A "Wallaby" of my own

[steamer]

Hi All,

OK so after some proding by a few of you, I decided I would start my own build thread on a Wallaby 2 cylinder in line twin as designed by Westbury. I am starting with the same castings that Metalmad is using on his great build thread, and to be honest, I wanted to not post this build until Pete was finished...But I think he's close enough now. Nice Build if you haven't looked !

I would like this engine to be "marine" like so I will be building it along the lines of a small ship's engine.

I would like to build it along according to the plans and won't be modifying it much beyond piping perhaps.
I've taken a couple of initial cuts on the main block and will be doing some other work on it perhaps this weekend.

I do need to point out that my family and SB overhaul are the number one priorities and I am currently balancing that against my finances and my job which is going NUTS right now....and I suspect that won't change for a few months.

I will be building this engine as time permits, and from the perspective of cash flow with as much of my own infrastructure as possible.....I may make some gear cutters for instance .....

So I ask that your patient .....this will take a while.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[vcutajar]

Dave

And I thought you were going to say you would finish it in a couple of months. :big: :big:

I pulled my deckchair, umbrella and cocktail and will follow your version of the Wallaby. No hurry. As somebody said "One good part at a time".

Vince

 

[tvoght]

The Wallaby is such a neat looking engine. I've been enjoying metalmad's build, and I'll enjoy yours.

--TIm

 

[steamer]

Tim and Vince,
Thank you for your kind comments and support!
I have some pictures.....and there is one more set up i want to complete
ill post tonight
Dave

 

[ozzie46]

I'll be following along as well. I'm not going anywhere for a spell, so make chips when you can.

Ron

 

[tel]

Don't get too hung up on the gears Dave, I know a bloke - with references!

 

[ShedBoy]

Lookin forward to it. No rush

Brock

 

[steamer]

Ron, Tel and Brock,

Thanks for the interest!

Tel, I may take you up on that.....then again it's been a while since I cut a gear....we'll see.

Thankyou!.....

OK

Its a start
The two halves faced in the lathe using the 4 jaw...no pic of the set up. The key here is to get the bolt flange all the same thickness all the way around after facing off.

I then faced the other side of the block in the mill to .04 over in height ( 3.350") and I checked for parallelism. I then registered the two pieces together with superglue so I can drill the sump bolts (#5-40) for a close fit. That will drive the rest of the machining.

Here they are all ready for the bolt holes to be drilled.

Next up will be turning the spigot on the timing case. I have a very specific order of operations planned for this engine, so it involves making a bunch of the various bits first before all the machining is done on the block. One of these is the timing gear cover.. I'll be doing that one on the faceplate with one of my subplates shown here.

I started it by using a flat file to dress the back face somewhat flat....just so it doesn't rock and the it's about the same thickness all the way around.

The center spigot will be turned round and straight and then bored. That will be datum for the rest of the cover.
I have a little box of little straps I made years ago. They're #10 and 1/4-20. Perfect for small parts...you make them then you wonder how you ever got along with out them!

We progress.....

Dave

 

[metalmad]

This is Gunna be so cool ;D
this will officially be my favorite build :big:
Pete

 

[bezalel2000]

Hay Dave,

I am definitely looking forward to this one.

I like the subplate :bow: ( now there's another tool I need! ) :

Cheers

Bez

 

[steamer]

Hey Bez and Pete,

Thanks guys....I'm going to try to show setups as I go. I'm also going to do most of this on the lathe. I'm lathe centric and as a result, I will try to demonstrate the versitility of the lathe. I think the novices on the board might benefit from seeing what you can do with inexpensive fixtures and some ingenuity. Additionally, my big mill...Norm, isn't as young as he used to be and for vice work, he's alright, but the table is crowned a bit. That shouldn't matter much on small parts like these though.

I will preface that the methods I'm showing may not be the best way, but are way's that I know will work, and with tooling that is pretty available to most people here. The sub plate above is an example of that. It' just a piece of aluminum, with an array of 1/4-20 tap drilled holes in it. It doesn't need to be rectangular! I also added two 1/2" holes for 3/8" bolts to hold this plate to my 10" faceplate in my Logan. Now my 12" Logan is bigger than "most" hobbiest lathes...Mr rkepler's Monarch 10EE aside ;D, and I'm sure I am missing a few others... but the "METHOD" is exactly the same for a 7X lathe...so you guys that are "new" to lathes, don't let the lathes size throw ya. It's all the same.

Why a faceplate? Well a faceplate is a cool item. It allows enormous eccentricities, while maintaining a common perpendicular Datum. Even a 4 jaw is not a versitle as a faceplate in that regard. It also allows nearly infinte flexibility in regards to fixturing a part to the faceplate....straps, screws, bolts wedges,...ad nauseum! can be made to work on a faceplate. Additionally it is a great platform for dedicated fixtures.

It isn't as quick change as say a 3 jaw or a collet....but then a collet can't hold an engine timing case cover!

My Faceplate is large and heavy. I made it that way the rim is 1" thick. It started life as a large chuck backplate.

The subplate is aluminum. I don't see why it couldn't, for some applications, be made of plywood! It just needs to be stable and rigid enough to take the cut.

A caution! Faceplates can be dangerous. It can be festoned with clamps and straps and parts and bolts. It can be out of balance! Before you run it , it needs to be turned through 1 complete revolution! This is to make sure you don't strike anything on the lathe with the faceplate, part or faceplate furniture.....yes that is what they call it.

Then it must be balanced!

Here's an example of a set up with balance weights.

In this case, the two bores needed to be parallel.

Here's one modifying a dividing head footstock...this worked really well

And one of the bare faceplate on the Logan

Faceplates need lots of caution and good judgement and shouldn't be run fast, but they are really cool and solve a lot of problems.

Dave

 

[tvoght]

Count me as one novice ready to be schooled in lathe-centric methods.

--TIm

 

[steamer]

Tim,

Thankyou for your interest. I will never claim to be a "master" lathe guy. You could run a lathe all your life and not learn it all, But I sure know alot about what NOT to do!......ask me how I learned that.... :big:

When I started, all there was were books...no internet! if I had this medium, It would have been a lot easier! Just trying to give some back.

Dave

 

[Ramon]

Just picked up on your new thread Dave - you're off to a fine start Thm: Thm:. Time isn't of the essence it's the doing that's the best bit. I've often thought about doing a 'Seal' and fitting it in to something like a Thames 'Slipper Launch' but it's just a dream. I shall never live long enough as it is let alone adding more to the list

I shall however, follow along with interest so count me in too

Regards - Ramon

 

[compspecial]

Dave, my brain is like a sponge, waiting to soak up all the information it can .I feel like I'm learning already!
Stew.

 

[steamer]

Your very kind Stew....I ask that the "old hands" comment and share on set ups as I go.,,,not to get to far off topic mind you , but to add value and teach.

Dave

 

[RonGinger]

Dave, are you going to show Rollies faceplate setup fixture? To me that is the whole secret to using a face plate.

 

[steamer]

I should! I made one for my Atlas (1 1/2-8) but never got around to making one for the Logan 2 1/4-8 :big:

Guess I'll have too.... :big:

To all who may not know, Ron is refering to Rolland Gaucher, a mentor and friend of mine and many. This man is GOOD, and a heck of a guy. And he LOVES faceplates.

I think it's safe to say Rollie is "Mr Faceplate".....though as of late, he's in love with his CNC mill..... ;D

If you have never seen Rollie's 1/4 scale Bentley BR2 rotary aircraft engine in full song, you should!

Dave

 

[Don1966]

Hi Dave just read you thread and I too will be following along. I need some education myself. Love the faceplate I need to build one of those. I have a T Slot face plate I made which was featured on Home Shop Machinist Magazine. Have not put it to use yet so I need education on setups.

Don

 

[RonGinger]

I dont see how you can really do faceplate work with out Rollies fixture. I dont have a photo, but here is a brief description.

A piece of 2" angle iron, about 12" long is the base. Near one end is fixed a good ball bearing, with a stub end turned to match your lathe spindle. Rollie used a Volvo water pump bearing about 2" long with about a 1/2" shaft.

You first clamp the angle in your vise, with the top horizontal, spindle pointing up. You screw on your faceplate, which is now in a horizontal position. You can freely spin it as you mount the work on it. Near the other end of the angle is a rod to hold a DTI

In this position you can adjust the work until it runs true, with gravity helping to hold down all the furniture and work until its positioned and clamped.

Once its all running true you switch the angle iron in the vise so the faceplate is now vertical. In this position its easy to adjust the balance by adding weights and spinning the faceplate.

Once the work is running true and balanced you just unscrew the faceplate and transfer it to your lathe, ready to run.

This is the same Rollie of the 'Rollies Fathers Method' of lathe alignment, I would not be surprised if it was actually Rollies dad that came up with this fixture.