Swifty's build of Howell V4

[Swifty]

Not a lot of work in the past 2 days, although I did manage to finish the gear cutting. The 2 gears for the camshafts were held in a fixture in the lathe and finished off to length, as well as reamed to size.



Here we have a picture of all the gears, I even cut a length of brass to make the oil pump gears from.



The cutter stood up well, apart from a nick on 1 tooth where I hit the hardened centre in the tail stock, that was no problem, plenty of other teeth to cut with. Gus, with the cutter still being OK, the offer is still there for you to use it.

Paul.

 

[Cogsy]

The gears look great. I have to make several fixtures just like yours to modify my puchased gears. Not looking forward to that, so with my new philosophy I might attempt that next after I get the cam cut.

 

[Swifty]

I hesitated for so long about the gears, but in the end it all went well. I just have to make a quick fixture to check the centre distance of a couple of the gears, and then I can forge ahead with the rest of the machining on the block.

Cogsy, there is a little M3 grub screw holding the gear in, you can't see it in the picture, I also made sure that I had a through hole in the fixture in case I had to tap the back of the gear to get it out.

Paul.

 

[gus]

Not a lot of work in the past 2 days, although I did manage to finish the gear cutting. The 2 gears for the camshafts were held in a fixture in the lathe and finished off to length, as well as reamed to size.



Here we have a picture of all the gears, I even cut a length of brass to make the oil pump gears from.



The cutter stood up well, apart from a nick on 1 tooth where I hit the hardened centre in the tail stock, that was no problem, plenty of other teeth to cut with. Gus, with the cutter still being OK, the offer is still there for you to use it.

Paul.

Thanks Paul.

Please mail to ,

Gus Teng,

6-B Gray Lane,

Singapore 438938.

Will re-imburse when I drop in November 2015.


Also need another favour. I presently have no Dividing Plate.

Please cut me one each following

13 T for oil pump
32T 21T

Above to use as direct dividing plate on the Harold Hall DH for gear cutting.

 

[Swifty]

Hi Gus, sending the cutter is no problem, but I need more information on the other gears. Is the 13 tooth oil pump gear the same as mine, .313" OD, I can cut you a length like I did as shown in the photo. The other 2 gears that you need for masters on the Harold Hall dividing head, I will need to know the ID that you require to fit on the shaft. Are you not better off trying to buy some gears to act as masters, you need 32T, this could be 64T as well if you use every second tooth, the same applies to the 21T gear, this could be 42T. I can check some prices for gears from a local supplier if you like, otherwise send me the sizes that you require. Just bear in mind that the master gears will have to be a bigger module than the model ones, the only cutter set I have is for Mod1.

Paul.

 

[gus]

Hi Gus, sending the cutter is no problem, but I need more information on the other gears. Is the 13 tooth oil pump gear the same as mine, .313" OD, I can cut you a length like I did as shown in the photo. The other 2 gears that you need for masters on the Harold Hall dividing head, I will need to know the ID that you require to fit on the shaft. Are you not better off trying to buy some gears to act as masters, you need 32T, this could be 64T as well if you use every second tooth, the same applies to the 21T gear, this could be 42T. I can check some prices for gears from a local supplier if you like, otherwise send me the sizes that you require. Just bear in mind that the master gears will have to be a bigger module than the model ones, the only cutter set I have is for Mod1.

Paul.

Hi Paul,

Please send the gear cutter over.
Will buy sample gears from SDp-SI. The 13 T spur gear is as per Howell V-2
Specs.
ABout to get out of the Carb Department by this Thursday latest. Intake Filter housing will be done tomorrow. You are correct,Howell V-2s and V-4s are not for the faint hearted and impatient.

 

[Swifty]

Other things in life have been getting in the way of my engine building lately, that's not a real problem, but I consider my machining time very therapeutic and I look forward to it. However, I now have some time available, so I got to work on the engine.

Now that I have confirmed the centre distances for the gear train, I can proceed with finishing the timing gear cover. I have approached it a different way than that set out in the instructions, of course, the instructions have to cater for everyone and the equipment that they have, a bit of thought about the steps required and what equipment I have soon leads to a plan.

I had previously part machined the timing cover, the next step was to bore a recess in the rear where the large gear fits, and drill and ream a 1/8" location hole to be used as a reference when machining the outside rad's. I then drilled and counter bored the holes for the screws that hold it to the main block, I used the DRO on the mill to get the correct positions.

Next job was to set up the rotary table on the mill, zero the centre, then clamp the timing cover on the table, using an indicator to make sure it was centered. Then I proceeded to machine a step around the outside, although not all the way down, there will be another wider step milled later.



Once one end was done, I realigned the part for the other end, using the 1/8"dowel hole as the centre, and finished that end.



Next step was to hold the main block in the vice and drill and tap for the cover hold down screws. The timing cover was then screwed onto the block and squared up. I then mounted the block on the rotary table, making use of a steel sub plate, I drilled and tapped 4 x M8 holes to suit the hold down holes in the block. After making sure that everything was centered, I milled the outside profile that went past the cover and into the main block by .130", excess material around the outside was milled away whilst in this setup.





Now I have to do some deburring and blending in of the machining marks.

Paul.

 

[barnesrickw]

Amazing work.

 

[Swifty]

Another day where not a lot is being done. While I had the rotary table set up, I milled an O ring groove where the timing gear cover fits. Again I'm deviating from the instructions a bit, they say to use a 1/16"ball nose cutter, not having one handy, and having to wait to make a trip to the cutter suppliers, I decided to use a straight 1/16"cutter. Most O ring grooves are straight sided anyway. I machined the parallel sides first, then the rad ends in a couple of set ups.



Paul.

 

[gus]

Hi Paul,
Great work. Watching and learning. The V-4 will be too tough for Gus to chew,swallow and digest. May buy the plans to read,study,comprehend and decide.

 

[Swifty]

More work on the block today, I tackled the 2 x 1/2" dia. reamed camshaft holes. These holes are right through the block from front to back, approx 3 1/4"long holes, I wasn't looking forward to putting these holes in as I was worried about run out at the other end. I made sure that everything was square by checking with an indicator first, and then drilled successive holes, 10mm, 12mm and 12.5, then ran the 1/2"reamer through, clearing swarf often. Whilst I was set up, I finished the necessary bores to clear the gears, some holes for buttons to hold the bearings in and the tapped holes. It was with great relief, that after checking the block on the surface plate with an indicator, the holes were well within .001"of position on the other end.






Next step was to mill 2 x 1/2"wide slots from the bottom of the block, up into the camshaft tunnels, this provides splash lubrication to the cams. The biggest problem was that these holes are 3 1/2"deep, I first used a 12mm long series cutter, one with a straight shank, no thread on the end, this was held by about 10mm in the collet to get enough length, and the holes roughed out. I followed up with a 1/2"dia cutter with a slight radius on the cutting edges, this cutter had a threaded shank which prevented me from getting the full depth, the end result doesn't look too bad, the rad's on the tip of the cutter made a nice blend in.



I'm gradually getting all the difficult parts on the block done, I have to be very careful at this stage, as making a mistake would be disastrous.

Paul.

 

[Cogsy]

The finish on the inside of the block is impressive! I know what you mean about mistakes - the more time I have into a part the more paranoid I become.

 

[gus]

Hi Paul,

Take extra care. Take plenty of tea/pee breaks. Take plenty of dry runs before the plunge.

 

[Swifty]

When I had a chance over the past 2 days, I did a bit of drilling and milling on the block. Following the stages in the build guide and the drawing sequence, I drilled the head attachment holes, and also drilled and reamed where the pushrod guides go. Next step was to mill away a lot of surplus material, I held the block in the vice to rough mill it, then set up an angle plate and clamped the block to it for finish machining,



By clamping to the angle plate, I could easily check that everything was square before finishing.



Now it's starting to look like an engine.




Still more milling and drilling on this part to do.

Paul.

 

[gus]

Your machining skills is tip top. Mine is only barely can do. Working with a mini mill can be very frustrating. I have to live with the mini feed rate and shallow cut depth it can only take. The recalling BridgePort Mills and Leblonde Lathes I worked on I sometimes get very upset. Thats life. The balcony just won't take heavier machines.:rant: Ha Ha

Recalled completing a simple 4 key-hole stamping tool c/w stripper and hold-down plate in less than a week with the full size machine tools. And stamping out hundreds of compressor sub-bases.

 

[Swifty]

Gus, you are doing an amazing job on the V2 with the machines that you have. I often wish that I still had all the machines available that I had when I worked, would have made life much easier.

And a thank you to those who have been posting likes, it's encouraging and spurs me on to post more progress.

Paul.

 

[gus]

Sometimes it gets very frustrating. Comparable to digging a big hole with a tooth pick. A pair of chopstick would do slightly better.
Did some therapy early this morning,clearing up work bench and swarfs from lathe,mill and drill press.
Now working out a wooden case to store the micro feed drill chuck and the micro drills.Carpentry is very relaxing when you have bandsaw and power sander and the Japanese jack-planes.

Slept well last night. The V-2 is smiling at me like a pet dog and not begging me for more parts.

 

[Swifty]

Gus, the gear cutter should arrive soon, maybe working on a different part will relax you. I'll make some simpler parts shortly, just for a bit of a break.

What you need is a holiday in Australia visiting family and friends, I'm looking forward to meeting you when you come over next.

Paul.

 

[gus]

Gus, the gear cutter should arrive soon, maybe working on a different part will relax you. I'll make some simpler parts shortly, just for a bit of a break.

What you need is a holiday in Australia visiting family and friends, I'm looking forward to meeting you when you come over next.

Paul.

Good idea. I had some big travel plans with the Dividends coming end May. But now I seem to chicken out. November Oz trip still on . Have not seen Ari and Tasha for two years. Ari is in first grade and Tasha in Kinder 2. Both likes to bake.

 

[Swifty]

A little bit of work done today, a pocket was milled in each side of the block and holes drilled at an angle into the bores to allow coolant flow through the engine. Plugs were made that will cover these pockets, there are quite a few holes that get covered up permanently in this engine.
Drilling the intersecting coolant holes.


The pocket and plug, just needs a bit of filing on the corners to fit. The plugs will be held in with some Devcon filler. I'm not worried about the milling marks, they will get removed with some wet and dry paper, and the block will get painted as well. Not the best photo, but you should get the idea.


Paul.