SHED MATTERS 2

[chinatyke]

Turned out lovely Stanley, a good start to the year. I have spent my first day recovering from last night this morning then visiting an elderly friend who is in hospital.
Cheers Mick

Hi Mick. Can't help noticing that you always post late. Is N-U-T in a different time zone?

Happy New Year

[Stanley]

You're right Bodge, hermaphrodite was the posh name. Odd legs is easier to spell!
Thanks Mick.... I seem to be getting better as I get older! I was looking at your Bridgeport mill yesterday and going green with envy. The El Cheapo Taiwan mill is great but definitely has its limitations....

[Stanley]

My start this morning was to put the finishing touches to the eccentric strap. First job was to pop an oil hole in, a good centre drill cut to give a pocket and then pop a 1/8" drill through.



Next job was to put the flat on the end where the valve rod is going to be mounted. I've already settled on a 1" foot for the rod so made the flat slightly n=more than 1".



Then half an hour or so putting some finish on the strap. The small diamond hones are ideal for this job, well worth getting hold of a set of three!



The finished product. All it needs now is the tapped holes for the two bolts that will fasten the valve rod to it but the best way to mark these is through the bolt holes in the finished valve rod using a transfer punch....



We need to do some measuring now! Make sure that the valve rod is screwed in so that it is at the middle of its travel. Set the valve at the extreme end of it's stroke, it doesn't matter which end but I prefer the back and. Set the eccentric so that it is at the extreme back end of its stroke and measure the distance from the centre of the clevis pin hole on the valve rod to the face on the eccentric. Remember that this isn't super critical because you have a certain amount of latitude with the adjustment between the valve rod and the valve but it's nice to get it somewhere near accurate.



Then into the drawing office with the measurements you have gathered and make some decisions about the shape of the rod. Recognise that the end which connects to the clevis on the valve rod is going to be offset from the centre line of the eccentric. I could do this by making a fitting for the end of the valve rod but decided that I wanted to incorporate it in the rod itself, it means more material but a tidier and I think better finished product. So I had to look for same 2" stock. The treasure chest came up trumps once more.....



John will be glad to see that the next job was harvesting his non-ferocious before swapping the four jaw SC for the three jaw.



I needed to clean the stock up. First job was to face one end. It has a big counterbore in it so this will be sacrificed eventually but at the moment I just want it clean and concentric with a good face so I can reverse the stock to clean it up.



One end cleaned up, now I need an accurate centre in this end. The smoke is from the steady, I had it a bit too tight!



Set up nicely now and a good finishing cut taken all the way down it to make a piece of rusty scrap into a nice piece of bright bar. I knocked off when this cut was complete. The finished size I have is a shade over 1.9" and what I want out of this is just below 7" of inch and three quarters. Once I have that I'll cut the unwanted end off in Mrs McMaster.... Then I can get down to making the rod.

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley , that chest just keeps giving . Its not N.U.T that's on different time zone its me lol but I have checked in early tonight. I have been out with John today as he bought an Elliot Progrerss 2g pillar drill off my mate for a bargain £50, its got the top belt guard missing but otherwise a nice drill as you well know being a members of the 2g owners club like my good self , You will see it on tomorrow Sunday night night cap.
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

If he wants the belt guard for it, I have one, never used it. Give me a shout and remember where it is.
I often wonder if I'll ever empty the treasure chests.... It just goes to show that you should never walk past anything!



I had a visitor yesterday. My old friend and boss, John Ingoe (He owns Rochdale Electric Welding) came to visit yesterday and brought a litre bottle of whisky for me. Nice to know you aren't forgotten. He was on the phone because while he was with me a customer rang him, he was broken down. John arranged a new pump and sent a bloke to fit it while he was visiting me. That's the sort of service good firms give you! I hate mobile phones but I have to admit they can be a good tool!

[Stanley]

I took a minute and set Mrs McMaster to work before I was ready to go in the shed. It only took ten minutes to knock this off but the thing is it's done and ready for me when I get going.



Not bad for a rusty piece of scrap. The longer piece is the valve rod. Just needs turning to exact length , facing and centring.



Better safe than sorry. I set the steady up so I was perfectly safe and could get a good centre.



All set up and ready for muck shifting.... Note I have gone back to my favourite tool, one of Newtons round noses with plenty of hook on it. Apart from shifting metal it means I can get a nice radius on the junctions between the various thicknesses.



I tried sticking a piece of shim next to the tool to contain the chips... It worked, sort of but I soon got fed up with it.



Knocking off time. I've got the first diameter, the one for the foot that attaches to the sheave. 5 thou above an inch which was the target but that's to allow for the fact that the stock is very hot after chobbling all those blue chips off it! I brought the swarf bin in and cleaned the lathe up ready for tomorrow. Not a bad morning's work. I know all about these people shoving their lathe and doing heroic cuts, I don't want any surprises! Amazing how well the round nose has stood up to the cutting, still putting a good finish on even with a heavy cut.

[Stanley]

Still muck shifting this morning after having a good clean up..



You know what I keep saying, working without forgings means that all you do most of the time is make big lumps smaller.... But every now and then you start to see something emerging!



The plan is to fit the foot to the eccentric strap, once that's done I can put the rod and eccentric back on the engine and I will be able to tell exactly what needs doing to the big lump on the end to make it fit the clevis on the valve rod. No need for fancy measuring, It'll tell me what wants doing.... First thing to do is mill the foot to fit the strap.



One flat on, get set up to mill the other. Small cuts, I'm hung out a fair way and this is where you make a slip up and bugger hours of work. There is no rush!



Marked up for two clearance holes for 3BA, the size of the studs I have decided on.



Close of play at 10AM. I was in the shed at 7AM so I've done enough for one day. Besides, I want to have a think about the best way to hold the rod while I drill it, it's awkward now. It'll get sorted tomorrow....

[Stanley]

All right, being over cautious perhaps but I wasn't taking any chances of a cock up! I wanted to make sure the con rod was solid before I drilled it.



I filed out the radius at the bottom of the rod so the nuts sit flat and can rotate. Sounds obvious I know but it's so easy to leave them short of room and they are a pain in the neck and don't seat properly.



Don't forget to put witness marks on both the rod and the strap before you start fitting the studs....



The strap set up for drilling. Notice that there is only one punch mark. Get that right and fit that and install the stud before you mark for the second one.



I made a small silver steel transfer punch, the normal ones were too long. The stud is tightened up and the foot adjusted until it is dead right and then marked for the second stud hole. This way you'll get it dead right.



The result, a good fit and dead in line with the strap. Don't worry P. I shall adjust the stud length later.....



Once the rod is installed on the engine (notice that it is dead in line with the bed, I must have got something right.... ) you can see exactly where the cuts have to be made to produce the off-set to the valve rod clevis.



I've already cut the side next to the clevis that needs the least metal removing. That means that when I came to cut this side I still had enough metal to grab hold of for this cut which will go right down to the rod. I started the cut but then knocked off. Plenty of time tomorrow!

[Stanley]

I told you it would get smaller! You've all been very polite, nobody has mentioned that if I'd thought ahead I wouldn't have needed to do all this milling.... Very boring, just take it as read but I've cleaned all the chips up.



Close of play. Marked ready for the final cut but that will do for tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

Set up for the final cut on the valve rod. This cutter has done a lot of work so I popped it into the T&C grinder and made sure the edge was perfect. I didn't want any grabbing because I haven't got a lot of hold on the rod....



Quietly away, no heavy cuts!



Nowhere near as big as it started but ready for finishing by hand and fitting. There's always less room in clevis jaws than you think!



The rod fitted and a dog put on the shaft to turn it. All well so far!



Getting serious now, the studs on the strap cut back to size, the cotters on the piston rod and valve rod fitted properly and driven home tight before trimming to size. Time to set the valves....
The term 'simple slide valve' is one of the world's biggest jokes. There is nothing simple about the geometry of the slide valve. When Churchward, the great locomotive designer retired he said it was a pity he was going because after 50 years he thought he had just about cracked the slide valve! So, if you want to get thoroughly confused get hold of all the books you can and read valve setting up. I've done it and it left me no wiser than I was when I started. Or.... you can do it Stanley's way. Make sure the valve rod is in the middle of its adjustment in the block that actually drives the valve. Turn the flyshaft in the direction of rotation until you are dead on centre with the piston right at the back of it's stroke. Overtighten the piston rod gland until it's grabbed the rod. Then slacken the eccentric sheave and turn it in the direction of rotation until you have just got past the point where the steam port starts to be uncovered as the valve block moves forwards. Nip the eccentric at that and continue to turn the flyshaft in the direction of rotation until you have reached centre at the front of the stroke. If you have got all your measurements right, you should have the same event as you set at the back, the steam port opening a fraction before the piston reaches TDC. If not, slacken the eccentric and reset the valve repeating the steps above until you have got equal events at each end. Once you're satisfied that you've reached this happy state, lock the eccentric firmly on the shaft. The purists will shake their heads but the guarantee is that if you've done your building accurately, when you put steam on the engine it will go like hell!



You can put the lid onto your steam chest now after popping a bit of liquid gasket on the faces. Tighten the nuts down opposite pairs together until you have them all nutted down tight. P will be happy to note that the first job tomorrow is to cut the studs on the valve chest to length and finish the ends....

[Stanley]

I've found a solution to the growing number of engines in the house, I am going to give them away as I make them. John Mills is going to make the castings for me and so he and Mick get the next two which I shall make together. This one is going to be a surprise for Tarry Gissing who keeps me supplied with plate and shaft when I need it and refuses to take any money. I shall be asking him for more steel for the next two so I'd better keep the band in the nick.



My 2BA nuts and bolts arrived late last night. I hadn't looked at them properly but got mail from Richard Clark who owns Kennions asking me to check the number of nuts, sure enough I was 100 light. I mailed him back this morning and received a reply five minutes ago apologising and saying they were going in the post this morning. I also congratulated him on the quality which is as good now as it was thirty years ago and he said they are still machine made. He sent me this LINK. Mine are steel and they are lovely quality. He says it takes a minute to make each one.... I don't know how they do them for the price!

Shed may be cancelled this morning as other matters are pressing in, one of them articles for the paper.....

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, just been checking progress and an very impressed it's all coming together nicely now. Terry will be delighted I am sure as John and myself will be with your kind offer of making twin engines. I think it will be fitting for the next two Engines to be named Sarah and Deborah in honour of our ladies, they better never say romance is dead after that romantic and noble deed lol.
Keep up the good work Stanley.
Just thinking it would have been interesting to have weighed the rod before then after machining to see what percentage of steel was in the rod compared to on the floor ! You probably still could as the bar would be known weight for given length and you still have the rod to check ?
Cheers Mick

[plaques]

Stanley its Ok delaying the 'Shed' for other business but what's happening to my nuts? Don't answer that.

[Stanley]

Mick, you have just talked yourself into a job! I like the idea of the engines being named Sarah and Deborah. You realise of course that it is now down to you to liaise with John and make the patterns for the name plates! As for how much weight of metal gets taken off when machining out of the solid it can be about 80%. You should have seen the mess when I made the crankshaft for the big compound, serious muck shifting! However, when B&P were making the shafts for their big three throw pumps they tried forgings but after a couple broke went over to machining them out of the solid, they used what was then called '70 ton steel', it took about five days to chop one out but they never had any problems after that. Some people build them up from rod and bar stock but I'd rather take the extra time and make muck!
Have spent almost £60 on 2BA stock ready for the big contract....
P, like mine, they are 50% deficient.... I shall be tidying up your studs this morning... By the way, I wrote two articles yesterday so that gets the BET off my back for a fortnight. Onward and upwards!
I watched John's video of the progress drill yesterday. Nice to see you stretching your puffoo valve lifting the head on.... A lot of coughing and thrutching going on!






As you can see my 2GS looks a bit older than John's but basically the same. I have no switch on the drill, no reverse and the quill lock is missing. Notice it has a casting for the base that shortens the pillar. Like John's, no play at all in the quill apart from the built in backlash. Hoover 3 phase motor and I have a spare..... A good drill and made better by the compound vise that I use with it. Cuts down on my quill travel a bit but I've always been able to work round that.

[Stanley]

The first thing I had to address was P's problem.... The studs on the valve chest had to be cut down to an even length and given a bit of finish. I did the cutting using a piece of packing for a depth gauge. Absolutely the wrong sort of work for my shoulder and it was literally a pain!



Then a quick stroke across the tops with a big flat file....



Then the Dremel with a stone on the end that had a depression in the centre...



A bit later and I think we are looking tidy....



I decided to address the matter of the base. I sacrificed the piece of Keruing I keep behind the lathe which I use to protect the bed when changing chucks. It wasn't raining so I set the cut off saw up in the yard and cut it the easier way!



Further encroachment on Mick's territory, I got serious and broke the router from its cover.... Nasty messy things.... As soon as I had finished chucking shavings all over the shed I cleaned up and vacuumed the carpet. Then a bit of hand sanding to break the edges on the wood....



Come closing time I had given the bed a coat of stain/varnish and left it to dry. Brush cleaned out and everything put away.... Quite a satisfying morning!

[PanBiker]

I have made a new topic for the replica Indian Motorcycle build and moved all the posts here:

Replica Indian Motorcycle Build

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, just looking at your Progress 2 drill there, mine must be more akin to yours, I have a switch like John's but I am sure there is no reverse cast into it, mine has the same Progress badge as yours on the front and the same cast stand that the actual pillar fits into. I a sure we could make a quill lock if you wanted one as mine is there to copy or can take photos and sizes if you wanted to make one.
Looks like you are doing ok with the wood butchering to me too Stanley.
Oh yes forgot to say I knew I was talking myself into a job when I mentioned it lol , so any young engineers out there make sure you get yourself a girlfriend called Jo

Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Time you made something for me.... knock a quill lock off for me..... I put the base plate in the front room to get warm and dry off, it's good Keruing so the resin bubbled out during the night! I shall deal with it.... Now then, about this scrap bronze...... Tell me what to do....

[Stanley]

I was in the shed early and the first job was to rescue the base board. I gave it a good rub down with 000 steel wool and dark tan boot polish, then gave it a good brushing and finished by polishing with a soft cloth. It came up nicely....



The next job was to fasten the engine down on to the base board. I decided to do it as I have done before, fasten it down with 1/4" Whit inch long round headed brass set screws. This peek into part of the treasures illustrates my old theme of grabbing stuff when you see it! Have a look at the price of these now and weep! They are ridiculously expensive, these were old stock and I bought the lot. Never regretted it.



I drilled the board and tapped the holes. Not your usual woodworking but in hardwood like this it works a treat, the set screws tightened dead tight with no give in the hold. Far better than woodscrews. Then some proper fitting. I cut the bolts holding the crank bearing to length and tightened all the other nuts and bolts. Then I made two pipes, one 1/2" and one 3/8", both 26tpi, for the exhaust and steam pipes. Next job was to fix the flywheel on, no messing about, clean the shaft and the bore, a coat of shaftlock and belt it on with a rubber hammer. Sorry kids but that's it, it will never shift unless it's heated up severely. That's it, finished as far as I am concerned....



I say finished but there was one more test.... I put compressed air on it and it went like hell! It even kept running on the output from my little compressor, I reckon that's about 5psi. No further valve setting needed beyond my original setting, I think I might be getting the hang of this job.... So it's free running even before it gets run in. All right, I am not the best man on titivating for exhibition but that was never the object of the exercise, to make an engine that runs smoothly with no knocks.... Job done.
One last action, I put tools away and cleaned the lathe. It was only 9AM but called it knocking off time, a good morning's work..... Now I have to fill in time until I get the next lot of castings from John..... Over to you lads!

[chinatyke]

Wonderful piece of equipment, thank you for sharing it with us. This is all new territory for me but I've learned a lot from reading your posts.

[Stanley]

Thank you China, it's a pleasure.... You can do the whole thing again now because preparations for building the next two engines for Sarah and Deborah are going well. Terry called round this morning, I gave him the engine and he protested that he couldn't take it so I presented him with the cutting list for the two engines. He realised resistance was useless and I have little doubt the steel will be delivered tout suite! This is why I haven't finished this morning's task....



After a final tidy up of tools I got my materials together. I'm going to make myself a spring loaded tap follower. I've been promising myself this for a while. Ordinary mild steel for the body and silver steel (high carbon steel) for the pointer.



After a bit of design and fag packet drawing I chucked the steel for the body in the lathe and started making muck. I won't bore you with all the processes....



Terry called in and I lost a bit of time but very productive, one of my mates is chuffed to bits on the quiet and I've solved the problem of materials for the engines.... So at knocking off time the body is done, the pointer made and the end closure is cut to size and threaded. It won't take long to finish it tomorrow.

[Stanley]

I thought I might miss my latest engine but no, absolutely painless, it's the next two that are claiming my attention now....

[Stanley]

It didn't take long this morning to finish the tap follower. Nice job even though I say it myself. Exactly what I had in mind and a good addition to the small tools.



I think I have a bit of post natal depression. I looked round for something to do and gave the Harrison a good clean down. Then, rather than just potter round getting nothing of consequence done I decided to knock off and have an easy day. I shan't get my mojo back until I have some solid machining to do....

[Stanley]

I wasn't built for sitting round waiting for materials so last night I made an executive decision. I went into the shed and dragged this little lad out of the treasure chest...



The plan was for John to cast a couple of flywheels but the one on the last engine was a slice of this +5" piece of stock. I decided that seeing as the last one looked so good, and in order to take some weight off John, I'd cut two slices of this and get on with making the flywheels. Hopefully by the time I have done these Terry will have delivered the rest of the steel so I'll be able to carry on working. As I write Mrs McMaster is grumbling away in the shed doing her stuff. By the time I am ready to go in the shed I will have two blanks.....[It takes her about 40 minutes to cut through 5" but who cares, she is doing it while I am getting on with the rest of the mornings tasks.]

[Stanley]

This was where Mrs McMaster was at with the second flywheel blank when I went in the shed and started setting up for roughing out the flywheels.



Away we go while Mrs M chunks away in the background. I'm using a big old 3 jaw I have that came off a scrap heap and only has one set of jaws but it's handy for these jobs because they are relatively shallow and so help you to get the circumference cleaned up.



I hadn't finished the first blank when Mrs M delivered the second one. I cleaned her up and put the remainder back in the treasure chest. Than back to roughing out.



The second blank chucked up ready to start. Bleeding obvious tip for you here. This old chuck is not accurate so I marked one jaw and the stock next to it with yellow paint. When I've done this side and reverse it I match the dots up again and it ensures we are somewhere near concentric so the cut on the circumference will match up somewhere near.



Knocking off time. Both blanks rough machined with parallel faces and a clean circumference. Ready for making into finished flywheels. I cleaned this crop of swarf off the lathe and put it in the scrap bin outside. Not a bad morning's work. We can say we are making engines again!