Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

I have to be so careful when I'm working to finish size. I find that I have to check and re-check everything because I make silly unforced errors. So, just one shaft with the legs turned down to finish size plus one thou allowance for polishing when I do the final operation of finishing and polishing the webs. One down, two to go so I know exactly what I am doing tomorrow. Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

I hit a good seam this morning and had a productive hour. I now have three crankshafts turned to size and what remains now is to clean the lathe, change the chuck and then finish polish the shafts. But that is tomorrow. This morning I am content with four error free crankshafts turned out of solid and I want my breakfast.

[Stanley]

This morning I started by cleaning Mrs Harrison and sweeping the floor. Once I had a clean shed I took the big 3 jaw SC chuck off and replaced it with the smaller 4 Jaw SC chuck, installed a rough turned shaft and very carefully adjusted it for final size, polish and last of all, removing the button that has protected the webs from distortion throughout the heavy turning. It's on the table in the kitchen now, a lovely sight.... Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

This pic tells you all you need to know about this morning's progress in the shed. I have my eye candy on the table! Three crankshafts for the next three Stuart No 9 engines chopped out of solid steel. Casting my eye over these three little Beauties does my ego a power of good. Not many people could do these, let alone in their 90th year! Now for breakfast. Tomorrow I can open my box of castings and start the next engine....
(Just checked, February 8th to March 10th is how long it took at an hour a day.)

[Stanley]

Unusual for me I know but I decided it was easier to unpack my castings in daylight so I did that. I am ready to start engine building tomorrow.

[Stanley]

This morning was preparation work for engine building. The bench was already clean and the tablecloth isn't bad so I didn't change it. Then I sorted all the components I unpacked yesterday and stowed them away in their proper places. Next I turned my attention to Mrs Harrison. I cleaned up all the swarf and chips and then oiled it thoroughly, I haven't done this for a while.... As you can see I ended up with a clean lathe and I have wiped up my oil spills and excessive oil. Everything works a lot easier now! I considered starting on fettling castings but decided I wanted my breakfast.

[Stanley]

This morning I spent an hour with the grinding wheel and some big rough files cleaning these three castings up. Just the flywheel to do now and then it is all lathe and mill work. A dirty job and I don't enjoy it but necessary! Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

First I cleaned up the flywheel using files and the vise. Than I temporarily installed the milling machine vise so that I could mill the base of the bed casting flat and level. I've taken the vise off again and so I am ready for milling the base and the top details of the bed as I can now bolt it down on the bed on its freshly milled bottom, But that's for tomorrow. That was a productive 45 minutes and I deserve my breakfast.

[Stanley]

I started the morning by fastening the base down onto the bed of the mill and then milling the top and bottom surfaces level and of course parallel. The3n I turned my attention to the bed. First I fastened it down onto the bed. Remember I have already milled the base flat so I have a good reference level. Then I made sure the bed was parallel with the bed, this is important because the first cut is to face the target end that the piston fits on and I want this perpendicular to the centre line of the casting. Then I got set up for tomorrow's work, milling the other faces of the bed and then the beds for the crankshaft bearings. That was a productive 45 minutes so now I deserve my breakfast.

[Stanley]

Not a lot to report this morning. I have spent 45 minutes very carefully milling various internal faces and some external on the bed casting All that remains now is the beds for the bearing brasses and two of the lugs for the holding down bolts. That will do tomorrow. Right now I want to post this and have my breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning I started by doing the last milling operations on the bed casting. I machined to two lugs at the front of the target end ready for drilling for the holding down bolts. Then I did my final few passes across the face of the target end to get it down to 3/16" thick. Next I changed my cutter to a 5/8" end mill and cut the beds for the crankshaft bearings 3/8" deep. Note that these were done without disturbing the holding down arrangements so the centre line of the crankshaft is guaranteed to be at ninety degrees to the target end and therefore the centre line of the piston rod. I took the casting off the bed, vacuumed the chips up, rubbed the bed down with a 60 grit diamond hone to ensure there were no dings so now I'm ready for installing the machine vise and tramming it in tomorrow. 45 minutes of steady, error free progress. The next task this morning is breakfast!

[Stanley]

Every day can't be exciting, sometimes you have to do some maintenance. It's just as important as the glamorous stuff! So it was with today. I had a session on the T7C grinder sharpening the 9/16" and 1/2" cutters. Then I got set up to tram my vise in on the VM using a dial indicator and a big bar of ground gauge steel. That done I put some tackle away. I am ready to go back into refining castings again tomorrow. Right now I have earned my breakfast with over an hour of good work....

[Stanley]

This morning I started my day with a complete re-sharpen of the big cutter in the T&C grinder. Then I started on refining the Cylinder casting. I finished up ready for boring it but that will be tomorrow. The job now is breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning I continued working on the cylinder. First I cleaned up the steam ports on the valve face by hand with a small file. Then I measured and marked the position of the central exhaust port, 1/4" wide, and cut it 3/8" deep. Next I measured and marked the position of the 5.5mm drilling for the exhaust port from the inlet face to the centre of the valve. Next I threaded the exhaust port for the exhaust pipe which I shall make later. Then change the mill over to boring. I have fitted the boring head and the cylinder. I have checked the centre of the bore and it is fine, so I have adjusted the boring bar so it is starting central to the bore. All the slide locked and I am ready now for boring. I always enjoy boring, it is so satisfying. That is for tomorrow, I have spent an hour doing useful things with no errors. Now I deserve my breakfast.

[Stanley]

Just one task this morning, bore the cylinder to 1.5" diameter. Then clear up chips and return the VM to normal milling mode. All accomplished successfully and now I am looking for my breakfast.

[Stanley]

Back to fettling the remaining castings. I started by taking one more light cut off the cylinder length and then moved on to working on the steam chest. First I dressed the internal surfaces square and to size using hand files and then I set up in the VM vise to cut all the external surfaces square and to size. I finished by putting the witness marks on the cylinder and steam chest castings to make sure they are always oriented correctly during the fitting process. Now for my next task.... breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning I made a small adjustment to the length of the valve face on the cylinder casting to make it a closer fit to the steam chest casting. Then I turned to the lid of the valve chest and milled that square and to size. I gave it it's witness mark so it can always be oriented properly. That's the end of casting work in the3 mill. Tomorrow I can clean the cast iron dust off it and turn to the lathe where I shall be working on my cylinder lids.... That was a good 45 minutes with solid progress. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning I spent my time on the flywheel casting. It is now rough turned and bored for the shaft. It's ready for painting and after that will be polished. Then I cleaned up the CI chips on the mill and the lathe. An hour of solid endeavour... Now I am after my breakfast.

[Stanley]

Now I have the cylinder bored I can turn the lids as I now have a bore to fit them to. I started by sorting the back lid out and at knocking off time I have the front lid in the chuck on the lathe with only the inside faces to work on. I shall finish it tomorrow. Now for breakfast. That was a good hour of honest endeavour with no mistakes.... Just how I like it.

[Stanley]

This morning I finished machining the front lid and fitting it to both the cylinder and the target face on the bed casting. More to this process than meets the eye but it's done now and after a good 45 minutes I deserve my breakfast.

[Stanley]

I measured, marked and drilled the first 20 holes in my castings. Lots more to go yet! Everything checked at least three times! Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

Sorry I missed yesterday, I was occupied in seeing my daughter Susan safely back to UK after 3 months in Oz. Normal service resumed today. I always say that once we have our castings the right size and shape we start cutting chunks out of them. Today I used the packing as a template and drilled the necessary holes in the steam chest lid. Then I used the lid as a template to mark the steam chest itself and drilled the clearance holes for the 4BA studs that fasten it to the cylinder. Then I marked the position of the steam admission pipe and drilled and tapped it. That was a good productive 45 minutes with no mistakes, just how I like it! Now for breakfast.....

[Super_7b]

Hi Stanley,

I recently saw a YouTube video of the Bancroft engine being run the other week and it triggered a few questions.

1) The Bancroft engine is listed at 600 HP and uses a barring engine to set it ready for running. The engine I knew best as a lad was at Syke Ing Mill in Earlsheaton, Dewsbury. This was a tandem compound rated at 350 HP. It had a simple manual barring lever (a bloody great steel bar on a rising pivot arm), not that I ever saw it used. I think they took care to stop it in a runnable position. I may be wrong, as I think the engine was finally stopped and scrapped in about 1968 when I was about 14. At what power would a barring engine be needed or is it somewhat a matter of the manufacturer's preference?

2) When they were barring the Bancroft engine, they started the engine BEFORE engaging it to the flywheel. That seems to me to be a bit rough on the gears. I'm sure at Ellenroad I saw them engage the barring gear with the engine stopped. What's your take?

3) Thinking back to the Syke Ing Mill engine, I seem to recall the inlet Corliss valves on the high and low pressure cylinders being manually opened by means of a loose handle on the square valve shaft end and then dropping a hardwood block into the mechanism to hold them open. This was during the preparation to run, presumably letting steam in to warm the cylinders. Would this make sense? I'm not sure where the waste steam went. Perhaps they had drain valves that would be opened on the exhaust side. The valve gear was arranged with Inlet above and exhaust below.

All the best.

Mick

[Stanley]

Morning Mick.... Barring engines probably used over about 500hp. It makes little difference whether you put the barring engine in gear before or after starting. The gears are so large and moving so slowly there's no chance of them grinding like they would at higher revs. On the few occasions when I used the barring engine (Usually when dressing the ropes with tallow and graphite) I started it first and let it warm up and get water out of the system before making it work. Using a block to hold the steam valves open to warm the engine would make sense if the warming steam wasn't piped directly into the receiver from where it found its way to both cylinders or if the valves were in such good condition that they sealed the cylinders against steam coming back from the receiver.. Actually in practice with a worn engine the steam would find its way though the system and any condensation in the cylinders or the receiver would get away through the drains which were always open until the engine had started and cleared itself.
I hardly ever used the barring engine and certainly not for starting. No matter what position the engine stops , If an engine is quartered (LP crank 90 degrees in front of the HP) There is always a valve that can be opened using the valve key that fitted on the square end of the valve shafts. You just opened the warmer valve wide open and blew the receiver up to about 30psi than opened the appropriate steam valve to shove the engine over centre. This was usually the back one on the LP. Incidentally, once I found out the disadvantages of always stopping the engine in the same place I never bothered about stopping it in the starting position, I just shut the steam valve and let it stop where it wanted.
Hope that helps....

[Stanley]

I started the day by making and fitting the steam and exhaust pipes to the cylinder and steam chest. Then I marked the cylinder valve face for the long studs that will hold the steam chest assembly on the face. The picture is of the cylinder on the pillar drill with all the holes for the studs drilled tapping size. Tomorrow morning I will tap them and fit the steam chest to the cylinder. A nice 45 minutes and now I'm looking forwards to my breakfast.