E Z Engine No2

[b.lindsey]

Phantom...that turned out beautifully...I know you must be all smiles . Bueatifully finished too!! Thanks for these latest pics

Bill

 

[Phantom0_1]

Bill
Thanks for the compliment.
I get a big smile every time I look at it.
It has succeeded in all the ways I wanted it to, so I am very happy with the result.

Regards
Tony

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Nicely done Tony.
I saw the pics at work but couldn't watch the video until I got home.
Congratulations!

 

[chucketn]

<The cups for the ball joints are kept in place by the connecting rod entering into the cup bellow the ball a couple of turns and acting as a retaining pin.>

Phantom, can you elaborate on your "ball joints", please? Maybe a sketch, or a reference to look up? I don't understand how you made them.

Chuck in E. TN.

 

[fcheslop]

Hi Phantom, Truly beautiful really enjoyed the video .Thank you
regards Frazer

 

[njl]

Hi Tony, congratulations on building a nice runner.

I Like your ball link solution to get all the axial movements needed on the valve push rod. You certainly got yourself a very nice gleaming finish on the parts too. How did you do that? Mine is still in the raw state awaiting the finishing bling, I was thinking of painting mine but I must say I do like your mirror finishing.

Nick

 

[black85vette]

Great finish on the parts. Looks sharp! The ball joints are an outstanding touch and add a lot to the engine. Thm:

 

[Phantom0_1]

Hi guys
Thanks very much for your encouragement and support, as you can probably tell I have really enjoyed building the E Z engines.
They are a brilliant way to start making engines and get a feel for what machining is all about, the designs and instructions are a credit to the people who worked on them.

Regards
Tony

 

[Phantom0_1]

Hi Chuck
perhaps I didnt use the right terminology in describing the ball joints, basically the rod just screws into the cup and up against the lower part of the ball, stopping the cup from coming off.
My origional sketch was very rough and didnt scan very well, I have done another, hopefully it will explain it better than I can in words.

Regards
Tony

 

[Phantom0_1]

Hi Njl
I have to admit that polishing/cleaning up is fairly straight forward for me, I worked in the metal finishing industry for a short while and learned the basics of metal polishing then.
In the case of my E Z engines I haven't spent long doing them, polishing just the aluminium parts.
It is very easy! starting with P80 grit paper taped down to a flat plate to get the scratches and extrusion marks out by rubbing it across the paper 90 degrees to the marks with a bit of oil to lubricate things.
I then doubled the grit to 160 and moved the face of the part across at 90 degrees to the new marks made by the 80 grit paper when those marks had disappeared I then moved on to 320 grit and so on till I was using 1200 grit.
A small tip is not to push the part into the paper too hard, but to rub the part on the paper gently holding it in the middle so that you wear the surface evenly and the paper does all the work for you.
The final polish/finish was with solvol autosol metal polish rubbed in a circular motion to give it a nice shine.
The parts were then de greased and the abrasive polish removed by washing them with detergent and rinsing off with clean warm water. before drying them with a soft cloth.
Regards

Tony

 

[chucketn]

Thanks Tony, for the sketch. I understand it now. Where did you find such a clever idea?

Chuck in E. TN

 

[black85vette]

Nice description of the ball joints. Looks fairly straight forward. How did you make the ball ends?

 

[Deanofid]

Congratulations Tony! I missed it running a couple of days ago, and just saw the vid today.
Something to be proud of. Nice job!

Dean

 

[Phantom0_1]

Hi black85vette

Making the ball ends turned out to be not too difficult in the end, but I had to experiment a bit first.
I made a form tool out of an old file, but the mini lathe didn't like me using it ( prob trying to cut too much metal too quickly) with it.
To help it out I rough turned the balls, by turning steps, and made the threaded stem then just finished off with the tool.
The form tool was just a hole drilled into a file then hack sawed in half across the hole leaving a half circle in the tool.

Regards
Tony

 

[Phantom0_1]

Hi Chuck

A long time ago, about 20 years ish, when I was young and full of energy I used to be into racing classic motorcycles.
The racing lads tend to come up with novel solutions to problems on their bikes, I cant say for certain but I think that I where I have seen these ball joints before.
Probably used as part of a gear linkage or rear brake rod, or something.

Regards
Tony

 

[njl]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the finishing info, I feel some finishing experiments coming on. Thm: What are you going to make next then? I'm thinking of a double acting cylinder for my next engine. Probably a wobbler style.

Nick

 

[Phantom0_1]

Hi Nick

Hope you are successful with cleaning up your E Z engine, it isn't very difficult to do and the results are worth the effort. ;D
At the moment I have the lathe in bits, doing the tapered Gib mod, the factory fitted system keeps coming loose and its driving me crazy as it causes problems facing and parting off.
My next build is probably going to be Poppin, I don't have a flame eater in my collection of old engines and I think it will make a change from steam, plus I like the way that they run and the noises they make.

Regards
Tony

 

[fcheslop]

Hi Tony, you will enjoy building poppin they run really well and work straight from the drawings.I am slowly building one now I have my sight back to a level that I can at least see the lathe and a normal computer screen
best wishes Frazer