Author Topic: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43  (Read 36896 times)

Offline arnoldb

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Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« on: April 24, 2011, 05:54:41 PM »
I've been out of the shop for quite a while now due to non-shop-related burn injuries to both my hands.  After spending a most frustrating 5 weeks just watching TV and waiting for things to heal up, I'm ready for the shop again, and wanted a fairly simple project to get back into the swing of things.
I tossed a number of Elmer's engines in a hat, and drew #43   :)

I'll be using metric fasteners and shafting to suit my needs, and I won't necessarily be making all pieces exactly to Elmer's plans.

On Friday I started assembling whatever I could scrounge to start the build:


Friday afternoon saw the base done from some hot-rolled steel bar:


The column followed on Saturday - also from hot-rolled; I went for a single angled side on each side instead of having a parallel bit at the top of the column.  I just used a pair of drills to get a suitable angle to mill it off at:


Main bearing was a very quick turning,  reaming and parting job from phosphor bronze:


Instead of making the reversing slide from solid, I turned up a bit of brass to 5mm diameter, and drilled a 5mm hole with a generous chamfer into a bit of steel off-cut:


Out with the torch and the silver solder, and joined together:


Then I just mounted the lot in the collet chuck on the rotary table, and milled out the slot in the steel bit:


For Saturday, I ended up with this handful of bits; not much, but some progress:


At least the whole lot fits together like it should :ddb::


This morning, I started with the reverse lever - just laid it out, centered the RT on the mill, mounted the fixture plate, and clamped the workpiece to that on top of some scrap aluminium, and centered on the pivot hole:


A little while later, after some judicious drilling and milling:


Then I turned up a bush to fit the hole drilled in the reversing lever and to fit the reversing slide's shaft:


And silver soldered the two together and cleaned things up a bit:


A bit of ornamental turning and shaping with a small file:


Screwed into a nut, heated bright red hot on the thin part with a small torch, and bent over with gentle pressure from a bit of flat steel while keeping the stem red-hot.  Bent like a charm   :dremel::


Trying to get a bit of a polish on the inside of the corner is a problem, but some rope (the type that butchers use to tie up a roast) dipped in metal polish quickly gets into the back bits:


Handle done:


And today's assembly shot:


 :beer:, Arnold

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2011, 06:00:42 PM »
Good to see you back in the shop Arnold  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Making your usual speedy progress as well  ::) :coffee:   ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,nice work mate  :thumbup: 

Rob



Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2011, 06:21:17 PM »
Arnold,

Glad to see you back :thumbup:

Love that little handle.

Me thinks too much silver soldering - you just can't keep away from hot things :D

Nice to see you are up and running :clap: :clap: :clap:

DaveH
(Ex Leicester, Thurmaston, Ashby De La Zouch.)

Offline saw

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2011, 06:55:13 PM »
Good work, I will be folling this project with plesur.  :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Offline Anzaniste

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2011, 06:58:32 PM »
Pleased your are recovering, hand injury is one of those things I don't like to think about.
I am intrigued by your rear tool post design it looks like a half formed idea that is lurking in the back of my mind. I would be interested in a bit more information such as dimensions and clamping details etc.
Scrooby, 1 mile south of Gods own County.

Offline Bogstandard

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2011, 07:45:41 PM »
It's good to see you torturing bits of metal instead of yourself Arnold. Just take it steady for now.

That Elmers' machine is a very popular one, and always, from the ones I have seen, end up as a good runners.

It really is nice to see you posting again.


John
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Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2011, 10:43:01 PM »
Sorry to hear about your hands... Glad you are on your way  :thumbup:

The bits are looking very nice!  :headbang:

Eric
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Offline sbwhart

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2011, 01:20:11 AM »
Great to see you back in the shop and posting, I was thinking we'd not seen much of you, hope the hands carry on to heal well.

Great work with the engine  :thumbup:

Stew
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Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2011, 10:34:32 AM »
Hello Arnold, this looks to be a very interesting engine build, and you are keeping things out of sight well enough to be intriguing on top of starting an interesting engine.  Very fine craftsmanship on the parts you've made, I'm sure it will be a fine looker, and good runner.  Just exactly how does one "toss Elmer's engine numbers in the air"?  I'd like to build one, but I don't know the numbers, or where to find them, if they are freely available, or must be bought.  Would you show a picture of tossing up those numbers, if you get the chance?  :lol:  really looking forward to this build, a very fine start indeed.   :beer:  Cheers, Jack

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2011, 11:46:30 AM »

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2011, 03:39:52 PM »
So sorry to hear about your hands Arnold. But, pleased you're over the problem now.

Looking forward to more of your speedy building......  :D

David D
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Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2011, 05:47:47 PM »
Many thanks Gents, it's really good to be making chips again  :ddb:  Sometimes a little reality check makes one appreciate the good things in life even more.

Anzaniste, I don't have any particular measurements on the toolpost, as I made it by eye from handy bits lying around.  The pillar is about 24mm thick, welded to a bit of 10mm plate with two holes drilled in it to mount in the rear slot of the lathe toolpost.  The tool holder is just a square block of steel that I bored and slitted to fit the toolpost.  I made this lot about 1 1/2 years ago before I had my mill and were even less experienced than now, so it's a bit crude, but functional.  Here are some additional detail on it.  If you have any specific questions, do fire away, and I'll get the appropriate answers for you.

Today's little bits...

A start on the crank web from some hot-rolled rod - drilling the tap-hole for the crank screw on the rotary table as it was convenient:


After parting it off, and pressing onto some 5mm silver steel and a bit of cleanup, the crankshaft was done:


For the eccentric, I cleaned up a bit of the same hot rolled rod as for the web, and used a dial indicator to get the correct offset:

Then it was a fairly simple turning job to finish it off.

With the mill still centered over the RT, I couldn't be bothered to crank the table back to the vise for drilling the grub screw hole in the eccentric, so I just used the drill press:


The completed eccentric on the crank shaft:


The eccentric strap followed; I strayed a bit from Elmer's design and just kept to the crucial dimensions.  Here I'm boring it to fit the eccentric:


Today's bits; looks like I'm on a "make three bits per day" streak   :coffee:


Tomorrow might be less done, as I have to attend to some matters in town...  At least, a part of those concern getting some new "toys" for the shop  :ddb:

Regards, Arnold

Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2011, 06:02:53 PM »
Nicely done Arnold  :)
 :beer:
DaveH
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Offline raynerd

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2011, 06:13:46 PM »
Coming in a bit late on this one. Good to see you back at it and excellent build so far!

Chris

Offline Anzaniste

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2011, 06:26:36 PM »
Arnold, Thanks for the info it's just what I needed. Either great minds think alike or I've maybe seen your Idea on the other web site although I hadn't thought of the keyway. I also had thought of angling the groove for the parting off blade to build in a bit of top rake and keeping the minimum of blade protruding depending what diameter I was parting and using the height adjusting facility to keep the cutting edge on centre height.

Scrooby, 1 mile south of Gods own County.

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #15 on: April 25, 2011, 07:20:42 PM »
Looking good.  :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #16 on: April 27, 2011, 06:36:26 PM »
Thanks chaps  :beer:

Anzaniste, pleasure.  I can't claim the idea; I picked it up from somewhere; can't remember if it was from an old book or from an Internet link.  Angling the groove will work just fine; initially I considered that, but as I keep the toolpost mounted nearly permanently, it's easier for me to have the tool horizontal.  It's quick to adjust it in and out for different thicknesses of material, and I just use an oil stone on it in situ to hone up the cutting edge as needed.  Saves a lot of time faffing around setting it to center height.  Also, I'm a lazy so-and-so, so I use it to part of anything from steel to brass without any change of tool geometry; it does take a bit of care but works...

Yesterday I didn't get anything done as I was shopping around in town and had to attend to some other matters.  This morning, I collected the results of said shopping around :D:


That broke the 3-part streak, but at least I got three bits done for today:

First up was a block of phosphor bronze milled to 0.1mm over size on the bearing surfaces for the sliding block and then slit off:

I carefully filed the bearing surfaces flat to remove the toolmarks, and then flat-lapped it on some 600 grit emery to be a good smooth-sliding fit in the tilting guide.  Took 10 minutes to machine the block and a good 30 more minutes to finish it off...

Next the eccentric rod; I milled some brass to size for width and depth and left it a couple of mm over-long:

After squaring up, I drilled and reamed the one end, and drilled and tapped the other end.
Then I centered it up in the 4-jaw on the lathe and drilled a tiny hole for tailstock support, and carefully turned it down length-wise.  Sorry, no pictures   :palm:

A bit of 5mm hex brass was used to turn the "eccentric pin" from; Elmer shows slotted screws for these, but I prefer hex-head screws.  Finished bunch 'o bits for the day:


And assembled:


Well, at least it's three more bits done :lol:

 :beer:, Arnold

Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #17 on: April 27, 2011, 06:46:53 PM »
Arnold,

Coming along nicely :thumbup:

DaveH
(Ex Leicester, Thurmaston, Ashby De La Zouch.)

Offline foozer

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #18 on: April 27, 2011, 07:32:00 PM »
And here I am still dinking around making a base for the Elbow Engine, ah but at least there is your build of it to help answer some of the "How the Hecks?"

Keep up the good work

Robert
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Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #19 on: April 27, 2011, 08:17:17 PM »
Looking good, and an interesting order of parts, Arnold.  I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together.   :beer:  Cheers, Jack

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #20 on: April 28, 2011, 04:32:19 AM »
Well done. :clap: :clap:
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2011, 04:28:39 AM »
Thanks Chaps!

Dave, how's the weather over there in "Gauteng" - I see there's a massive cold front moving through Southern RSA, so your cold spell might be on its way...

 :lol: Robert, maybe you need to stop taking "tumbles" and just get on with the base... 

Jack, I'm just taking the parts from the plans top-to bottom - hence the weird order of fabrication.  I must give Elmer Verburg his due credit for that; his plans are complete enough to allow one to make the parts in any order; if they are made to the sizes specified, things will fit and the engine will run - there's no need to fiddle around with bits to make things fit later on.

Yesterday, I f@rted around with a block of aluminium.  The markings on the 1" square bar are indicative that this is an extrusion, and I expected it to be a bit gummy while machining:


It was gummy, and left a lot of burrs from fly-cutting:


Even though not ideal for the job, it's what I had available, so I carried on trimming it down to size with a 16mm end mill:


I ended up with the cylinder block and marked it out for the cylinder bore:


Then I spent quite a while mentally running the machining processes through my head.  I was spoilt for choice on machining the bore; it could go on the 4-jaw on the lathe, or I could do it on the mill using drills and a reamer or the boring head.  Even though the aluminium was gummy, I opted for the easy way of drilling and reaming, with lots of meths for lubricant while reaming:

If the reamer left a bad finish, I could have bored out the cylinder with the boring head in the same position, but fortunately it came out OK with just the reamer.

Before starting on the top of the cylinder, I drilled the exhaust passage on the side; it just makes it easier to drill the exhaust port on the top to the correct depth:


Then I started on the top.  Drilled the exhaust port through, and milled the steam passages.  The plans call for 1/8" passages 1/16" deep.  I don't have a 3mm slot mill, so I used a 2mm one and to compensate for the width, I milled the slots 2mm deep rather than the 1.6mm called for:


With the ports milled deeper, I had to calculate new angles for drilling the ports through to the bore; a quick bit of rough sketching and trigonometry sorted that:


Come on daddy; the maths is boring:


With the new angles marked, I started off the passages with the 2mm center-cutting slot mill:

That was followed with a 2mm drill.

Came out spot-on:


After a quick rub-down on emery, the cylinder block looks fairly presentable:


Two bits of brass plate and a bit of perspex followed:

The thinner brass plate is for the valve face, and the perspex and thicker brass plate are for exchangeable valve chest covers; the perspex for running on air and showing off the valve mechanism, and the brass one should I run the engine on live steam at some future point.

I machined the three down as a sandwich, with the perspex clamped between the brass plates, and the thicker, sturdier brass plate at the top, as end mills are inclined to want to pull up work pieces. With the perspex in the middle, it would be less inclined to want to crack or break:


Shop time ran out yesterday before I could carry on; I'll continue today:


Regards, Arnold

Offline saw

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #22 on: April 29, 2011, 06:41:10 AM »
Beutifull  :clap: :clap:
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #23 on: April 29, 2011, 01:22:23 PM »
Thank you Benni  :beer:

I spent six hours in the shop today, and don't have too much to show for it  ::)

Stacked up the valve- and cover plates on the block in the mill vise and clamped the lot up with a business card folded double to take up the minute difference in size between the parts, and coordinate-drilled the screw holes - first with a center drill to start each hole accurately, then down to threading depth in the cylinder block with a 1.6mm drill for M2 tapping, and finally 2mm clearance just through the loose plates to the top of the block :


Then I started milling out the port holes in the valve plate with a 1.5mm slot mill:


The valve plate after a bit of flat lapping.  I'm not happy with it; I think I used over-heavy cuts while milling the slots, so they are very untidy.  I might just re-do this part to make it better:


The steam chest followed from some 8mm aluminium plate.  Fortunately this is a better alloy to machine than the bit I made the cylinder block from.  I finished the block to near-final dimensions on the width, and chucked it up in the 4-jaw on the lathe to turn the round bits on it, and also to drill the holes for the valve rod.  The hole in the back must be 1.6mm, with the one in the front 2mm.  I drilled deep enough with the 2mm drill through the block to just reach the point where the 1.6mm hole had to continue - that's about 28mm deep.  Then I  had to drill the last bit with the 1.6mm drill, whis is fairly short, so I barely had 6mm of it's shank chucked in the drill chuck:

My old girl (the ML7) is a bit slow for these small drills at max 800RPM, so it takes peck drilling at a slow feed and frequent cleaning with a drop of meths on the drill tip each time it comes out.  This is where I really find an advantage using meths as lubricant on aluminium over WD40 and such; the oily cutting fluids tend to make the swarf cling to the drill bit, thus clogging up the flutes more quickly.  The meths just make it slide past, hence I can take deeper pecks while drilling - 3 to 4mm deep pecks are easily done with a 1.6mm drill.

A bunch of milling followed to clear out the hole in the steam chest.  I roughed out most of the material with a 4mm 2-flute slot mill, and then followed with many fine passes with a 2mm end mill to get it to size and sort of neat-looking:


I used the brass valve cover as a template to drill the holes through the steam chest:


All done with the steam chest.  After a couple of minutes of rubbing over sand paper to tidy it up; it came out satisfactorily  :) - unlike the darn valve plate  ::) :


Regards, Arnold

Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #24 on: April 29, 2011, 01:55:46 PM »
Arnold,

Damn cold thanks, :coffee:

Tis looking very good, like the interchangeable Perspex valve chest cover. :D

The valve plate looks good to me from here. :)
 :beer:
DaveH
(Ex Leicester, Thurmaston, Ashby De La Zouch.)

Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #25 on: April 29, 2011, 03:33:35 PM »
Looking good! Keep it up.
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Offline saw

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #26 on: April 29, 2011, 04:13:39 PM »
I realy like your'e kind of work, it's a good workmanchip.  :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #27 on: April 30, 2011, 01:55:36 PM »
Thanks Dave  :beer: - I'll have to polish up that perspex cover a bit though.  And the valve plate...  It should work, but it's just not up to the standard I expect from myself; I'm my own worst critic  :lol:

Eric, thank you; I will.  The engine is about 90% done now, so it will take another 60% as much time to finish...

Thanks Benni  :beer: - I'm still learning, but I'm trying hard to improve the finishes.  Its getting easier for me to machine to dimensions, so I can actually spend a bit more time trying to get good finishes now.

This afternoon I started on the cross head.  I used a bit of 16mm square brass bar that I have - and as it is already on size on the dimensions, I couldn't allow for any trimming off on the square bits, so I carefully clocked it up true in the 4-jaw chuck:

The overhang from the chuck is a bit long, but I didn't want to saw a bit off it - as that results in waste later on.  I only have this bit of 16mm square brass, so neither wastage nor failure was an option; it's a great incentive to get things done right the first time   :lol:

First I turned up and parted off the cylinder head.  That was a simple job - I didn't take any photos.  Then turned down the outside of the cross head to dimension; I love turning brass, as it's really easy to get a good finish on it:


The hole in the cross-head would have been easy to ream, but I don't have machine reamers; only hand reamers and those can't ream all the way into a blind hole because of the taper on the tips.  This hole must be smooth and accurate all the way through to the blind bore at the back.  Not feeling in any mood to make up a d-bit from silver steel for the job, I drilled the hole out to 7.5mm and used my small home-made boring bar to bore it out to 7.8mm.  The boring bar barely fit in the hole:


Before moving to the mill, I also cleaned up the back of the workpiece to 12mm - this is for leaving a register ring to fit in the cylinder bore and parting off later:


On to the mill; the excess square stock made it easy to clamp up the workpiece in the vise, so this was a quick and simple job, taking care not to take too heavy cuts as material was removed:


Finally back to the 4-jaw for parting off.  As the register was already turned, I could just part it off without completely re-centering the workpiece in the chuck:


The results of today's work:

The boss on the cover plate is not to plans - I left it to add something interesting to what would otherwise just be a square cover plate.

Regards, Arnold

Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #28 on: April 30, 2011, 04:08:30 PM »
Arnold,

Coming along very nicely :)

A clever bit of planning ahead worked well :clap:

DaveH
(Ex Leicester, Thurmaston, Ashby De La Zouch.)

Offline sbwhart

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #29 on: May 01, 2011, 01:51:57 AM »
Looking Good  :thumbup:

Stew
A little bit of clearance never got in the road
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #30 on: May 01, 2011, 02:31:34 PM »
 :beer: - Thanks Dave.  Can you believe it; we're still getting rain here at this time of the year!  Getting a wee bit cooler now as well.

Thanks Stew!  :beer:

Today's little bitty bits...

Drilling the mounting holes for the cross-head was a bit of a challenge.  The index on the back of it fits the cylinder bore tightly, so there's no room for movement and later "fudging" to adjust things.  And to make matters even worse, there was no way for me to center drill the holes first - I don't have spotting drills, and my center drills are all of the short variety...
In addition, the 1.6mm tap drill is barely long enough.  I ended up marking out the hole locations on the cross-head, and using my scriber pressing a deep indentation in each location. As the cross-head is a tight fit to the block, it would most likely stay put while drilling; I couldn't clamp it to the block.  I carefully drilled the holes by lightly pressing the drill bit into the indentations before starting up the mill motor.  After the first hole, I stuck another 1.6mm drill in the hole just to make sure things couldn't move:


The cylinder head was a lot easier, as I could clamp it down:


Turning up the piston was a really quick job.  Here it is half-way done and still 0.05mm over size, with the back side parted off partly, and a good chamfer added on either end.  Also, being the normal lazy rotter that I am, I couldn't be bothered to set up a tool to turn the oil grooves; I used a triangular needle file to add them - and got my dimensions slightly out; old eyeball MK1 didn't quite do it:

After adding the chamfers and oil grooves, I turned it down to size - 11.98mm to fit the 12mm bore.  Then I center drilled it, drilled it 2.5mm for M3 tapping, added a section drilled out to 3.2mm (I'll be using 3.2mm brazing rod as the piston rod) and tapped it M3 before parting it off fully.

On to the piston rod - which was a bit of a challenge to make.  First, some 3.2mm brazing rod in the collet chuck, turned down to 3mm for 1/8" and threaded M3 with the tailstock die holder:


Then I turned a bit of brass down to a still-tight fit in the cross-head, and drilled it out 3.2mm with a generous chamfer in the start of the hole before parting it off.  I left the parted off side a bit rough around the center hole - which made the bit a tight slide along the brazing rod.  Seems a lot of boo-hah over a simple bit, but there's some method to my madness.  As I wanted to silver solder the brass bit to the rod, it would need cleaning up later, and if I made it a good fit in the cross-head, it would be too small after cleaning it up after the soldering process.  The chamfer was needed for a place for the solder to dam into and thoroughly join both parts, as the clearance between the hole and the rod was too small for the solder to properly wick in.  In retrospect, it would have been a better idea to file slight flats on the rod to leave more space for the solder to wick in; too late now though; the job's done.
Here it's fluxed up and ready for soldering:


I heated the lot from the right-hand side till it glowed dull red, and just touched the solder stick to it - job done:

It looks horrible doesn't it ?  :lol:

Oh well, after a bit of cleanup, it looked OK, and I could carry on - drilling the cross-pin hole:


Cut slots and flats with a slitting saw - very carefully, as this is not a very stable set-up:


Piston rod done:


Some 4.8mm brass bar, and a couple of holes poked in it:


With the tooling plate installed in the vise, I clamped the lot down.  The cap screw screwed down on the right of the workpiece is acting as a stop, as the part needs to be flipped around for some up-coming machining.  I've mentioned before that I'm a lazy so-and-so, and this is more laziness   :coffee::

Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love this tooling plate ? - It's some of the most useful tool-making time I've spent  :ddb:

A bit of milling:


Flipped over after de-burring, and ready for some more:


And even more milling - here I've already removed the clamp on the right; that was in place while milling:


A couple of facets milled off around the edges:


And a short while later after some filing and emery, I ended up with the connecting rod done:

This was a quick job; took me just three hours to make, including a couple of smoke breaks, a visit to the kitchen for coffee, scratching Zorro's the mutt's head, time spent pondering the machining steps to take, and about 30 minutes actually machining it and 30 more with the files and emery  :lol:

The bits are coming together now - and they even seem to fit   :ddb:


 :beer:, Arnold

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #31 on: May 01, 2011, 03:17:26 PM »
Arnold you are enormost fast and still fineworking. The engine realy comes fine.  :clap: :clap:
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Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #32 on: May 01, 2011, 04:34:03 PM »
Arnold,

Coming along really well, it's going to look really nice. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Just keep away from the braai  :D

 :beer:
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #33 on: May 02, 2011, 01:20:28 PM »
Thanks Benni  :beer:

Dave, Thanks  :beer: - Now, keeping away from a braai for a Namibian is unthinkable  :palm: - I've had a couple in the last few weeks, fortunately "hands" stayed off the menu  :lol:

A single bit made for today, as well as the first boo-boo of the build.

First I turned some 2mm brazing rod down to 1.6mm for 3/8".  Brazing rod is tough to turn, and when it's this thin, the toolbit must be super sharp and dead on center:

The photo makes the turned piece look taper, but it is actually pretty close to parrallel with the tailstock side only 0.01mm thicker than the headstock side - that's from flexing, but is close enough for this bit.

The piece was extended further from the chuck, and I ran the 2mm die nut over it to add some threads:


Then I made the boo-boo - I cut it off too short after miscalculating the length, and had to re-do it.  The second one didn't come out as well as the first - the die nut caught on the turned-down bit, but I was in no mood to re-make it yet again, so I silver soldered a block of brass to the end, and finished the part.  It operates smoothly in the valve chest, so the light threads on the thin section won't be a problem:


Regards, Arnold

Offline lazylathe

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #34 on: May 02, 2011, 07:36:05 PM »
Looking good Arnold!!!

Better take a break and have a Windhoek!!! :beer:

Andrew

Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #35 on: May 03, 2011, 03:16:44 PM »
Thanks Andrew  :beer: - Oh - I take a break every evening to have a Windhoek  :ddb: - though it's now getting to that time of the year where the normal Windhoek Lager gets replaced with an Urbock  :D - Just gotta love the Namibian Breweries; both summer and winter beers of top quality :)

Today I started off on the valve - but before I started, I fashioned up a Rube Goldberg style air supply from the compressor.  There was lots of small milling going to go on, and I didn't buy the new compressor for nothing!  A block of bronze (the plans call for brass, but bronze would be just dandy) - and I started milling it to size; no mark-out or anything; this was going to be done by the mill dials only:


The 6mm end mill I used to trim the block down is definitely in need of replacement  :lol: - it left a lot of steps on the sides.  I used a 2mm end mill to mill the central slot, and the "other side" of the valve; the air flow was set to go over the workpiece, and this pulled the chips right out of the slots while milling:


After milling the cross-slot, I used a slitting saw to slice off the valve from the parent stock:


After a quick de-burr, I flipped the valve over and milled the port face with a 1.5mm slot mill; this is where the air supply really came into it's own.  Not much pressure; just 10 psi, but it cleared the chips out of that hole making it a breeze to finish:


After some quick flat-lapping with 800 emery on the glass plate:


And cleaning up on the sides, and ends, the valve was finished:


Then I started on the valve nut - once again no mark-out and just using the mill dials to size it on 3 sides and drill the tapping hole:


Tapped it M2 with my bad-looking handle and tap guide; Elmer specifies the tapping here as "Close", so instead of tapping all the way through with the last tap in the set, I stopped it when I felt it just starting offering less resistance to tapping torque before going all the way through:


Just for exercise, I used the junior hacksaw to saw off the nut:

And then filed it down to size on the sawn-off side.

After a light rub-down on emery, the nut came out to satisfaction:


The valve and nut fits just dandy in the steam chest, with about 0.1mm of free play on the valve to the nut   :ddb::


Then I turned up two crank screws from some 5mm hex brass rod:

To my horror, I just noticed some burrs left on them   :palm:

Things are finally getting to a point now; I laid out all the bits to check what's still missing:


The to-do list - surprisingly long still!!!
1. Obviously, the flywheel - I hope to get cracking on that tomorrow.
2. There's a couple of parts that still need cleanup to remove burrs and toolmarks.  The column actually still needs quite a bit of work now that I look at it.
3. The cylinder block needs to be tapped M2 in 12 mounting holes - Yes, I'll be doing studs 'n nuts again, and I can't do the studs before a final cleanup of the block.
4. Make said nuts from brass/bronze...  there's a lot of tapping and filing work in my future   :lol:  Fortunately I have quite a bit of M2 threaded bronze rod left.
5. A lick of paint - yes, this time some parts will get painted!
6. A final once-over with a buff on some parts and a bit of polymer car polish on those.
7. Wooden base - and all the work associated with that  ::)
8. Final assembly - hopefully it will run   :coffee:

Regards, Arnold

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #36 on: May 03, 2011, 04:25:26 PM »
Hi Arnold


Looks like you will have a runner soon at the rate your going ,, :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:  nice going mate  :thumbup:


Rob

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #37 on: May 03, 2011, 04:27:57 PM »
It's unfair, it goes to easy for you  :(
You wrote that you are going to use car polish, for what?? Will the part got more "bling"?
Nice built Arnold  :bugeye:
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Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #38 on: May 04, 2011, 07:47:04 AM »
Looking good,  :D

At the speed you are going at will be soon up and running :D

Can't wait :thumbup:

 :beer:
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #39 on: May 04, 2011, 03:51:21 PM »
Rob, thanks mate  :beer: - it needs to get done now; my leave is nearly over and I want to get "cracking" on another project that has some gear - and boiler making involved :D  Oh, and I need to build a bridge as well  :lol:

Thanks Benni  :beer: - I promise you that even though it looks easy it's still a lot of hard work - more than 60 hours on this project, with only about a fifth of it machining, the rest just thinking through things, setting up, checking and double checking measurements and calculations and so on.  But it's a LOT of FUN  :D
The car polish I'll use on all the bits I want to keep shiny in the case of polished bits, and to prevent oxidisation (or "patina" as it's sometimes called) on bits with a brushed finish.  Just makes maintaining the models easier, as my collection is growing and I like them to look good - even if my first ones were not the best of examples.  The polish also helps to prevent rust on the steel and iron bits; I encourage visitors to handle the models, and there's nothing like sweaty fingerprints to make bits rust.

Thanks Dave  :beer: - I hope to have it running by the weekend.

Today the flywheel received attention...

I started off with a bit of 55mm cast iron I had lying about; slightly too large and a lot will be wasted, but that's what I had on hand:


My chuck's inside jaws can't open up large enough to safely hold it, so I had to use the outside jaws.  With the stock on the short side, I had to figure out a way to get in there to turn it, and also checked for adequate clearances all round so that I wouldn't run anything into the chuck jaws:


Turned down to size; not the greatest finish, as I used the toolbit shown in the previous photo "for the wrong job"   :loco: :


The normal toolbit I have for trepanning out flywheels was a bit big for this one, so I had to grind up a new narrower one.  Turned out OK, but I had a tiny bit of chatter in the rounded corners:


Then I just center drilled, drilled and reamed the flywheel to fit the crankshaft:


Then I flipped the flywheel in the chuck and cleaned down the other side and trepanned it.  I spent some time thinking about milling spokes in the flywheel, but decided against it, and just went for drilled holes.  To be a bit "otherwise" I went for seven instead of the traditional six - that meant calculating the odd angles and practising dialling those in on the rotary table:

I couldn't drill the holes all the way through, for fear of running into the chuck jaws, so I drilled them till I could just feel the drill bit want to run through.

Then finished the holes on the drill press with the cross-vise.  The drill press is much less rigid than the mill, so the drill bit follows the pre-drilled holes easier and hence much neater:


As a final step, I drilled and tapped a hole at an angle in the hub to take an M3 grub screw.  Elmer's plans show the grub screw through the outer rim, but I don't like that too much, hence the digression from the plans.  That completed machining on the flywheel:


 :beer:, Arnold

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #40 on: May 04, 2011, 04:53:40 PM »
Thanks for explaning the car polish I will use it on my new project. :D
Very nice flyweel. :clap:
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Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #41 on: May 05, 2011, 02:02:16 PM »
ooow   360 divided by 7    mmmm thats tricky :)
I would need my slide rule for that
looks good though :thumbup:


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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #42 on: May 05, 2011, 05:58:19 PM »
Thanks Benni  :beer:

Cheers Dave !   :lol: Maybe I should have used logarithmic spacing to throw off he slide rule a bit... 

The last bits are always the hardest - and time consuming!

I gave the cylinder block the once-over with the set of M2 taps - which fortunately turned out well, then a final rub-down on emery in all the needed areas to get the finish I wanted and then started to add the studding - with a bit of thread retainer on each stud, and some stainless steel nuts to unscrew off the studs once cut to "clean" the threads:


While waiting for that lot to set a bit, I started making nuts.  The nuts in the previous photo are normal M2 stainless steel nuts, and while I could use those, they don't have pleasing proportions (at least to my taste).  So I went about the business of filing a bit of hex on some 3.2mm brazing rod, center drilling, drilling it 1.6mm and tapping it M2, and then parting off 2 nuts at a time with the jig-saw-blade parting tool. :

As usual, some nuts went flying while parting off, so the shop monster ended up with a selection of small nuts called "Dammit", "Sheisse" and so on - I hope he enjoys their company   :lol:  A simple process followed; make a couple of nuts, clip off studding on the block and add more to it and so on.

I eventually ended with a selection of nuts - four thicker ones for the cylinder cover, and eight thinner ones for the cylinder head - with an extra one that was christened "Lucky" - all still needing some de-burring:


As I started putting bits together, something became obvious... Steam or air would run through the valve chest, push down the valve and go through the port faces and so on - except for ? - Where the heck would it come from  :scratch:  I'd not make a steam connector!  And even worse, I never even made the hole in the valve chest to fit it to   :lol:  That was easily remedied with a quick bit of turning:


And a bit of drilling and tapping:


Now things are coming together:


Still quite a bit left to do though...  Like watching paint dry...  Again...  :doh: :lol:

Regards, Arnold

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #43 on: May 05, 2011, 06:05:34 PM »
Good work looking very nice :clap: :clap:
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Offline andyf

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #44 on: May 05, 2011, 07:01:22 PM »
Quote
Arnold said: As usual, some nuts went flying while parting off, so the shop monster ended up with a selection of small nuts called "Dammit", "Sheisse" and so on - I hope he enjoys their company   

Grab a bit of thin (say 1mm) wire in the tailstock chuck, and stick it down the tapped hole in your hex stock. Then, each nut you part off will be left hanging on the wire.

Andy
Sale, Cheshire
I've cut the end off it twice, but it's still too short

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #45 on: May 06, 2011, 11:31:09 AM »
Well Arnold, I got a bit behind on keeping up with this build, but on catching up, I see you're doing a very fine job of it, and it is looking very interesting, I expect it will be a real fine runner when she's done.  Saw, you work on what you know, you watch those you admire, and learn from their mistakes, and at some point, you look behind and find you're the one doing the neat and intricate work with followers getting comments.  I've been doing this sort of work for more than forty years, and I learn something almost every time I log on to mad modder, and watch someone do something I've never done before.  I say again, one of the things I enjoy the most about this site is the wide variety of places we all come from, and share our hobby and fascination with.  It is a real treat to watch one man building an engine in England, and then flip to another modeller building a completely different engine in Nambia, and each admiring each other's work and product.  As Benjamin Franklin said, "beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy", note we all equate rasing a glass as the proper sign of success.   :beer:  Cheers all, and may God smile down upon your labors.  Jack

Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #46 on: May 06, 2011, 03:04:58 PM »
Thank you Benni  :thumbup:

 :beer: Cheers Andy; normally I would use the bit of rod trick, but while making these nuts, it adds an extra step; in effect two tool changes; one to load the rod in the chuck, and the other to immediately load the tap again to clean up the threads in the remaining bit in the chuck after parting off.  It's a bit of a "swings and roundabouts" thing; takes time either way  :lol:

Thanks Jack  :beer: - those are some serious words of wisdom :bow:

I've been playing around with paint rattle cans in between for the last couple of days.  This was the lion's share of my learning experience on this build.  I planned to add a wooden base to the engine, but completely forgot to make mounting holes in the base for that, and only after I got a half-decent paint finish on it realised that, so for now the engine will remain without it.  I'll make the wood bit later; once the paint has cured well enough so that I can modify the engine base.

The flywheel and base went OK with the painting, but the column gave me hell; I ended up stripping and re-doing it three times...  It's still not quite up to what I'd like, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it another time :palm:  For the next paint jobs, I'll invest in better paint and get my airbrush up and running; the rattle cans just does not do it for me.  Also, I wanted a slightly lighter shade of blue; this one is bordering on black.

So for now, the engine is done  :ddb: :













A video of it running; this was just after I got it going, so things were a bit stiff; here running at about 7 psi for the most part.  Please excuse the dang dirty paws, painted fingernail and oil dripped everywhere on the engine  :coffee:


After about 10 minutes of running, it settled in nicely, and I could bring down the pressure to about 3 psi:


Thank you to all who followed along and all the nice comments and valuable input  :nrocks:.

Kind regards, Arnold
Darn - it's good to be back in the shop   :ddb:

Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #47 on: May 06, 2011, 03:05:14 PM »
Jack,

Anybody can build an engine in England :D

Building one in Africa is a real challenge :lol:

DaveH
(Ex Leicester, Thurmaston, Ashby De La Zouch.)

Offline DaveH

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #48 on: May 06, 2011, 03:12:06 PM »
Arnold,

A supersonic post, build and finished engine :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Runs great, luv the perspex cover :D I will have to remember that.

 :beer:

Dave
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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #49 on: May 06, 2011, 03:46:36 PM »
Arnold my biggist congratulations. You have show how to build a fine engine and done it the only way, the right way.  :thumbup:
It's a plesure for me to be in this club and see birth of this wunderfull engine.
 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Offline j45on

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #50 on: May 06, 2011, 03:51:11 PM »
Great job  :bow:
Jason

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #51 on: May 06, 2011, 04:24:13 PM »
What a nice runner great beat  :headbang:
 
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Perspex cover adds a lot of interest.


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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #52 on: May 06, 2011, 04:45:34 PM »
Arnold,

It is real nice to see you back in the shop and up to full speed.

A very nice build it has turned out to be as well.

Elmers engines, although only basic compared to other versions of the same sort of engine from other souces, do in fact make very nice and relatively easy builds for the just up from beginner status, I am not saying that you are a beginner, far from it, just explaining that there are many engines that can fairly easily be built using his directions and plans.

I still have a mind to build his #20, The Kimble. Slightly out of the ordinary.


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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #53 on: May 07, 2011, 03:10:39 AM »
Nice one mate  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :)


she's alive ! :headbang:


Sure do like the paint job  :med:  and as always well machined  :bow: :bow: :bow:


Rob

you won again , mumble mumble  :coffee:


Offline spuddevans

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #54 on: May 07, 2011, 03:33:14 AM »
Well done sir!!  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Great to see another slow runner. It ticks over very nicely at 3psi.


Tim
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Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #55 on: May 07, 2011, 11:43:33 AM »
Many thanks everyone  :beer: :beer:

Marv (mklotz) actually gets the credit for the perspex cover - I "stole" the idea from him.  Just remember, if you use a perspex cover, it's not suited for running on live steam; that's why I also made the brass one, as I will eventually run some of my engines on live steam. 

John, I agree.  What's nice about Elmer's plans is the scope for modification to give them different looks, so they're excellent engines for beginners to start from and then progress to own interpretations or add a bit of bling.  I have a half-formed idea on what I'd like to do to his #29 mine engine when I get around to it.  the Kimble is definitely on my build list as well; in fact, it was in the draw when I built this one.

Quote
you won again , mumble mumble
  :lol: Rob, cheers mate - better watch it :poke: ; I took today off, but tomorrow I'm starting another project  :D

Thanks Tin - I also like the engines to run slowly as one can see how they work.  This one will be run in a little more; I want it to go on breath power like most of my other ones.

Once again, many thanks to all for your support and kind comments  :beer:

Regards, Arnold

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #56 on: May 07, 2011, 12:41:04 PM »
Arnold, that is one loverly engine, and truly breath-taking.  The way she runs, you don't need that brown stuff on the bottom, and I have no doubt it will run on breath power very soon.  Very fine build in every way. :bow: :beer:  Cheers, Jack

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #57 on: May 07, 2011, 06:41:37 PM »
Very nice build. Love the slow running view, lets you see all the good stuff happening.

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #58 on: May 08, 2011, 02:17:09 AM »
Love it, Arnold!  :thumbup:

Well built. Well shown. Runs well too!  :clap: :clap:

David D
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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #59 on: May 08, 2011, 02:51:06 AM »
Arnold,

I did just about everything to change the shape and how it worked on my Elmers Mine Engine.

Slip eccentric to get it running in reverse, fully ballraced throughout, speed control, and I even changed all the operating linkage so it looked a lot better and was more compact. Maybe a bit over the top with bling.
There are a few pics missing from the beginning because I had a bit of a crash on early photobucket.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=389.0

I always said about these engines that Elmer made, they can be modified in all sorts of ways. As long as you leave the rudimentary basics where they should be, everything else is fair game.


John
If you don't try it, you will never know if you can do it.

Location - Crewe, Cheshire

Skype - bandit175

Offline raynerd

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #60 on: May 08, 2011, 04:17:53 AM »
Arnold, sorry to get in late, caught up in my own build. It looks really lovely! And the transparent steam chest cover looks great!!

Chris

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #61 on: May 08, 2011, 09:14:22 AM »
Hi Arnold, I went back a bit, over your post on acount of your mentioning the dissatisfaction with the paint and the column, and reasured myself it was aluminum.  My time in the Marines, working on aircraft, taught me to use the paints designed for aluminum, as they are concocted to deal with the fact that aluminum oxidizes on contact with air, and for paint to do well, it must address the oxidation.  We used an alodyne solution, which is now in paint meant for aluminum, because it etches into the oxide, and makes for a smooth coat which adheres very strongly and gives a consistent film thickness.  It makes all the difference between having rattle can paint with runs, and a smooth coat that looks professionally applied.  The colors you selected offset well with the iron flywheel, all painted up, and the brass and bronze fitments, the engine looks and runs very nicely, and very well controlled. :beer:  Cheers, Jack

Offline arnoldb

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Re: Back to the shop... Elmer's #43
« Reply #62 on: May 08, 2011, 05:41:41 PM »
Thanks Gents  :beer:

John, that's a beautiful job you did on the mine engine  :bow: ; I've seen photos of it but never actually realised you added reversing and ball races to it!  And I like the bling  :thumbup:

I'll also slowly start to add more bling to some of my engines; up to now it was hard enough just to build them to actually work.  The building is getting easier and the tool finishes better, so it's slowly becoming possible for me to add the additional eye candy; there's something new to learn with each engine.  Its also getting easier for me to visualise all the parts and how they fit together before I make them; and I think that contributes a lot to making less booboos and to think how I'd like the engine to look when done.  This one actually came out pretty close to how I wanted it to look before I even started it  :D

Cheers Jack  :beer: - the column is actually a bit of hot-rolled 10mm flat bar that I cleaned up, same as the base.  I just could not get the same near-mirror finish on its paint though.  Both received the same treatment of primer - flatted down with emery and more primer till it looked good to me.  The blue rattle can did a good job on the base; about three thin coats that it added evenly and flowed together easily, but when I started on the column, it just gave me sputters on thin coats and orange peel on slightly thicker ones.  And on a single thick coat, it ran.  I made sure to clean out the nozzle after each application.  So for future painting, I'll rather try out the airbrush with multiple thin finishing coats that I can mix up as I like.  Paintwork is all new to me, so I'll be experimenting a lot  :lol:

Kind regards, Arnold