The Birth of a Swan
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idahoan
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Maury
Another great update; and the bronze castings turned out real nice. Will they eventually be cast in iron or will you stick with bronze. If and when castings become available this will be one that I just may need to add to the project list.
Dave
Another great update; and the bronze castings turned out real nice. Will they eventually be cast in iron or will you stick with bronze. If and when castings become available this will be one that I just may need to add to the project list.
Dave
Thanks for the kind words.
My initial intention was to have most of the smaller parts made from the 85-5-5-5 bronze alloy, the rest being C.I. My last trip to the foundry may have changed that. THe EPA and OSHA have been exerting immense pressure on my foundry to quit pouring leaded bronze, which 85-5-5-5 is (5% lead), THis alloy is is my favorite choice because of it's beautiful patina, it's excellent machining characteristics, and it's excellent bearing qualities. They want me to use silicon bronze, which pours nice, has no lead, BUT, it's a nightmare in the shop. Not acceptable! It looks like most of the castings will be C.I., except for those which can't (ie the governor balls). I may explore some of the brass alloys, so things are still not set.
No ETA on the kit, this is a hobby for me, and I'm taking my time.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
My initial intention was to have most of the smaller parts made from the 85-5-5-5 bronze alloy, the rest being C.I. My last trip to the foundry may have changed that. THe EPA and OSHA have been exerting immense pressure on my foundry to quit pouring leaded bronze, which 85-5-5-5 is (5% lead), THis alloy is is my favorite choice because of it's beautiful patina, it's excellent machining characteristics, and it's excellent bearing qualities. They want me to use silicon bronze, which pours nice, has no lead, BUT, it's a nightmare in the shop. Not acceptable! It looks like most of the castings will be C.I., except for those which can't (ie the governor balls). I may explore some of the brass alloys, so things are still not set.
No ETA on the kit, this is a hobby for me, and I'm taking my time.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
I've been working for the past week or so on the smaller parts and fitting them and some of the sub assemblies to the base plate. I have machined the rocker castings and the mount bracket, have a completed governor, made a crank, and finished the sideshaft and bearings. At this point I have machined all of the castings except the flywheels, and have at least a first pass of the drawings in correction.
Here are some photos of what the engine looks like so far. Still a lot of work to do.
Will be working on the corrections to the patterns and the drawings to get everything up to date.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
Here are some photos of what the engine looks like so far. Still a lot of work to do.
Will be working on the corrections to the patterns and the drawings to get everything up to date.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
J
JorgensenSteam
Guest
That it turning out to be a very nice engine Maury.
Great castings, I like those a lot.
Great castings, I like those a lot.
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Y'all, thanks for the kind words. As you can see there is still plenty of work. I will be working on getting the final patterns ready, and fixing the issues I have found with the castings and drawings while machining what I have so far. Probably will be off the grid for a while, so check back in a week or two.
I see there is another hot tube engine on the forum now, perhaps hot tube engines are making a come back.
I'm also trying to figure out how I can get to NAMES this spring, sure would like to go and bring my stuff. It's a hard two day drive from Texas though.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
I see there is another hot tube engine on the forum now, perhaps hot tube engines are making a come back.
I'm also trying to figure out how I can get to NAMES this spring, sure would like to go and bring my stuff. It's a hard two day drive from Texas though.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
The patterns are at the foundry, and so while I'm waiting for the new castings I have tome to clean up a few loose ends. The governor design needed some tweaks, so I started on a new one. I have made castings of the balls including the tails so they could be made without soldering or threading and gluing.
I use a small holding jig I made to position a ball in the vice and allow the three setup angles needed. The balls turned out very close dimentionally, and the good news is no chuck or vice trauma. It holds the ball like a clam shell. Initially, the ball is set up in the jig with the features squared up, then it's tightened in. Set up in the vice is then a piece of cake.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
I use a small holding jig I made to position a ball in the vice and allow the three setup angles needed. The balls turned out very close dimentionally, and the good news is no chuck or vice trauma. It holds the ball like a clam shell. Initially, the ball is set up in the jig with the features squared up, then it's tightened in. Set up in the vice is then a piece of cake.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
Continuing on while waiting for the castings, I made the Con Rod. For this engine, the con rod is a whole project in its self, but that detail is what makes the difference in the final look.
The bearing bronzes are squeezed together by 1.5 deg wedges between a pressure plate and the body of the rod its self. So I decided to make a tool to help me make sure I have the same angle everywhere. Using it is as simple as setting it between the jaws of a vise, and pushing the work tightly against the tool as the jaws are tightned. pushing the part against it while tightening the jaws. Then milling off the top to get the angle. Hope that's clear, if not, ask. It's more or less the same for the angle slot on the rod body.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
The bearing bronzes are squeezed together by 1.5 deg wedges between a pressure plate and the body of the rod its self. So I decided to make a tool to help me make sure I have the same angle everywhere. Using it is as simple as setting it between the jaws of a vise, and pushing the work tightly against the tool as the jaws are tightned. pushing the part against it while tightening the jaws. Then milling off the top to get the angle. Hope that's clear, if not, ask. It's more or less the same for the angle slot on the rod body.
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
The new castings have been back for about a week now, and things are moving along. I made another head with the new modifications, and everything seems to be good. Working on another bed plate, as there were several issues with that, they seem to be solved as well.
So, the flywheels are new. I make a lot of tooling to aid the building of my engines, and the flywheels are no exception. I have a large faceplate for my LeBlond lathe which I update for each new flywheel size I encounter. The first picture is of the new tooling I added to it. The bars on there ofset the flywheel from the faceplate, and allow it to rest against the inner rim. Turning it that way helps the inner rim yo be wobble free. Also, the bars are turned so the inside diameter of the outer rim rests closely, getting the inside of the outer rim concentric. The centering bars are each located with 2 dowel pins and a bolt. I added clamps to the centering bars to clamp against the flywheel rim t hold it in place, second picture. Off to making chips on the third picture. Finally the flywheel bore for the hub is interesting on this engine. It is tapered, and has a tapered hub that is bolted on. The bolts when tightened squeeze the inner hub against the crank shaft. A nice feature about this method is not only does it hold very well, but any wobble in the flywheel may be adjusted out by adjusting the bolts.
maury
So, the flywheels are new. I make a lot of tooling to aid the building of my engines, and the flywheels are no exception. I have a large faceplate for my LeBlond lathe which I update for each new flywheel size I encounter. The first picture is of the new tooling I added to it. The bars on there ofset the flywheel from the faceplate, and allow it to rest against the inner rim. Turning it that way helps the inner rim yo be wobble free. Also, the bars are turned so the inside diameter of the outer rim rests closely, getting the inside of the outer rim concentric. The centering bars are each located with 2 dowel pins and a bolt. I added clamps to the centering bars to clamp against the flywheel rim t hold it in place, second picture. Off to making chips on the third picture. Finally the flywheel bore for the hub is interesting on this engine. It is tapered, and has a tapered hub that is bolted on. The bolts when tightened squeeze the inner hub against the crank shaft. A nice feature about this method is not only does it hold very well, but any wobble in the flywheel may be adjusted out by adjusting the bolts.
maury
More work on the flywheels on the Swan. After tapering the flywheels, I wanted to make the bushings in the same setup. I used the compound for making the tapers, and the same taper is needed on the compression bushings. I turned down a piece of steel, and reamed the bore, Picture 1, then put on the taper Picture 2. Then I cut off the taper and faced the back off with my other lathe. Then I moved over to the mill and setup the bushing in the flywheel and set up the bolt circle on the DRO. This is the fun part, the DRO is really a joy to use this way. I drilled the bolt holes (picture 3), and finally tapped the flywheel( picture 4.)
More in the next post.
maury
More in the next post.
maury
Then. on to completing the compression bushings. Next I broached the keyway,(picture 1). This is a bit tricky, as the key sets the position of the flywheel rotationally with the crank. Since there is a cast in counter weight this needs to be on target. I aligned the intake side flywheel first, marked the bushing, and broached it. Ob the exhaust side, the counter weight must be aligned, but also the spokes need to be aligned on both flywheels fro appearance.
Then came the slotting. For the compression bushings to work, they must have clearance to compress against the crank shaft. I have to say, this method of mounting a flywheel is the most rigid method I've seen so far on a model. It really holds 'em on tight. I made a tool for holding the bushings for slotting, but forgot to take a picture, let me know if anyone is interested in seeing it. (Picture 2)
Then, the finished bushings (picture3)
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
Then came the slotting. For the compression bushings to work, they must have clearance to compress against the crank shaft. I have to say, this method of mounting a flywheel is the most rigid method I've seen so far on a model. It really holds 'em on tight. I made a tool for holding the bushings for slotting, but forgot to take a picture, let me know if anyone is interested in seeing it. (Picture 2)
Then, the finished bushings (picture3)
maury
www.lonestarengineworks.com
Y'all, at long last the Swan model is finally built. All of the things that fit tight and little tweaks have been made. It is currently in start-up mode. Everything is tight and needs to be worn in, so at this time it's not running. BUT! Here are some pictures for everyone to enjoy while I work on getting the Swan running. I plan to take it to NAMES in a couple of weeks, hope to see some of you there.
Maury
Maury
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