Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

Quiet careful work fitting again. First the front lid attached to the cylinder complete with piston rod gland and steam packing. Then studs fitted using Loctite and the cylinder installed on the bed casting. Then mark drill and tap the crosshead to receive the piston rod and fit the piston on the rod, cutting the slot with the Dremel that will be used for a screwdriver bite to tighten the rod in the crosshead when finally fitted. All slow and careful work. Very satisfying.

[Stanley]

Only one image needed. I started the day by refining the fit of the piston and rod in the crosshead and making sure all was correct. Then I measured and did a fag packet drawing of the crankpin brass as that's the next thing I have to make. Half an hour of measuring and milling produced one small piece of bronze. You can see it balanced on the crosshead slide. Slow yes, but accurate.... yes.

[Stanley]

I carried on with the second half of the crankpin brass. This is the most difficult because apart from some simple milling I have to set it up in the lathe to do some fiddly jobs putting the oil gallery in shaping the to and tomorrow drilling and tapping for the plug and making it. You can't rush jobs like this because nothing centres itself, everything has to be adjusted manually. Slow but sure, no errors. That makes it a nice morning.

[Stanley]

This morning I made the stopper for the oil reservoir on the crankpin brass. Straightforward but tiny and fiddly. I include the knurling image for David.... Ready now to join the two halves of the brass and bore it to fit the pin.

[Tripps]

I include the knurling image for David..

And for that I'm grateful. I like a bit of knurling and look fondly each day at my perpetual calendar with it's craftsman made knurled pegs.

Thanks again.

Calendar.JPG

[Stanley]

Don't mention it David. I think of you every time I do any knurling......

[Stanley]

Would you believe it took me an hour to adjust the size of the two halves of the bearing, match them exactly and measure and mark the holes for the bolts that hold them together and attach them to the connecting rod? I shall check measure once more tomorrow before drilling the holes.

[Stanley]

More refinement of the crankpin bearing. Routine but careful accurate work and we have finished up with a serviceable bearing ready to have a connecting rod made and attached to it. That's for tomorrow.

[Stanley]

We are making the connecting rod and immediately run into the perennial problem facing us in the shed. We have to start with a piece of stock big enough to get the major diameter out of it. In this case it's 1.125" and the stock is a piece of scrap nearer 1.5" diameter. This means we are into muck-shifting and as you can see from the blue chips I have been doing my best with what is after all, a small lathe. I have got this end down to 1.125". Tomorrow I shall reverse the stock and shift even more muck to get the other end down to half an inch. Then I can start to actually make the connecting rod.

[Stanley]

I cleaned up the swarf, reversed the stock and made more muck getting my blank down to 1/2" diameter which is the major size at this end. Then I cleaned up the swarf again. I now have my stock reduced to a reasonable size and can refine it to the shape of the con-rod using my HSS cutter. That's for tomorrow!

[Stanley]

I have started on the delicate job of refining the connecting rod. I started this morning by grinding a new everyday HSS cutter. Then cleaning the blank up, cutting it to exact length and putting some shape in the end. I am now ready for actual cutting! (You can't just carry on forever with a cutter. It's funny how they change shape over the months as you use and re-sharpen them....)

[Stanley]

Straight into carefully refining the blank for my con rod. This is the stage where it is a disaster if anything goes wrong because you lose such a lot of work. No such problems. I am ready now for the final touches.....

[Stanley]

This morning was all about joining the crank pin brass to the connecting rod. First I had to counterbore the bolt holes in the front half of the bearing to give me enough thread on the bolts to attach the rod. My eyes let me down and I bored one deeper than the other. Not terminal! Then I marked and drilled the holes in the foot of the rod and had to adjust them as once more my eyes let me down and I got them slightly wrong. Again, not terminal. I finished with the bearing attached to the rod and now I have to decide how to cut the rod back to match the bearing. It's very hard to hold it for milling in fact I can't think how to do it so I may to it by hand....

[Stanley]

The design committee worked on the problem of cutting the con rod foot and presented me with the solution this morning. Cut the two small faces by hand then use the VM to cut the other sides. This included sharpening a new cutter. I say new, it's another old one but better than the original which has been sharpened down to the bitter end. I finished up with a con rod married to its bearing. Now I have to deal with the little end that goes in the crosshead bearing.

[Stanley]

A good hour and a quarter. Not perfect, my eyes are the problem, but I have the crosshead and con-rod ready for accepting the crosshead pin which I shall make tomorrow.

[Stanley]

The job today was to make and fit the tiny pin that is the pivot in the crosshead. Lots of measuring and checking to make sure I didn't scrap anything that I have invested time and effort in and then fitting and preparing for installing in the engine. A quiet hour and a quarter and good progress. A nice start to the day.

[Stanley]

This morning has been fitting the con rod and in effect building the power train from Crank Pin to cylinder. I have spent an hour and a quarter on that and have not got there yet. These things can't be rushed!

[Stanley]

More of the same this morning, fitting is lots of little jobs and adjustments. I started by refining the fit of the piston and rod in the crosshead. Then I installed the dealing packing in the groove in the piston. Then I set to to adjust all the studs that hold the back lid, rethreading them and some of the threads in the cylinder. Then I fitted it, tightened the nuts down and turned the engine over. The piston fouled on the locating profile on the inside of the lid. I shall have to take the lid off and reduce the depth of the locator. Then there will be something else!

[Stanley]

I started today by reducing the locating section of the Back lid and trying it with the lid fastened down. Job done the engine turns over and the piston clears the lid on the back stroke. Then switch to making the eccentric. I measured up and started on the job but have had to stop to go for my shopping.....

[Stanley]

This morning I finished making the eccentric apart from one final job, installing a set screw in the body to lock it on to the shaft when the timing has been established. Lots of measuring and checking. I think I have got it right!

[Stanley]

All I had to do with the eccentric is to drill and tap it 1/8" Whitworth but Stuarts have sent me a particularly hard piece of steel as the blank. I had to redrill the tapping hole three times as I got deeper in as it was tightening to the point where I was in danger of breaking a tap in the hole.... Note the tin of Trefolex. I think that might last me out and Mo as well! Then I turned my mind to making the eccentric strap and came to a screeching halt when I realised that Stuarts had slipped up, there was no blank casting. Big search to see if I had one but the only casting that was anywhere near was was too big and had to be cut down. I'll start tomorrow by sharpening my milling cutter, there will be a lot of chips....

[Stanley]

As promised I did a deep renovation on my favourite milling cutter and for good measure, on another as well. Both gulleted, the back relief ground into them and than sharpened at 6 degree angle. Then I mounted the stock I am going to use and cut that back to 1/4". It's very good bronze, a very old casting, possibly about 100 years old.... I can now start to measure and cut the stock first to size and then to shape before actually making the strap.

[Stanley]

Very simply, this morning was started by making the blank stock square. Then a lot of careful measuring checking and marking before cutting to one dimension, over the two lugs that the bolts are mounted in. Tomorrow I shall do the same for the two ends. After that we attend to shape.

[Stanley]

First thing today was to establish the next two dimensions of the stock for the strap and cut to that length in the mill. Before I do any more on the strap I need to establish the fit of the valve rod so90 I had to set to and make it. I have the 3/32" thickness milled and the two 5BA clearance holes drilled. I shall finish making it tomorrow.

[Stanley]

This morning, after the usual measurement and marking I defined the lugs that will take the two bolts that hold the strap together when it's finished and cut them under the mill. Then I drilled the lugs 5BA clear and made sure there was room for them. At the moment the bolts don't look long enough but remember the lugs will shrink 1/16" when I saw the casting in two. I'm ready to saw it tomorrow.