Not sure about very slightly counterboring the lower 'floor' holes. The holes are 6mm but for some reason my 6mm counterbore wont fit (I,ve not used a counterbore before, I thought the size referered to the hole size but maybe not?) – as it happens i've tried some bolt heads and they seem to sit nicely flush…
I have struggled a bit with the bearings but they are now ready for drilling the fixing holes and final cleaning..
The first one I did was the most difficult, I made the mistake of not leaving enough protruding from the chuck to turn down the 1/8 'flange' on the bearing (is that the right word?). The result I had to remove and relocate in the chuck and this has I think resulted in a slight taper in the bearing, about 2 thou from one end to the other. Also I could not get my head around how to measure down to the flange. The result on the first bearing was I did not turn it down enough or was unable to repeat the same on the other side. The second one I made a much better job of by turning down to the top of the rounded section of the casting and repeating exactly on each cut. I'm sure there must be a way to have measured exactly. on Bearing no 2 I could not detect any difference (taper) from end to end of the bore and was much happier with this one. I am happy that both bores are at 90 degrees to the base and I have tried an 11mm bar through them and it fits nicely with no detectable slop, to my eye anyway. The crankshaft was supposed to be 11.1mm but I will have to make to 11mm now.
They will not look too bad on the model though when assembled (for a first project attempt anyway..)
I struggle with the dti each time and it takes ages to get runout right but hope this will get easier with practice..
Some pics –
The center of the bore marked out. I used this to bring the tailstock center to the punchmark for initial centering.
Resetting the bore to run true after facing and turning the other side.
Ready for drilling the fixing holes and final cleaning up.
Not the best looking I know but I have learned a lot, which is what this project is all about for me..
I would love to know though how I should have measured the turn down distance to the 'flanges'..
The easiest is once you have made the initial cut across the whole face is to zero the top slide dial and then use this to put on the cuts, I'm not sure of the distance but it looks to be 1/8" or 3.2mm so take say 4 cuts of 0.031" or 0.75mm.
If you don't want to do the dials or just want to check the measurement I assume you have a set of digital callipers in which case the rod that sticks out the end as you open them can be used as a depth scale.
Regarding your tapered bore, when you get towards the final cuts with the boring bar run it through the hole several times without putting on any more cut as this will allow the " spring" in the tool to work its way out. You will also find setting the 4-jaw becomes easier, yo get to know how much to turn the key to get the movement you want.
I think the Victoria is a lovely looking engine and will run slowly and majestically when completed. I am tempted myself and am drawn to the "Double" version – but it's a bit expensive! I don't know if you are aware but a very good book has been written on the construction of Victoria by Andrew Smith. Out of print now I think but still available S/H from Amazon ( at a price I'm afraid!). Without wishing to put a damper on the proceedings to date it is usual on these models to split the bearings. The bearing is cut horizontally across the centre of the cast hole, the edges cleaned up, and the two parts soft soldered back together. The hole is then bored , a tapping drill put through the caps and the two parts reheated to separate them. The bottom part is tapped and studs fitted whilst clearance holes are made in the top caps. As well as authenticity it also makes assembly much easier!
Thanks, it is the diameter of the 'flange' that I found difficult, I may be misunderstanding but are you refferring to it's width, which I was ok with..
I could not understand from where to zero the scale or how to get the distance from the corner of the flat base in the chuck to the ouside diamer of the flange ie. the start point of the cut to turn down the diameter. Hope that makes sense (I have my doubts!).
I used a 11mm reamer for the bore as the hole was so small.
Yes I wondered about this. The book I have 'building the Victoria' describes this but suggests that each bearing is supplied already in the two half's. The book is several years though…
I think that for me at the moment I will not complicate things and leave them as one piece! I agree with your comments though.
Every part for your first engine will be a learning experience, all rewarded in full when it finally runs under its own power!
If you look for 'one size smaller hexagon' nuts and screws, you will find they look more in proportion They can be obtained from many of the usual ME suppliers.
I think the Victoria is a lovely looking engine and will run slowly and majestically when completed. I am tempted myself and am drawn to the "Double" version – but it's a bit expensive!
I too am attracted to the twin/double Victoria but the cost of the castings is prohibitive. Does anyone know of a design for a similarly sized horizontal twin which relies mostly on fabrication?
The holes put through the crankweb and machined to size. I really struggled with how to mark out the 1 inch hole centres. No square edges to help and the holes at different heights (I drilled through and marked out from the boss side, was I wrong to do that?) – anyway it gave me a real headache. I would love to know how I should have gone about this.
Next have to drill the through hole for the crosspin to attach to the shaft..
A lot depends on what you have available to you, a mill and DRO would be how I'd likely do it now but assuming you have a more basic workshop then something like this.
– Machine the back flat using the lathe
– Hold the machined face against an angle plate on your marking out surface or a square block will do with the pin end horizontal packing up the small end as required and scribe a centre line through the two bossesand use a surface gauge or preferably height gauge to mark a line across the centre of the two bosses
– Turn the casting 90deg sideways and using the height gauge mark the large boss centre – without moving the part raise the height gauge 1" and mark the ctr of the pin boss
-accurately dot punch the ctr punch the two centres and then transfer to the faceplate or 4-jaw to drill and bore/ream the holes.
Thanks, I follow all that except how would you get the centres of the two holes horizontal to mark the initial center line through the two bosses – given the shape of the casting. Apologies if that is a silly question – I bet it is!
I assume you would make allowance in your divider setting for one boss being lower than the other and calculate the hypotinuse
As Andrew says it really by eye or you could set a pair of odd leg callipers to get a better idea of ctr if your eye is not that good, set it to approx half the dia and swing a few small arcs from around the edge, where they intersect is the middle.
One thing to watch when machining the holes is that you keep the flat back of the casting true to ensure the two bores are parallel, a bit of packing behind the jaws helps but remove it before turning or make sure it cannot fly out.