Member postings for Neil Bottle

So thankfully I have now finished my first ever IC engine which is the V Twin Hoglet. Fuel tanks on, base hides the electronics and she does eventually start with the Kickstarter!

My one question is, does anyone else get a slight bit of fuel/oil seep past the O rings to cover the flywheel? Every time mine runs it sprays black stuff and I have to clean the flywheel and surrounding areas. I’m just wondering if this is normal or if my O rings aren’t a tight enough fit

As some of you may have seen i've been having trouble cutting a camshaft for my V-Twin Hoglet using the offset method, however with the aid of CamCalc I have found it a bit easier making it how Feeney describes

For those of you who don't know what CamCalc is, all the information is stored here: http://www.modelenginenews.org/design/CamTable.html

It gives a description of each field and what they do and all credit goes to the owner of the programme, i'm simply explaining how best to use it as it doesn't work on web browsers due to it relying on javascript. (many web browsers do not run java).

First you will need to download Java for your machine, don't worry it's nothing sinister or even that big but it's required to run CamCalc. Here is a link: https://java.com/en/download/

Once you have java you can download CamCalc from my shared folders on google (Save it to Documents folder): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ihqst-pbCkQWXgBU96VoMuFLwArkEMek/view?usp=sharing

Open Command prompt or type in CMD into the search toolbar and it will find it for you

First you have to change your folder destination to where CamCalc is downloaded, so for me it was in Documents. Type in (without the colons) 'cd documents'.

Then to run the programme type in the following (I'm using the hoglet cam profile as an example) 'java CamCalc'

Here you can see what order the details need to be entered. Take note that the engine rpm doesn't have any effect on the profile of the camshaft but it won't run unless you enter a figure so just put a guess if you don't know. So for me i had to type in 'java CamCalc 130 .065 .4 .168 500'

Then it will display a table of results

If you wish to export the results into a text file then you will need to type in 'java CamCalc 130 .065 .4 .165 500 >CamShaftTable.txt'

I hope that makes sense! If not please let me know and i'll try to be a bit clearer. I hope you find it useful

Edited By Neil Bottle on 29/01/2018 19:52:10

Edited By Neil Bottle on 29/01/2018 19:53:04

Edited By Neil Bottle on 29/01/2018 19:53:54

Edited By Neil Bottle on 29/01/2018 19:54:15

So I managed to get camcalc to work and I’ve remade the camshaft. Tried to get it running and it’s definitely firing on one cylinder as it gets quite warm after a while but the other doesn’t get as hot so I’m not sure what else could be wrong.

One of the lobes is about 2.3 degrees out, is that really enough to make it not run? I don’t have any experience with IC engines so not sure how accurate it needs to be.

Edited By Neil Bottle on 29/01/2018 18:05:11

I've been reading up on making the camshaft again, as it's not something I find easy. Originally we did it with an offset cutter holding the workpiece vertically, which produced nice enough cams but obviously somehow got the degree angles wrong.......still remains a mystery so instead i'm looking at doing it horizontally which I think would be a far better option give the equipment I have.

The only downside is you need to use camcalc which doesn't work on any of my web browsers, currently on windows 10 and it won't allow me to install an older version of the web browser. Does anyone have an updated version of this program? Otherwise i'll be tempted to use keyways and position them that way.

Kevin,

I've forwarded your query onto my dad and he said he purchased the Tich drawings back in the late 70's from Kennions and scratch built the boiler from those drawings. He doesn't remember there being any serious issues .

If you're still having problems maybe you could provide more information on what issues you're having

Wow, many thanks for all the information! Certainly learning a lot.

I do believe however I have found the culprit. My dad took the camshaft to work to measure the degrees on the cam lobes and some how 2 of them are out by 10 degrees I have no idea how that has happened as it was cut on a rotary table on the milling machine. So I’m pretty positive this has thrown the timing out massively and is causing all the hassle. I will be making a new one over the next few days and I shall report with the results.

Hi Kevin,

My dad built a 5” Tich about 25-30 years ago and its recently been recommissioned and had it running at our local track. It is a little different than the standard one as it has a full cab which I think finishes it off beautifully. If I remember I shall ask him tomorrow where he had his information from. You can always drop me a private message to remind me!

Thought an introduction would be a good idea!

I’d say I’m fairly new to model making, I learnt a lot of turning and milling methods during my apprenticeship and have since progressed into my dads workshop model making at home.

A few years back I built the BAS Stirling engine as designed by Jan Ridders and was very pleased when I eventually got it working! They’re by no means an easy thing given the low amount of power. I then started looking at other projects and was quite taken by the V8 engines however given my limited experience I thought building a V Twin would be a nice stepping stone. I’m currently in the ‘trial and error’ period of attempting to get it running. Frustrating but hopefully will be worth it when it’s done!

I already have the next project lined up which I will start a thread for when the time comes but between me and my father we’ll be building two 5” Lion locomotives, although he may adapt his and make the Tiger, which is the sister locomotive to the Lion, so that should be interesting!

Thanks for the replies

Yes I had been setting it so that it would be fully open.

When people say on the front cyclinder which one does that refer to? As I’d tried it on the left and the right hand one individually.

I’m hoping someone here can assist me before I go completely mad!

I have built the fairly well known V Twin hoglet, but I’m struggling to set up the timing after trawling google. Some people have said to set the piston at TDC, turn to 38 degrees and set the inlet valve to open, others have said to rotate 90 degrees and set the inlet valve to open.

I have tried all of these methods but I can’t seem to get it started, it will cough and splutter slightly but not to the point where it will run, I have also noted that you can feel air being pushed back out of the carb, which tells me something isn’t right! (It isn’t a great force but enough to be concerning) I’ve used a DTI to set TDC and a degree wheel on the crankshaft for accuracy.

I’m getting plenty of fuel as the plugs are wet and getting a decent spark, it sparks both plugs so it isn’t an issue of mixing up the wrong magnet on the hall sensor. Can anyone shed any light because it’s keeping me awake and distracting me at work.