The Workshop Progress thread 2018

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Slapped some rather stale Hammerite on the milling machine riser that I've just finished welding up. Ugly welds, ugly paint, built like the proverbial out-house.

The lugs on the side will be for brackets to hold the milling vices, rotary table and its chuck when not in use. Next thing is to do the machining on it.

 

 

Edited By Mark Rand on 14/08/2018 21:17:17

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

 

Continued on with the Boxer oscillator…

​The cleaned up finish has been done on my linisher but I don't seem to be able to get finer grade belts so it will have to be flatted out on glass plate & wet & dry emery, elbow grease, with final polishing done with buffing wheels.

George.

​Edited to reduce pic.size.

 

Edited By mechman48 on 15/08/2018 09:32:11

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

Some progress on the Overcrank engine.

The cylinder assembly looked the most challenging so that's where I started.

The cylinder block centre section:

The centre section with the cylinders. The bores have been left undersize until after silver soldering:

Set up for silver soldering. For some reason although I know the theory and have some good gear (a Seivert torch), I do not have the knack of making good quick clean joints.

And here is the soldered cylinder block after pickling:

It still needs fettling and cleaning up but I reckon it'll do.

Next is to finish the bores to correct size and drill the steam passages.

Jim

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Is it worth looking for some insulating fire bricks instead of the solid ones? They tend to heat up far more rapidly.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Those look like skamolex blocks and sheet to me, very good insulator and tends to throw the heat back at the work.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

My little hearth is purpose made and bought from CuP Alloys so I don't think that is the problem. Although for the large chunks of brass shown here something a bit bigger to hold more heat in the job may have helped. The bricks are just used to hold the insulators in place.

Jim

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Sorry, I had thought they were the high density fire bricks used in the back of fireplaces. Didn't notice the shiny spots on the surface until I expanded the picture.

Edited By Mark Rand on 15/08/2018 18:38:56

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Silver soldering looks good to me.

Brian

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Nice soldering job Jim. As an aside but in same context; are you using Propane from small cylinder & how do you store it , inside or outside?. Asking as insurance companies are very reticent to cover for storage of flammable items in garages attached to properties here. What do other members do for storage for MAPP cans / rattle spray cans ? I have most of mine stored in outside separate shed or locked in my steel ( sheet metal ) tool trolley / steel ( ditto ) wall cupboard… Clarkes… usual disclaimer applies.

​George.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Not wanting to let Andrew down I have made a bit of swarf out of the newly acquired IF Allman castings just to see what they were like under the skin and to see what the finished sizes would end up as so that I could make a start on the drawings.

I'm Drawing it up in Alibre but using the Render function in F360 as I can't justify paying the extra for Keyshot that Alibre uses.

[Ron LadenParticipant @ronladen17547]

Jason,

Do you have your collection of stationary engines on display around your home, the ones I have seen look to be lovely pieces of engineering which deserve to be on show.

Ron

[LimpetParticipant @limpet]

I'm reckoning that the amount of projects that Jason has expertly completed he must have a display industrial unit to give them all justice. You can't help but admire the quality and quantity of his work.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

As few of the hit & miss engines have gone to other homes, infact it was nice to see one again at the recent Bristol show. Others are on shelves, in cabinets of filling up the wide window cills around the house and the 2" traction engine lives in the conservatory.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I cut another notch into the workshop door frame today

First test run of my 24mm bore Robinson Hot Air Engine all from scratch except the Stuart 10series flywheel. Still needs some tweaks but it's a runner.

Sorry video is a bit jumpy but I was holding a blowtorch under it with my right hand and trying to hold the camera with my left. Blue tube and most of the noise is an airline to cool the engine rather than filling with water at this stage.

Edited By JasonB on 27/08/2018 17:15:10

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Nice smooth action there Jason.

George.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Did a little bit more work on my boxer twin oscillator, cylinders & pistons, support brackets, the right hand cylinder proves the cliché… measure twice, cut once, had to make a top hat to bring it to length & Loctited in, probably make another one when I've made all the other pieces…

Support brackets…

The drawing shows the bottom hole as 12mm dia, I've made it 10mm as it looks more in proportion. I've actually Loctited two pieces together to make sure all sides & holes are symmetrical, it just needs the hypotenuse cutting & milling to size.

George.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Hi George,

I am also building an oscillator engine, ultimately to go in a small steam launch. I have started to draw it up in 3d to make sure it all fits. I don't trust drawings from the MAP series of books.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Hello Boiler Bri, looking good. Have never got round to getting into 3D or AutoCAD ( Fusion 360 these days ? ) myself, am into 70's now & still of the old school where Tech drawing was the norm. I did try AutoCAD some years ago when it fist appeared but was getting confused with constructing layers 1,2, etc, maybe my grey matter was not receptive enough at the time

George.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

I started the engine because i keep looking at the stuff that Jason produces in such short time. I have been on with some of my big stuff for years and never see the end, so thought i would have a bash at a smaller project. If only to have it running on my desk running on air, i could at least say i have finished something!

Bri

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Both looking good Gents. That's what I like about some of these smaller engines, they make a change from the usual and you end up with something that runs in a short space of time rather than just a couple more bits to add to a long build project.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Did a bit of clean up prior to final polish on support brackets & crank eccentrics…

Eccentrics, according to dwg… hmmm…

George.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

I'm pleased to post in Workshop progress today because, after 9 months of no progress, I've had a bit.

It's been a work year so far with far too much time away from the shed (oh, and the family). But at last I've done something! Not much, but something.

We've been 'de-cluttering' and I decided to make a stand for one of my guitars.

here it is

And more attractively with guitar

What is (slightly) clever is the use of my 3D printer to make the connectors.

What's not terribly clear from the photo is that the the connectors for the A-Frame are angled in at 20 degrees each and back at 15. For those who poo-poo 3d Printers, I challenge you to make these brackets out of metal!

Iain

Post Scriptum. Please do not confuse possession of musical instruments with musical skill. I have some of the first and very little of the latter. Perhaps when I retire I will have the time to adjust the balance!

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Milled the top and bottom faces of the milling machine raising block flat and parallel today. I did it on a rotary table to avoid any embarrassing steps caused by having to move the 14" diameter raising block to machine it in several passes on the 10" milling machine table. Probably an idiot thing to do, but it was quite relaxing turning the (extended) handle for several hours. Of course, because I was using the RT, even with the brake on, there was too much play to use a shell mill, so it was nibbled away with a 12mm endmill!

First I flattened a bit of precious ally plate, you can (sort of) make out the extended RT handle here:-

Then I clamped the raising block onto the ally plate:-

Finally, I whittled it flat:-

On the first side, there was a part of the circle that rang a little bit, due to the not-flat surface not being tight against the ally plate at that point. When I flipped it over and did the other side, it sat without any rocking and milled nice and evenly.

Next operation is to clamp it to the table, then face and bore the round bits at the end of the 'ears' so I can fit brackets to them. All in all a happy day's work.

[David TaylorParticipant @davidtaylor63402]

Put the rivets in the plate in front of the smokebox and spotted, drilled, and tapped holes in the smokebox sides (below the footplates) so the smokebox is now attached properly.

It's about 2mm too far back because the exhaust manifold turned out that way. I'll live with it!

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

My current project of Stew Hart’s Overcrank engine is proving to be a little more of a challenge than I thought. However, if everything was easy life would be awfully boring so on we go.

Having opened out the cylinder bores, I got confused over the steam passages and made a bit of an upcock which required a couple more blanking plugs. I also decided on the spur of the moment to alter the design for the exhaust outlet to allow me to fit a pipe in place of the open port in the block. Here is the block with the blanks Loctited in place ready to be smoothed off.

The enlarged exhaust port is also clear but what is not apparent is that it lies in the way of one of the valve chest fixing studs so my “improvement” has caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

To give me time to recover and work out a solution I made the cylinder end caps.

Now for the steam chest and valves.

Jim

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