Scott Flamelicker (Vacuum Engine)

Blogwitch · Jul 15, 2012

Thanks Pete.

Also everyone should realise that if you have a lathe, you can also make things like that.

So away we go onto what I consider the most important items of this build, the piston and cylinder. Unlike most other engines, which can have some leeway in piston/cylinder fit, a flame licker (vacuum) engine should have the best fit within your power, the better the fit, the better the engine should run.

Then I will show how the water jacket was bored so that everything was square and parallel.

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Blogwitch · Jul 16, 2012

Seeing as there are none of the expected questions forthcoming, I will hopefully post one update each day until the whole article is up to date, then you will have to wait a little while, until I start again to finish the engine off.

Just pick up what tips you can.

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Ken I · Jul 16, 2012

Bogstandard said:
People starting in this hobby think it is just a matter of buying the castings and everything from that point is straight forwards.

John, that's me - I bought a Stewart 10 kit - but I have production experience with castings - having normally designed the fixturing myself - I spent some hours pondering the Stewart castings and decided to build a barstock engine first - I'm now several motors down the road and the Stewart kit is still in its box - but I do take it out and eyeball it occasionally.

Thanks for the excellent tutorial, plenty of tips here that I'm sure to use when I eventually get round to the Stewart.

Regards,
Ken

deverett · Jul 16, 2012

John

You might find that the graphite valve is fouled by the cylinder head studs/nuts. I overcame this by increasing the thickness of the head by 1/32" and reducing the thickness of the head rim by about 1/32". Also thought it looked a bit better than a plain flat disc!

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Blogwitch · Jul 16, 2012

Ken,

Some people have no trouble at all starting straight away with castings, but the majority do, purely because there are no square or flat surfaces to work from. I am sure that when you come to do yours, your experience of building a few barstock engines will assist no end.

From a beginners point of view, not only are they working from these 'all shapes' castings, they are also trying to come to terms with using their new and usually limited machinery and tooling. So the results don't usually turn out very well, if at all.

Dave,

This engine is in fact basically running to make sure it would run, these are the posts to bring it up to that stage.

I do take your point though, and I will be modding certain parts of the engine as I continue with the build, and your mod might be one of them, as I also found it was a very tight squeeze on the sliding port face, but managed to get around it so that it wouldn't foul.

John

Don1966 · Jul 23, 2012

John I am one of those people who have never done an engine from casting. You have my attention fully. I am on my third year of machining and only built four engines. Lead on Pal I am ready to follow you.

Don