Wood Beam Engine fabricated by SAM

[SAM in LA]

Moving along since my last post, I have swapped the 4 jaw chuck out for my 3 jaw.

I cut the eccentric and crank arm off of the bar stock.

These are the tools that I will need for this operation. Getting all the tools out first helps me to make sure that I have planned the entire work process required.

I used my edge finder to determine the proper location for the setscrew on the eccentric.

I'm sure glad I purchased an extra long center drill.

I drilled a #43 hole so I could tap the hole 4-40.

Holding the tap in the drill chuck, then rotating it by hand sure makes it easy to tap a small hole.

Next up is milling the excess material off of the sides on the crank arm.

Using some drill rod, or as my brothers on the eastern side of the Atlantic say, silver steel, I turned some file buttons. The buttons for the large end are 0.400" OD and 0.250 ID and on the small end 0.286 OD and 0.125 ID. I heated the buttons to cherry red then quenched in water to harden them. By clamping the crank between the buttons in my bench vice, I was able to file the radius and taper between each end..

This photo shows the buttons mounted on short pieces of drill rod on the crank arm.

This photo shows the file buttons and the crank arm with the short pieces of drill rod going through it.

This is the finished crank arm.

And this is the finished eccentric.

Once the engine is up and running, I'll decide on what level of polishing, or perhaps coloring, will be used on each component.

Thanks for stopping by.

SAM

I changed the description from "crank" to "crank arm".

 

[4156df]

Sam,
Looking good. Very nice write-up.
Dennis

 

[Philjoe5]

Sam,
Nice progress you're making. Thanks for the update

Cheers,
Phil

 

[Deanofid]

It's coming along nice, Sam.
Keep up the good work!

Dean

 

[kcmillin]

Well done, thats a fine look'n crank throw.

Kel

 

[SAM in LA]

Today I was able to build the base.

I glued it together using some super glue and clamps.

Once the glue setup I mounted the base to the table of my Lathe/Mill.

Then I drilled 1/8" holes from side to side in three places and used some 1/8 steel rod threaded 5-40 on both ends.

I covered both sides of the base with painters tape to protect the surfaces and give me something to mark the hole locations on.

Laying out the hole locations makes it easier to keep up with them when drilling.

I'm in the process of deciding which parts should be made next.

Thanks for stopping by.

SAM

 

[Deanofid]

You used super glue on the base?
I thought that was only for fingers...

Nice brown stuff there, Sam.

Dean

 

[Blogwitch]

Sam,

You're really pushing me with all this woodworking stuff. I've got all sorts of different colours stored up above in my workshop roof. I must get some down and try a bit out.

I am doing a bit of patent work at the moment, which I can't tell you about, but it does involve a little of this brown stuff work, and it seemed to machine up ok. It was just like cutting a bit of soft metal. I even got it accurate to 0.001" (0.02mm).

Looking good BTW, I just wish my results wood turn out like that.

Bogs

 

[SAM in LA]

Bogs,

Wood moves around if the moisture content changes. To reduce movement after cutting, some sort of sealant needs to be put on it. If you notice when you are at the lumber yard, the kiln dried boards have wax on the ends.

Primarily I use my wood working tools on the brown stuff. I used the mill as a drill press for the deep holes. When I drill the holes in the base to mount the machinery I may have to switch to my brown stuff drill press. I'm not sure there is enough travel in the mill bed to locate all of the holes. Though it sure would be nice if there is.

Working on SWMBO honey do's currently. Need to finish before SWMBO returns.

SAM

 

[SAM in LA]

You used super glue on the base?
I thought that was only for fingers...

Nice brown stuff there, Sam.

Dean

Dean,

I considered gluing myself back together but went and had myself sewed back together. I removed the stitches the other day and nothing has leaked out.

SAM

 

[SAM in LA]

Today, I made a lot of wood swarf.

Cutting 4 degree angles and 1/32" deep dado's on these little pieces of wood sure burns up the day. The assembles are tacked together with glue, I still need to make the steel through bolts and drill for them.

My "A" frame doesn't look as nice as Brians, but here it is anyway.

This piece will be a support mounted on top of the "A" frame.

This piece will support the crank shaft bearings.

Here is the assembly.

Hmm.

I sure wished I had not run the plans through the washing machine. Something just doesn't look right.

Thanks for stopping by.

SAM

 

[kcmillin]

Nice Work Sam.

I cant wait to see how that frame setup works out for ya :big:

Kel

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Sam---It looks great!!! And it DOES look as nice as mine----Just different stuff.

 

[Philjoe5]

Great work Sam. It's nice to have a metal head like myself see what's possible in wood. Thanks for the updates and pictures.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[SAM in LA]

Phil,

It has been interesting so far.

I think the next parts will need to be the bearing blocks and then the cylinder.

SAM

 

[hobby]

Sam,

Excellent craftsmanship,

I don't consider myself a metal worker in this hobby,
but a hobby machinists, and I like your work with machining wood parts as well.

It's nice to see other materials being machined and implemented into a project.

Great project building, your doing...

 

[SAM in LA]

Well, today the bar moved quit a bit on my projects progress indicator.

The problem is it moved in the negative direction.

Three of the wood beams split/chipped while drilling the #44 holes.

Oh well, I can use the piece for kindling.

SAM

 

[kcmillin]

Sam, sorry to hear about the trouble.

My father taught me a trick when In was a kid. When putting screws into wood, to prevent th wood from splitting, its a good Idea to put some bar soap on it. The bar soap i think acts like a lubricant of sorts. Not sure why this works, but when using this method I have great success, even with hardwood. This method could be used for drilling I suppose.

also, high speeds are a must with small drills, especially with wood.

hope this helps.

Kel

 

[SAM in LA]

Kel,

Your right about the speed.

:wall:

I was running to slow.

:'(

I am considering increasing the size of the fasteners from 2-56 to 4-40 if there is enough room.

:idea:

Besides, I don't have any 2-56 nuts, I have a whole box of 4-40's.

SAM

 

[Philjoe5]

Thanks for the update Sam. I forgot one of the benefits of working with wood - mess up a part, heat up the living room ;D Tried that once with a bad aluminum part and I put the fire out :big:

Cheers,
Phil