Vertical 4 cycle engine from recycled parts

[werowance]

brass wood screws on the 4 corners of the battery cover plate? or maybe some studs and wing nuts or similar on the 4 corners to make it easier to access?

on the fuel line, do you think it will get hot enough to vaporize the fuel in the line being that close to the fins?

 

[Brian Rupnow]

werowance--I'm thinking of two flat-head screws, one on each side. There is a good lip of wood all the way around underneath the brass cover plate, so that would probably work. I don't think the fuel in the line would vaporize, but it's more of a "try it and see" situation.----Brian

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Today I'm tired of playing machinist and I need a break. Yesterday my lathe quit working, and I've tried all the appropriate "safety switches" to no avail. Taking the lathe to BusyBee for repair is nothing, but getting the lathe out of my shop to my truck is a fairly major production. A friend of mine near Barrie had a heart attack last week, but they gave him three stents and sent him home. I may drive over to see him this afternoon, and spend the day out of my shop.----Brian

 

[peterl95124]

Brian, your engine looks really cool, but I've started copying Paul Denham's style which is to mount all that stuff on the underside of the wood base, router/mill pockets for them 5/8 deep in 3/4 wood and AA batteries in a flat case and the electronic ignition circuit fit just fine and they are well protected there. the topside ends up looking cleaner. IMHO, YMMV, VWPBL, Pete.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

You're right Peter, it does look cleaner the way you are doing it. I've done it this way, because once the engine has ran and goes up on the shelf, I want easy access to the batteries so I can take them out. The engines set up on my shelves for years, and I don't want to deal with the mess and fire hazard of corroded batteries.

 

[peterl95124]

You're right Peter, it does look cleaner the way you are doing it. I've done it this way, because once the engine has ran and goes up on the shelf, I want easy access to the batteries so I can take them out. The engines set up on my shelves for years, and I don't want to deal with the mess and fire hazard of corroded batteries.

Brian, you're right, the only thing worse than batteries leaking and corroding your electronics is, wait..., there isn't anything worse than that !!!. but for me the big hassle is draining and flushing out all the water/coolant before winter storage, Pete.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Not a lot accomplished today. I did drill the cylinder base plate for a 0.094" diameter rod to keep the gas line away from the large cam gear, and hooked up the electronic ignition and checked that I did indeed have spark at the plug when the engine was turned by hand. The engine is now ready to start, but I need a couple of "spacers" to go on the side where my timing lever is, and can't make them right now because my lathe is buggered up. I did call BusyBee in Toronto and they said to bring it in Monday and they would fix whatever is wrong with it. This weekend I will get the lathe out of my shop and into my truck, then take it to be repaired on Monday.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

The lathe is out of my shop and ready to load in my truck on Monday. Moving that lathe is a huge job for a 77 year old man. Nothing was broken, nobody got hurt, but it's taken me the best part of four hours to get it out. Had to yell once for my good wife to come down and put some air in one of the tires--everything wanted to tip over with a tire flat on one side of my lathe moving cart. My good wife is 66 years old and had never used an air hose to put air in a tire before today.---It's hard for me to imagine that!!!

 

[HMEL]

The lathe is out of my shop and ready to load in my truck on Monday. Moving that lathe is a huge job for a 77 year old man. Nothing was broken, nobody got hurt, but it's taken me the best part of four hours to get it out. Had to yell once for my good wife to come down and put some air in one of the tires--everything wanted to tip over with a tire flat on one side of my lathe moving cart. My good wife is 66 years old and had never used an air hose to put air in a tire before today.---It's hard for me to imagine that!!!

I rarely if ever let my wife work on anything mechanical unless I know I have trained her specifically for the task. Its not that she cant do she has never done that type of work. Your not alone bud! But she is a darn good cook.

 

[Steamchick]

Good wives are hard to find, and take a lifetime of investment to keep them. But they are worth it!
K2

 

[Gordon]

There are a lot of 66 year old males who never learned how to fry an egg.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

My lathe is fixed, a wire was burned off the power supply. I had also asked for a replacement rpm indicator, but they didn't have one, couldn't get one.??? They will send the lathe up to their Barrie store this coming week, saves me driving to Toronto. I have been busy cleaning up dead trees and removing child size swing sets from my back yard. My knees are really getting bad, and I'm on the waiting list to have both knees replaced. I am finding it increasingly harder to get around and swing a chainsaw. I got the job done, but found it pretty difficult. I have used four brass screws to hold the brass cover plate over the batteries in place, as per Werowance's suggestion. I also emailed Roy sholl and asked about a red on/off indicator light but haven't heard back from him yet.

 

[ShopShoe]

Brian,

I humbly suggest using threaded inserts with some type of machine-threaded screw or fastener to attach your battery-cover plate. These are great for applications like yours where you have to remove something attached to wood multiple times. You can use them directly, or use epoxy when you thread them into the wood.

See example:

--ShopShoe

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Shopshoe--If I find that the screws are losing their grip on the wood, I will do what you suggest. I have some #10 Helicoils in stock, so would probably epoxy four of them into the wood if I find it necessary.---Brian

 

[Steamchick]

I'm sure someone with an engraver can add your logo to the brass plate? - Perhaps a line sketch - taken from your photo? -Computers can do that sort of thing I believe?
Maybe an "engine number", date of nominal completion? - And a name for the Engine of course.
Finally a copy of your signature, below the "Maker's name".
K2

 

[AndrewW]

I'm sure someone with an engraver can add your logo to the brass plate? - Perhaps a line sketch - taken from your photo? -Computers can do that sort of thing I believe?
Maybe an "engine number", date of nominal completion? - And a name for the Engine of course.
Finally a copy of your signature, below the "Maker's name".
K2

Hi Brian
If you have a nameplate design in mind I could try to engrave it in brass.
I would need your design in jpg or png format. I would then use Inkscape to trace the image and convert into svg format for importing into Fusion360.
No promises but I would be willing to have a go. I live in the UK so all I would ask is that you cover postage to Canada. I would cover the cost of materials assuming the nameplate isn't too big.
I've attached a photo of a nameplate I recently made for my v-twin.
My email address can be found on my YouTube channel about page at learningturningmetal.
Cheers
Andrew

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Andrew--thank you for the kind offer. Before I think of engraving anything, I have to make certain that my engine is going to run.---will find that out when I get my lathe back.---Brian

 

[Steamchick]

Andrew, you can make a small business making brass badges looking that good! - I'll keep you in mind when I want a "proper job" for one of my models. But your label could make my models look "tatty" in comparison... So I must tidy them up first!
K2

 

[AndrewW]

Andrew, you can make a small business making brass badges looking that good! - I'll keep you in mind when I want a "proper job" for one of my models. But your label could make my models look "tatty" in comparison... So I must tidy them up first!
K2

Ha ha. Unfortunately it takes me ages to make a nameplate and I have too many other pressures on my time. I don't mind doing the odd favour though.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Yayyyy!!--I'm back. The lathe is back in my shop and all hooked up, and runs like a charm. I had one last part to make before I could try to start this engine, and I made it late this afternoon. I had to make a new wider spacer to go between the flywheel and the gear (the old thin spacer is laying on the engine base in the foreground.) I had to make this thicker spacer, because the brass fitting that holds the magnet for my electronic ignition and is mounted to the larger gear was coming around and hitting the flywheel. This engine is 80% design and 20% "figure out what I'm doing as I go along", and it bit me on the bum. If I have lived right, I MIGHT" have a running engine tomorrow.