Author Topic: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine  (Read 54898 times)

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #50 on: September 13, 2011, 07:57:20 PM »
Hi Jason,

Yes, sorry about that, I couldn't resist it after all the crap about Myford compatible... :lol:

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #51 on: September 23, 2011, 12:34:06 PM »
Hi Andy, just wanted to let you know I'm still watching and enjoying your build.  Good to see the inovative mind at work, and not everything just falling into place.  It's important to know the dimensions of all sorts of things like beer cans, stove pipe, and other things which will fill extra space unintended.  Remember too, spring steel shim stock is always another choice when such issues spring up.  Very nice looking, hope to see some linkages hooked up and looking more like an engine. :jaw: :beer:  Cheers, mad jack

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #52 on: September 23, 2011, 04:58:37 PM »
Thank you Mad Jack,

All encouragement gratefully received! :nrocks:

I am at the fiddly bits stage which takes forever to complete. :bang:

Got the piston sized perfectly to the cylinder liner :clap:; got the power piston centre turned, I have got to make and solder on the conrod brackets. :scratch:

Turned the flywheel...



 :doh: Spins lovely on the lathe but there is a slight wobble on the crankshaft :bang:

Made the crank and spent hours polishing the marks out of it. Drilled the walking beam.
Yes, I know... :worthless: but do you REALLY want to see pictures of me rubbing with emery paper/turning straight shafts/scratching my head wondering how I am going to whatever bit is next/scratching my head wondering what thread to tap drill for/scratching my head because all the scratching has taken my hair off... :lol: :lol: :lol:


But to appease you all...


I am not fitting the cylinder liner until the cylinder machining is done because I want all the swarf out before
it gets stuck in a water line somewhere. Will have to put it in though to fix the walking arm.

I am sorry this is taking so long :(

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline Joules

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #53 on: September 23, 2011, 05:32:20 PM »
Cor, you been scratching that too as theres no hair on it either.

Nice job though.
Honour your mentors, and pay it forward.

Offline saw

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #54 on: September 23, 2011, 06:16:11 PM »
This engine of you're seams coming along very well, good work  :thumbup: :clap: :clap:
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Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #55 on: September 27, 2011, 04:33:23 PM »
Hi all,

I am most terribly sorry, progress has been held up for the moment. :(

I have 'inherited', via my next door neighbours, a complete workshop :bugeye:

I have had to completely rearrange my workshop, which was full anyway, to get everything in.

So now I have two workshops of equipment in one :lol:
(I have actually ended up with more space!!! :clap:)

Just got to make places for all the tooling to go. I have had to take out the old 1914 Drummond :(...to make way for a Super 7 :lol: :lol:

The old Bradson drill has been relegated to the garage to make way for a monster 12 speed!

Got to clean them all up first as water had been getting in where they were but the damage is negligable though it all looked worse at first sight :ddb:
It was all going to be skipped!!!!!!!!  :bugeye:

Of course, I am not gloating or anything...Miranda says she is sick of hearing about it!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline andyf

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #56 on: September 27, 2011, 05:18:13 PM »
How irksome, to be held up by something so trivial  :lol:

You will have to alter the caption under your avatar, now.

We need a Green with Envy emoticon.

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

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #57 on: September 28, 2011, 03:34:32 AM »
Oh, Andy!!  :bugeye:

What a terrible thing to happen!   

Sincerely hope you can sort out your present predicament, without too much trouble.......  :D :lol: :lol:

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

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

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #58 on: September 28, 2011, 12:33:57 PM »
Well, Still, if you're going to use some cheesy excuse like that, the least you could do is put up some pics of the new pieces gained, and the shop as it now is better filled, and more useful :med:  are we all supposed to drual till you put up some photos? :drool: :loco: :poke: :bang:  Cheers, mad jack

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #59 on: October 02, 2011, 05:15:12 AM »
Well,

Here goes. What happened is that my next door neighbour's uncle was an engineer, dealing with abrasives...there are no end of grinding wheels. He lost interest in his own stuff when his wife died. Later he got Alzheimers or something similar. The garage with a flat roof started to leak years ago and was not repaired, leading to more and more damage and rot. Evidently he used to hang buckets under the leaks  :bugeye:

All the workshop was promised to my neighbour years ago. The old boy has now had to go into a home and the house being sold off as is to pay for it. My neighbour is not interested now so gave everything to me for a very nominal sum. Everything would have been skipped! If the house had not been sold by the time the bad weather starts again then nothing would have been salvageable; I got there just in time!

It is lovely to get all this stuff, but I am mindful of the circumstances by which it came to me, as well as the circumstances that have led to the damge and think to myself that it could be me in a few years. I am planning now where it goes when I croak or clap out. I too, have a nephew... :lol:

Anyway, enough of the maudlin....

 :drool: on...

The lathe:



The tray behind is full of chucks, angle plate and other stuff soaking in kerosene as part of the rescue mission.
The box under the bench is full of ferrous metals of various kinds. There were also 2 lumps of brass round nearly a foot long and a bronze (I think) bar 3" x 3/8" and about 3 feet long, and various bits of aluminium...

I spent yesterday trying to sort the boxes of stuff. I had to give up! :bang: There is just so much  :lol:
To be honest though, some is just scrap now because of water damage. There are boxes and boxes of drills and reamers, straight shank, 1MT and a few 2MT. I found a box of burrs and small grinding wheels, another of measuring equipment, a box full of bearings of different sizes, and one full of wood-butchering hinges!

It is a mixed bag but too much and too mixed to be able to sort and put away...which was my plan! :bang: :lol:



This only half of it! There is more on my new workbench; handy angle topped with a ply and steel sheet:



I stole a small table from SWMBO's shed (don't tell her!!!) that fits underneath as a slide out marking table:



This is the drill:



The brown on the column is actually the original protective grease...it is not that old!

As I said, big rescue mission! I have found that all the lathe bearings have been greased :bang:
So it is a full strip down and clean out. The apron handwheel bearing is badly worn so has to be replaced...no doubt because of using grease!

Now to tidy up so I can use the extra space I just made... :bang:

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #60 on: October 02, 2011, 05:36:18 AM »
Incidentally,

I have got to build another shed now :bang:

 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Life is just SO hard!!!! :lol:
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #61 on: October 03, 2011, 09:49:37 AM »
Well Andy, you might not be speeding along on the engine, but the day will come when you're glad you got one particular piece you need right now, and from that day onward, you will find yourself digging through the new boxes, and finding the odd tool you didn't use to have.  That shed you just moved is an awfully fine looking one, now if you just put together another to match, you ought to be able to fit all the tools and equipment easily, and then get back to work :lol:  Twenty years ago, I had to dig to find a place for the smallest new item coming into my shop, today, I just have to shove some old oddments out of the way and make room, but I don't seem to find near as much time to use it.  At least it was fine old equipment, and some of it was greased well.  I hope to see some pictures of engine parts coming along again soon, looking forward to watching that engine run. :jaw: :hammer:  Cheers, mad jack

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #62 on: October 07, 2011, 04:13:34 PM »
Hi Mad Jack,

Thanks...the shed will probably be a lean-to type backed onto hers, probably no more than 6' x 12', to put the 1914 longbed B in for woodbutchering. Can't bear to part with it though I have the 1947 longbed M to go in its place :doh:

I have to ask; is your picture of a Pan or Generator Shovel? Is it a model or full-size?

Got a 1976 SuperGlide myself. Owned it for 22 years! Don't get the time to ride much now :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline doubleboost

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #63 on: October 07, 2011, 05:10:12 PM »
Hi
Andy
That engine is looking great :thumbup: :thumbup:
I would think the old boy would be happy that his machinery is being rescued :dremel: :dremel:
It makes me wonder what will happen to my gear when i am not around (BE A LONG TIME YET THOUGH) :) :)
John

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #64 on: October 08, 2011, 09:31:39 AM »
Thanks John.

That is what my neighbour says which is why I got it.

Hopefully I have got about 30 years of use left in me too but it shows that it pays to plan ahead... :lol:

My nephew is in for a large inheritance at this rate :lol: :lol:

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline BK

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #65 on: October 09, 2011, 04:02:17 AM »
Nice windfall Andy :jaw:. that gear will come in handy for years.  :thumbup:
If it aint broke, don't fix it!

Offline madjackghengis

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #66 on: October 09, 2011, 11:40:35 AM »
Hi Mad Jack,

Thanks...the shed will probably be a lean-to type backed onto hers, probably no more than 6' x 12', to put the 1914 longbed B in for woodbutchering. Can't bear to part with it though I have the 1947 longbed M to go in its place :doh:

I have to ask; is your picture of a Pan or Generator Shovel? Is it a model or full-size?

Got a 1976 SuperGlide myself. Owned it for 22 years! Don't get the time to ride much now :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Andy
Hi Andy, that is a new engine, it is 103 cu. inches, it is a pan engine, but it has an alternator case also, and I have built a centrifugal advance for a magneto, which is chain driven through the generator hole, to fire the other pair of plugs, with an electronic (Mallory unilite) ignition distributor, as the primary ignition.  It was built about six years ago, but I got side tracked on the frame, and since then come across flywheels which have not been drilled reamed and tapered for a crank pin.  I don't like the five in stroke I had, and since that was all I had at the time of its building, I went ahead and used them, but they make for excessive piston speed, and a short, usually explosive, engine life.  With the "blank" flywheels" I now have it is my intention to tear it down and put in 4 and five eighths stroke flywheels, which would use the same pistons and cylinders, but reduce piston speed down so engine life would be close to stock, and it would have a 98 cu. in displacement.  I currently have a 96 custom built bike which is a shovelhead of 90 inches, with a custom build chrome moly frame, with everything having been built and or designed by myself.  I have half a dozen engines desired to be built or rebuilt before I can honestly get back to working on my own, so it sits there waiting for me.  I once had a 74 Sportster, back in 76, and then a 74 police special, in 77, and then got a family and let the bikes go for a decade or two.
   I now have it all, a shop fifty yards from the house, medically retired from the Marines, the two kids grown up and on their own, a wife who loves her yard, and working it her way, and no time to ride, because it takes so much time to make all these fiddly little parts.  I don't think I put two hundred miles on my bike this year and I used to put 12 to 15 thousand every year, just riding to work.  I'm hoping to see a trans-atlantic bridge built before I die, so I can ride over and visit some of my newfound friends from madmodder. :lol: :beer:  Cheers, mad jack

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #67 on: October 13, 2011, 02:43:58 PM »
Thanks Jack, you would be most welcome!

Several mates have built large engines. It would seem that 99 is the magic number. As you say, the faster piston speed makes for excessive wear, not to mention the problems with starting! Decompression valves are ok but tie that in with an S&S carb that needs setting up and you have a recipe for losing weight faster than any of the advertised scams when kicking it over.

The electric leg (don't believe in them...spawn of the devil!) also gets a bit temperamental (emphasis on the 'mental') at trying to turn over such a big lump.

I had an '82 Ironhead that was completely original...even to the emissions laws exhaust. No kicker...even look at the throttle and it would flood...you could wind that battery completely flat, it would not start!!! :bang: :bang: :bang:
Not good when friends wanted to sit on it...why do they always piss about with the throttle????? :wack: :wack:

Got a '42 45 motor mated to a '60 BSA A10 gearbox that needs finishing (been doing that for many many years!!!)

Oops, this thread seems to be going really  :offtopic:

Better get on and do something constructive this weekend!!!

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #68 on: October 23, 2011, 04:19:22 PM »
Hi all,

Finished rebuilding the shed and the Super 7. Like the Longbed M, it has not done much work but it had been sorely neglected. Rebushed the apron, cleaned up the bed and saddle from the rust which had not done too much damage, cleaned the grease which had been spread all over everything covered up or hidden away...and been used for lubrication :bang: (that is why I had to rebush the apron!)

So...finally finished the power piston centre...

I didn't follow the plan as it said to make two bosses and silver solder them on the sides...recipe for disaster I thought, better drill right through and slug the cross piece in one.

Levelling up for drilling;



Then went round to my mate. I have not soldered or brazed before so thought I had better get professional assistance to show me how it is done. Fairly straightforward; I can do it on my own after this...no worries  :lol: :lol:

Drilled most of the way through over size to leave a short bearing at the top, then turned up a brass plug and inserted for a short bearing at the bottom:





It's funny, after all this time doing all the other stuff, I had forgotten where I had got to and had to look on this log to see  :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I am after a hand shaper and was reading through L C Mason's book on building the Minnie and there is an idea for using a topslide as a keyway cutter. Funnily enough, in my boxes of bits...



 :proj:

Just making a T bolt to act as a hinge point. Trying to figure out how to position the slide pivot...on top like the toolpost or mounted on the back as Mason says. Think it will be like the toolpost.

Roll on next weekend

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline John Hill

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #69 on: October 23, 2011, 04:41:22 PM »
Great project Andy! :thumbup:

I really like how you got so much done on the Drummond which I assume is not much, if any, bigger than my 1908 flat bed.

From the den of The Artful Bodger

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #70 on: October 25, 2011, 02:51:58 PM »
Hi John,

Many thanks for the kind words.

All the Drummond flatbeds are 3.5 ins so mine is the same size as yours...ooer missus! :)

It is half the fun figuring out how to make stuff fit; I look at pictures of milling machine set ups and think that it makes life so easy...but would I appreciate the hobby as much? It would seem a bit like work. Of course, the other thing is cost, not just the machine itself but all the tooling required.

I have got myself set up really nicely to be able to tackle almost any job within my scope. I had to bore a 5in diameter, 1 foot long gearbox sleeve for work and the little M walked it...after I had made an indexible boring bar from a length of key steel and an odd insert...then mounted it the right way up! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have to say that the B/M type bed is as stiff as anything and the M headstock bearings are fabulous! I can cut 1/4 inch of cast iron in back gear! The B headstocks struggle to not chatter at that.

There is something about the Drummonds which gets me every time. The Super 7 is quite fiddly to use as I am used to, it wants to automate every movement and I don't trust it not to go too far. The lack of leadscrew clutch means that you have to turn all the changewheels as well to use the leadscrew handwheel which is hard work when I have got the fine feed all set up nicely. :doh:

Horses for courses, use the machine for the job...but hooray for Drummonds!!!! :D :D :D

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline AndyB

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #71 on: November 12, 2011, 06:06:00 PM »
Work has been postponed!

There is something wrong with my shoulders and right arm. My right thumb is numb and won't bend at the top joint. :( :( It is like I have permanent cramp in both forearms that then seize up.

Thought it was a trapped nerve. Went to an Osteopath but after cracking me up (literally) she says I have to go back to the quack.  :scratch: :scratch: :scratch:

Could be something to do with the medication I am on for high blood pressure.

Tried to get on with the piston centre but a muscle spasm on a vital cut buggered it a bit so I daren't risk doing worse! :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

A very unhappy bunny! :( :( :( :(

Andy
Waveney Valley, Suffolk/Norfolk Border

Offline doubleboost

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #72 on: November 12, 2011, 06:31:20 PM »
Hi
Andy
Hope they get you sorted
Regards
John

Offline sbwhart

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #73 on: November 13, 2011, 02:16:45 AM »
Andy

Hope things get better for you

Stew
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Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Rider Ericsson Hot Air Engine
« Reply #74 on: November 13, 2011, 03:39:27 AM »
Ohh, Andy!

So sorry to hear of your flexibility/ dexterity troubles.....

Hope you can be quickly, and easily, sorted.  :thumbup:

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

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