Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

As promised I started the day by tapping the five holes for the back lid of the cylinder.



The trial fit was OK. I can deal with the scarred hole later when I am finishing.



Then I did a trial fit of the cylinder on the bed. In a word horrible. The only thing that was good was that the studs line up. What really pissed me off was that after all the checking I got the exhaust port on top and the steam inlet on the bottom, not the way round I intended. It'll be OK but it's depressing!

[Stanley]

As you may have gathered I am not happy with the standard of my work and so today the object is to improve the quality and accuracy of the work so far.



So the first job was to dismantle what I had knitted together so far.



Then I made the gland nut for the front of the cylinder. I considered a lot of fancy ways of putting the serrations round the nut for adjusting it but eventually just put saw cuts in it while held in the vice....



The target plate on the bed was too thick so I put it back under the mill and made it thinner.



Here we are at knocking off time after nearly two hours in the shed, Small improvements all round. It's still a pig's ear but a rather better pig's ear!

[Stanley]

The first task this morning was to strip down the trial fit and isolate the cylinder. I have to drill the steam passage from the cylinder to the steam port. Needless to say this is not as easy as it looks. My method is to mark the exit point into the steam port on the outside of the cylinder and use that to set the vice at the right angle. It's always an educated guess and touch wood has always worked for me.



Here we are set up and ready to put a flat in the entry point so the N0 40 drill can enter straight.



Here we are with the drill fitted and the hole is drilled. The piece of paper in the jaw of the vice is a tell tale. You can't see into the port but you want to stop drilling when your drill has entered the port. When you do cast iron dust drops on the paper and gives you an accurate warning of entry. (As long as you got the angle right in the first place and here we did.)



Here we are, both ports bored and as near dead accurate as makes no difference. Big sigh of relief.....



Then take the angle vise off, put the regular vise on the VM bed and tram it in.



Knocking off time, everything back to normal and ready for further progress. Slow careful work and a good outcome. That's a bit better!

[Stanley]

Today's task was easily identified. We have a cylinder, we need a piston. First stage was to turn the bronze provided down to the diameter needed. The size is checked in the usual way!



The piston has its oil grooves (no piston ring or seal) and I have drilled it with a No37 drill and here we are tapping it 5BA.



Part it off...



Turn the end of the piston rod down to threading diameter for 5BA and then thread it.



I honed the cylinder bore using this expensive tool, a big split pin with emery cloth threaded through it.



My knees were hurting so an early shut down but we have a piston and the beginnings of a rod. I shall carry on tomorrow. Slow and careful, but no cock-ups.

[Stanley]

Here's the task, finish attaching the crosshead to the piston rod and preparing it for the con-rod.











I think the pics tell the story. Quietly away and we end up at closing time with a piston and rod attached to a crosshead that fits the bore of the crosshead guide. The crosshead is bored for the crank pin and we are ready to make the clevis in the end of the con-rod, fit it to the crosshead and make the crank pin.
Slow and careful and a good standard.....

[Stanley]

Today I want to cut a slot a quarter of an inch wide in the end of the con rod to form a clevis for the crank pin in the crosshead. Dead easy, nowt to it.



This was how I did it. My eyesight means I can only do it like this, manual isn't an option, I can't see clearly enough. That hampers me when setting up as well, it probably took me 45 minutes to get to this stage. (But I must have got it right.....)





Here we are at half past seven. We have an accurate slot cut in the clevis. One small point. If I could have had a better way of holding the rod I would have bored the hole in the con rod for the crank pin before cutting the slot but I didn't want to do anything that weakened my grip on the workpiece. If you look carefully at the setup in the vise on the mill you'll see I had to get quite imaginative!

[chinatyke]

Used my number 2 phantom vise this morning, a Stilson to hold the workpiece and mole grips to remove a threaded adaptor piece. It's moving up my "things to buy" list.

Thinking about this, I know I have a 3" vise that clamps to a table and I can't remember the last time I saw it. It was probably left in our rented-out apartment in Nanning along with some other tools, or thrown away by Wifey.

[Stanley]

Go on China, be a devil and spend some money!



If you pop in I'll give you this machine vise.....

[chinatyke]

First step: I've always known the object as a vice but have been writing vise on here to match your spelling and superior knowledge. So I've just looked it up in Collins and vise is the American spelling and a variant of the English word vice. Sorry, I'll be reverting to vice in the future!

They are cheap as chips here, but I'm guessing the quality won't be so good at such a low price. Good enough for me though. Now if I bought a vice I would have to have somewhere to put it. We have a covered kitchen on an outside balcony upstairs, the ideal place. Replace the kitchen with a workshop? Can't see me getting away with that! Sounds like I'm doomed to a lifetime of deprivation.

Thanks for the offer, but I'll say no on this occasion.

[Stanley]

We need to make a crank pin and fit it. The con rod had to be drilled No 37 on one leg for tapping 5BA and 5/32" through the other leg. The piece of aluminium is to stop the drilling pressure bending the legs of the clevis.





Next job was to tap the small drilling in the clevis.





Then we need to make the crank pin.





At closing time we have that made. I'm glad, I could hardly see any of it! Onward and upwards!

[Stanley]

I started by doing what I threatened, making another crank pin. Here it is and a better fit but I got the slot in the head wrong. Can't be helped, my eyes said it was OK!











Once I had scratched my crank pin itch I moved on to fitting the valve rod and valve. Fiddling work with small parts but I got there in the end. Notice that I started by putting witness marks on the valve, the driver and the steam chest. I put the ruler on the vice just to show the scale of the parts I am working with. I know I bang on but it's a bugger! By the way, one problem I hit was that somehow I have bent the 1/8" drill I use. I had to go digging through a lot of small drills to find another.



Closing time, now we need a gland and a clevis.

[Stanley]

Today we have an hour and need a gland nut for the valve rod. First job was to drill the steam chest 5.5mm as tapping size for 1/4" 32tpi and then thread it.







Here we are in the lathe, making the gland nut and then making sure it fitted the steam chest. Than it could be parted off and finished.



Closing time, we have a gland nut made and fitted. Next job is to make the rod the correct length and then make and fit a clevis. A good hour, nothing went wrong!

[Stanley]

Here's the rabbit, I need to make the rod the right length, thread it 5BA and fit it with the clevis that will connect it to the valve rod.



That takes care of that. I put the 4 jaw chuck on and started to make the clevis.



Then under the pillar drill and drill for the clevis pin.





When I cut the jaw of the clevis I will be deep into the body and will be cutting the end of the rod inside the clevis so I Loctited the rod in place. It can set overnight.





I found a 1'8" thick slitting saw and set it up in the VM ready for cutting the gap in the clevis tomorrow.

[Stanley]

I cut the excess off the clevis and used that in the vise on the opposite side to the clevis so the jaws closed in parallel.



Then a very careful set up and a cut into the clevis. Lovely to have a sharp cutter, I wasn't wasting my time when I spent almost three days sharpening cutters.



I finished the cut using a hacksaw and a small square needle file. I wasn't going to risk the tenuous hold I had in the miller vise any further.



Now I have to make the end of the eccentric rod fit the clevis and fit the 7BA bolt as well. Quiet careful work with constant trial fits.



This was closing time, we have the link between the eccentric rod and the valve rod. I haven't decided where to go tomorrow. It needs a bit of thought. A nice interesting 90 minutes and a good result.
My last move was to take the arbor and the slitting saw out of the VM and replace the normal cutter.

[Stanley]

We need to work on the con-rod. First thing was to get it in the lathe, clean up the periphery and the rod and cut the spigot off provided for chucking. Then pop it back in the chuck to clean the base up.





Then mark for the two bolts that will hold the bearing cap on and set up and drill in the VM. This is not on the drawing because the Stuart way is to cheat and put the bearing on the crank pin when building the shaft up from individual parts. I shall be making the crankshaft the traditional way out of solid and so need a split bearing to mount it.





I fitted two retaining bolts for use when the bearing is fitted. Put some finish on the cheeks of the bearing and than marked it for splitting into two halves. I enjoyed this morning and I think we have good progress.

[BobH]

That is interesting, Stanley. Stuart must have changed the instructions/drawing since I bought my castings. I had probably had them over 10 years, buying them when an ebay dealer was doing a special offer. I picked them up from a mill near the canal here in Rochdale. The guy was a bit of a wheeler dealer with an interest in steam, though his main line was beer dispensing equipment.

[Stanley]

Interesting but wrong Bob. I've just checked and on the drawing the crank bearing is split just like I have done it. It's the eccentric that is only slit on one side, not sure how that works! I'll do it next and split it.

[BobH]

Yes, I see, the eccentric is outside the bearing so could slip on. Either way will work of course.

[Stanley]

My objection to that Bob is that you can never get the bore exactly the right size or shape. Tightening the bolt distorts the hole.



The first task was to swap the 1/8" thick slitting saw used for the clevis to the 1/16" one. I needed the thinnest saw possible.













I don't think you need a lot of explanation, the images tell the story.
After 90 minutes quiet concentration and careful work here's where I finished up. The bolts are only temporary and note that in both cases I have punched witness marks into the faces so that I can always get them the right way round. I shall have to think about where I go next.



The last job was to reinstate the normal end mill in the VM.

[Stanley]

Let's make a crankshaft. I'm not doing it the Stuart Way but by the Newton Pickles approved method. So twenty minutes careful thinking and measuring and then a search for a piece of stock. I found a piece and turned it down to the right size for a blank. Then I went to mark the offset for turning the crank pin and realised I had got my measurements wrong, I made a beginner's mistake.







I had to go back and start at the beginning. Then I put in the crank pin centre. That looks better!



Then, while the 3 jaw SC chuck was still mounted I used the lathe and the top slide to mark the webs and crank pin.



Last job was to clean Mrs Harrison and put the small 4 jaw independent chuck on ready for tomorrow. I wasted a bit of time but on the whole I finished up with a good result! That's my story anyway.

[Stanley]

This was how I started but I soon decided to use the parting tool, this was too wide and I was getting chatter.



Doing better!



I've got a crank pin but it's undersize, not badly and it will be OK. As if to prove I am getting older note that I started cutting to the wrong mark.... (But I can get rid of most of that.)





A change to the 3 jaw and I roughed out one side of the shaft, I shall do the other side and finish turn it tomorrow.

[Stanley]

I turned the shaft round and carried on reducing the shaft, even in a small shaft like this there is a lot of metal to come off!



Lots of chips.



Not quite there yet but we have the shaft and pin turned to the right size.



Then into the mill and start to hide my mistake....



Here we are at closing time. Some final finishing touches but we have a crankshaft. I improved a shining hour and a half by cleaning the Chips off Mrs Harrison and the floor.
My finger has been a nuisance and it hurts if you knock it but I have managed. Roll on healing!

[Stanley]

I attended to my finger and put on a more comfortable dressing protected by a rubber glove and then set to to improve the crankshaft.



First job was to cut the long leg down to 1.5".



Then make sure the flywheel is a good tight fit. As usual I shall be fitting it with Loctite. That way you get it running dead true.





I reduced the thickness of the con rod journal until it was a nice fit between the webs of the shaft and then marked it for centre and drilled it to size.



Knocking off time. The con rod is a perfect fit on the crank pin as is the flywheel on the shaft. I think we are into the crankshaft pedestal bearings next. Or should we be finishing the beds..... Decisions decisions!

[plaques]

Knocking off time. The con rod is a perfect fit on the crank pin as is the flywheel on the shaft. I think we are into the crankshaft pedestal bearings next. Or should we be finishing the beds..... Decisions decisions!

or making sure it will thread through the cylinder???

[Stanley]

I've already done that Ken.....