# Willans Blast Injection engine



## gunna (Oct 24, 2012)

This thread is in support of MuellerNick and his project of making castings for a model of a MAN diesel.
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f31/man-diesel-engine-1907-dm-2-100-a-19073/
The engine I have access to is a 1927 Willans 3-cylinder made in England. It was designed in 1911 and made in the same form for at least 20 years. All diesels of this era were made under licence to Rudolf Diesel and to his overall design hence the similarity between makes. Since Nick has said he would like to see more pictures of an engine very similar to the one he is modelling, and I am in the position of being able to provide them, this is what I intend to do. If others find some of this interesting then that is a bonus all round. I will, as Nick has given his permission, copy some of his model pictures here, and place them next to some of the real thing. This is the sort of thing I had in mind.
Nick's cylinder casting;





My cylinder casting, and yes that is a real tractor on the right.


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## gunna (Oct 24, 2012)

And some more.....





The supports for the camshaft are cast in on this one;


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## MuellerNick (Oct 24, 2012)

That's just wonderful to see a disassembled engine, freshly restored!

Did you say how much power it has per cylinder?


Nick


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## gunna (Oct 24, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> Did you say how much power it has per cylinder?
> Nick


I believe it is 225hp so 75 per cylinder.
Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Oct 24, 2012)

> I believe it is 225hp so 75 per cylinder.



Thanks.
But now I'm confused. These pictures of yours are a scale model? What scale is that?
There is a funny rule of thump for stationary engines of that time: For each step of the ladder that goes to the platform, count 10 hp. That would be 50 hp per cylinder.

Nick


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## wheelwright (Oct 24, 2012)

For anyone interested in blast injection engines, and following this thread. There is a working engine museum near Cardigan, Wales, UK, and they have a very early engine of a similar design, built by Sulzer in Switzerland. This engine is in working condition, can be seen at the website, (www.Internalfire.com) and there is a YouTube video of it running.
Wheelwright


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## johanvanzanten (Oct 24, 2012)

Hi all,

I am very interested to follow the blast injection diesel project. I made a true diesel engine type 250 / 400 (the last engine made by Rudolf diesel before he sold the patents) but did not succeed the air blast injection. I use solide injection instead.  You can see picktures of my engine on the Model Engineer album page.

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/albums/member_photo.asp?a=6778&p=123122

Please brouse for some more photos of my model.
Please let me know if I can help.

Regards, Johan van Zanten, The Netherlands.


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## Orrin (Oct 24, 2012)

Nick, Gunna said...


> ...I am presently involved with the restoration of a 12" scale engine...


In other words, he meant the scale is 12-inches to the foot, full size.

Orrin


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## MuellerNick (Oct 24, 2012)

> he meant the scale is 12-inches to the foot, full size.



Ah well, I have read that. But I didn't know how many toes a British foot has. I'm metric. 

So this ain't a model but a replica?

What's the height of the A-frame shown in the pictures? It looks so small to me, considering the power output.


Even more confused ...
Nick


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> Ah well, I have read that. But I didn't know how many toes a British foot has. I'm metric.
> So this ain't a model but a replica?
> What's the height of the A-frame shown in the pictures? It looks so small to me, considering the power output.
> Even more confused ...
> Nick


Sorry Nick, although Australia is metric I still think in feet and inches, and although this engine was made in England, 99% of it's dimensions are actually metric. That cylinder casting is about 2.5 metres high, plus about 0.5 metre for the engine base and another 0.5 metre for the cylinder head. I will get some more accurate figures next time I am on site. No, its not a model or a replica, it is the real thing and I may have overestimated the power output but I will check that also in a few days.


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

In Nick's post #44 he treated us to the tiny pillar (2 per cylinder) that supports the rocker shaft;





I have a bit more trouble holding the original;


Ian.


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

Next he showed us the rocker arms;




Injector, air start, and inlet/exhaust, above in that order.
We have assembled the heads, but the rockers are pretty obvious;









This engine starts on one cylinder only, so the other two heads have only three rockers, Exhaust, injector, intake in order left to right above. One thing different to the MAN is the two piece exhaust rocker. This enables the valve end of the rocker to be removed which allows removal of the exhaust valve and its cage for servicing without disturbing the whole rocker assembly.

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Oct 25, 2012)

> That cylinder casting is about 2.5 metres high



Ah! That looked a bit smaller to me.
Mine is 2770 (original) high.
If your A-frame is 2.5 m high, that would make 73.5 hp per cylinder (ratio of hight^3; eg. (2500/2770)^3 * 100). That's a good fit.


Nick


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## MuellerNick (Oct 25, 2012)

All that is just really amazing!
I have to ask someone in OZ about an engine built in England by a German license.

I got a shot of the cylinder head:


From this perspective, you get an impression how huge this engine is.

I take the chance to ask you a question.
Over all the time, I did not find out what is inside of the leftmost support frame of the camshaft (red arrow).


Left of that is the housing of the spur gear that drives the camshaft. That's obvious what must be inside of there. But that housing has a solid connection to the support and there are features inside of it. See the _whatever_ on the bottom and the cover with the 4 bolts just above the arrow.
Do you have an idea what is going on inside?

Thanks

Nick


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> I take the chance to ask you a question.
> Over all the time, I did not find out what is inside of the leftmost support frame of the camshaft.....
> ...... that housing has a solid connection to the support and there are features inside of it. See the _whatever_ on the bottom and the cover with the 4 bolts just above the arrow.
> Do you have an idea what is going on inside?
> ...


Frankly, no. I can only assume that there is some passageway to the water jacket for that cylinder, but what for I do not know. There is nothing similar on the Willans.
Ian.
Edit: It wouldn't contain any sort of oil supply for the camshaft gears?


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## MuellerNick (Oct 25, 2012)

> Edit: It wouldn't contain any sort of oil supply for the camshaft gears?



Well, that would be an explanation. But not a good one for me. The gear box alone has enough place for oil. And, there are too many access holes (3) on that camshaft support to make sense. The feature at the lower end looks like there is some spring loaded mechanism inside. If there would be some kind of gear inside, there should be a shaft/lever that transmits that gear's action to the outside. But there is none. There's also no easy means to transmit something from the camshaft gearbox to that part.

Edit:
Passage for water doesn't fit. This feature is only on the left cylinder, where the transmission axle to the camshaft is.


Nick


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

Just for interest, I just found this. This is what our engine looked like just before we started on it;




Not real pretty, is it?
Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Oct 25, 2012)

Looks a bit neglected. 
But makes your effort and success in restoring here look even better.

But on this picture, it has 7 steps to the platform. An other hint for the 70 (75) hp per cylinder.
Maybe they decreased the height of the steps to make it look more powerful. hahaha.


Nick


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## MuellerNick (Oct 25, 2012)

Gunna,
have you got a better picture of that part?
Maybe it is the explanation for what I am looking for.



Thanks,
Nick


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> Gunna,
> have you got a better picture of that part?
> Thanks,
> Nick



I will get one, but I can tell you now that that is the fuel pump for this engine. It is mounted directly in front of, and driven by, eccentrics on the vertical shaft. One eccentric is the actual pump, while the other is controlled by the governor and is a bleed valve to control fuel pressure. The governor is in the large circular housing just below it.
Ian.


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## gunna (Oct 25, 2012)

I apologise to wheelwright for not acknowledging his post before, but I just had another look at the video, and you can plainly see the movement of the eccentrics for a similar fuel pump just above the governor housing.

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Oct 26, 2012)

> but I can tell you now that that is the fuel pump for this engine.




So I don't need it. I know where my fuel pump is.


Thanks,
Nick


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## Mark Rand (Oct 26, 2012)

Sorry if this is a thread diversion, I got here via Nick's thread.

I have worked at what was Willans Victoria Works in Rugby for the last 30 years. Unfortunately, I believe that all of the early oil engine documentation went to Lincoln when that work moved away from Rugby and it may well have been lost. I'll ask my historian colleague if he knows of anything relating to the early Willans oil engines if it's of any interest, though.

It just so happens that the end of the evolution for your engine finally left the works on its last trip (to the wreckers) earlier on this year.







She was 12 cylinders 17 1/4" bore by 21" stroke, 428rpm and rated at 6500hp. She provided electrical power for the site up until the late '70s and then performed peak-lopping activity until the late '90s. The picture shows her in April this year, in her berth at what was the engine test house, that later became the development laboratories for the site.

The only good thing that came out of this is that I got permission to keep all of the drawings and records we had for this engine and aim to make either a 1:12 or 1:10 model of her before I die.

Regards
Mark Rand


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## gunna (Oct 27, 2012)

Hello Mark,
Oh if your friend can find any info we would be very glad to see it. Our engine is No D219 probably made in 1928 if he finds anything in that area. It was one of a pair D218/D219. I'm glad we are not working on your V12, it looks a bit big.
Thanks,
Ian.


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## gunna (Oct 28, 2012)

Since I have already shown a couple of views of the cylinder heads, I might as well finish the set.
This is the No. 2 head which has the air start valve fitted. Both the other heads are drilled for air start and have blanking plugs fitted to the holes. That is a 300mm/12 inch ruler laying across in front. The red tape covers the inlet holes for blast air and fuel. Big holes down the front are inlet and exhaust ports.




Same head, from above. I like an engine you can walk around on!





And, while we are at it, the third cylinder on the "operating table".





Ian.


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## kvom (Oct 28, 2012)

Seems Ian has an advantage over Nick as he can take anything apart to see what's inside.  Hope to see a video of it running one of these days.

Nick, is the MAN engine painted like that to preserve it in the outdoors, or was that the original paint job?


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## MuellerNick (Oct 28, 2012)

> or was that the original paint job?



I think that were at least 5 "original paint jobs". That lady is 105 years old.
But at that time, all engines were black. I don't have to find out this.


Nick


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## gunna (Oct 29, 2012)

kvom said:


> ....... Hope to see a video of it running one of these days.
> .


Don't hold your breath if you mean the big engine. Yes it will run one day but that could be quite a few days/weeks/months/who knows? We still need to organise shed space and a massive concrete foundation for the engine and alternator which together weigh about 40-45 tonnes all up. Also a supply of starting air at about 600psi/40 atmospheres!

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Oct 29, 2012)

> Also a supply of starting air at about 600psi/40 atmospheres!



And that with about 80 l displacement per cylinder.
Do you know the pressure for the blast air? Should be something like 100 atm.


Nick


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## gunna (Oct 31, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> And that with about 80 l displacement per cylinder.


 Although it only starts on one cylinder and air is only admitted for a very short time.


> Do you know the pressure for the blast air? Should be something like 100 atm.
> Nick


According to some original info, 520psi/35atm at idle, 920psi/63atm at full load. The engine driven compressor is rated at 1000psi/68atm. The blast pressure seems to have to be manually adjusted by the operator to suit the current engine operating conditions, but as those conditions were not likely to change from one moment to the next, it probably was not a great inconvenience.
Also Nick, this engine was originally rated at 250hp @ 220rpm but some time during its life, it was downrated to 243hp @ 214rpm, (big difference!).

Ian.


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## gunna (Nov 1, 2012)

Nick, just a correction to a guess I made some time ago. The cylinder casting is 2250mm high, a bit shorter than I thought.
Since you are making bits for the heads, how about some parts you cannot see on the MAN?
A valve and it's cage.




The head of the valve is 135mm diameter and the overall length is 500mm. The bottom of the cage is flush with the face of the cylinder head while the small step about 20mm up is the sealing face against the head.
From the top:-




and with a spring just sitting loose,





Ian.
Note to self: check the colour correction in the camera next time!


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## MuellerNick (Nov 1, 2012)

> how about some parts you cannot see on the MAN?



You can't post too many!


Nick


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## gunna (Nov 2, 2012)

Here's one you probably wouldn't guess from the outside. I know it surprised me when we pulled it out. A couple of pistons, as pulled;




One of them a little bit later, actually quite a bit later;





That piston is 850mm long in an engine with a stroke of 560mm. Six piston rings, all 10mm square section.

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Nov 2, 2012)

> That piston is 850mm long



That seems to be the same diameter/length ratio as of the MAN-DM series. They have about 1:2.15. With the bore of 450 mm of the DM100, that are 967.5 mm. But I have no hard numbers about the length, just scaled up from a sectional drawing of a DM70.

Readers have to be aware, how *huge* the displacement was at that time. The DM100 has 108 liters and just 100 hp per cylinder.

The piston length was so conservative, because at that time, steam engines had two linked con-rod and a separate way at the link. If Rudolf would have seen a piston of todays 4 stroke race engines, he would not believe.


Nick


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## Mark Rand (Nov 2, 2012)

On the other hand, how many modern race engines will run for nearly one hundred years, maybe working 12 hours per day for a lot of it?


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## gunna (Nov 3, 2012)

I forgot a small part of the valve gear, the spring retainer. Here is one that is 'left over'.




That retainer is machined to a bearing surface on it's outer face and runs inside the cage retainer like this,




Not only does it hold the spring in, but it also takes all sideways thrust from the tappet and so protects the valve guide. (There should be a taper pin through the nut!)
Speaking of the cage retainer, it does not sit flush on top of the head, as shown by the ruler,




It has a circular boss on the underside which mates with the top of the cage in order to keep the cage seated. The top of the cage is about 4mm below the top of the head. That gap is about another 2mm.

Ian.


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## gunna (Nov 3, 2012)

Now getting back to the piston and con-rod. The big end is what I think is known as a marine style, ie a split bearing assembly which then bolts onto the end of the rod, common in steam engines. Bearing journal 200mm diameter. Shim plates are fitted in the bearing to rod joint in order to adjust/balance the compression ratios.




That is fine but what about the small end? Would you believe the same!




That assembly cannot be dismantled in situ, so the gudgeon pin must be removed, the rod withdrawn, and the bearing can then be worked on. However, Mr Willans did not want that gudgeon to ever move. It appears to be fitted by heat/shrink initially, then, in case it ever came loose, a big key was fitted on one side to prevent it from rotating.




But, that won't stop it from working out sideways, so the locking bolt which can be seen in the second picture, is fitted to the opposite side of the piston from the key! But wait, there's more! To stop the locking bolt from loosening, a saddle fits over the large hex head and mates with projections in the piston. To stop the saddle coming off, there is another locknut, and to keep it in place, a split pin through the end.




Since we cannot run the risk of damage to a piston, the gudgeon pins are not coming out, and we will just hope the bearings are ok.

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Nov 3, 2012)

These pictures are really extremely helpful! Thanks a very lot.
The ex/in is the same at my MAN.
I guess, the spring for the injector assembly sits in the cylinder, that is the upmost part of that assembly. And it is an compression spring for obvious reasons.




And keep them coming ... pleeeeeease!


Nick

PS:
You'll have as many free beers as you want, should we ever meet.


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## gunna (Nov 4, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> I guess, the spring for the injector assembly sits in the cylinder, ....... And it is an compression spring for obvious reasons.


Yes it does, and it is, Nick. We have assembled the injectors, but I will see if one can be pulled down again as I don't have any pictures of the internals, although I believe you will not be attempting a working one! That spring basically bears on the end of the needle valve which extends all the way to the nozzle of the injector. The rocker lifts it at the same point. There are no other moving parts inside, only what is referred to as the 'atomiser', a collection of holes and channels designed to let the blast air cause as much turbulence to the fuel as possible when the needle valve opens. For what it is worth, a fully assembled injector is a two man lift!

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Nov 4, 2012)

> but I will see if one can be pulled down again



Not necessary, thanks for the offer!


Nick


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## Rustkolector (Nov 5, 2012)

Gunna,
I am curious, in the air blast diesel, do you know at what point in the compression stroke the fuel and air blast is introduced to the cylinder? It would seem that it would have to be quite early. 

Jeff


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## gunna (Nov 6, 2012)

Hi Jeff, to the best of my (limited) knowledge, it is at tdc or even very slightly later. The temperature in the cylinder at this point is plenty high enough to cause immediate combustion. I must remember when we reassemble this beast to check things like that and make notes of real timings.
Ian.


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## skyline1 (Nov 6, 2012)

Hi Fellas

This is a great thread,one guy building a model of a slightly unusual engine and another rebuilding a similar one in full size. Swapping ideas like this is what this site is all about I am following both threads with great interest.

Ian, I didn't realise just how enormous your engine was until I saw the pictures of the valves and you standing on one of the cylinder heads. The diameter of the valves is bigger than the pistons of most motor cars (and a few trucks) and the valve springs are bigger than most suspension springs.

Regards Mark


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## MuellerNick (Nov 6, 2012)

> This is a great thread,one guy building a model of a slightly unusual engine and another rebuilding a similar one in full size. Swapping ideas like this is what this site is all about I am following both threads with great interest.



Yes, I have great luck that there is someone working on a similar engine at full size.
Imagine that without the internet.

But the MAN and the Willans and Fairbanks and ... were not at all "slightly unusual". They were a revolution! They brought electricity to almost everywhere without the need of big installations needed for steam engines. The DM-series was the breakthrough for MAN and all licensed designs around the world.
For any Diesel fan, I just can recommend Lyle Cummin's book "Diesel's Engine". He made an incredible effort to trace the history.

Nick


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## gunna (Nov 6, 2012)

Hi Mark, we are only just coming to grips with the size of this thing, as it was shipped to us in pieces from where it had been in storage for a long time. Talk about a giant jigsaw puzzle. We still have some items which are in the "we will find out where that goes when we put it all together" category!

Nick, I can only agree with you about that book, just an incredible piece of work, and very expensive in Oz!

Ian.


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## skyline1 (Nov 7, 2012)

Hi Nick

I quite agree about them being a revolution and a compact power source, well compact by comparison to a reciprocating steam plant of similar power output (no boiler for a start).

By unusual I meant unusual to model there being no commercial castings or anything available or drawings for that matter. you have had to do everything from the ground up.

Ian,

Best of luck with your 3D jigsaw puzzle I'd love to do one but it sure wouldn't fit on my coffee table !


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## gunna (Nov 8, 2012)

I couldn't let this slip by. We pulled an injector and dismantled it again, no big deal really as it was only loosely assembled. Anyway here are all the bits with the 300mm ruler down front,





The strange colouring that looks like rust is actually grease. The only part not visible here is the nozzle at the end of the injector. Unlike modern injectors, this one has a hole about 2.5 - 3mm in diameter! The needle seats just before the nozzle, about 10mm up. All the parts here are sitting in the approximate positions they occupy when assembled. The atomiser is a strange beast. 




A hollow bronze tube with a stack of plates and spacers fitted to the end and held on by the conical end. The needle passes right through and seats just past the cone. The injector body is bored 35mm diameter to match the discs, and has a taper at the lower end to match the atomiser's tapered cone. The injector body is full of fuel up to the top of the atomiser. All fuel and air then has to pass through the rows of holes when the needle valve opens. Notice that the rows alternate between the outer and inner diameters so making a convoluted path designed to produce lots of turbulance, there could be up to 900psi here. The tapered 'nose-cone' then directs the fuel-air mixture straight towards the open needle valve.

Ian.


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## gunna (Nov 22, 2012)

This engine was taken out of service in the 1960's after a big end failed. As a result, the crankshaft needs some attention. Surprising as it may seem, there is only one company in Oz we could locate that has the capability to regrind a crank of this size. (2.5 metres long, 2.5 tonnes weight). They said they could handle a 1200mm throw, which they can if a modern crank is considered, like this one they had in shop.




Notice the nicely rounded crank webs which take up almost no extra room. However, old cranks are made a little differently.




This is ours with the big square ends on the webs. The area marked in red will have to be cut off both sides of all six webs and then it will fit within their 1200mm window of operations. So now we are looking for someone with a very large mill or some other cutting device to do a bit of surgery.

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Nov 22, 2012)

> So now we are looking for someone with a very large mill or some other cutting device to do a bit of surgery.



Nonono! You can't mill that off!

Aks in the marine engine service department. They do grind pins bigger than yours in situ.
But I have no names and manufacturers.


Nick


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## crankshafter (Nov 22, 2012)

Gunna.
Search for "Goltens", they do insitu crankshaft grinding. They have servicestations all over the world.
Cs


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## gunna (Nov 23, 2012)

crankshafter said:


> Gunna.
> Search for "Goltens", they do insitu crankshaft grinding. They have servicestations all over the world.
> Cs


Hi crankshafter, as far as I know, the nearest one is in Singapore. Freight costs make that a non-starter for us.

Nick, this is not a spur-of-the-moment decision, the person in charge of this project has worked on this type/size of engine for the last 50 years and I trust his judgement in everything. He says it can be done and if we can find a suitable workshop, it will be done. If we don't resolve this problem then we are just building a static display model.

Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Nov 23, 2012)

> He says it can be done and if we can find a suitable workshop



Sure it can be done. Even with a O/A torch. 

But I think shipping the crank shaft to two places and the work might not be much cheaper than doing the grinding in place. Those grinders are constructed to be mobile, should not be much bigger than a pallet I guess.


Nick


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## crankshafter (Nov 23, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> Sure it can be done. Even with a O/A torch.
> 
> But I think shipping the crank shaft to two places and the work might not be much cheaper than doing the grinding in place. Those grinders are constructed to be mobile, should not be much bigger than a pallet I guess.
> 
> ...


 
Hi MullerNick/Gunna
Insitu crankgrinding will cost you plenty$$, I know because, we have had insitu grinding of crankshafts on shipengines several times and it cost us so it hurts*knuppel2*
PS my be it's only here in Norway but I doubt it
CS


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## wheelwright (Nov 23, 2012)

I own and operate a commercial machine shop specializing in heavy engines, also restore old engines as a hobby. it would be a real shame to hack lumps off the original crank, plus there is the unknown quantity of how much the crank would be affected. In this case my first reaction would be to polish the crankpin back to clean metal to determine how bad the pin actually is. Based on the photo (which admittedly is not a close up) the pin does not look too bad. In many cases, it looks worse than it is due to melted babbit adhering to the pin. When this is polished off, it will look a lot better. When the pin is cleaned you can assess the actual wear and damage to the pin. If there is only slight scoring and ovality, a lot of this can be polished and stoned out using water or oil stones. Remember that the engine will probably never be run under the original design load, and also will never run the hours it has already run. In general if you can restore up to 70% of the original bearing surface, it will work fine. I know this is not ideal, but it will be infinitely better than chopping lumps off the crank. I have hand polished similar sized crankpins in the past which have gone on to run for thousands of hours. The actual finished size after polishing is not critical as you have to make the bearing fit anyway. Try it, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, it will cost next to nothing, and with care and constant measuring, it will work. more than happy to offer practical assistance if required. Wheelwright.


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## Mark Rand (Nov 23, 2012)

Can you get the journals turned (and polished, if necessary)? I would be very surprised if the originals were ground.


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## gunna (Nov 24, 2012)

wheelwright said:


> .......Based on the photo (which admittedly is not a close up) the pin does not look too bad. In many cases, it looks worse than it is due to melted babbit adhering to the pin.........


I agree with all your sentiments, wheelwright, but that is not the pin in question. That one was just standing up, posing for a photo. The damaged one has had considerable metal to metal contact and has quite a grooved pattern on it although I could not give a figure for depth. Everything to do with the crank is on hold at the moment while we go through all the possibilities, the main problem being $$$.
It looks like we might go on with the base and flywheel for now, a couple of heavyweights if ever there was.

 Nick, I could show some generator pics, but since ours is completely different to yours, and you are doing an excellent job anyway;D, I don't think the dreadful mess ours is in would be of any value.
Ian.


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## gunna (Dec 17, 2012)

I see Nick is making the support arms for the service platform. Here are some of ours, a different pattern to his. There are six in all about 900mm long, each one almost too heavy for one person to lift.




We also went and stood up the three cylinders in their positions relative to each other, so we could start sorting out the pile of copper piping that, as I said earlier, was all supplied to us as loose pieces. You can also see the triangular mounts for the support arms.




Each cylinder has a three-port drip lubricator, of which two ports feed a mechanical pump down on the right hand side. The pump is operated by a secondary connecting rod hanging from the piston skirt. This pump then supplies pressure oil to the cylinder and the gudgeon pin. The third port, to be connected by the twisted bit of tube currently placed behind the lubricator in this photo, just snakes down around the left hand side of the cylinder and drips into a slinger ring on the big-end journal. The four-port splitter up the top of number two cylinder is the blast air supply to the injectors, in at the bottom and three outlets.
Ian.
PS. Crankshaft still under discussion, we may have found another shop able to lathe turn the journals. Should know before Christmas break.


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## MuellerNick (Dec 17, 2012)

Thanks, I love to see these pictures!

I see, that just behind the support arms, you have part of the platform's fence. Or maybe it isn't from this engine. Anyhow, the fence posts, are they cast? Or are they made out of tube and the balls screwd on?


Nick


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## gunna (Dec 18, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> Thanks, I love to see these pictures!
> I see, that just behind the support arms, you have part of the platform's fence. Or maybe it isn't from this engine.
> Nick


Right the second time, that is just a fence made from steel pipe and mesh to keep small children and their fathers away from the moving bits! I will get some pictures of the platform posts soon when we drag them out of 'storage' round the back of the shed. We are currently dressing up the bed-plate and I will show that soon as well.
The other grey item in that first picture is the outboard bearing from the exciter, if you look closely you can almost see the brush assembly just behind the supports. The cream coloured alternator is from another engine.
Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Dec 19, 2012)

Ian, I do have a question re the flywheel.

It certainly has teeth (pointing inward) to ratchet the crank in starting position. My question is:
Are these teeth cast or machined?
I see no clear evidence for both on my pictures. Casting them sure would be good enough, but on my flywheel, there is a recess behind the teeth that suggests machining (on a slotter).


TIA,
Nick


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## gunna (Dec 20, 2012)

MuellerNick said:


> Ian, I do have a question re the flywheel.
> ........Are these teeth cast or machined?.......
> TIA,
> Nick


Nick, can't say at the moment, our flywheel is lying down with that side on the ground. Perhaps if it didn't weigh 6 tonnes we could have a quick peek. It will be moved soon though so I will try to remember to look.
I found a bit of railing from the platform, sorry no casting here, the verticals are 25mm solid round while the horizontals are 20mm tubing. There is a little machined block to join each section.





The ladder also uses solid round uprights but the steps are cast. Here they are looking up from below.





Ian.


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## gunna (Dec 20, 2012)

We got the bed plate all cleaned up and refitted the bearings.
Here is all 3.3m (~10 feet 10 inches) and 4 tonnes of it.





After we fitted the bearings and caps, still 3.3m but now 5 tonnes!





From the end, excuse the funny angle, it was tipped up to clean underneath.





The next step here is to measure the bearings and compare to the crankshaft. There is about 3mm of shims in each bearing so plenty of room for adjustment.
Ian.


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## MuellerNick (Dec 20, 2012)

Thanks once more for the pictures!

I decided that the flywheel's teeth are machined. The recess behind them doesn't make sense to cast if the teeth are cast.
I'd like to cast the flywheel this Saturday, so I needed a decision.

Also, your crank bearings look quite as I imagined they have to look like. So I think I got them right.

Nick


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## Grigg (Aug 22, 2013)

Just spent the last few days off and on reading this thread as well as Nick's long one on casting, some really great stuff in both!
Any updates or where to go for more info on this project?

Thanks,
Grigg


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## gunna (Aug 23, 2013)

Hi Grigg,
Thanks for your interest, at this time nothing much has happened. The crank will have to be sent to Singapore for machining as no-one in Oz has the capability any more! This will conservatively cost us $25k and probably more, so approaches are being made to various companies etc for some form of sponsorship. We probably will need a similar amount to set up foundations and associated works so not holding my breath at this end.

Ian.


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## Grigg (Aug 23, 2013)

Thanks Ian,
I'll stay tuned for future updates, glad to hear y'all are pressing on with the engine even if it is slow going.  
Wish I lived a few thousand miles closer and could come see or even lend a hand.

Grigg


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## skyline1 (Aug 25, 2013)

Grigg said:


> Thanks Ian,
> I'll stay tuned for future updates, glad to hear y'all are pressing on with the engine even if it is slow going.
> Wish I lived a few thousand miles closer and could come see or even lend a hand.
> 
> Grigg



I second that 

I know it's a huge crankshaft but I am surprised that no one in Australia can cope with one that big. 

We have the same problem in the U.K. all the heavy industry is going, 

Regards Mark


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