SHED MATTERS 2

[Stanley]

These dark mornings mean that it's hard to get into the shed before 8AM. First job was to de-water the eclipse box cutter I left out in the rain yesterday.



Time spent sharpening milling cutters is never wasted, I want as good a finish as possible....



I finished the top side of the valve chest. It cut so clean I turned it over and put a finishing cut on the other face.



Then I reduced the width to match the valve face on the cylinder.



Marking the second side for width.



I left it slightly oversize because this side of the casting isn't quite straight. Notice that I am short on length but I'm not worried about that and anyway I might shorten the Cylinder casting. Another decision to leave until later.



The interior of the valve chest is so near square I decided to file it to shape and finish and not mill it.



I got a sweat up doing it but ended up with a clean finish inside the chest.



Close of play. All the faces rubbed with a big flat file and all edges broken. That'll do for the valve chest, now I want two cylinder covers and a lid for the valve chest....

[Stanley]

We started in a different place this morning, working on Johnny's 1927 lathe in the front room and I have to say it's a delight to use it, a real turner's lathe. Good old Johnny.
I'm in here because we are looking for the cylinder covers this morning. John's castings are good but I am a bit short of meat on the diameter so I want to make sure I get the lids as big a diameter as possible. The way to do this is chuck them by the rim in a four jaw independent, get the casting running true and then get a face and a true boss so I can handle them on the Harrison in the three jaw SC. The 4 jaw on the Harrison is far too big, a lot easier to do them on a smaller lathe. I soon had what I wanted, true bosses and faces but then had to get the vacuum out to pick up all the brass chips.....



Ready to go forward. I want to finish up with finished lids each with a register on the inside face that fits the bore. One lid needs a boss on it for the piston rod gland, the other can be plain.



The plain lid first.



The register fits, I'll turn the boss off last of all using the outside jaws.



Knocking off time. This lid has the boss on for the gland so I can get rid of the boss and put the register on at this setting but that's for tomorrow, we aren't on piece work!

[Stanley]

I started where I left off, cut the boss off ready for facing.



Soon done, the register turned and a good enough fit to retain the lid on the end of the bore. That'll do!



I'll never have the cover running more true so we drill for the Piston rod. I had a few minutes in the drawing office with a fag packet and have settled on 1/4" piston rod....



I couldn't bore for the gland until the outside jaws were on. I decided to face the plain back lid off after cutting the meat off with the hacksaw.

.

I soon had the plain end done and went back to the front lid.



Then I bored the boss out tapping size for 1/2" 26tpi for the gland nut and then threaded it.



Ready for the gland nut. I decided to make that next so that the cover was almost finished apart from drilling for the holding down bolts.



So I swapped the jaws again after giving the chuck a good clean out and oiling. Ready for a flying start tomorrow. That brought us to knocking off time. Slow satisfying work.....

[Stanley]

Today was gland nut and piston. First job was to raid the treasure chest and find some bronze stock....



Unusually I decided to use a tipped tool but I've cheated and ground some of the negative rake off the ceramic tip.



I soon had it to size and threaded 1/2"tpi and bored for the piston rod.



Just checking that the thread is a free runner in the gland.



Parting it off with the Burnerd holder....



All the edges broken and three 1/8" holes in the circumference for adjusting with a tommy bar.



Then I had to a bit of measuring and fag packet drawing. I soon got the sizes and in the process altered the diameter of the piston rod because I want a shoulder on where it goes into the 1/4" bore in the piston. Must remember to poke the appropriate drill through the gland and nut.



I gave the piston 5 thou of clearance in the bore and tried the cylinder on it just to check I had it right before I put any more work into it.



The piston drilled for the rod and counter-bored so there is room for a socket to get on the 1/4" nut that will hold it on the rod. I have put a groove in for the graphite packing I shall use as a seal instead of a piston ring. Ready for parting the piston off... But that's for tomorrow.
I took half an hour off to clean the flue in the front room stove while I was dirty....

[Stanley]

The Design Committee has been meeting all night and this morning I have their findings. They see nothing wrong with progress on John' casting so far but have pointed out that I need to make some decisions about the rest of the design of the engine. So far, and I naturally agree with them, they have proposed another donkey engine with Disc crank, Small but heavy solid flywheel, large belt pulley outboard of the flywheel on the opposite side to the crank and a marine end on the con-rod. This of course has implications for the bed design. Nothing for it. I shall have to get some ideas on paper and choose between the Tangye concept of a girder bed or my favourite plate build up. The way things are working out dictated by the cylinder size is 1 1/2" bore X 2.25" stroke with a 6" flywheel. I have some 6" steel stock so the flywheel will be easy.... I can carry on with the cylinder but need to be thinking as I go forwards.
[I love this stage where I have to start thinking, I find that if I go to sleep with these matters on my mind the Design Committee usually has some conclusions for me when I wake up! Good for the brain! Could it keep dementia at bay?]

[Stanley]

Bit late in the shed this morning.... pressing household matters to be dealt with. Clean start, I parted the piston off and finished it.



I didn't forget to bore the cover and gland nut out for a 5/16" piston rod, I gave it and extra 64th of an inch.



The piston is a perfect fit and the covers are OK.



Next job was a good clean up of the non ferocious scrap for John's box.



Then I found some 3/8" rod and started to make a piston rod, I can do it, give it plenty of length and finish it later. I have to report I made a complete mess of it. The problem is that you get lazy and use the same cutter to do everything. I got it to size but no finish. I shall have another crack at it tomorrow but with a round nosed tool with some hook to it. That should do the trick!

[plaques]

Stanley for your next project has the design committee considered anything like this.

P9180065AC.jpg

P9180067AC.jpg

[Stanley]

It's been considered P but would be very difficult to fabricate out of scrap!



This Bracewell fire pump would be nice as well but again, you'd need castings....

[Stanley]

Today was back to school! Here's the problem, terrible finish and all down to me being idle and careless. Enough self flagellation, what can we do about it!



Two cutters, one left hand and one right, sharpened to Newton's favourite shape, rounded nose, hooked and so plenty of rake.



Can you see the difference?



Poke the stock out another 6" and let's have a fresh start. One sighting cut and then all that was needed taken off in one pass at slow speed. Target was .320".



Trimmed down to 1/4" for 3/4" and the end threaded for a 1/4" nut. Pop the piston on up to the shoulder and nip the nut with a socket that fits the counterbore. This is where I should have been yesterday.



Looking like a steam engine cylinder now....



Now we have to address the matter of the steam chest lid. John's casting is very accurate but of course needs squaring up before I can measure it accurately for a fit.



Once I had two parallel sides I squared the ends.



Once I had it square I wanted to have a flat bottom to fit to the chest but in order to make that I have to get the top square so I can seat it accurately to get a register so I got my small fly cutter out.



Three careful passes and I have the outside flat and a nice finish. Now I can turn it over and do the face for the steam chest but it was knocking off time....
Satisfying morning because i knew I hadn't lost the touch turning the rod, just allowed my eye to stray off the ball! Well done Newton.....

[Stanley]

The first job was to get the bottom side of the valve chest lid flat and parallel with the top.



Then I wanted it to fit the top of the valve chest so I popped the two into the machine vice together and milled down to size;



Once I had the other side milled to size I marked the lid for length against the chest while it was still clamped up in the vise.



Then mill the ends square down to the marks.



That's all right, ready for drilling for the holding down bolts when the time comes.



Then into the drawing office and work out the design of the valve ports. I'm using the same dimensions as those I use on 2" X 3" cylinder and the same throw for the valve eccentric. It will serve this cylinder perfectly well. Then a coat of blue on the cylinder valve face and some careful marking out.



Marked up and ready for cutting the ports. Almost knocking off time so I'm leaving this until tomorrow. I want to have my brain in gear and plenty of time....

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, I have just been catching up with your progress. It's looking mighty fine , its going to be a very smart engine. Re sharpening those too made am amazing difference Stanley, Newton sure knew his stuff. Keep up the good work.
Cheers Mick

[Stanley]

Yes, pity I hadn't kept my brain in gear and remembered before I cocked up.... Bloody amateurs.....

[Stanley]

Today's job is cutting the valve ports and the steam passages in the cylinder. The first thing I wanted to do was make sure the valve face is flat and parallel. John's casting is very accurate but there is a small discrepancy between the two ends which means it won't sit properly in the vice. All sorts of fancy ways to ensure this but I took the simple way....



I put the cylinder in the vise on its face, made sure it was seated and ran the cutter over the top taking a light cut. You can see from the result that it is now level.



Here it is set up ready for cutting.



Cutting the exhaust port first, a 3/8" slot drill, down to 3/8" marked by the adhesive tape on the cutter. Then I cut the steam ports but made them 1/4" instead of 5/32", I want plenty of room for the steam to get in, I can allow for the bigger port when I make the valve.



Ports cut, now for the steam passage to the cylinder.



The first job was to mark the line and angle of the port I have to drill down into the valve port from the cylinder. Looks crude but I have never found an easier way to do it.



I got the angle vise off the shelf, took the jaws out so it was big enough for the cylinder and used a square to line the angle of the port up. The angle vice doesn't get used very often but when you need it it can be a godsend!



The passage will be 1/4" so the ideal cutter would have been the 1'4" slot drill but the chuck would interfere with the vise so I put a longer cutter in. Bigger but no matter, all I am after is a flat to give easy access to the cylinder for the steam past the register on the cover. That's for tomorrow, it was knocking off time and I am not on piece work!

[Stanley]

The job is to make a flat surface so the drill will start straight and at the same time recess the exit of the steam port to the cylinder enough to ensure that there is an easy passage when the lid is bolted down and the register partially covers the passage. (Before I do the final fitting of the lid I'll reduce the register slightly.



Once I had the flat start I drilled the passage 1/4" down into the meat of the cylinder until it broke through the wall into the steam port.



Before I cut the second register I sharpened the end mill, it was slightly dull. A few minutes spent on the T&C grinder is never wasted!



Both passages drilled and no disasters! Next thing was to dress both the exit holes into the cylinder making absolutely sure there was a good way out and in. I used the Dremel grinder and a small abrasive stone.



Then I dressed the valve chest surface with a big flat smooth file to clean it up and make sure there were no high spots. John's casting is well machined, remembering the fact that castings move around as the stresses of cooling come out of them it was very accurate and only needed a few careful strokes.



Last job before knocking off time was to make some decisions about the exhaust passage. I'll be drilling it 11.5mm tapping size for 1/2" 26tpi. This will give a very free path for the exhaust, just as important as giving the steam an easy path. I want to make sure the bore doesn't break through the cylinder wall. So some careful thought and measuring.... I'll do my final checks tomorrow. The last thing you need as you invest more and more time into the cylinder is a cock up!

[doubleboost]

You are doing a super job on those castings
Regards
John

[Stanley]

Praise indeed John, thanks for that. Given care it's easy to make a good job when the castings are accurate and of good metal. Your bronze is excellent, no inclusions or gas bubbles. this makes all the difference. Nice video of the Vulcan fly-over and casting the handwheel. I've flagged your site up on our topic on aircraft.
If you lot want to see John's work go to this LINK and navigate from there. You'll learn just like I have watching him.

[Bodger]

Heres a set up o drill your crank
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/an ... es-310346/

[Stanley]

I used to run a radial drill that size at Rochdale Welding. Lovely machine, I forget the make but it was born in Keighley.



Slightly oddball start to the day. Doc gave me this office chair many years ago. It had served him well and has done the same for me. However, the hydraulic adjustment leaks and I always have to yank it back up before I can use it or I'm on the naughty chair! My back is bothering me at the moment and for a while I have been telling myself that yanking the chair up was no good for me. So this morning I decided enough was enough. I tipped it up, cut the plastic protector off it and....



I cut a piece of wood to fit and secured it with two Jubilee clips. Not the prettiest repair in the world but perfectly sound and serviceable. A piece of firewood and two clips I have had in stock for years so it's definitely economic! Then on to the business of the day....



I set up in the pillar drill and poked a quarter drill down into the port. I realised that I had got my centre slightly wrong as the tapping size for the 1/2" 26tpi exhaust pipe was going to be perilously close to breaking though into the bore. With hindsight I should have settled for a 3/8" exhaust pipe but I wanted to give the engine the best chance I could to breathe easily. Back pressure in the exhaust is a bad fault in engines. So I pressed on....



The 1/4" bore was perfectly placed apart from being too close to the bore.



I set the cylinder up in the machine vise (after I had made sure the jaws were parallel) and decided to bore 11.5MM with the back edge lined up with the side of the 1/4" bore. Not a good choice because the drill was tending to wander because of the uneven cutting. I put it down to depth very carefully.



Then I put the 1/2" tap in the chuck to make sure it was square and again, this was a mistake. I should have let the tap float free and follow the hole. (Not doing too well this morning....)



The result is an incomplete thread in the bore but this isn't a disaster, the exhaust isn't under any pressure and there is plenty of thread to anchor the exhaust pipe securely. As for the aim of the day, I have achieved that, I have a very free breathing exhaust port. It won't cause any back pressure. So I'm not being too hard on myself!

[Stanley]

We're at the stage where we have to start drilling a lot of holes in the casting. It's just as well to make sure that you fully understand the relationship of the various parts with each other. So my first job this morning was to get things clear in my head and then put fitting marks on the parts that must always match up in subsequent machining operations.



Once you have the relationships clear mark the side of the steam chest for the entry point of the steam pipe and make a decision as to size. I've settled on 3/8".



Drill and tap the hole for the steam supply.



While I had the steam chest in the vice to de-burr the hole I took the opportunity to finish file the interior surfaces, making sure they are square.



While I had the cylinder in the vice I cleaned up the bosses for the drain taps, filed them flat and gave the whole casting a good wire brushing with a freshly ground wire brush. Then I drilled and tapped the bosses 1/4" 26tpi for the drain cocks.



This bit's important, it's so easy to forget and find you are in trouble. You are going to be drilling holes for the studs that hold the steam chest onto the cylinder. Remember that none of these holes can interfere with the drillings for steam, exhaust and the valve rod gland. I know how easy it is to do this, I've been there!



John's casting has no boss for the valve rod gland but is thick enough to accept one in the wall. I drilled for 1/4" valve rod and then drilled tapping size for the 3/8" gland making sure to set the stop on the drill so that I wasn't going to break through into the chest.



That'll do nicely, next job is to make the gland nut but before that....



I had to decide on some sizes, go into the drawing office and then have a furtle in the treasure chest for a piece of bronze stock.... Knocking off time but it's been a productive morning and I'm ready for tomorrow. One last job, I chased some chips and had a clean up.

[doubleboost]

Propper job

[Stanley]

Thanks John but it would be a bit of a bugger if I wasn't getting better at it, I've done enough of them by now! Important to point out to the congregation that the worst thing you can find when you start on castings is that they are bad metal, have spongy shops or inclusions and bubbles. Even if all that is OK the actual characteristics of the metal are a factor as well. John's castings are fine in every respect so the quality of the job started with him when he first loaded his furnace.
There's one more thing as well. I know from feedback that may beginners follow me when I'm doing a job. That's why a lot of what I post is bleeding obvious to an experienced machinist. Important also to remember that there is more than one way of skinning a cat, there are better men than me about so crib off them as well! I was taught by an old-fashioned engineer and so am not abreast of the times in many ways. All I ever claim is that if you do it my way, when you put steam on it it will run!

[Stanley]

Making the gland nut for the valve rod. Don't forget to countersink the end as this tends to force the packing onto the valve rod.



Work on the assumption that all taps and dies try to work in any direction other than the one you want. Always take any opportunity to keep it on the straight and narrow.



That'll do.....



We are moving into the dreaded honeycombing of the cylinder with holes for the studs. Best to make sure you have enough studding and nuts before you start. I favour 2BA so I sorted out the threaded rod, the nuts and the set screws I will be using for the lids.



Before we start, here's an object lesson in how not to do the job. This is the first proper cylinder Newton ever made as a young lad. He was going to make a traction engine so this is far more complicated than the simple cylinder we are making. When he got to this stage he showed it to Johnny who told him he had far too many studs in and they were in the wrong place, you never put a stud in a corner. Newton was so upset he discarded the cylinder and never touched it again. He was throwing it out into the scrap one day and I told him I was going to take it to remind myself of what not to do! So have a good study of this and resolve not to make the same mistake. If I have a fault it's using too few but I have never had a lid or a cover leak yet.



The first job is to measure the thickness of the wall of the steam chest and decide on the line you are going to put the studs in. The main thing is to make sure that the nuts don't overhang the edge of the lid and you need more space than you think! The lid is going to be the template for the holes and so it needs marking for the holes. I think you can see the faint scriber lines.



The positions of all the holes centre popped in the lid. I have made sure that I have missed the steam and exhaust ports and the valve rod gland. Notice that even though widely spaced there are 12 studs, that's plenty.



The next job was to get the cylinder into the machine vise on the VM. I had to take both jaws out and you'll notice that the end of the adjusting screw interferes with central mounting but this will be plenty firm enough for drilling 4mm holes (the tapping drill for 2BA)



I made a clamp to hold the components firmly together and after checking all my levels I was ready to start. It was knocking off time but I did a bit of overtime.



I drilled two of the holes so I could show you the clever bit. There is always a chance that for some reason the template might shift. I am drilling these to 4mm, the tapping size, because of course I'm penetrating into the cylinder casting which has to be tapped. I can open the lid and the steam chest out to clearance size afterwards. Notice that I have cut two pieces of 4mm silver steel rod long enough to pass right through into the cylinder casting. Once these are in place they hold the lid in the correct position and if by any chance anything has to be moved I can soon get a register. This seems like a lot of trouble but will be well repaid when you are trying to get 12 studs to enter their proper holes! We know what we are doing tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

On with drilling the holes to 4MM. The dowels interfere with some holes so I shift them round. The lid and steam chest never shifted but if they had I wasn't in trouble.



Lid and chest finished to 4mm.



Not all the holes are down to full depth because the clamp interfered with the chuck on some. However they are all deep enough to mark the valve face on the cylinder and taking the clamp, lid and steam chest off haven't interfered with the cylinder (but I checked it for level just in case). The depth stop is still set for the depth the good holes are at (3/8" into the body of the cylinder) so I went round them all and bottomed them. Tip... on some cylinders you might not have enough meat to get 3/8" deep. Remember that theoretically a thread has maximum hold when it is into the metal as far as its diameter. So 3/8" is far more than you actually need but nice if you can get it!



All the 4mm holes finished and to depth.



Then a bit of careful tapping. Use the smallest tap key you have and don't force it, a broken tap in the hole at this stage doesn't bear thinking about!



I went round all the holes with another tap ground off to give a clean bottom right to the bottom of the hole.



While I had the BA tapping gear out I ran the die down the studding and made sure the full nuts were an easy fit. It all makes assembly easier....



It was getting near knocking off time so I replaced the jaws in the machine vise and set the chest and lid up for drilling 4.7mm clearance. Nice quiet morning with no errors, you can't ask for much more than that!

[Stanley]

Lots of boring but essential little jobs this morning to get clearance in the lid and the steam chest, make 12 studs and fit them. First job was boring the clearance holes. As usual I only gave them a tenth of a mm and had to do them all again because that wasn't enough./ I finished up drilling the lid and the chest 4.8mm.



Once I had determined the length of the studs and cut twelve I had to grind the ends and make sure they were all good threads....



I never fail to wonder at how much tackle you need to do a simple task! Good job I have been collecting stuff for years!



Getting there.... This is where you find out that you weren't as good at keeping the tap vertical as you thought you were. Don't panic, they aren't as bad as they look!



Knocking off time. It's beginning to look like a cylinder. Don't bother about packings at this point, it's all going to come to bits again.... I like it, it looks like a steam cylinder and all the studs are firmly anchored, no bum positioning or bad threads.

[Stanley]

Today we are fitting lids.... First thing to do is work out the pitch circle diameter of the holes. Far enough in to avoid the heads overhanging the rim but not interfering with the bore. When you've decided, cut a mark on the lid with a sharp ended tool.



What we need now is six holes marked equidistantly on the lid.



The best way to do this is pop into the front room, set the overhead gear up on Johnny's 1927 lathe and get some marks on the PCD using the dividing gear.



Remember we're not drilling holes, just putting clear marks down. (I love doing anything on this lathe...)



Just like this! Perfectly divided. Six studs is plenty to hold a lid on. By the way, they will be 2BA so the first job is to drill the lids to 4MM the tapping size.



Set the 'funny shape' vise up and away we go.



It didn't take long to drill the lids, then I put the cylinder in the jaws, touched the first hole and made sure I was in the meat of the cylinder and avoiding the registers!



Once I had made sure I was not fouling the steam passage I got my pegs out and cracked on with the rest of the holes. I set the stop up on the drill so they are all drilled down to the same depth.



One of the drillings slightly interfered with the drain hole but it won't affect it. Plenty of room left in the passage. This was knocking off time. Tomorrow we'll do the other end....