And dad built three hot air engines, from various published designs.
Here are some photos of dad's multitude of engines/car/steam bikes that he built.
He started I think with the extremely simple wobbler that had the wood frame, and built ever-increasingly complex engines as he learned.
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I must agree, young people are not building things like they use to.
We made crystal radios, all sorts of electro-mechanical gizmos, model airplanes (which had a half life of about 1 day after they were finished), model rockets, mini-bikes, scooters made from a 2x4 with roller skate wheels, you name it.
The balsa that was in those early airplane kits was really featherweight.
You can't even buy that quality balsa anymore.
I am scheming to make a Trawler, and debating on the size, but perhaps something between 36" and 72" long.
I have not made a model boat yet, but would really like to make a model Frisco Standard gas engine to put in it.
I have the Frisco Standar about designed.
I am a poster child for learning how to machine and design engines, and make castings, late in life.
I learned it all starting in earnest in about 2009.
Some Frisco Standard screen captures below.
Patterns will be 3D printed, and the parts cast in gray iron.
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JasonB (the prolific builder from the UK) figured out the helical gear design for me; I was stumpted on that to say the least.
I did not realize you could have two helical gears the same diameter, with teeth angles that give a 2:1 ratio.
Somehow I thought the gear diameters had to be 2:1, but they can actually be the same diameter (I still don't quite understand it exactly).
These gears will be cast in gray iron, and with resin-bound sand, I think I can cast them accurately enough so that they can be used without machining them, other than the hole for the shaft.
I intend to let the resin-sand harden fully, then heat the mold enough to get the 3D gear print hot enough to become flexible enough to carefully removed from the mold. I am not going let the plastic get molten, else it will imbed in the sand.
With ceramic mold wash, the finish should be bright and shiny, with no sand grain imprint in the castings.
The resin-bound sand is quite accurate, and this method will produce an exact copy of the gears, since it is much like the lost wax method, but far easier and simpler than lost wax.
The ceramic mold coat mimics what would be used in the lost wax process, and produces an excellent grain-free surface finish.
And the entire helical gear machining process is sidestepped by casting the gears.
No special cutters needed since there is no machining, and the gears can be 3D printed in any size, to any scale, without having to adhere to standard gear cutter sizes.
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WOW! That is an extremely impressive "resume" of your Dad's work! Do you still have those? Would make a nice museum display!Here are some photos of dad's multitude of engines/car/steam bikes that he built.
He started I think with the extremely simple wobbler that had the wood frame, and built ever-increasingly complex engines as he learned.
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That is a gorgeous work for a first one! Curiosity makes me ask: What is that white assembly in the background of the second picture?This is my one and only engine to date, but I have so many in the design stage.
Unfortunately I am still a working stiff, and may remain that way for quite some time, baring a stroke-out or something like that.
Every machining step had to be made up in my head, and the majority of the machining steps were a first for me.
This engine basically picked up where my dad left off, but with the parts cast in 356 aluminum, and the flywheel cast in gray iron, in the backyard foundry.
It is a rather difficult task to come in behind someone who had built 38 engines, especially if you don't know how to build an engine, which was the case for me when I began this engine in 2012.
It was a steep learning curve to say the least.
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I have never seen one like that before. Imagining how it works, "Vane" type oscillator. sure would like to see plans for it. Do you know what it is called?
I have the same 3D printer! Great choice. I added the MMU2 to mine, can print 5 different colors/materials. Colors easy, different materials can be a bit tricky.
I still have 16 of them and access to 2 that other family members have, so I can take 18 to shows.WOW! That is an extremely impressive "resume" of your Dad's work! Do you still have those? Would make a nice museum display!
I guess you are talking about the linear plastic bag dispenser.That is a gorgeous work for a first one! Curiosity makes me ask: What is that white assembly in the background of the second picture?
That is the Robertson Semi-Rotary.I have never seen one like that before. Imagining how it works, "Vane" type oscillator. sure would like to see plans for it. Do you know what it is called?
I researched it online, and so far I can't find any reference to it, even from some very notable helical gear manufacturers who have a great deal of information on their websites.I have the same 3D printer! Great choice. I added the MMU2 to mine, can print 5 different colors/materials. Colors easy, different materials can be a bit tricky.
I am a retired machine design engineer, but never heard of different ratio's with the same diameter gears! I will have to check that out.
I like the Prusa, but I wish the bed was about twice as big.I have the same 3D printer! Great choice. I added the MMU2 to mine, can print 5 different colors/materials. Colors easy, different materials can be a bit tricky.
I am a retired machine design engineer, but never heard of different ratio's with the same diameter gears! I will have to check that out.
I have never used it, and like many things on dad's shelf, I don't know how to use it.
I guess get a part hot, and then dunk it into the Kasenit, and don't breath the fumes.
I still have much to learn, but have been focusing on the foundry side of things, and making castings in gray iron, so not really using bar stock and steel.
Is steel the only thing that can be used with the Kasenit?
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Thanks for the info.Yes, steel only. The basic procedure is to heat the part dull red hot, coat well with Kasenit, reheat to bright cherry red, quench. Alternately, you can make a container to hold the part with Kasenite packed around it and heat the whole thing up to the quench point, then quench.
As a former board of directors member of the NAMES organization I would say this is exactly the type of collection that should be displayed. Engine building is a hobby and all levels of models should be displayed. The devil is in the details and all these engines run (most without any detail drawings) and the gloss could always be added later if that was what the builder wanted. Just my opinion.Dad never displayed any of his engines at NAMES.
I have discussed with several people about displaying my dad's engines (at least displaying the engines that I still retain, about 18 of them) at NAMES.
One of the people I was discussing this with actually attended NAMES after the discussion, and when he returned, he said "Your dad's engines are not on the NAMES level".
I attended NAMES for the first and only time in 2019, and my friend was right in that generally the engines that are displayed at NAMES are museum-grade level, or above, and I consider many of them masterpieces, such as Rich's Monitor.
My dad's hobby was a casual one, basically to give him something to do after retirement.
Dad used a freelance approach to building models, and his drawings/sketches contained just enough information to get the geometry worked out, and to produce a functioning engine.
Often dad only had one or two engravings to go by, and he had to figure out how it all worked, and get the valve gear timing in the ballpark, which is no easy feat.
Some criticisms of my dad's work that I have seen on forums have been "He was a by-the-seat-of-the-pants designer", and this is absolutely true.
As I have stated before, there is no right or wrong way to build a model engine (many would disagree with this statement).
The right way to build a model engine is to use a way that makes you happy.
Nobody should be in the model building business only with the intent of making others happy, but deriving no joy of their own from the process.
Generally speaking, model engines often seem to be build by machinists, tool and die makers, and others with the skill set required to understand and complete the tedious process of building an engine.
I am not a machinist; have never done tool-and-die work, had never done any foundry work prior to 2012, and had never built a complete engine prior to the first (and only) engine I have completed.
So I sort of break the typical model engine builder mold, but am perhaps a good example of demonstrating that many things can be learned and mastered regardless of one's background or current technical skills.
There is really no limits regarding what a person can learn, if one has the desire to learn.
I had a professor one time who had some great jokes, and one of his jokes was "Do you know what is the best way to finish writing a term paper?".
We all looked at him dumbfounded. His response was, in a very loud voice "TO START THE TERM PAPER !!!!", while waving his hands wildly in the air.
And so it goes with model engine building.
The only way to learn engine building is to start with something simple, build it, master the steps, and then move on to a more challenging engine.
The key is to START, with the understanging that many mistakes will be made, and the frustration level at the beginning will be very high.
Dad's engines will never be featured in any model builder's hall of fame, but when taken as a group, they are an example of how you can build some fairly complex engines, and thoroughly enjoy doing so.
The level of work that someone seeks to attain is a personal thing, and everyone has their own motivations and objectives.
I don't judge others for their current level of work, but rather admire the learning road that they are traveling on, and and wonder how far they may go in the hobby.
Dad was criticized for his lack of rigourous design, but that was never his intent, and that is an artifical requirement for model engine building. Dad did exactly what he set out to do, which was build a lot of functional model engines, and have a tremendous amount of fun doing so.
I prefer a making more exact replicas of old engines, and deep diving into the technical aspects of a design, to identify, document, and preserve the original design intent and function exactly, but that is just my approach, chosen because I prefer it that way, not because that is the only way to build engines.
If I displayed the remaining engines of my dad's at NAMES, it would be as a group, with some sort of disclaimer that it was dad's casual hobby, all for fun.
While none of my dad's engines would be what I consider "great designs/builds" in the grand (NAMES) scheme of things, I find the span/breadth of dad's engine work to be interesting, and I think it serves as an illustration of what can be achieved on a hobby level, beginning with a very simple wobbler.
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This is good to hear, and I agree with you that there are all levels, and they should all be displayed.As a former board of directors member of the NAMES organization I would say this is exactly the type of collection that should be displayed. Engine building is a hobby and all levels of models should be displayed. The devil is in the details and all these engines run (most without any detail drawings) and the gloss could always be added later if that was what the builder wanted. Just my opinion.
karl
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