healthy.

Kenny


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## rake60

Beautiful George! :bow:

The sound of that engine is perfect.

Rick


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## Metal Butcher

Congratulations George! :bow:

Glad to see your project up and running. I knew you would get it going.

Sorry if I got a little impatient, You had me sitting on the edge of my bench in suspense.

Oh what a relief!

-MB


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## Maryak

George,

May I add my congratulation and my admiration to you for another wonderful build log, great tutorials and for your willingness to share it all with the rest of us.

THANK YOU :bow: :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob


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## gbritnell

Thank everyone, this is a great bunch of guys on this forum and I enjoy sharing my work with everyone. Rick, give me a call. I looked all over for your number and couldn't find it. I will call you tomorrow or Friday to come and see it in person.
George


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## crankshafter

CONGRATULATIONS George!
Amazing, awesome ..................... :bow: :bow:
Thank you for letting us join, in this "journey" of how to build a V-twin. 
OK, so the time has come, I have to drag me down to my cave and carve out some gears for the kick-start on my Hoglet V-twin. :big: :big:

One more time: Thank you George. 

CS


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## stevehuckss396

Finally!!! The little motor sounds good for a first run. Congrats!!


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## zeeprogrammer

Fantastic George.
It's beautiful and sounds great.


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## joe d

George

Congratulations! A real looker, and sounds great too! Thanks for bringing us all along for the ride.

Cheers, Joe


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## MatiR

George, absolutely superb!

Cement block!!!?  How about this as a more appropriate base:

Goes much better with the metalwork: ;D


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## kvom

Another appreciative follower-along here. Great work.


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## steamer

Nicely done George! Thanks for sharing that with us! :bow:

Dave


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## hobby

Congradulations George,
 on your new runner.

Very nice looking engine. 

Thanks for the great informative build thread.


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## ozzie46

I knew you'd get it George.
 Love that sound.


  Ron


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## gbritnell

MatiR, that's a great idea!! Thanks.
George


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## slick95

George,

in a word,   _*FANTASTIC*_

Thanks for sharing your amazing accomplishment :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Jeff


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## GailInNM

That is a great result George. Congratulation on another success. 
Gail in NM


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## 90LX_Notch

George,

First and foremost, congratulations. 

I have followed this build from the start and, as with all of your work, words can not describe my admiration of your talent. Thank you for sharing the build with us. You have both educated and inspired me. Thank you.

Bob


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## kd7fhg

George!
Truly a work of art, and you are a master. I enjoyed following the build thread.

Rex


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## arnoldb

Very well done indeed George :bow: :bow: 
Congratulations !
Kind regards, Arnold


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## ariz

it looks great!!!

it runs perfectly!!!

its sound is lovely, like a real engine and better!!!

many many compliments master :bow: :bow: :bow:


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## Paulsv

Thank you, George, for sharing such a wonderful build and the great documentation of it. That engine is a real jewel.


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## NickG

Just truly amazing, thanks for sharing this project George. :bow:

Nick


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## kendo

George
      Its been an absolute pleasure watching this build, and to see a real 
      master at work.
      I can't tell you just how thrilled i was to see it running.

      Many Many compliment Buddy :bow: :bow: :bow:

                    Ken


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## gbritnell

Hi everyone,
 Just a quick update on the running of the engine. I have almost 20 minutes of running time on the engine. Not all at one time but in 4 or 5 starts. I'm discovering things that needed to be redone. First of all I made a new needle for the carb. I made it out of a large sewing needle so it has a much finer adjustment. Next up was the motor mount bolts, the 3-48's kept coming loose so I went to 5-40's with stainless washers. When I made the base the uprights were fitted into the runners and held in place with one 2-56 screw per side. These also came loose so I put two 3-48 screw per side. 
 While running the engine the other day at my buddies place it would start and run great for about 3 minutes then you could see the fuel being pushed back away from the carb. My buddy said it looks like it's vapor locking, I said it didn't seem like something this small would do that. While I was fiddling with the carb a rested my hand on the intake manifold and WOW, it was as hot as the head. What was happening was the carb was getting so hot that when the gas fed up to it it was boiling the gas and pushing it back away from the carb. We blew on the carb and manifold with an air gun till it cooled down, hit the starter and it fired right back up. 
 Last night I took the intake manifold off and machined .04 from the .125 flanges and made insulator pads. Today I ran the engine until I thought the cylinders were hot enough, about 4 minutes, and felt the manifold, it was barely warm. I shut the engine off and restarted it several times. I fired up and ran great. Another gremlin taken care of. 
 My buddy had a piece of steel plate .75 thick. He surface ground it for me and I'm going to make a base for the engine. It will be mounted on rubber bushings to try and isolate some of the shake. At home I can clamp it to my workbench but at a show I might not have that option so this should allow me to run it without it dancing off the table, as long as I don't rev it to high. 
 We put a tach on it for this morning's run and it will idle down to about 900 rpm. On the high end I've had it up to about 5000 rpm but at that speed it starts acting like the Tasmanian Devil. 
 All in all I'm thoroughly pleased with the outcome. 
George


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## Paulsv

George- what material did you use for the insulator pads?


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## bronson

I just read this thread from beginning to the end what an amazing build to say the least and machining was unreal. The write up was very interesting very well done.


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## gbritnell

Hi Paul,
I had posted some pictures of my engine on a motorcycling forum. One of the responses was where did I get such small spark plugs. I explained that some fellows made their own from Teflon or Corian. The responder said he worked for a boat building company and he had all kinds of scrap Corian and would I like some. I said sure so after a week or so I got an email telling me that at that time he didn't have any Corian but had some similar material would I be interested in it. I looked at the specs for it and it had very good thermal properties so I said yes. He sent me a whole box of scrap pieces. Here is a link to what it is. 
http://www.jjorly.com/g10_fr4_sheet_material_price.htm
George


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## lee9966

George,

This is a fantastic build, I read every page with fascination.  ;D

Would you by any chance have plans for that carb or one like it?

Thanks for the wonderful lessons!


Lee
Long time lurker


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## gbritnell

Hi Lee,
I have plans for the carb but it would only work on an engine with about the same displacement. I also have it fancied up to look more like a motorcycle carb. I do have a drawing for the carb on my 4 cylinder OHV engine which has a smaller displacement and isn't so fancy.
George


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## lee9966

If you are willing to share I would love to take a look at either drawing. I am sure I will learn from it, and perhaps scale to a different size just for fun.

Thanks!

Lee


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## gbritnell

Hi Lee, 
I sent you a message.
George


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## mu38&Bg#

That turned out very well. It sounds great.


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## metalmad

I just had to watch your vidio again and well I guess its all been said 
just fantastic
love it 
cheers Pete


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## Orrin

George, I've not been able to follow this thread until just now. I'm awestruck. Your workmanship is beyond superb. Then, when you posted your artwork my admiration for you and your skills more than doubled.

Best regards,

Orrin


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## BenPeake

That is one champion build and what a beautiful sound it produces! I'm very impressed with the ridiculously complex shapes you magically pull out of plain stock - it's like black magic. I think if I tried that, it wouldn't go so well. I can only imagine the satisfaction you experience when you run it. Congratulations and thank so much for posting all those pics! My hat goes off to you.

P.S. What is your next project?


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## gbritnell

Thanks Ben
I'm thinking of some sort of radial engine. I don't know if it will be of my own design or of one that's already out there.
George


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## Drei

What is the main difference in designing the v twin in a 90 or 45 deg angle? Does it effect the RPM or torque?...

Drei


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## seagar

Wonderfull result from a real craftsman.Thank you for the privalidge of allowing us to follow your build.Your an insperation to all that are new to this great hobby.

Best wishes,
Ian(seagar)


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## gbritnell

Thank you Ian.

Drei, supposedly a 90 degree engine balances better than a 45 degree engine. That's one of the reasons I built it this way. As far as rpm or torque I don't think the angle of the cylinders would have that much affect. As with a full sized engine the cam design and head porting would have more of an affect on the torque output. 
gbritnell


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## cncjay

where did you get these plans,,,,,,? very cool engine i would love to have a set!


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## stevehuckss396

George designed this one himself.


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## jwcnc1911

I do believe if you contact him, you can have a set for a more than reasonable fee.  You can see the work and talent involved - so you know what ever the cost, it will be less than it should!


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