# My first steam engine



## rsendys (Jan 14, 2011)

I decided to build the simplest steam engine.
I decided to use the plans http://littlemachineshop.com/Products/Drawings/2593OscillatingEngineAssembly.pdf
Maybe a little less ambitious - but maybe I can finish it ;D
I decided to change imperial to metric because all my tools are metric. 
But according to the rules: 1 mm = 1 / 32 " - where I need to change the sizes - especially thread.
I hope that the establishment metric scheme of this machine - I hope this does not affect the rights copyright ???

Today the piston:

I have some steel in grade 35HGS







cutting off a piece






Flat edge surface






outside surface






good fix and secod flat edge surface






centering






outside surface






get the first dimension - 10 mm






and get second dimension - 15.98 mm 






cutting ... This is not my favorite operation 






A little too long element - I have to shorten 






routing the hole






drilling






Ready piston


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## Tin Falcon (Jan 14, 2011)

Looking good every engine starts with the first part.
Tin


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## doubletop (Jan 14, 2011)

Choosing the first set of plans can be the hardest part. It just then needs you to get stuck in. 

A nice start

Pete


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## njl (Jan 14, 2011)

Hi rsendys,

A nice looking first part. Keep making the rest of the parts, one at a time and to the same standard and before you know it you'll have your first engine all built and running.

Enjoy your build,
Nick


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## b.lindsey (Jan 14, 2011)

Hi rsendys and welcome to the forum too. Nice work on the piston...if the rest of the parts finish as nicely you should have no problem getting it to run in short order.

Bill


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## rsendys (Jan 14, 2011)

*Cylinder*

I start from a piece of aluminum





Making a cuboid





Block ready and marking out





Cylinder boring





Using boring head





Drilling the other holes





Threading





It was a blind hole and I had to shorten the taps





Ready ;D





It is difficult to measure such small holes in the course of their execution. For this reason, I made a mistake: The cylinder has a diameter of 16.13 mm, while the piston has a diameter of 15.98 mm. This gives a clearance of about 0.15 mm in inches is equal to 0.006. It is certainly too much.  But I made test by blowing a cylinder - piston flew away. : I recognize that this is just version 1.0 :idea:

Testing :big:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtFcvxnxJaI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtFcvxnxJaI[/ame]


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## doubletop (Jan 15, 2011)

It may be your first steam engine but it looks like you've got yourself some nice equipment. You'll soon be on to something way more ambitious.

Keep up the good work

Pete


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## student123 (Jan 15, 2011)

rsendys,

It's a good choice for a first engine. It was the second I attempted & the first engine I (recently) completed.

I lost count of the number of pistons I tried making, before I got one to fit. Eight might be a fair guess. When I started I didnt know about compression, so I deliberately made the first slack - logically if it's slack it can move easier!
I ended up by doing the cylinder first , then turning the piston to a tight fit, testing the fit as I went along with the piston still in the lathe.
My college tutor had told me 'if it takes an hour to do properly, then its an hour well spent'.
I suspect your skill level is more advanced than mine was at the time I started, so my guess is you'll get the correct fit soon enough.


Good luck & enjoy your build.

Mike


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## t_ottoboni (Jan 15, 2011)

It may be a dumb question, but what would be the right order: machine the piston first and then match the block to correct clearances, or machine the block first?


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## rsendys (Jan 15, 2011)

student123  said:
			
		

> I lost count of the number of pistons I tried making, before I got one to fit. Eight might be a fair guess. When I started I didnt know about compression,



Maybe there is a equation for it?
Data in: the diameter of the piston and cylinder, the piston material, the cylinder material
Data out (result): - the required tolerance
 ???


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## rsendys (Jan 15, 2011)

t_ottoboni  said:
			
		

> It may be a dumb question, but what would be the right order: machine the piston first and then match the block to correct clearances, or machine the block first?



It probably depends on what you can do with better accuracy - I know now that it is easier to do first cylinder and then adjust the piston in the lathe. For example, was quite hard to measure the diameter of the cylinder when it was on the milling table.

Robert


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## njl (Jan 15, 2011)

I've not been doing this long but with my limited experience & tooling I find it is difficult/impossible for me to exactly measure a hole diameter so I opt for making the cylinder part first and then making the piston part to match.

Nick


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## arnoldb (Jan 15, 2011)

Good start Robert Thm:, and welcome to HMEM.

You and Nick are both correct; in most cases it's easier to make the cylinder first, and then the piston to fit, especially if one does not have a way of accurately measuring the cylinder bore and have limited tooling.

Another thing from my limited experience to look out for when turning the piston - If you are going to part it off, do a partial part-off before finishing to final size. If you first finish to size and then part off, it will leave a slightly raised edge that can make the piston not want to fit any more. Also make oil grooves (if the plans call for it) just before you reach final diameter. I've found the easiest way to get a good fit in the piston is to turn it down to slightly over size; just to the point where you think you can push the cylinder over. Don't be tempted to force the cylinder onto the piston while checking; it will seize up if you need force. Use some 320 emery backed by a steel ruler to finish off the last bit until you have a nice free sliding, but close fit. Just a couple of cents worth...

Kind regards, Arnold


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## doubletop (Jan 15, 2011)

rsendys  said:
			
		

> Maybe there is a equation for it?
> Data in: the diameter of the piston and cylinder, the piston material, the cylinder material
> Data out (result): - the required tolerance



http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz/files/fits.zip

This was posted a few days ago but probably answers your question. It's from Marv's (mklotz) website along with a whole bunch of other useful stuff

http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz/

If you need the link again its at the bottom of all Marv's posts

Pete


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## rsendys (Jan 15, 2011)

doubletop  said:
			
		

> http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz/files/fits.zip



Thank you, I checked and in my case I have Large Clearance :-[.
I suppose it should be Push Clearance.
Is there any theory for clearance of cylinder and piston ?


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## doubletop (Jan 15, 2011)

I'm no expert on this but it has to be able to move but not be loose. You don't want a gap for the steam molecules to creep past. You also need to look for a post on lapping Bogstandard did one on one of my small engine threads. Even when you've lapped the piston it should be a little stiff. When its finished you run it in on air and plenty of oil.

As somebody said do the cylinder first, ream it then lap it then make the piston to fit. In my limited experience one minute it doesn't fit and the slightest of skims and it feels like you've taken too much off. The experts will no doubt tell you how to do it properly.

Pete


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## kjk (Jan 15, 2011)

I did mine so that when inverted, gravity would not pull the piston out of the cylinder with the ports covered. When ports were uncovered, the piston slides out - but gracefully.

I have no idea if this is correct, but my engine ran, so I must have done something right.


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## t_ottoboni (Jan 15, 2011)

Woodguy... that gracefully sliding happens with or without oil in the piston-block assembly?


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## kjk (Jan 15, 2011)

at that point it would have been just rinsed out with wd-40 to clear the debris from lapping.


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## rsendys (Jan 16, 2011)

*Upright*





Start





Obtain the dimensions of width and height





The holes for the bushing ;D





The future bushing 





Incecting bushing  (Do not use a hammer to this step)





After obtain the size of the thickness





Routing holes, drilling, tapping





Ready 8)


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## student123 (Jan 16, 2011)

Robert,

Looking good.
One problem I hit was having the inlet/outlet holes aligned, 

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=10445.0

so if you havent already done so, you may want to check alignment at this stage. Without the crank / crank disc it wont be an exact check,
but might just show up a potential problem.

As to piston fit, when I covered the vent holes in the cylinder & pulled the piston out, it made a 'pop' sound (hope that makes sense).

Good progress so far, well done.

Mike


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## rsendys (Jan 17, 2011)

*Cranck Wheel*























*Flywheel*









*Crank Pin*









*Shaft*









At this point, I had all the basics. All other missing things I replaced by rope, wire, tape and vice  ;D. 
I made the first start the engine.
It works!!! Thm:
Hmm, the quality of this action - that is scrap that is about to fall apart. Rof}
I've got a lot more improvement. 8)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ixYP0_Cvo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ixYP0_Cvo[/ame]


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## kjk (Jan 17, 2011)

Congratulations. You are hooked.


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## student123 (Jan 19, 2011)

Robert,

Well done - you've got things working for your first engine & pretty quick too.
Congratulations!

Mike


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## d.bick (Jan 19, 2011)

Congratulations on your first engine. Thanks for sharing the build with us, and the excellent step-by-step photos (We like photos) 
 Iam sure with the skills learnt so far another project will soon be in the making.
Dave Bick


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## rsendys (Jan 19, 2011)

d.bick  said:
			
		

> Iam sure with the skills learnt so far another project will soon be in the making.




Of course!
But first I want to finish this 

My plan:
1. Do the Base - I need my vice for other purposes
2. making the air fitting - now it is a piece M6 pierced through - does not look good
3. Why flywheel so rocks? - I need to fix it:
  a - a better fit shaft
  b - make the flywheel and shaft again by a different method
4. Look for whether by changing the valve openings in upright - do not improve engine performance
5. Perform a cylinder in the form: a bronze bushing in a block of aluminum, of course + new piston 
 ;D


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## bearcar1 (Jan 19, 2011)

Woodguy  said:
			
		

> Congratulations. You are hooked.



Yep. He's hooked alright. Well done for the first time around. You already know what it is that could use some "re-engineering". Now it;s just a matter of the learning curve. Don't be afraid of attempting the second version of your new engine, applying different/new techniques along the way. 

BC1
Jim


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## njl (Jan 20, 2011)

Excellent, congratulations on your first engine.

Nick


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## rsendys (Jan 20, 2011)

Thank you all for your good words :bow: 8)

I realize so slowly. finishing works.

Now I have the base ;D






























Now, the engine looks like this:


















Unfortunately, his work still resembles a piece of scrap ;D

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky-pTPpvUac]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky-pTPpvUac[/ame]

But it works - a total of about one hour this engine worked - perhaps I should install the hour meter  Thm:
I noticed that there have been processes of lapping, I tried to use paste for polishing for non-ferrous metals - but it was not a good idea - the engine stopped - it may have something else to do.
I am very curious what is the average fault-TIME :noidea:


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## Deanofid (Jan 21, 2011)

Congrats on your first engine. Having the first one a runner a 100% success rate, you know!
Not sure what you mean by "fault-time". If you are asking how long an engine lasts, it depends on
how it was built. You'll get better each time and soon have engines running for hundreds of hours.

You say it stopped. You may have opened up the bore too much if you were trying to lap it. Tear it 
down, clean it well and use some light oil when you re-assemble it. If you still have trouble, you could
try making another piston. You know how! : )
I wouldn't worry about lapping the piston/bore for this type of engine. Make the piston about .001" 
smaller than the bore and it should be good.

Dean


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## rsendys (Jan 23, 2011)

*Air fitting*










































Next operation and break ! :wall: :redface2:





Maybe it is not possible, the material - brass (B101: CuSn10P) - diameter 6 mm, 3.5 mm bore and external thread M6 x 1 - 0.7 mm is the wall ! provided that everything is done exactly the super oh:
ok - we change the concept of it






















Ready ;D





This is not a good idea, it works, but it is not accurate. I should use thread M6x0.5 and a hole 3 mm. Then the wall would be 1.2 mm. Material: Steel is probably the answer Thm:


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## rsendys (Jan 31, 2011)

Small modification.






























Robert


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## rsendys (Feb 7, 2011)

New bearings nad new shaft


























It's much better 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32SBIpiU5SU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32SBIpiU5SU[/ame]

Robert


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## rsendys (Feb 10, 2011)

I modified the piston - I added a PTFE rings.


































This modification saved my piston which was too loose, and I learned some about PTFE ;D

Robert


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