Winter build. Atom Minor MK III

[Basil]

I've got quite a few long term builds on the go at the moment and I was looking for a nice little engine I could finish up over the winter. The casting kit and plans are from Hemmingway. I have previously built the Westbury Seal Major 30cc from their castings. Something about just following through instructions and plans and making parts to the best of your ability attracts me to these kits.
After deciding on the first part to make (Ignition bracket) It looked like a no brainer! I spent a few hours working through the best way to go about the machining. Per plans the bracket has a 29/64th hole through it which was going to be very tight with the raw casting material available.
To cut a long story short a couple of hours in the worst happened. A hairline crack between the large hole and the front of the casting. I had gone to great lengths to center everything within the available casting. I could have ordered another casting, this one did have an undercut that made it very thin in one area. Kirk is very good about this kind of thing and I am sure he would have swapped it out.
Because this bracket is designed to be adjustable and be pinch clamped to the front housing I thought it sure would be better to make it out of some good old 6061. I have lots from my machining days in the states. Luckily this component is fully dimensioned on the plans. Sweet!
A day later and it is complete. No need to worry about this one cracking one day from a little over torqueing.
On to the next part......

 

[ShopShoe]

Good Save

I'm following this build.

--ShopShoe

 

[Basil]

I spent today machining the block for the Atom. I had a choice, either chuck the casting in a 4 Jaw and machine on the lathe or rig something up on the mill. I felt I had more control and room for adjustment as I was working up to the final crank hole diameter on the mill. Not an easy item to hold on to, I did not want to put pressure on the casting length, deciding to hold under the mounting lugs instead.
The wood might look sketchy but with a bit of grinding it fitted very well and was solid. Once I was happy with the positioning I firmed everything up with super glue. The casting does not leave much room for error and I was happy when this first cut was over. Now I could mount on a mandrel and cut the flange surfaces.
The only material I could find of a close size for the Mandrel was a piece of nice EN24. I decided not to be wasteful by cutting it, hence the steady rest. Back over to the mill to work on the cylinder diameter, deck height and mounting holes. The cylinder bore is 1/16th offset to the crank centerline which could definitely catch you out.
Turned it over and dialed in an accurate 180degrees and worked on the mounting lugs. Then onto the 10 degree exhaust port. Went for a 7/16 thread in this. I have converted all the other threads to metric.
A full day with some nice resting time. I find taking a good break every hour or two helps keep parts out of the junk bin.
A good day and happy with the result.

 

[Basil]

On to the front and rear housings. Front housing just consists of doing some preliminary machining and making a very slightly tapered spigot to assist with the rest of the machining processes.
With not much to hang onto with the rear housing I got the first part of the machining gingerly out of the way in the 4 jaw. Matched the holes up with the main case in the mill then made a jig for the rest of the machining. The making of the jig was well worth while allowing for easy setup in the mill and 4 Jaw in the lathe. Chose the bore the tapered intake tracts on the lathe instead of making D bits. Then onto some casting clean up. Cheers

 

[Basil]

Moving on with the Westbury Atom minor. The front housing bushings were the next in line. Very straight forward job. Then I decided to tackle the cylinder head. A casting had been included with the kit, at least I took it that's what it was for. The head machined from this had lots of porosity which might not be an issue but seeing as I had everything at hand I decided to make another from bar.. I had made a mandrel to hold onto the head and help with setup, this made machining the second one go much quicker.
Getting the spark plug as shown in the plans was looking difficult and its a whopping big thing anyway so I decide to go with 1/4-32 ME8 I had from another project. This also is of course a regular glow plug size so I can go that route if desired.
Decided to make some brass pieces for the carb also at this time. Phone was dead so did not get many pictures of this but it is pretty straight forward anyway just needed to be a bit extra careful due to the size and tolerances.
I rigged up my Proxxon with the attachment I made a while ago for grinding the end of the fuel needle. Completed the needle adjustment knob and sweated the 2 together.

 

[minh-thanh]

Interesting project

 

[Basil]

Moving onto the cylinder. I always enjoy the crisp machining of cast iron but boy it sure is mucky! Everything went very straight forward. Whenever I am machining something on the larger side that will require deep cuts like this I like to stiffen the cutting assembly up. I remove the compound slide and fit an adapter I made up that takes my big Harrison lathe tooling.
I got the sequence a little backwards and should have drilled the fixing holes first before machining the fins. Anyway I made an aluminium holder to get around this small issue. As per the instructions the part of the liner where the exhaust port area is is machined for a wringing fit to facilitate a good port seal. I have ordered the material to make a lap for the final finishing.
While waiting I decided to get to work on the crank. The main journal is only 1/4" and I did not like the idea of finishing this area first and then making cuts on the larger head of the crank. I decided to cut away most of the big end material on the mill also doing the scallops at the same time. Then spun between centers to complete the big end and undercut. Lastly machining the 1/4" main shaft. This is where you find out how out of line your tail stock is, I kept a close eye on measurements and was able to adjust it in as I went. It was only a few thou out but this was giving me a taper early on. To finish I polished the main shaft and will polish the big end to 2500 grit.

 

[Basil]

Motoring on with the Atom minor. Made laps for the liner and piston. Finished the liner by going through all the different diamond cutting compounds. Very time consuming and messy but really happy with the result.
Next onto the piston, getting the fit in the liner being the most important part of the whole job. I took my time with this. Its very easy to go from a tight fit to the piston drops through the bore. Truth be told I would have liked a little tighter fit and this would have aloud me to go to a finer lapping compound. We'll see how everything settles down when the engine is ran. Worse case I make another one.
I've included a picture of some tape I have from fiberglass work, primarily used for places you don't want the resin to stick to. Its similar in feel to a thick kapton tape. Does a great job of protecting surfaces and holds up well. The product name escapes me at the moment.
The rest of the piston is standard machining with the only special ground tool for lightening cuts out under the piston crown above the pin bosses.
The last set of picture just showing the collet and hub arrangement Mr Westbury designed for this engine. I did case harden the prop hub as suggested in the plans. For this I used Kasenit. Too busy with the gas torch to take any photos of this process. The ignition points actuating rod runs against a cam machined into the rear of this hub, hence the case harden I think.
Probably going to work on the connecting rod next. Thanks for looking.

 

[Basil]

Onto the disc valve. I went completely off the rails here and decided to make it in the most complicated way possible. The reasoning behind this was mainly due to not liking the idea of the drive pin being riveted into the 1/16 thick disc. I'm sure it would have been OK but I had a chunk of EN24 the correct diameter and an idea of how to go about it. I got the offset worked out in the 4 jaw and machined the integral drive pin. Over to the mill for the disc cutout. Back on the lathe for some parting off. The parting off side being on the sealing side of the disc this needed to be a better surface. I made a mandrel with a cut out for the drive peg and used super glue to attach. All went well. The assembly is now soaking in acetone to break down the glue.

 

[creast]

When using the super glue technique I usually release the part by gently heating it with a small blow torch. It doesn't have to get too hot for it to pop off.

 

[Basil]

When using the super glue technique I usually release the part by gently heating it with a small blow torch. It doesn't have to get too hot for it to pop off.

Yes, that's what I normally do also. Saw this method on youtube and thought I'd give it a try. Worked OK.

 

[Ian3124]

Good day Basil, I made an Atom but as yet have failed to get it to run. I am unconvinced by gas flow at each part of the cycle, through the engine, and am trying to work through that. May I ask if you identified any particular assembly or commissioning items to check? One item I'll be looking at is the fit between the liner and the port band. ETW pays some attention to this - how critical do you think it is? Did you ever need to do anything to check induction effectiveness?. Regards Ian

 

[f2cf1g]

I have built and flown an Atom Minor. It would be useful to know whether it is on spark or glow ignition and what fuel you are using. Do you get any sign of firing? My motor can be a bit temperamental.

 

[Basil]

Hi Ian, The disc cut out is a little misleading on the plans and this nearly caught me out. To be sure I 3D printed a disc and did a mock up.
As you mention also in the booklet about the cylinder being a good queek fit in the case at the area around the exhaust and transfer passage area.
I did make sure to duplicate this. I don't think that would make for a non runner though unless it was a rattle fit.
I will need to do some grinding on the main casting around the exhaust port to open it up some to match the liner ports.
Today I messed about and made a badge on the router with a drag engraving bit.
Connecting rod next.

Merry Christmas and good cheer to all

 

[Ian3124]

I have built and flown an Atom Minor. It would be useful to know whether it is on spark or glow ignition and what fuel you are using. Do you get any sign of firing? My motor can be a bit temperamental.

I got a pop or two along the way. It is on spark ignition, using the contact breaker as suggested by ETW ie hid design. Good point about fuel - I made another engine (Upshur) and ran it successfully on Coleman fuel (which I think is basically a naptha based stove fuel). Hence I only offered Coleman fuel to my Atom. What fuel did you use on your successful engine - and was it glow plug?

 

[Ian3124]

Hi Ian, The disc cut out is a little misleading on the plans and this nearly caught me out. To be sure I 3D printed a disc and did a mock up.
As you mention also in the booklet about the cylinder being a good queek fit in the case at the area around the exhaust and transfer passage area.
I did make sure to duplicate this. I don't think that would make for a non runner though unless it was a rattle fit.
I will need to do some grinding on the main casting around the exhaust port to open it up some to match the liner ports.
Today I messed about and made a badge on the router with a drag engraving bit.
Connecting rod next.

Merry Christmas and good cheer to all

Basil - thank you - good to see your valve image - aligns with mine and interpretation of drawing. I agree - it is very easy to mis-interpret. I note your observation on the casting being opened up to match the liner ports - will look at that. Your observation on liner fit is helpful - I conclude the same. I will also use a gasket compound to minimise crank casing leaks. I'll be very interested to hear about how effective the induction stroke is on your engine - eg would it pull an 1" or several of water up a tube? This bit does not convince me yet on my engine. Regards - and Merry Christmas.

Ian

 

[f2cf1g]

I got a pop or two along the way. It is on spark ignition, using the contact breaker as suggested by ETW ie hid design. Good point about fuel - I made another engine (Upshur) and ran it successfully on Coleman fuel (which I think is basically a naptha based stove fuel). Hence I only offered Coleman fuel to my Atom. What fuel did you use on your successful engine - and was it glow plug?

Hi Ian. The setup is the same as yours, sparker with ETW contact breaker. The plug is a 10mm lawnmower variety, I quite like the oversize look! I generally run it on 5% glow fuel but it has also run successfully on petrol. I have had a lot of difficulty with the ignition system, it likes it best on a Minimag 6v coil (2S Lipo in practice). Starting can be good but it's very inconsistent. Generally the motor starts slowly and gradually picks up speed over a period of a few seconds until it is running strongly. There is no obvious mechanical reason for this, I've begun to suspect that maybe the plug is being doused in fuel-rich charge until the crankcase empties. Reading this thread about leaks I am beginning to wonder if that could be the source of my problem, I try it use metal-metal fits only. Re the disk valve, provided the mating surfaces are flat and accurately parallel to each-other there shouldn't be a problem. One thing , it's been suggested elsewhere (Ron Chernich's site?) that they run better with a higher compression ratio, it may be worth taking a 1/16 off the head but that's an optimisation, it should run OK as it is. Roy