Its First-Steam-Engine time!!

[Anko]

hello again!

I been a little lazy the past days, lets say like a little break..

After finishing the main structure (the columns, base and the piece that I still dont know how is called ???) I decided to machine all the cylinder parts before weld the main frame, the reason is to be able to make some sort of guide to be able to align square and-in position, the cylinder with respect to the base..

before that I will machine all the main pieces, now I start with the cylinder:

the material is the same that before, but I realize that I will need some special turning tool to be able to machine the smaller diameter, with this tool I will no need the use of a rigth and left hand turning tools..

(the pictures will tell better)

and finish! a new tool is welcome to my life! 8) (but because is a newcomer will no earn its own dedicated QCTP holder yet...and until I can sharpen my end-mills, I think it will be a long waiting for this new fellow, meanwhile it will have to borrow some tool-holder of another more veteran turning tool)

the bigger diameter is machined, now I will machine the smaller one!

And now let's see if it work (I would like to grind the tip of the HSS bit a lot more, and reduce to the half of the width, but my bench grinder wheel is way off-center, and with one hand I have to grab the machine and with the other grind the bit, so it was a little dificult : (almost all my HSS grinder operations are made in a sand belt) but to remove that much, it can be done without a grinder wheel)

if I would be machining steel, I will just turn off the lathe and go to sleep.. but is brass!! so lets give an oportunity :big:

It worked fine!, but the final finish were mmh.. like a cast finish, like pores, but very slightly, some sand paper and the surface get shinny and regular, so no problem at all! 8)

Remember the boring bar that saved my day? 8)

the inner diameter should be 17.00mm, and again with a lot of patience I measure with my telescopic gauge, a micrometer + pin and a caliper, the final cut was made at 2000 RPM and with several pases, the final diameter was arround 17.02 and 17.04 mm as far I can measure, and a very smooth finish, I still can see the tool marks, but I cant feel it with my fingers, so Im satisfied ;D

Now I get back to the emmm that piece ??? I made before, again I trust my screwless vise, and with a little trigonometry I drill the four holes, with no rotary table!, first I center the piece with the spindle using a test dial indicator, arround +/-0.01mm of tolerance, then lock the Y axis, with a edge-finder I get the X axis zeroed at the left extreme of the piece, and then I drill the first two holes (the one of the left, because they have the same X coordinate), and the other two in the same way..

And probably you guessed right, I got a DRO in the Y axis, without him this would be a painfull operation...

and now returning to the cylinder, I use a fly cutter to clean the band saw face, the turned face will be the bottom one thats assembly with the main frame, the milled face will be the top one

and finally I could resist to make a little preview of the engine, the "flywheel" is a old pulley rescued from the scrapyard, when I look at this pulley in the yard I said "mm this one will made a very nice flywheel", then I bought it..

It look good, but the flywheel is the last think I will make, so for this time its only a provisionary wheel ;D

thanks for all the good comments!

I will keep the build process comming!

Saludos!

 

[steamer]

great set up and completion of great parts!

I like it!

Dave

 

[bearcar1]

Your doing a splendid job on that engine. I eally admire the high standard caliber of work you have shown us. Thank you for sharing with us, BRAVO!!

BC1
Jim

 

[danstir]

I really enjoy the creative way you solve your machining problems!

 

[compspecial]

This is excellent workmanship Anko. Bravo!

 

[peatoluser]

Only just stumbled onto this build thread. superb workmanship!
I admire the way you went about fabricating the columns. The soldering jig was well thought out.
like danstir I find the way you solve your machining problems very informative.
will be following this post with interest
yours
peter

 

[Florian]

Hey Anko

First of all; your Steam engine looks great! I know that design and i am not shure but i think i also have plans for it...

And now some things about and experiences i made with boring bars: It is really not simple to make your own boring bars! It took me quite a few time to get them right!
Here on this page(translated by google from german into english), you can see a way to make a boring bar from a solid HSS bar:
http://translate.google.de/translat...tallmodellbau.de/Herstellung_Ausdrehstahl.php

I have made a bar just that way and i must say it works quite fine.
What i have found is; that it is very important that the tool is razor-sharp! If it is not, then it will not make a good surface, especially when turning brass.

If you are having troubles with your indexed-boring bar, it might be because you do not use the right one inserts ?
The ones you should use are the ones usually used to machine aluminum and they are ground and also razor sharp.

Especially with indexed boring bars, you have to watch out that the cutting edge only touches the material and not the lower edge of the insert aswell (or even only the lower edge...)
And this is for the front and for the side of the boring bar!

Another influence is the edge radius of the insert. The bigger it is, the more vibrations will occur! (in situations with low rigidity)


OH, and i have read that you use a belt sander for grinding your tools? (Or is that just for the shape?)
Anyway, if your grinding wheel on your bench grinder is off center, it will never make your tools razor-sharp!
You should therefore get a dressing tool to dress your grinding wheel(s).
But you will have to take the right tool!
This one is only for rough dressing and for large grinding wheels (around 500 mm dia).
For small wheels you should use somehting like a TETRABOR-dresser or something like this one
They are not even expensive, somehting around 12 $

I guess if your wheel is off center now, there is a chattering sound when you are sharpening somehting?
If it is dressed correctly, there will only be a hissing noise.


Cheers Florian

 

[metalmad]

Thats looking Great
will be watching this post for sure
Pete

 

[steamer]

A damn site better fit, finish and design than my first engine!

:bow:

Dave

 

[Anko]

whoa! thanks for the very nice comments!, it's very encouraging!

Florian: Thats is a very interesting article, the boring operation for my is one of the most painfull ones (cut-off comes second ;D) because the dificult to measure and the limited sizes and rigidity of the tools, and ofcouse the finish.. I will definitely try!

and about the bench grinder, mine is a cheap one, with large wheels in a 16mm spindle, and the dressing tools I can get here are too overpriced, I have try for a while to get a small import of grizzly tools, with those cheap diamont dressers, but still Im stopped with shipping coutes and stuff...

after this engine I´m planning to made a small overhaul to my bench grinder to improve it and transform intro a funcional tool grinder..

Thanks for sharing!

Dave: I too impressed! I did not think that would result in this way but in the almost year that I´m registred in the forum I have learned a lot reading all the building post! (although I did not post that much, because it takes me a good time writing in English)

but obviously not everything can go as well as far ... Now I will show why :big:



For this build I always check the alingnation after some heavy mill operation (in mini-mill concept), its a good practice, in this case I read an 0.005 mm in the 3" fixed jaw, a little touch and I set the vise parallel the X axis, as far as I can see in the dial

Now I have to machine the steam ducts in the cylinder, I have seen that the common drill the ducts angled, but in this engine the ducts are straight through the cylinder wall, then are revealed through a milled face.

the cylinder shape is full-cylindrical ( :big, so I have to think a way to drill the two ducts in the same line (in the opposite faces of the cylinder), so I make a reference cut in the middle of the cilinder, and with a special parallel I will be able to clamp the cylinder in the vise using the reference cut, then I can flip the piece and put in the same way, and drill in line the two ducts that way

(ofcourse this metod requieres a lot of edge finder operation)

again pics will tell better :

now that the 2 ducts are drilled, it's time to mill the outside face to reveal the ducts, with the test dial I setup the cylinder using the reference cut

I clamp the cylinder in the vise using parallels to allow the micrometer in, and be able to measure the correct heigth of the cut

the result ;D

Now it's time for the valve part of the cylinder:

again with the micrommeter

and ;D

And finally I finish with the shape of the piece, I put a lot of effort to make it very accurate for the engine to run smooth

Now comes the not so funny part........

the channels of the valve are 2mm width, the smaller end mill I have are 3/16" (4.76 mm), and all the 1/8" end mill I have owned are broken :.. so I got a dremel engraving mill, 1.6 mm diameter to make the channels

I really not have experience in micro milling, besides broken three 1/8" end mills ;D, so I make the cuts with the mill maximun speed, doing in pases of 0.25mm deep, and worked fine, but in some point.....

ARRGGHHH!!! #$%"#%

but the 2mm channels were milled successful, the mill broke in the 3mm exhaust channel, so I piked another 3mm round dremel tool and finish the cut..but afther that I realized that I not corrected the change in diamener (1.6 to 3 mm) in the X axis.. so the exhaust channel was 1.7mm oversized...#$$&

I took my time to think.. I realized that it may still work with a little modification of the other parts, or maybe without it... but I dont want to take the risk (because this valve piece are welded to the cylinder) so it will go direct to the scrap box and I will make the piece again..

Still I got to deal with the 2mm cuts.. now Im thinking to get some round dremet tool (2.0 mm) like this:

or simple drill 2mm holes in line instead of mill channels? ???

anyway..

All mistakes are welcome as learning experiences, so the angry moments pass quickly 8)


thanks for the support! I will keep coming!

Saludos!

 

[bearcar1]

Ankp, I'm sorry for your troubles but glad to hear that you are not giving up. I certainly have enjoyed seeing how you have overcome your obstacles and truly am anxious to see the finished engine. I sure I'm not alone either, Some fine work, Thm: keep it up.


BC1
Jim

 

[Florian]

Hey Anko

Well, i wonder why you are using those dremel "millers" instead of real millers?
At least here in Switzerland, those dremel tools are not cheap at all... in Fact, a 2mm Mill even costs less than such a dremel engraving cutter!

Cheers Florian

 

[steamer]

Hi Anko,

Into everyday a little rain must fall. You will get there my friend...just keep going, your doing great!

It's looking Awesome buddy!

Saludos!

Dave

 

[Anko]

Thans for the support Dave and jim!

Florian: well, here in Chile the smaller real end mill I am able to find is a HSS 3mm 4 flutes, and the problem is that I need to cut a 2mm channel, the dremel bit I broke costs a little more than 1/3 of the price of the 3mm end mill, so there is a few little options to go on..

I still not resolve the 2mm problem, maybe that round dremel bit will work better because is more robust than the engrabing bit.. or better stop sufering and drill lots of 2mm holes in line ???

sorry but I have no pics today , Im been a little busy fighting for a educational reform in my country : and starting a new rock band

but the pics will come!

Saludos!

 

[arnoldb]

Nice work Anko Thm:

The row of holes would most likely be your best bet - or drill the holes and then use the dremel bit to open them up to a slot with multiple fine cuts. The engraving bit does not like to remove a lot of metal in one go.

Regards, Arnold

 

[JorgensenSteam]

Anko-

I have had trouble milling ports with small bits (0.125" dia), and experience a lot of breakage, especially if the port gets very deep.

I tried pre-drilling holes first, and that works better, but does not leave as clean a port.

My thoughts are to build a dremel milling machine just to mill ports, since the dremel will stall out on torque before it breaks the bit.

Pat J

 

[mzetati]

Anko-

I tried pre-drilling holes first, and that works better, but does not leave as clean a port.

My thoughts are to build a dremel milling machine just to mill ports, since the dremel will stall out on torque before it breaks the bit.

Pat J

Pat,

I recently drilled a row of undersized holes, as close to each other as I could get them, and then plunged the mill into one of them to full depth to clean all the area in a single passage.
1/8 wide port, 3mm end mill, 9mm deep port: worked perfectly (for my standards).
The high rpm of a dremel milling machine would help, but MY small cutters break because of the feed, not the speed (though they are related).

A couple of years ago I purchased a good supply of cutters in the small sizes (1-4mm) from CTCTools http://www.ctctools.biz/servlet/the-230/2-FLUTE-HSS-AL/Detail, in HK:
in my opinion, Dormer cutters are better, but they do not last longer (in my hands).

Marcello

 

[Florian]

I still not resolve the 2mm problem, maybe that round dremel bit will work better because is more robust than the engrabing bit.. or better stop sufering and drill lots of 2mm holes in line ???

Well, you could as already mentioned make some holes in a line and then use the dremel cutter to convert it into a slot.

Another Possibility would be to fix a Dremel (or other Brand) tool to your milling head and then make those slots with the full rpm the dremel provides.
Just like it has been done on this one.

Those cutters are designed to be guided by hand and therefore have a very low cutting force induced. Also they only take very few material with every teeth. And they rather scrap than cut the material. (because of their geometry with almost 0° rake angle)
In the end it means that they should be used with high rpm so enough material can be taken away when using it on the mill.

Cheers Florian

 

[Anko]

Hi to all again!

I really apologise for the people that was looking forward this built, truth is that between the university and work I was having very little spare time to share in a lot of activities, so I put my little steam engine build on standby, until now

Im close to have vacations, I still have to do a couple of exams to close my academic semester, but hell with that!

I still don't solve the 2 mm steam ports issue, in the meanwhile I will make all the other parts of the main column, like this one:

The part that unites the bottom emm "guide" part and the cilinder, is a little plain 35 mm diameter piece with a hole to pass the main shaft, the dificult part was to make all the way concentric, because both faces of the piece enters the bore of the cilinder and the bottom other part, pics will tell better:

The right one is the first try, the left is the current piece:
the first try: all was going on well, the hole for the main shaft is a 5 mm centre hole, I think "if this hole is not a tight fit, the cilinder will lose compresion trought the gap between the shaft and the hole", so I wanted to use a reamer in the hole of the exactly diameter of the shaft, so I pick a 5 mm silver steel rod to make the shaft and the reamer.

I make the reamer with a popular design that I have seen in this forum and around the net, just pick the silver steel rod, grind a plain face at 30° and then harden it.

I do that, then for reaming first I drill a 4.8 mm hole, and then use the reamer, the result was a oversize hole, too bad , at first I believed that maybe my speed was too fast, or the feed, the reamer was well done.
I picked some scrap brass and make some test (should have done this first!) and no matter what combination of speeds and feed I put, all holes came out oversized, then I grind the tip of the reamer in a effort to make it work right, but it was not good at all... ???

Then I decieded to make my own ugly looking reamer, I pick the silver steel rod again, put some cutting lips with a dremel by hand, then harden it and give a try.

The result was a much more close sized hole, I'm not sure how close, but close enough I hope, this is a pick of the reamers:

Lucky for me, this piece has a threaded end to put a bushing for the main shaft, so I cut this face first, then I made a special threaded piece that fit this thread, and this way I can "chuck" the piece concentric to cut the other face, and I saved the tedious job of chuck the piece and centered it with a dial indicator.

Then, in my eagerness to make a perfect fit with all that respect he cylinder, I put some polishing grease in the union of these two pieces and joint then, one still chucked in the lathe, then I turn on the lathe at low speed and put some force, the two faces grind themselves and make a good joint:

Progress:

This was all for today...
I hope to make more progress soon, again I apologize for the people looking forward this built, its good to be back!

Saludos!

 

[ronkh]

Anko,

Good to see you back on it Thm:
For sure, do not worry about time spent away from it. The main thing is to enjoy the time you do have on it!

Kind regards,

Ron.