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I'm glad to see that the project will be continued. Thank You to all that were involved in making it possible.
--ShopShoe
--ShopShoe
Mark's Monitor Build
- Thread starter dnalot
- Start date
Help Support Home Model Engine Machinist Forum:
Richard Carlstedt
Well-Known Member
Yes, the dedication,skill and commitment that Mark made should not be for naught.
Cudo's to Dana and family for pursuing the project and completing Mark's work.
As we all know, this is seldom found in our hobby and is much appreciated by all, especially
with the skill level displayed by Mark.
Rich
Cudo's to Dana and family for pursuing the project and completing Mark's work.
As we all know, this is seldom found in our hobby and is much appreciated by all, especially
with the skill level displayed by Mark.
Rich
Does anyone have a link to where Mark's build is being completed?
I think this is the individual who took over from Mark.
https://www.steamachinesculpture.com/about
.
https://www.steamachinesculpture.com/about
.
Thanks. I did see that but thought he was going to start a new thread here. I couldn't find his user name here and didn't see the project on his site.
Mark's Monitor project was quite complex, and I am not sure exactly where he left it.
I think Todd Cahill has multiple responsibilities in his position, and so probably he is not able to drop what he is doing to work exclusively on the Monitor (just my guess).
As far as I know, I don't think Todd is a member here, but we would certainly welcome him.
.
I think Todd Cahill has multiple responsibilities in his position, and so probably he is not able to drop what he is doing to work exclusively on the Monitor (just my guess).
As far as I know, I don't think Todd is a member here, but we would certainly welcome him.
.
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Todd updates his Instagram fairly regularly. He purchased a new to him place for home & shop last year and that has occupied most of his time. He recently posted a model he completed for a client, and he is now the "on call" technician for the rolling ball sculptures at Boston/Logan airport. Until he has the house & shop out of permit inspections, I suspect he isn't taking on any work that requires machining. Just a little unfortunate the opportunity to make the house/shop purchase coincided with obtaining the Monitor project.
Thank you very much for the info.
I've not completed any engine work to be honest, I am still learning how to not butcher every piece of material I touch. But I've had a long time interest in the Monitor and that's what lead me here. When I saw the thread, and having had several conversations with Todd while admiring his work, I provided Todd's web site to the family and let Todd know he may be contacted. And asked all that I not be further involved. I was glad to see it work out for the family.
Other than Todd having asked, if needed, to assist with trying to help collect up anything that looked like it was part of the project, I haven't talked to Todd about it at all. I assume it all worked out as Todd didn't follow up with me.
My pleasure. Hope it wasn't disappointing news.
I suspect it will be difficult (but not impossible) for Todd to pick up where Mark left off on his Monitor build.
It is difficult enough for me to keep track of my own projects, must less someone else's.
Setting up a new shop can be quite tedious and time consuming too, not to mention expensive.
If it were me, I think I would rather start a Monitor from scratch, rather than try to pick up in the middle of someone else's build.
Reverse-engineering someone else's work could be very tedious, depending on the state of any drawings and documentation that Mark had.
The odds are stacked against Todd, but fingers crossed, perhaps he will be able to finish up Mark's build.
Side Note:
My dad died in the middle of building of one of two Scientific American engines (mid 2006).
I made an attempt at making a barstock flywheel for this engine, and while I did complete the flywheel after a great deal of cutting what seemed like tons of metal out of a solid cast iron disk, I was not happy with the quality of the flywheel I made (it was one of the first complex things I had attempted to machine).
I will revisit that engine one day, and cast a nice looking flywheel for it.
Edit:
I went back and re-read this thread.
There is not much information about how Mark did his casting work, but some of it seems to involve lost-wax.
His castings are very nice, and I think are in bronze?
The small castings with gears are really impressive.
I would like to see how he made the patterns for those.
Apparently he is using Rich Carlsedt's drawings, so that is a huge plus.
Rich is the gold standard for Monitor engines.
The build progressed quite far along, with the cylinders mounted on the frame, and the crankshaft in place.
With the build being based on Rich's drawings, there is a good possibility that someone could finish it.
The high quality casting work that Mark did would also be very helpful to someone taking over the project.
This build is an interesting mix of castings, CNC work, etc.
A somewhat unique build in many respects.
The status of the build can be seen in the last post from Mark, post #117.
This is quite a complex engine.
The engine is quite far along, and he got further than I remembered.
.
Edit02:
Here is a description by Mark of how he did his casting work, from his post #1.
To make this part and a few other hard to make parts I decided I would need to cast them. So for five months I have been learning how to do investment casting. First I learned how to use a 3D cad program (Fusion 360), Bought 2 3D resin printers and learned how to print 3D patterns with a special casting resin and made a kiln to burn out the pattern. I bought an electric smelter to melt my metal. And I bought vacuum chamber and a pressure pot for getting the air out of the plaster investment.
Everything was a struggle. But after a lot of effort getting my equipment to work properly and a lot of trial and error I have finally started to get some decent results. I have been doing sand casting for many years but this investment casting is a world apart in complexity. But the results are well worth the effort. When everything goes to plan the rough cast parts are well beyond anything I was ever able to do before.
There are NO SHORTCUTS in investment casting. If you plan on giving it a try. Get your wallet out. As a n example a 50 pound box of investment powder cost $44. With shipping and sales tax it came to $162. I tried using scrap metal but could not get repeatable results so I had to buy brass beads made for investment casting $120 for 10 pounds but boy was it worth it. 3D resin for casting is expensive even if you use the lower cost brands. Even the flask deteriorates quickly. Make one mistake and it will cost you $$$ and a lot of time.
Here is a link to my Build of a burnout oven or Kiln https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/marks-kiln-build.33783/
.
It is difficult enough for me to keep track of my own projects, must less someone else's.
Setting up a new shop can be quite tedious and time consuming too, not to mention expensive.
If it were me, I think I would rather start a Monitor from scratch, rather than try to pick up in the middle of someone else's build.
Reverse-engineering someone else's work could be very tedious, depending on the state of any drawings and documentation that Mark had.
The odds are stacked against Todd, but fingers crossed, perhaps he will be able to finish up Mark's build.
Side Note:
My dad died in the middle of building of one of two Scientific American engines (mid 2006).
I made an attempt at making a barstock flywheel for this engine, and while I did complete the flywheel after a great deal of cutting what seemed like tons of metal out of a solid cast iron disk, I was not happy with the quality of the flywheel I made (it was one of the first complex things I had attempted to machine).
I will revisit that engine one day, and cast a nice looking flywheel for it.
Edit:
I went back and re-read this thread.
There is not much information about how Mark did his casting work, but some of it seems to involve lost-wax.
His castings are very nice, and I think are in bronze?
The small castings with gears are really impressive.
I would like to see how he made the patterns for those.
Apparently he is using Rich Carlsedt's drawings, so that is a huge plus.
Rich is the gold standard for Monitor engines.
The build progressed quite far along, with the cylinders mounted on the frame, and the crankshaft in place.
With the build being based on Rich's drawings, there is a good possibility that someone could finish it.
The high quality casting work that Mark did would also be very helpful to someone taking over the project.
This build is an interesting mix of castings, CNC work, etc.
A somewhat unique build in many respects.
The status of the build can be seen in the last post from Mark, post #117.
This is quite a complex engine.
The engine is quite far along, and he got further than I remembered.
.
Edit02:
Here is a description by Mark of how he did his casting work, from his post #1.
To make this part and a few other hard to make parts I decided I would need to cast them. So for five months I have been learning how to do investment casting. First I learned how to use a 3D cad program (Fusion 360), Bought 2 3D resin printers and learned how to print 3D patterns with a special casting resin and made a kiln to burn out the pattern. I bought an electric smelter to melt my metal. And I bought vacuum chamber and a pressure pot for getting the air out of the plaster investment.
Everything was a struggle. But after a lot of effort getting my equipment to work properly and a lot of trial and error I have finally started to get some decent results. I have been doing sand casting for many years but this investment casting is a world apart in complexity. But the results are well worth the effort. When everything goes to plan the rough cast parts are well beyond anything I was ever able to do before.
There are NO SHORTCUTS in investment casting. If you plan on giving it a try. Get your wallet out. As a n example a 50 pound box of investment powder cost $44. With shipping and sales tax it came to $162. I tried using scrap metal but could not get repeatable results so I had to buy brass beads made for investment casting $120 for 10 pounds but boy was it worth it. 3D resin for casting is expensive even if you use the lower cost brands. Even the flask deteriorates quickly. Make one mistake and it will cost you $$$ and a lot of time.
Here is a link to my Build of a burnout oven or Kiln https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/marks-kiln-build.33783/
.
Last edited:
The investment casting work that Mark did is located here.
I have not ventured into the investment casting world, given the complexity and equipment involved, and the patience required (I have neither).
https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/marks-first-investment-casting.33864/
Most impressive work.
I wish he had posted more about his furnace, his alloys, etc.
What a big loss to the hobby when we lost Mark.
.
I have not ventured into the investment casting world, given the complexity and equipment involved, and the patience required (I have neither).
https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/marks-first-investment-casting.33864/
Most impressive work.
I wish he had posted more about his furnace, his alloys, etc.
What a big loss to the hobby when we lost Mark.
.
