The Workshop Progress thread 2018

Thanks Ian. I just used a small dropper bottle to put a drop or two in the main bearing cups and onto the exposed piston rather than fill the drip lubricator. I was running it dry, the base is usually filled with water for cooling so kept runs down to about 2mins before allowing to cool.

Geoff; super little oscillator, looks nicely balanced too, not trying to vibrate off the table.

​Jason B; superb job, lovely running & a lovely paint job. Well done both of you,

George.

Another sumptuous example of craftsmanship Jason, well done

Like many others I envy not just your talent but the efficiency with which you turn out these lovely models.

Geoff

Just out of curiosity Jason, about how many hours a week do you spend int the shed?

About half of 'em and the other half is spent responding to queries on most of the modelling forums. (For which I for one have cause to be grateful.)

Jim

In the winter I can usually manage a couple of evenings of about 2.5hrs each and a couple of half days at the weekend so maybe 15hrs total a week. Less in the summer once the grass and my Bonsai start growing.

I did notice in the latest ME that there was a 4" Burrell built in 5 months (get your finger out Andrew! )

With the workshop back down to a more comfortable temperature I was able to make the fitted pins that the Robinson linkages pivot on, quite happy with the way it turns over so far.

I then did some of the furnace base, I'm going for the look of the coal fired version which will also have a small chimney rather than the more often modeled three legged base,

Short vid of the motion.

Have started on my 'Boxer Oscillator, marked off the frame, roughly cut out & drilled for crank & ports...





​Looks rough I know but we all start at this point don't we...



George.

Looks great George, particularly like the paint job. (You have at least made a start)

Jim

Slapped some rather stale Hammerite on the milling machine riser that I've just finished welding up. Ugly welds, ugly paint, built like the proverbial out-house.

The lugs on the side will be for brackets to hold the milling vices, rotary table and its chuck when not in use. Next thing is to do the machining on it.

Edited By Mark Rand on 14/08/2018 21:17:17

Continued on with the Boxer oscillator...





​The cleaned up finish has been done on my linisher but I don't seem to be able to get finer grade belts so it will have to be flatted out on glass plate & wet & dry emery, elbow grease, with final polishing done with buffing wheels.

George.

​Edited to reduce pic.size.

Edited By mechman48 on 15/08/2018 09:32:11

Some progress on the Overcrank engine.

The cylinder assembly looked the most challenging so that's where I started.

The cylinder block centre section:

The centre section with the cylinders. The bores have been left undersize until after silver soldering:

Set up for silver soldering. For some reason although I know the theory and have some good gear (a Seivert torch), I do not have the knack of making good quick clean joints.

And here is the soldered cylinder block after pickling:

It still needs fettling and cleaning up but I reckon it'll do.

Next is to finish the bores to correct size and drill the steam passages.

Jim

Is it worth looking for some insulating fire bricks instead of the solid ones? They tend to heat up far more rapidly.

Those look like skamolex blocks and sheet to me, very good insulator and tends to throw the heat back at the work.

My little hearth is purpose made and bought from CuP Alloys so I don't think that is the problem. Although for the large chunks of brass shown here something a bit bigger to hold more heat in the job may have helped. The bricks are just used to hold the insulators in place.

Jim

Sorry, I had thought they were the high density fire bricks used in the back of fireplaces. Didn't notice the shiny spots on the surface until I expanded the picture.

Edited By Mark Rand on 15/08/2018 18:38:56

Silver soldering looks good to me.

Brian

Nice soldering job Jim. As an aside but in same context; are you using Propane from small cylinder & how do you store it , inside or outside?. Asking as insurance companies are very reticent to cover for storage of flammable items in garages attached to properties here. What do other members do for storage for MAPP cans / rattle spray cans ? I have most of mine stored in outside separate shed or locked in my steel ( sheet metal ) tool trolley / steel ( ditto ) wall cupboard... Clarkes... usual disclaimer applies.

​George.

Not wanting to let Andrew down I have made a bit of swarf out of the newly acquired IF Allman castings just to see what they were like under the skin and to see what the finished sizes would end up as so that I could make a start on the drawings.

I'm Drawing it up in Alibre but using the Render function in F360 as I can't justify paying the extra for Keyshot that Alibre uses.

Jason,

Do you have your collection of stationary engines on display around your home, the ones I have seen look to be lovely pieces of engineering which deserve to be on show.

Ron