1895 Mery Explosive engine from Gary Martin

pamw · Jun 8, 2024

bought this kit 28 years ago being all cocky..... yea...bit off way more than I could chew at the time. Poked at it a few times over the years, but now time to buckle in and finish this uniquely bizarre engine. Few things are done: flywheel, timing gears, piston, stuffing box...... the first cylinder I did would probably work fine, I just wasn't happy with it so I got another and sleeve to go with it.. but the sleeve is somewhere unknown and have a new one coming from Gary with the lil water pump castings.... the way I want to do this it will hopefully turn out pretty cool.

Onward....

GreenTwin · Jun 8, 2024

I lament the day that all sorts of casting kits were available for sale.
I remember calling Coles, and chatting on the phone with them about what kits they had availble, plus all sorts of other parts and fasteners they offered.

That is quite a nice looking casting kit.
What does it look like finished ?

Good luck with it.

.

pamw · Jun 8, 2024

This one was done by a retired tool maker in Oregon, he went all out on it....

Jasonb · Jun 9, 2024

Pat, you could always treat yourself as the Merry castings are still available

https://www.martinmodel.com/collections/model-engine-casting-sets/products/mery-engine-casting-set

Bit of a crossover from steam to early IC engines as there are combustion chambers at each end of the cylinder so it is in effect double acting like a steam engine.

GreenTwin · Jun 9, 2024

Jasonb said:
Pat, you could always treat yourself as the Merry castings are still available

That is tempting, but I generally make my own castings at a unique scale.

I browsed the Martin site, and their castings (judging from the photos) seem to be exceptionally detailed and high quality.
Good to see someone still in the casting kit game.

I was wondering about the Merry engine, and was initially thinking Corliss, but then there was no valvegear.
That is a cool engine for sure.

.

pamw · Jun 9, 2024

Productive day...... base is done, first major op on body done.... base mates to body now.
Turned the faces of the pulley ( both edge and hub) and drilled and reamed it. And then started in on the crank, I prefer building up the single stroke ones out of A2 tool steel....

Onward

Lloyd-ss · Jun 9, 2024

pamw said:
Productive day...... base is done, first major op on body done.... base mates to body now.
Turned the faces of the pulley ( both edge and hub) and drilled and reamed it. And then started in on the crank, I prefer building up the single stroke ones out of A2 tool steel....

Onward

A2 is really nice if you can justify the cost (in your own head, that is, LOL). So I guess you have a decent furnace? I am curious about the hardening and tempering temps and times and schedule that you use. Everybody seems to have their favorite for getting their finished part to come out on-size without any distortion.
Lloyd

pamw · Jun 9, 2024

Lloyd-ss said:
A2 is really nice if you can justify the cost (in your own head, that is, LOL). So I guess you have a decent furnace? I am curious about the hardening and tempering temps and times and schedule that you use. Everybody seems to have their favorite for getting their finished part to come out on-size without any distortion.
Lloyd

No, no..... I use it annealed.... really don't want a hardened crank... only thing I've ever harden is cam shaft blanks before grinding. I like A2 because it is ridiculously stable. You'll see how I go about it.... simple, easy, and super accurate.

Lloyd-ss · Jun 9, 2024

The beauty of A2 is that you can machine it to finished size (including dowel pin holes, etc), allowing for about .0006" per inch of growth during heat treatment. We made small specialty molds for transfer molding of glass filled thermoset resin for intricate low-volume electrical gizmos. The molds usually finished at less than 3" x 4" and consisted of several parts, all of A2. We'd wrap each part tightly in a foil bag for the heat treat, and that would keep the part clean and scale free in a standard furnace. No inert atmosphere needed. We'd let it cool in the furnace and when it dropped to about 150F, where you could touch it but not hold it, we'd temper it at about 375F, twice (double temper). Like you said, super stable, even thru the heat treat process. When done properly no finishing or fitting was required after the HT and tempering. The A for air-hardening was the real deal.

pamw · Jun 10, 2024

Crank shaft in process.... 620 bearing and sleeve retainer curing.... once thats set over night.... drill and carefully taper ream... then seat the taper pins firmly( whom da bejeezus out of them).... trim.... lap smooth...... cut excess out...... cut keyways. also need to remake crankgear......discovered bore is way oversize, probably cut that 20 years ago. Will turn blank before work in the morning.

Need to cut plate material to make the jig for doing the crank journals, cam barrel, cut the cylinder face, stuffing box counter bore, stud holes, and cross head bore.... will be able to mount it at 45 degrees, horizontal sideways, and vertical..... probably weigh 30 pounds when built up.

Onward

Lloyd-ss · Jun 11, 2024

I had noticed the food bowls in previous pics, but now I see your little shop doglet in post #10 Any problem with chips in the feet or fur? My cat ate a wad of schrawf from my lathe and the techs at the vets office had fun with the xrays watch the wad pass thru the body. The cat is fine, just weird.

pamw · Jun 11, 2024

Lloyd-ss said:
I had noticed the food bowls in previous pics, but now I see your little shop doglet in post #10 Any problem with chips in the feet or fur? My cat ate a wad of schrawf from my lathe and the techs at the vets office had fun with the xrays watch the wad pass thru the body. The cat is fine, just weird.

He's not allowed on the shop floor....I have a cart for him to be in with his bed and blanket.

pamw · Jun 11, 2024

Productive early morning. Drilled the crankshaft to then ream for taper pins..... turned out new crank gear blank and mounted on arbor to cut the gear.
If there is anyone local to the San Diego area, I urge you to come visit the craftsmanship museum in carlsbad..... its the largest collection of miniature engines in the world. I work there on Saturdays fabricating engines. Keep three projects going so I'm never down waiting for materials or tooling.

Current builds:
The Mery obviously
Hodgeson 9 cylinder radial
Stuart marine compound(complete pain due to the castings being freakin tiny)

This Saturday I'll be cutting this gear and the cam jackshaft gear for the radial.... will also have the Redwing on display and running.

pamw · Jun 11, 2024

Lloyd-ss said:
I had noticed the food bowls in previous pics, but now I see your little shop doglet in post #10 Any problem with chips in the feet or fur? My cat ate a wad of schrawf from my lathe and the techs at the vets office had fun with the xrays watch the wad pass thru the body. The cat is fine, just weird.

He's not allowed on the shop floor....I have a cart for him to be in with his bed and blanket.

pamw · Jun 11, 2024

Lloyd-ss said:
I had noticed the food bowls in previous pics, but now I see your little shop doglet in post #10 Any problem with chips in the feet or fur? My cat ate a wad of schrawf from my lathe and the techs at the vets office had fun with the xrays watch the wad pass thru the body. The cat is fine, just weird.

This is da munchkin..... 5.5 pounds of muscle, 200 pounds of attitude.

pamw · Jun 13, 2024

Another bit nearly completed... just need to broach the keyway then de flash the spokes and strip the dripped paint they did to keep them fresh.

pamw · Jun 15, 2024

Lots of progress today..... crank is done, bushings done, crank gear recut, also the cam shaft turned to length, cam bushings done, and started crank bearing caps... will finish those tomorrow and fab up the main body jig plate.

pamw · Jun 15, 2024

Couple more photos....
Looking forward to tomorrow.... major work..... getting main body machined....

GreenTwin · Jun 16, 2024

This is quite an ambitious undertaking in my opinion.

I was not familiar with the Mery engine before this thread (I am new to the hobby).

Not really what I would consider a beginner's engine by any stretch.

I am still looking at the various photos, figuring out how all the parts function.

Looking good so far.
Looks like you will have the major work completed pretty soon, and then on to what I call the "dreaded" little work.

.

pamw · Jun 16, 2024

Finished the ops on the bearing caps and split them....

Also got the main jig over half done.... will show when it is done. Otherwise to many questions will flood in. It'll be in the vicinity of 40-50 pounds of plate steel. Supplier sent a double order and said keep it...cost to much to retrieve it.... and will never use it otherwise. I've been picking away at it for fixtures and jigs.

And of course the forman "barking orders".......

1895 Mery Explosive engine from Gary Martin

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