A BEAM ENGINE

[firebird]

Hi Arnold

Cool will do just fine, thanks.

I have just been out to the workshop to put a new battery in the wife's watch, tricky little things you know, they take a couple of hours to fit : : :

While out there waiting for the battery to do something ;D ;D ;D I tried the valve again and found it a little tight to turn. I think maybe the taper angle should be less steep, if that makes sense. Making ones own taper D bits would be better. Once I had it moving ( a pair of pliers ) it was ok again.

Cheers

Rich

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Nicely detailed post Rich.
Nifty valve that I'll have to remember.

Do you know what you heated the handle to before bending it? Was it red hot?

I'm just asking before several people pop in and say "See Zeep? That's how you do it." :big:

 

[firebird]

Hi Carl

I don't know exactly the temp, I just held it with a pair of pliers and heated it up. Then I could feel when it was ready and just eased it over.

Cheers

Rich

 

[doc1955]

Nice job that's a nice looking valve.
The more I look at this engine the more I feel I need to start looking for some parts to put together and make a version similar to it I REALLY like it!

 

[arnoldb]

Rich, you had to recharge the battery and make sure the watch was keeping time OK afterwards

KN Harris mentions the problem you got with the taper valve in his book on boilers; apparently it works better if you add some grease at assembly, but I can't remember if he specified a specific type of grease. I'll look it up for you if you want to.

Regards, Arnold

 

[firebird]

Hi Doc

I work in the motor trade and its amazing the stuff we now chuck in the scrap bin. More and more parts come as a pre assembled unit. An example is wheel bearings, it's becoming quite common now that the bearing comes complete with its hub/housing/brake drum. The days of pressing bearings in are fast disappearing. You could argue against the waste but I suppose it must be more cost efficient at the point of manufacture. You may have noticed that I used a brake cylinder for the cylinder on this engine. When I first started in this trade it was the norm to buy and fit seal kits to cylinders, cylinders were very rarely changed, now its the norm to fit new and throw the old one away. Still it keeps me in raw material.

Arnold,

if its no trouble I'd be interested to know what type of grease.

Cheers

Rich

 

[arnoldb]

No problem Rich - it's graphite grease.

An excerpt from the book with the bit relating to plug cocks - you might find it useful:

Plug cocks have a bad reputation amongst model engineers, but this
is realiy due more to faults in design and construction, and worse still,
complete neglect in use, than to any inherent faults. Properly made of
suitable materials to correct design, and properly maintained in service
they will give little trouble. For some kinds of work they are to be
preferred to screw down valves. To obtain satisfaction certain principles
in design, manufacture and maintenance must be complied with.
To start with the taper of the plug is important, a taper of 1 in 9 to
I in 9* is satisfactory. Secondly, the plug and the body should always
be made of different materials, say, G.M. for the body and a good grade
of brass (not screw rod quality) for the plug. The plug should be ground
into the body with a soft abrasive, on no account use emery or
carborundum, which will bed in and form a permanent lap, powdered
giass or rottenstone is as good as anything. Lastly, before assembly
the plug should be well greased with graphite grease, and in use should
be removed and regreased at fairly frequent intervals. If a plug cock
starts to leak, take it out and regrind it immediately, it will not take
up on its own, and if neglected may well seize up solid and cause
permanent damage.
One other point relating to design, the holes through the body and
through the plug should not exceed & in. dia. of plug on centre line
of hole, this allows ample overlap when the cock is shut.

Kind regards, Arnold

 

[firebird]

Hi

Here's some more photos of the build.

This is the size and layout of the main mounting plate which is made from 4mm aluminium.



Sizing the plate. This may not be the correct way to hold down a piece this size. I have a piece of chipboard underneath to hold it clear of the table. A large stop at each end and then clamps at each end to hold down. I took very light cuts and had no problems with lift or movement.



cutting out the hole for the flywheel using a 1/8 cutter.



The flywheel hole completed and the two outer crank bearing holes drilled.



The piston that I used as a pedestal is mounted onto the plate with one stud into a gudgeon pin I made from aluminium. That allows for fine adjustment in several planes to get the column lined up.





Here's a shot of the wood base being made. It's a piece of mahogany faced furniture board that I have edged with oak. The oak edging is a bit thicker than the board to leave a bit of space underneath, just enough for the leg (exhaust valves) mounting nuts.



These are the brass mountings that the legs (exhaust valves) screw into. I cut a thread onto the top of each valve stem. I had to heat and quench the end of each valve stem to soften the metal first. I think I used an old 1/4 UNF die to cut the thread.



Each brass mounting has a cap screw silver soldered in. After soldering the cap head was cut off to leave a stud. Each of the 8 mountings is then attached to the main plate with dome nut (visible in earlier photos). The threaded valve is then screwed into the brass mounting which allows for a little adjustment to get all 8 legs sitting flush on the base board. Each valve has been drilled and tapped 3mm into its head and a short stud fitted. 8 corresponding holes are drilled in the base board and nuts fitted underneath. (photos to follow if I can find them)



Here's a couple of shop made brass nuts that secure the outer crank bearing support.



This shot shows where I have made and fitted a couple of stainless steel studs and brass nuts to the beam centre bushes to secure them and stop them turning.



Cheers

Rich

 

[firebird]

Hi Arnold

Thanks for that. We use graphite grease in CV joints. I'll bring some home.

Cheers

Rich

 

[Maryak]

While out there waiting for the battery to do something ;D ;D ;D I tried the valve again and found it a little tight to turn. I think maybe the taper angle should be less steep, if that makes sense. Making ones own taper D bits would be better. Once I had it moving ( a pair of pliers ) it was ok again.

Cheers

Rich

Rich,

I think you mean steeper ??? Shallow tapers ala morse etc. are self locking and you want easier turning hence steeper or higher included angle. From memory I think around 22o included angle.

Hope this helps

Best Regards
Bob

 

[firebird]

Hi Bob

Yes that's what I meant Thm: Thm: Thm:

Cheers

Rich

 

[firebird]

Hi

A bit of experimental work today. I have made a couple of trays to take solid fuel tablets. The reason I made 2 is so that I can have one burning in the boiler and another ready to go in when that one burns out.

The trays are made of aluminium. I draw out the pattern on the computer, print it out and stick it to the sheet aluminium with spray glue.

This is the pattern. The 20mm circles are just to give a guide for a radius at the handle corners.



The 2 patterns stuck to a piece of aluminium plate.



It's then an easy job to cut them out on the bandsaw.





I used a folding machine to fold the tray.



Then over to the brazing hearth to alloy weld/solder the corners.





A lack of concentration and I melted the corner of one tray but it will still be ok.



Here's the two trays so far.



Some small pieces of the aluminium folded.



And welded/soldered to the bottom of the trays as feet.



In practice they work really well. They are designed to hold 4 square tablets which burn for 15 minutes.

Here's a video of the test burn.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmoh7k1B7Gg[/ame]

Cheers

Rich

 

[GWRdriver]

When I first started in this trade it was the norm to buy and fit seal kits to cylinders, cylinders were very rarely changed, now its the norm to fit new and throw the old one away. Still it keeps me in raw material. - Rich

Rich,
I recently discovered this when I went to buy wheel cylinder rebuild kits for my 20 year-old Toyota pickup truck. A new cylinder could be had for less than the rebuild kit I have to think that a combination of lack of skilled people, the price of shop labor time, and to some small extent liability, plays into the shift to replace rather than rebuild.

 

[firebird]

Hi

You're probably right on all counts Harry, and the fact that most of it is made in the far east!

One more part made today, it's a simple turning job that requires no explanation. It's an adapter that fits into the filler plug on top of the steam dome that has a side tapping for the steam valve to fit into and the filler plug fits into the top of that.







Arnold, I tried a bit of graphite grease in the valve and it definitely works more smoothly.

Cheers

Rich

 

[arnoldb]

Great going Rich :bow: That looks marvelous!

Glad to hear the grease does it's job; kudos goes to Mr. Harris for that! I didn't even know the CV joint grease was graphite based - but having replaced a couple on some cars of mine I should have guessed as much :-[ - BLACK stuff - gets everywhere :big:

I'm intrigued to know what you are going to use the other two ports on the steam dome for

Kind regards, Arnold

 

[firebird]

Hi Arnold

The dome has 1 outlet for the steam pressure gauge 3/16 x 40 and 2 outlets 1/4 x 40. The filler on top is tapped 5/16 x 32. Unfortunately there is not enough clearance to screw the steam valve directly into the dome hence the adapter in the top. The 2 outlets in the side will have blanking plugs fitted.

cheers

Rich

 

[firebird]

Hi

Some more photos.

I made a displacement lubricator and a steam/oil separator. They are very similar to the ones I made for my small steam plant, a full description of how they are made can be found there. This lubricator has a drain tap at the bottom.

This shot shows the displacement lubricator ready to be silver soldered together.



This shot shows the steam chest being tapped to accept the lubricator.



This shot shows the cylinder being tapped to accept the separator.



This shot shows the component parts of the steam/oil separator. Unlike the one on the small steam plant the brass base is tapped to take a drain tap.



Ready to be silver soldered together.



The completed separator.



A trial fit. Note the exhaust from the separator is piped up the funnel.



The slide valve fitted. Note the threaded adapter for the exhaust.



A trial fit of the now polished steam chest cover.



The cylinder and steam chest and components ready for assembly.



Cheers

Rich

 

[firebird]

Hi

A happy new year to each and every one of you.

Well it seems ages since I posted anything but I have been busy on other things, tooling being one. I will be posting a couple of bits in the tools section shortly.

The beam engine is progressing, I have been getting the boiler ready for a test steam using the new solid fuel tablets and trays. Mostly stripping and cleaning, not the sort of stuff worth photographing. A couple of new bits though, new brass bungs made for the steam dome.



And a small mod to the steam valve, I have removed the short spring and single nut and replaced them with two nuts locked together.



I have just been round to Julians for some rain water, he has a collection butt at the back of his hot tub, and filtered it twice. All being well I shall have the time for a steam up tomorrow.

Cheers

Rich

 

[firebird]

Hi

I had a good day in the shop today part of which was to carry out a steam test using the solid fuel tablets.

A bit of video is worth a thousand pictures so here it is. I will post some comments and observations shortly.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v30YY1vFKgc[/ame]

Cheers

Rich

 

[firebird]

Hi

One part of the video is missing, some idiot forgot to turn the camera on :wall: :wall: :wall:

about 3/4 of the way through the test I pulled the air supply pipe out and the burner carried on burning quite happily. Could that be when the boiler /casing/funnel warms up it creates its own draught ??? Any thoughts or comments on that one.

I mentioned in the video that the tray handles were too hot to handle so I cut some pieces of wood, 2 to each handle and fixed them on with a couple of copper rivets in each. Much better now.



Another mod I'm making is to the safety valve. The valve itself works beautifully but it does blow steam out sidewards. It's quite harmless and is little more than a quick fizz but it does make onlookers jump when it blows off and would be better I think if it were to expel upwards. There is enough spare thread on the adjuster to screw a cap onto. There are no drawings to this bit, it's made completely by eye.

This photo is of the initial turning of some brass. It's designed to fit 22mm copper pipe.



Over to the mill and rotary table to have 6 1/8 holes drilled.



Back in the lathe to tap the centre 5/16



Then part off.



The two parts



Loosely assembled



Standing at the side of the safety valve



And screwed on





The two parts need to be silver soldered together and polished yet.

Cheers

Rich