Yet another paddleducks engine build

[boatmadman]

So, this morning I went out to the workshop thinking to have a practise with my shiny new slitting saw, ready to do a cut on the crankwebs.

Not to be! I mounted the arbor and saw, ran it up to the test piece only to find it wasn't running true. Investigations found that the R8 arbor had been machined too long at the top, preventing the taper from engaging properly.  >>:-(

So, a call to the supplier and a replacement is on its way.

Meantime, I decided to have a go at the cylinder base and crank base plate.

The picture shows the results.

Ian

[boatmadman]

The replacement arbor turned up today, hows that for service? Chronos is the company involved.

So, off to the workshop tonight to finish the crankwebs. First the slit was cut in each web, then holes for the locking screw were drilled and tapped in each web, then, finally, dry assembled, and guess what ---- it rotates :-)) (still needs a little fettling yet though)

Have to admit to being somewhat chuffed, as this is the first time I have attempted anything like this.

Anyway, here are pics, sorry a bit blurred.

Ian

[spuddevans]

That's coming along nicely there Ian

I'm hoping to get back into the workshop to continue working on my paddleducks build this morning, I got stalled for a while and had to put it on the shelf before I chucked it out the window!!!


But you are making great progress.

Tim

[kvom]

Looking good.  If you haven't done so yet, I'd suggest rounding the sharp edges off the crank webs.  You'll be pushing on them a lot to rotate the crank, and it's easy to cut yourself.  (Been there, done that),

[boatmadman]

Well, I spent the morning fiddling, fettling and polishing, and now I have one crank complete, except for eccentrics, and it even rotates! Need a little bedding in, but it will be ok.

Kvom, yup, done the sharp edge bit! Been there got the scars to prove!

Ian

[boatmadman]

And then there were two. 

(only loose assembled at the moment)

[Stilldrillin]

A really nice pair of twins!

Taking shape nicely now Ian.... 

David D

[Bernd]

Looking real good there Ian. 


Nice work. 

Bernd

[boatmadman]

Today I made the con rods, top end pins, crosshead guides and one set of stands.

I then drilled and tapped one block for the glands and engine plate and assembled the lot.

The pics show the current status of one top half, waiting for a material delivery to get to the same position with the second engine.

So far, things look promising, both cranks rotate, and, in today's assembly, the pistons and crossheads move ok, a little stiff, but they havent been fully adjusted yet, so they should be ok. ( I hope!!)

Ian

[boatmadman]

And then there were two :-))

Closely followed by steam chests, not quite finished, waiting for a 2mm slot drill and 6mm machine reamer to arrive.

Ian

[boatmadman]

Managed to finish the steam chests, then went on to make the steam spindle couplings, the steam chest blanks and the eccentric webs.

[boatmadman]

Update!

I set out to make the steam valve spools and had problems. The first one came out ok, but no2 somehow came out off centre >>:-(, as did no 3, no4, no5 and no 6. >>:-(

So, I left them for a while and tried again, this time with success, all 4 are ok, I think!

So, next job was to drill and tap the base of the steam chests to take the spool gland, first chest drilled ok, then first tap (m2) snapped in the hole grrrrr  >>:-( >>:-( there is no way that is coming out, or so I thought. Then I found out that taps can be dissolved without harm to brass using a solution of aluminium potassium sulphate (alum), now awaiting delivery of the magic powder, I will update on results later.

I then thought I would do a simple job, so made the flanges for connection to the steam chests.

Having succeeded with those, I thought I would tackle the steam control valves next, that went well, although time consuming getting them right.

Ian

[boatmadman]

Today I thought I would have a go at some steam pipe and silver solder.

Not having done much ss before, I decided to do some practise items first. The first pic shows a flange blank ss’d to a short length of copper pipe and cut in half. As I wanted to be sure to get full penetration (ooeeerrr), I cut the item in half to have a look.

Success, it appears to have gone all the way through!

I then cut 2 more blanks and had a go at soldering from the pipe end,  pic 2 shows the result, not so good, think again.

 I then turned a flange with a spigot for the pipe to sit in with the idea of putting a ring of ss in the bottom of the spigot, apply heat and let it do its job, but, the pcd of the bolt holes is too small to let me do this with the design requirement of 4mm pipe, so, think again!

I then soldered blank flanges onto a length of pipe from the open end of the flange, filed back to near flat and finished on a flat plate – success, pics 3 and 4 show the results, with some added bling!

Next I needed to work out a way of getting 4 bits of pipe the same. Pic 5 shows a flange positioned 20mm or so from the end of the pipe., with flux and ready to solder.
Pic 6 sees that pipe in the tube bender, using the flange to locate for length, and pic 7 shows the pipe after bending.

Pics 7 and 8 show the finished and polished pipes. These will need to be cut to length to fit into the control block at a later stage.

Overall, I am happy with the results, they aren’t as good as some I have seen, but they’ll do!

Ian

[boatmadman]

and the rest

[boatmadman]

here we have engine no. 1 mostly assembled and timed. Just needs the blank plates fitting to the steam chests, the cylinder covers bolting on and the steam control block fitting.

It turns with two fingers on the flywheel, its just a little tight, but I hope it will improve with running in.

Now I have to wait for more copper pipe for the inlet/outlet connections.

Then I will have to beg steal or borrow a compressor!

Ian

[Bernd]

Lookin' real good Ian. 

Bernd

[NickG]

Yep, looks great Ian, 

can't wait to see / hear it running! 

[boatmadman]

It runs!!!!  

The first clip shows it at 28psi on air. It started at 35 and after about ten mins ran fairly smoothly at 28. The jerkiness is the camera frame rate - honest!

The second clip shows it running at about 35 psi

Ian

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff219/boatmadman/no%201%20engine%20first%20run/?action=view&current=MVI_1512.mp4

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff219/boatmadman/no%201%20engine%20first%20run/?action=view&current=MVI_1511-1.mp4

[Bernd]

Congradulations Ian. Looks good running.

Bernd

[sbwhart]

Looking good Ian 

Well done.

 

 



Stew

[boatmadman]

Update on magic powder and broken taps-- It works!

The offending item has now been dissolved out of the mounting hole which means I dont have to re make the part. There is still some in the tapped hole, but thats not an issue as I think I can rotate the gland by 45 deg .

It took a while,(about a month),  but it didnt hold me up as I was working on the other engine.

Ian

[boatmadman]

When I started on this project, I was working with the hope of 50% success rate, hence two engines. The intent was to make the mistakes on No.1 and end up with one good one plus some spare parts.

Well, today I spent fiddling with No.2 engine, and it also runs! In fact I think it runs a little better than No. 1

I havent posted any pics/video as they are identical. When I get them running together I will post a vid.

Ian

[boatmadman]

Here we have both engines completed, assembled, run in on air but awaiting strip/clean before steam run.

[Bernd]

Very well done. Now you need to build two boilers and two boats to put them in. 

Bernd

[dsquire]

Ian

Great job on those engines Ian. They will certainly enhance any boat that you decide to put them in. I am sure a great many of us will be watching for updates on the engines and the boilers. 

Cheers 

Don