Plumbing Parts Engine

[Deanofid]

I'm excited about this one, and I'm not even building it! It has a high "neato" factor. I don't know what gives that to an engine, but I know it when I see it.
Thanks for the build log, Chuck. It's going great!

Dean

 

[4wheels]

I'm still in awe!
Brian

 

[cfellows]

Rick - Thanks for the comments. Hopefully the purists will agree with you!

Dean - Thanks! Drawings only work so far for me. I usually have to play with different parts to get it where I want it. That's why I keep photographing it with all the parts in place.

Brian - Thanks for the kind words... Thinkin about building one?

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Here's a video of the major parts assembled.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzByeuY_5kE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzByeuY_5kE[/ame]

Chuck

 

[4wheels]

Hi ,

Yes i would love to build one. Always wanted a hit and miss engine but they seem a bit complicated for a first effort into IC. I have a set of castings for a hot air engine which I must complete before starting an IC project but Henry's will be first on the list. Are plans available??
Cheers,

P.S. Nice video - runs very sweetly.

 

[cfellows]

Thx Brian. There are drawings available for a full size Henry Ford engine. I bought them and at the time they were about 40 USD. Here's a link to a website with nice pictures of the engine and the address and phone number of the guy who sells the plans:

http://nbutterfield.com/e.aspx

My engine is half the size of the original and the head design is completely different. Also, I plan to use a Jan Ridders vapor fuel tank/carburetion system.

I will likely post drawings of my engine when I get close to finishing it.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Worked on the large cam gear today. When done the hub of the gear will be shaped into a cam profile. For the moment, it's still round.

This is the lump of cast iron destined to be the gear. It's about 1.6" diameter x 9/16" thick.

Here I've shaped the hub and drilled the center hole.

Now I've begun cutting the teeth. A couple of different views.

And the finished gear. It's got 36 teeth and the diametral pitch is 24.

Next step is to cut the cam profile in the hub using a boring heard.

Chuck

 

[4wheels]

Coming along very nicely. Thanks for the plans ref. Not urgent for previous mentioned reasons so will wait and see what you may produce. I see the changes you made headwise - quite a design change indeed. I like the look of your changes thus far.
Look forward to the next installment.
Cheers,
Brian

 

[cfellows]

I'm taking a temporary detour on the course of this engine. I've decided to make it run on compressed air using my slave valve design so it will still be a 4 stroke in operation. In keeping with the simple design, I'm using some brass plumbing parts, notable a 1/8" brass tee, and a ball bearing inlet valve instead of the usual poppet valve.

Here are a couple of pictures of the individual parts:

The short length of 3/16 brass rod with a 1/8" hole drilled through it will be soft soldered into the end of the brass tee. A 1/8" length of steel rod from the cam will pass through the hole and act as a push rod to unseat the ball bearing during the air inlet stroke. Air pressure will reseat the ball when the inlet stroke has passed.

Here is the valve assembly attached to the head which is made from a 1 1/4" diameter length of cold rolled steel.

I will also continue to work on completing the engine to run on internal combustion. However, I'm taking a different approach on the valves. Instead of overhead valves, I plan to attach a valve block to the side of the head, similar to the compressed air version.

Chuck

 

[Metal Butcher]

Very nice work as usual.

Gear cutting is one of those feared gray areas for me.

Keep up the great posting.

Seeing how you machine is helping me to learn.

-MB

 

[Bill Mc]

Aww shucks! I was hoping to see this as a gasoline running engine when completed. - Billmc

 

[cfellows]

Bill,

I'm not going to disappoint you. :'( The engine will ultimately be completed as an IC gas engine. I'm just taking a temporary detour to see it run under compressed air.

I've already designed and started building the valve box which will contain the intake and exhaust valves for gas operation. I'm departing from the overhead valve design to make it simpler.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Some more progress and pictures. Over the past couple of day I made the primary cam gear and attached it to the crank. I also drilled the hole and installed a set screw in the crank frame to hold the secondary cam gear shaft. I completed cutting the cam profile on the cam gear today.

I used a rotary table and a boring head to cut the cam profile. The process, which I first learned of from Randall Cox (Open Column Six and Hoglett fame), is detailed below.

Here's the setup. The boring bar is installed in the boring head to do an inside cut. The milling spindle will run in reverse. The boring head is set to cut a diameter of about 1 3/8".

Here you see everything in the beginning position. The boring bar is just touching the left side of the cam blank.

Here I've rotated the milling spindle 1/2 turn. Nothing else was changed. You can see that in this position, the boring bar is about 5/8" to the right of the cam blank.

Here, I've started cutting. The milling table is moved to the left, .020" at a time, and the spinning boring head is lowered completely through the depth of the cam blank. This picture is taken with the boring bar half way through the cut to show the cut profile.

In this picture, I've advanced the milling table .125" which will be the full depth of cut. The x axis of the milling table is now locked.

Again, you can see the position of the boring bar with the mill spindle turned 1/2 turn.

Now I've begun turning the rotary table. I turn the handle one full turn, which is 4 degrees, then lower the boring head to make the cut through the cam blank. You can see the profile of the cut in this picture.

And here is the completed profile. The rotary table has been turned approximately 240 degrees.

Finished cam

Cam gears temporarily installed.

Chuck

 

[chuck foster]

looking good chuck..............thanks for showing the way you cut your cam lobe. i have always cut them in the lathe as per bob shores instructions.

chuck

 

[Metal Butcher]

The gears looks great Chuck!

That's an interesting way to create a cam. The profile is somewhat different than the the ones I have seen on previous builds. The transition is curved and a little more gradual.

-MB

 

[cfellows]

The curve on the cam could have been flattened by increasing the radius of the boring head. However, as DIYMANIA says, performance isn't really an issue with this engine.

Chuck

 

[4wheels]

Hi Chuck,
Still here, still following, still think it's great. Keep it up.
Cheers,
Brian

 

[RobWilson]

Hi Chuck

This is a very interesting post ,,,great photo build showing the making of a cam :bow: :bow: :bow:

Regards Rob

 

[arnoldb]

Great progress Chuck !

Regards, Arnold

 

[cfellows]

Got it running today, at least on compressed air. I'm hoping this is about what it will sound like when I convert it to internal combustion. Here, it's running on about 90 PSI. I have the cam dwell set extremely short, less than half the power stroke.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX5D0F3UP7k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX5D0F3UP7k[/ame]

Chuck