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- Apr 3, 2017
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Hi, after some time off machining I got back into the workshop and making swarf! I forgot how good it feels actually. I was searching around looking for a new project and came across an engine that seems to be a bit of a rite of passage if you're into model aero diesels.
The backstory to the engine is quite interesting and there are some great descriptions and build logs:
https://modelenginenews.org/weaver/
https://www.adriansmodelaeroengines.com/catalog/main.php?cat_id=213
And some downloadable plans here:
https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=13726
The plans were imperial and all my kit is metric so I spent some time on CAD finding the nearest metric sizes (round up/down) to simplify things a bit. There were still some long-decimal-place dimensions on the plan but hey ho.
Anyway, a couple of pics for anyone interested. Apologies for the quality of the photos. So much of this first bit was just hocking away chunks of ally on the mill that I was too bored to take pics. I will take better ones as the build progresses.
I'm really happy with the result although the lighting shows up every greasy paw-print. Also, my first crank case has a an unintended flat bottom (as i was too scared to continue for fear of breaking through the thin wall at the bottom. I will sort later with some gentle filing.
The threads for the backplate are M20x0.5. I have never cut one that fine before but all seemed to go quite well. 0.3mm oversize on the male thread and 0.3mm depth of cut resulted in a nice-feeling thread which is totally airtight and enough threads (2-3) on the really thin bit at the top by the hole where the cylinder will go. Strong enough for me to mount the crank case on the backplate while machining the front in the lathe with quite heavy cuts.
Anyway, thanks for looking. More to follow.
The backstory to the engine is quite interesting and there are some great descriptions and build logs:
https://modelenginenews.org/weaver/
https://www.adriansmodelaeroengines.com/catalog/main.php?cat_id=213
And some downloadable plans here:
https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=13726
The plans were imperial and all my kit is metric so I spent some time on CAD finding the nearest metric sizes (round up/down) to simplify things a bit. There were still some long-decimal-place dimensions on the plan but hey ho.
Anyway, a couple of pics for anyone interested. Apologies for the quality of the photos. So much of this first bit was just hocking away chunks of ally on the mill that I was too bored to take pics. I will take better ones as the build progresses.
I'm really happy with the result although the lighting shows up every greasy paw-print. Also, my first crank case has a an unintended flat bottom (as i was too scared to continue for fear of breaking through the thin wall at the bottom. I will sort later with some gentle filing.
The threads for the backplate are M20x0.5. I have never cut one that fine before but all seemed to go quite well. 0.3mm oversize on the male thread and 0.3mm depth of cut resulted in a nice-feeling thread which is totally airtight and enough threads (2-3) on the really thin bit at the top by the hole where the cylinder will go. Strong enough for me to mount the crank case on the backplate while machining the front in the lathe with quite heavy cuts.
Anyway, thanks for looking. More to follow.
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