Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

I cut the other end of the cylinder back and then cut the Exhaust port in the valve face. I ended up by sharpening my normal cutter before re-installing it in the VM. A nice quiet hour and a quarter. Steady progress.....
Notice the blowhole in the end off the cylinder and the uneven steam port into the cylinder. Neither of them is welcome but they are not fatal. I can live with them.

[Stanley]

This morning was setting up for boring and then boring the cylinder to 1.5" diameter.





I shall tidy up and move on tomorrow.

[Stanley]

Only one image needed. I set the mill up for normal milling again and then started on the steam chest. By knocking off time I was on the last face......

[Stanley]

This morning I finished the valve chest by milling the last face and then cleaning the interior to size using files. Then I worked on the steam chest lid. I have finished the matching of the lid to the chest and tomorrow will machine the two faces to the required thickness. A nice quiet hour and a quarter....

[Stanley]

This morning I finished the steam chest lid and then drilled and tapped the steam chest for the steam inlet pipe. Next I drilled and tapped the cylinder for the exhaust outlet. Tomorrow I'll finish drilling the steam chest for the valve gland. A nice hour and a quarter and I avoided making a mistake in the placement of the steam inlet pipe to the chest. Very easy to do if you haven't got the locations clear in your head.

[Stanley]

No shed today, I gave myself a day off! (Just because I can...)
The empire will not crumble.

[Stanley]

I finished the steam chest by drilling for the valve rod and the valve rod gland and then moved on to the back lid. First I put some finish and the back rim, then cut the target on the inside of the lid to fit the bore. Only one way of testing the fit! Then I finished by marking the PCD of the bolt hole circle on the rim of the lid. Tomorrow I shall do the same for the front lid......

[Stanley]

Work on the front lid this morning. You may remember I screwed the front lid up on the last engine I built so this morning I went at it very carefully. I am on the last lap but that will do for tomorrow. There is no rush!

[Stanley]

Careful work on the front lid bringing it to the same point as the back one. Ready for marking out with hole positions for mounting them on the cylinder.

[Stanley]

It's always a good day when I get to use Johnny's 1927 lathe and I was in there this morning Dividing the back lid by six and drilling the clearance holes for 4BA in the lid. I then used that lid to mark the positions of the holes needed in the front lid whilst remembering that this one is complicated by the fact that the bottom two are 5BA and countersunk on the front side. All of them have to be positioned with regard to the steam ports. At closing time I had all the holes positioned and drilled. Then off to the Co-op for early doors shopping which has been dealt with and put away.

[Stanley]

This morning's work is hard to describe. I was refining my lids, making sure the front lid fits the target on the bed and checking that my witness marks are accurate. Fiddly work but all accomplished. I can go forward now with the cylinder or the bed, whichever takes my fancy.

[Tripps]

This grabbed me today - because despite years of looking at this thread, I still didn't really get how the engine worked.

This chap has shown me all about it - and it will run forever ! I think it's just a coincidence that it's April 1st.

[Stanley]

That's a different video than the one that opened yesterday afternoon when I clicked on it.
Joe is a very good engineer and machinist but gets a lot closer to perfection than I ever do!That's why to me he seems to go the long way round when he's machining something.
But this is different and he is good at explaining things. Funny how the engine he uses is almost exactly like my favourite Stuart Number 9.
This is a favoured route to PM and like all the others can't work because no energy is being put in to the system and if nothing else, wind resistance to the flywheel spokes would eventually stop it. (Sorry David......)
One other thing. Why like so many others does he demonstrate the engine running backwards? If you want I'll explain that but it takes nearly as long as explaining perpetual motion.

[Stanley]

Straightforward drilling and tapping for the connection between the front lid and the cylinder. Ending up after an hour and a quarter with job done. Tomorrow I can do the same for the back lid.....

[Stanley]

This morning the target was fitting the back lid. No dramas, just an hour of quiet careful work which included refining the finish of the lid. Nice morning with good progress.

[Stanley]

This morning I carried on fitting the lids and cylinder to the bed casting. All the basics are done, what is left is refinement and that can come later. The next move is to pull all this back and work on the fitting of the steam chest, lid and valve. I might have a rest from fitting and make a piston and rod.

[Stanley]

First job was to dismantle the cylinder to get it stripped bare because this morning is going to be steam chest studs. I drilled the lid for tapping size 4BA and used it as a template for the other holes..... I finished up after an hour and a quarter with all six studs fitted and ready for fitting the chest and the lid.

[Stanley]

This morning was routine, I had to open up the drillings in the lid and steam chest so that they could be fitted. However, the best laid schemes of mice and men.... You might notice a brass stud in one of the holes in the cylinder. This is because My eyes had let me down and one stud was out of place so I have plugged it with a brass stud and marked the correct position. Tomorrow I shall drill and tap it and see if I have cured it....

[Stanley]

I filed the stud down that I had used to plug the hole. Re-marked the position of the stud and tapped and drilled the cylinder in the new position. You keep hearing me talking about 'refining' my castings, well that's what ensued. I ran the 4BA die over the studs and fitted the nuts which of course went on finger tight. I finished the hour and a quarter in the shed with the steam chest and lid fitted an easy fit, on the cylinder.

[Stanley]

As threatened, I set to to make the piston and rod this morning. All was pretty routine until I started on the piece of scrap cast bronze to make the piston. Scrap is always a lottery and this proved to be so in spades. It's a piece of aluminium bronze with a hard shop and a lot of sand in the skin. It was a major task turning it but in the end I got there and I'll finish it tomorrow.

[Stanley]

The first half hour was spent finishing the piston and fitting it on its rod. Then I addressed something that has been annoying me for a while. Over the years the surface finish in the 4Morse taper in the quill in the tailstock gets roped by drills jamming up and galling and eventually you have to do something about it. It just so happens I have a set of Morse taper reamers for numbers 1,2,3 and 4. So I got them out, fitted the two jaw brass finisher's chuck so I could drive the reamer and did a light skim inside the quill. Only light, I just wanted an improvement not a refurbishment. That done I cleaned Mrs Harrison and put some tackle away. A good hour and a quarter with useful things done....

[Stanley]

A good hour and a half working on the glands for the valve and piston rods. This included some imaginative work holding using pressure from the live centre and a small piece of emery paper to give us grip. In addition I dressed my grinding wheel, a dirty job, so it could be used properly to dress the castings. I am ready now to drill for the studs, mark their position and drill and tap the castings to hold the glands.

[Stanley]

This morning I carried on with the glands, they need to be prepared for the 5BA studs and the lid and steam chest have to be drilled and tapped for the studs. I drilled the glands and marked them with witness marks denoting orientation and then used them to mark the castings. You may be wondering why I am using a 5MT dead centre as a punch to mark the position of the stud holes. You live and learn and during the last fortnight I have discovered that even with my lousy eyes I can get very close to a good position when marking for drilling and tapping. I think it's because the taper is so clear and acts as a pointer. I ended up after an hour in the shed starting drilling and tapping for the studs. I shall finish the job tomorrow, no point rushing and finding trouble!

[Stanley]

This morning the task was to finish installing the studs and fitting the glands to the piston and valve rods. As you can see that was done and the tools put away. Tomorrow could be the cross head slide.....

[BobH]

It's coming along well, Stanley. Is there any seal or packing in those glands?