Another Edwards 5 Radial

[Rdean33422]

Jos thank you that is a good idea and we were thinking along the same path but only square lifters.

I wanted to change the valve lifter design from the plans to one that had roller bearing ends. The original 1/8" lifter holes were enlarged to 3/8" for some brass bushings to fit in. I was concerned that if I used round lifters with a bearing they would try and turn sideways and bind up. (not good)
1/4" square brass stock with the roller in the end was my favorite style but how do I make a square hole in the brass bushings?
I could buy a square broach but that was too expensive and the brass rod varied in thickness so it would be a sloppy fit if I went that route.
I tried making a broach twice but that didn't turn out too well either.
I decided to machine the inside of the bushings on my CNC using a 1/8" end mill instead but that left material in the four corners of the square because the end mill is round. I could have removed the four corners with a file but decided to just cut the corners off the square rod instead.



Ten bushings and ten lifters.


Closeup of the lifters.


With the bushings installed in the housing


Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[petertha]

That's an interesting modification. So can you insert the roller lifter assembly from outside the nose case, or is the wheel wider & you need to insert from inside out? (It almost looks like roller wheel is slightly less wide?). How is the axle retained in the brass body? Will you harden the wheel or leave it stock?

 

[Rdean33422]

The sealed roller is slightly less than 1/4" so I can insert the lifters from the outside. The axle is a light press fit.
The roller bearings are sealed and hardened from the factory.

Ray

 

[Steamchick]

Ray, that is a really neat solution! - Well done Sir! You get my Star for this month's inovation and workmanship. I'm sure I'll use your idea somehwere. Just cannot figure out when or why ... yet.
K2

 

[Rdean33422]

I never got a star before, Thank you

This is like the cam gear that I made, the solution is simple and right there in front of me if only I could see it.

Ray

 

[ozzie46]

I still can't figure out how you cut the internal ring gear with a round involute gear cutter.

Ron

 

[Rdean33422]

Ron I cut the gear on my CNC machine in three steps. First I ran the program with a 0.125 end mill to release the center section. Then I used a 0.0625 end mill to get closer to the final depth and finished with a 0.03125 end mill at 4" a minute. That left me with the corner radius of the smallest end mill in each tooth corner. I was going to try to file that out but it has not caused any problems.


Only one picture today as I had to mow the lawn first.
I made the rear cover and polished it. The washers are covering up some misaligned holes. I was very careful marking them I thought but I didn't take into consideration the phase of the moon. (In other words I messed up)


I will be leaving on a 9 day cruise tomorrow so no new progress until I get back but I will be monitoring the forum.

Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[ozzie46]

Ron I cut the gear on my CNC machine in three steps. First I ran the program with a 0.125 end mill to release the center section. Then I used a 0.0625 end mill to get closer to the final depth and finished with a 0.03125 end mill at 4" a minute. That left me with the corner radius of the smallest end mill in each tooth corner. I was going to try to file that out but it has not caused any problems.


Only one picture today as I had to mow the lawn first.
I made the rear cover and polished it. The washers are covering up some misaligned holes. I was very careful marking them I thought but I didn't take into consideration the phase of the moon. (In other words I messed up)
View attachment 146090

I will be leaving on a 9 day cruise tomorrow so no new progress until I get back but I will be monitoring the forum.

Thanks for looking
Ray

I don't have CNC, thanks .
Ron

 

[Rdean33422]

Back from my cruise and ready to get back in the shop. Having plenty of time to think on the build I decided not to have an oiling system. This engine will never be on an airplane or ran for more than 5 minutes at a time. I do need a way to eisiely oil the engine components.
I didn't like the rear cover anyway so I made a new one with access slots so I could get to all the places that need oiling including the timing gears.


I also made it a little larger so the bolt holes would line up without washers.



Motor mounts will be remade to allow for more room at the rear of the engine.
Maybe tomorrow.

Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[josodl1953]

Most - if not all - commercial model 4-stroke engines rely on blow-by lubrication which means that two-stroke fuel with about 20% oil is used. Since there is always an amount of oil leaking past the piston to the crankcase this provides enough lubrication for the conrod and timing gear. I separated the crankcase and the cam housing by omitting the holes between crankcase and the cam gear. I use gear oil to lubricate the cam gear, filled through a filler plug at the top of the cam housing because I want -- in a distant future - to put it on a plane.

Jos

 

[Rdean33422]

I made some new engine supports that are longer and shaped to make a larger area in the rear of the engine. There are many things that will go into that space so why not get some extra room.
It looks like something NASA would shoot into space. (not intentional)


And the bottom view.


Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[Steamchick]

Lovely to watch a good quality build...
K2

 

[Rdean33422]

Very kind of you Steamchick Thank you

Not much progress today as these took for ever to make and just one picture.

I made and installed some more brackets and started work on the side plates.


Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[danallen]

I have been following your build and it looks great so far. One question - have you sourced the ring gear that runs the cam yet? I have the plans and hope to start soon but I am having trouble locating this gear.

 

[Rdean33422]

The ring gear was too expensive for me and had a long lead time so I made my own gears.
Read about it on post #16
Welcome aboard

Ray

 

[Rdean33422]

You may be wondering why I am making mounting brackets now and not working on some other more important part. Well I just got tired of chasing the engine across the work bench. No matter how you try to hold it it turns and twists away from you.
I think this will tame the slippery beast and still allow me access to all the parts.


The back is wide open.


Other side.


This will be mounted on a nice cedar board that I have.

Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[Rdean33422]

Some pictures of the engine mounted on the cedar board.





Now the board comes off for finishing.

Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[Steamchick]

Sensible. It is just what the professionals use. At one time, my brother designed the equivalent rig for building Rolls Royce jet engines on, then running up and testing at full power. They needed a bigger bench than yours!
In the car factory, there are hundreds of jigs for the various stages of engine assembly, including the jigs for holding engines on the routine run-up and setting benches. When you make 1 engine a minute, a 10 minute test requires 10 test benches, 10 jigs, plus 10 for mounting and dismounting. Otherwise the line stops! But the line varies across 5 different engines!
Lots of jigs!
K2

 

[Rdean33422]

I took the base board off and proceeded to install 4 rubber feet. Now I know that cedar is brittle and prone to splitting but I just pushed ahead and tried to put in a screw. Yup the whole side split off about 6" long so I will make a new base from poplar.

This engine will have CDI ignition and needs a magnet hub for the six magnets to mount to. First I milled a key way in the crankshaft for the hub to index on.


Then I made a blank hub for the magnets to mount on about 1/2" wide with a slot to match the crank key.
Put it all together to check for fit. When the ignition parts come in I will mill holes for the magnets in this hub. This will set the course ignition timing for the engine and moving a slotted hall sensor will be the fine adjustment.



My propeller came in a few days back and I couldn't help my self but make a spinner for the engine to see how it all looked.



This is how it turned out.


And a closeup.


Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[danallen]

Since you are adding a magnet hub (6 magnets?) you are going with spark ignition. You are mounting the hub directly on the the crankshaft and not on a reduction geared shaft. I'm guessing you are going with a waste spark system? I have been trying to figure out how to get a distributor to run at at half crank speed.