Trout's Twin

[Metal Butcher]

Sure am glad I asked. Thanks very much guys. Top notch advice as usual and as always, there's more than one way to skin a cat (not that I would ever do that...)

-Trout

Cat! Them "cats" are good eating. My alien friend "Alf" is a connoisseur.

They have to be fresh though. He's so fussy! :big:

Edit: "Alf" is from a far, far, away planet called "Melmac".

-MB

 

[Troutsqueezer]

It's going at a snail's pace but progress is being made, most of it in the brain cells. I know it's taking me a long time when I go to find my build thread and it has fallen several pages back in the que.

Anyway, I've got the pistons under my belt now. I started by turning a 1" brass rod to .75" and then plunge cutting the blind hole using an end mill in the drill chuck in the lathe.

Next I cut in the oil grooves, then parted it off, rechucked it in the lathe and cleaned up the ends.

I drilled the connecting rod pin holes. Found the edge with the edge finder, spot drilled and finished up with a drill. I tested the drill hole size first with a scrap piece of brass to be sure the pin would fit tight without having to ream, since I don't own a 1/8th reamer.

The fit is pretty good. I need to lap a bit more to get the pistons to slide smoothly.

Now I'm on to the connecting rods. That might take a week. MB, maybe you can come over and help me.

-Trout

 

[Metal Butcher]

Hey Trout. You know I would if I could. But I don't think you really need any help.
And, your just a bit to far for a casual afternoon road trip. Besides, your build is coming along just fine, in your very capable hands!

How many, and how often, is not part of the 'hobby equation".

Super job Trout.

-MB

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Those are fine looking pistons Trout.
Very nice.

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Appreciate the compliments guys, especially coming from two whose build threads have helped me immensely.

-T

 

[Deanofid]

Nice work on the pistons, Trout. They look just great!

Dean

 

[Russel]

I just found this thread, Wow! Some very nice blingification!

 

[kendo]

Hey Trout
Nice going fella, it's looking gooood

Ken

 

[xo18thfa]

That is a very nice running engine. Yours is turning out great, can't wait to see it under power.

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Thanks Guys.

Sure enough, it's been a week and I finally finished the connecting rods. That dang American Idol is keeping me from my work shed! ;D

I started by cutting and milling to size two brass bars then drilling two holes in each for a 2-56 tap to hold the caps on. Then I cut off the caps using a slitting saw. Having worked with wood for many years, I'm used to saw blades coming to an abrupt stop when they hit metal so it was interesting to see this slitting blade cut through the brass like butter.

After the caps were cut off I tapped the holes in the connecting rod and drilled clearance holes in the caps. Then I drilled and reamed the crankshaft hole and the hole for the wrist pin. Next I clamped it into the lathe using a four jaw.

It starts to take shape.

The real deal. I still need to remove the circles on the rod diameter. No sharp edges left here, sorry MB and Marv! My next engine will have less bling and more sharp edges. 8)

This evening I assembled the pistons, crankshaft and cylinder and found there to be a few clearances that need tweaking. Hopefully I'll have time to do that tomorrow, then I can bring it into work, rotate the crankshaft and impress the boys.

On a side note, I'm anticipating some soldering on this model so I fashioned a hearth of sorts. While at Home Depot a few days ago I noticed a damaged piece of Hardi Backer board in the corner. They sold it to me for two bucks. I cut some small pieces from that and placed them into an old well fuse box I had hanging around. We'll see if the rumors are true that Hardi Board works for this.

I welded some coupons on the bottom to decouple the hearth from the bench even though it has 1/4 inch steel plate for a top.

-Trout

 

[Deanofid]

It's coming right along, Trout. Nice pics, too, (and I thank you).

The Hardi Backer looks a lot like drywall. It's different stuff, is that right? I'm not really familiar with this stuff, but it appears to have paper backing on it, like gyp board, or drywall. Maybe I'm just being fooled by the color/lighting.

The real deal. I still need to remove the circles on the rod diameter. No sharp edges left here, sorry MB and Marv! My next engine will have less bling and more sharp edges. 8)
a top.
-Trout

Not sharp edges. Crisp and well defined. We don't want any bloodshed, after all!

Dean

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Nice job on the rods. Beautiful looking pistons too.

Keep us informed about the hearth. I'm expecting the same needs and would like to learn from your....successes. ;D

 

[kendo]

Hi Trout
Your doing a great Job, the pistons and rods brilliant fella.
( I happen to like bling lol )
Keep up the great work

 

[kustomkb]

Very nice work, it looks great!

nice photo's too!

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Time to dredge this old thread up from the depths again. One part per week that's my motto. ;D Of course, each part is a learning process for this skeeter-winger.

So I got the pistons installed into the block, made a few clearance adjustments and now they move smoothly. Next part in the queue was the eccentric. For that I used steel. I turned down a big bolt I bought at the metal surplus store to .75" dia. Then I turned the end down to .5" dia. about 3/8ths in, faced it off, then drilled and reamed to .25". Next I parted off about an inch, flipped it around and chucked it into a four jaw. To offset the cam portion of the eccentric I first centered the piece in the four jaw chuck, then loosened the top and bottom jaw slightly. With the DI set against the back side I moved the back side jaw out and slid the eccentric in the back direction so the offset measured .066", then tightened the jaws carefully.

The next step was to finish the valve plate. I milled out the slotted ports by drilling three holes for each slot and since I don't yet own end mills in that small size I took the drill bits and pushed them up into the mill chuck leaving just enough sticking out to clear the metal plate thickness. I used these as psuedo end mills, very slowly cranking the table dial. They flexed quite a bit but got the job done. I just ordered the miniature end mill set from LMS.

The plans call for the rocker pivot to be soldered to the valve plate so this gave me an opportunity to test out my Hardi-Backer hearth (pictured earlier in this thread). I used Harris 45% silver solder (not cheap) and Stay Brite flux. I coated the bottom of the pivot and the corresponding section of the valve plate with flux and then pounded a couple of very short sections of the solder into flat pieces. These were placed in between the pivot and the plate and the pivot was screwed onto the plate with the solder wedged in between. Fired up the MAPP torch and in a few seconds, the solder was flowing. I tightened the screws while the solder was still molten and the two parts came together nicely. The rumors about Hardi-Backer board (backing material for tiling your kitchen or bathroom from Home Depot) turn out to be true. Nothing flew out at me, no cracks, just scorch marks on the surface of the board.

I still have to bling the plate on the topside. The edges are way too crisp. :big:

 

[arnoldb]

That's looking very good Trout Thm:

Regards, Arnold

 

[Metal Butcher]

Hi Trout your engine is coming along well I see. Your working under some tough conditions there buddy, when you have to start cutting up bolts, and end milling with a drill bit! That is easily worth a Karma point!

How come you added a 'second row' of acorn nuts to hold down the 'Table'. :big: :big: :big: :big:

You defiantly "Blunged" er' good!

-MB

 

[Troutsqueezer]

How come you added a 'second row' of acorn nuts to hold down the 'Table'. :big: :big: :big: :big:
-MB

Thanks guys. I tried to take some fancy pics first but it didn't work out. First I put the engine on a black pillow but with the mirror finish, all the silver looked black. Then I put it on some purple quilting material my wife had laying around and everything turned purple. I gave up and shot the pic on the kitchen counter. Yup, twice the nuts at half the price, can't beat that....

 

[putputman]

Trout, I like the way you go about building this engine, that is completely finishing each part including the "bling". The first time your engines kick over & run, you are totally done with a beautiful engine ready to present.

I tend to finish the engine to the point where it runs and then have a hard time getting back to the "bling". Sometimes it takes a while to totally finish the job as I am off on a new project.

 

[cfellows]

That's a fine looking piece of work, Trout. I really like the way it's coming together!

Chuck