The Workshop Progress Thread 2020

MAP ( note the one P ) is readily available. It is mostly propylene and is sold as a substitute for MAPP since it burns a bit hotter than propane but does not have the other desirable properties. Acetylene is probably the stuff to use for these atmospheric engines. Calcium carbide seems to be available so making a simple generator shouldn't be beyond the wit of an engineer.

Rod

Screwfix sell this which looks like Mapp gas, complete withy the double 'p', but whether it is the same as the old version of Mapp gas I have no idea. May be worth investigating.

Martin

But the Screwfix one is listed as MAP/Pro one of several like Rod says that are mostly propylene. The MAPP name is still used on some products but they are not the original gas, bit like lots of other products that have had the contents changed over the years It is not the temperature of the gas that matters on these engines but the way it ignites and burns which is the closest to old town gas that they would have run off.

I read yesterday that the production of the original MAPP gas ceased in 2008.

Done a bit more on the frames of my beam engine, looks like a model is emerging...

George.

Reassembled my mini mill with taper roller bearings top and bottom, all looking good so far. Now need to go through adjusting gibs etc and then make swarf and see if I have improvements or not.

Next stage will be power traverse.

Roger

Hi George,

Did you cut/machine those frames yourself or are they laser cut.

If the former, well done, great job.

If the latter.........

Nice work George, keep the photos coming

Geoff

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Duly investigated, Martin ... **LINK**

https://ulmysds.com/Handlers/PdfTransformer.ashx?p0=315&p1=10009&p2=1&p3=0&p4=1&p5=0&p6=-1&p7=null

... Check the ‘Product code’ entry

”Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”

MichaelG.

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Explanation on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAPP_gas

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/01/2020 20:30:56

Originally I got some 3mm stainless frames laser cut by a friend who retired from a co. & still has links within it, which were spot on but the drawing asked for 6mm plate/brass/ aluminium so that the tapped bearing locations could be marked off the centre line, 3mm was too thin. He said the laser machine would blast the thin ribs when the machine power was adjusted to cut 6mm, & he couldn't get hold of any 6 mm steel; so he told me ?.

I ended up buying some 6mm aluminium plate & started from scratch, remarking out the profile & set to drilling radii in the corners, chain drilling the outer profile out followed up with flat filing, then piercing saw the inner shapes out to suit, finally using small ( 4" ) smooth files to remove excess followed up with flat, round & 1/ 2 round needle files to draw file & finish off, so yes all done by myself. I've already done a few more of the fiddley bits, plus crankshaft...

My next step is to do the beam; I was looking at using a casting from Stuarts models but after e mailing them for info' their castings are too big so I will have to mill out from solid, the drawing call for MS plate but am tempted to use 6mm aluminium plate left over from frames, easier to machine out

Machining the CI flywheel...

George.

By 'eck George, that must have been a fair old bucket of swarf, good looking frames though. Nice finish on the crankshaft too. Keep it up.

Jim

I said in a previous post in the 2019 thread that I foresaw a marathon gear-cutting session looming. It did! Spread over a number of days and those days spread over a couple of weeks to preserve both my sanity and what remains of my hearing, I've at last finished the machining of the entire gearset for my 5-speed gearbox. Here they all are, laid out from left to right, 5th to reverse.

Boy, am I glad that bit's over!

I'm going to use 10mm thick perspex sheet as casing "faces" which in turn will be fixed to a base plate made from an off-cut of solid oak kitchen worktop. That should be interesting in itself, as I've given away all my woodworking tools.

More photos to come, as work progresses.

John

Gears look good John

I have machined a few more bits for the 4-stroke conversion of the RMC engine. rocker arm to operate the exhaust valve and a post to mount it on that is fixed to the head. I will bond this on with JBWeld and also fill the CSK screw holes and add some fillets to the internal corners so that the post looks like it was cast as one with the head. Both done on the KX3 and needing two setups each so that both sides could be machined.

And made a start on the epicyclic gearbox by cutting the eccentric on the CNC which did the profile with ease and also made light work of the doglegged end that lofts from a rectangle at the eccentric to a circle where the rod enters with just a light touch of a needle file required to blend the remaining too step overs. That is a 10-20-40 block not a 1-2-3 one!

Some more progress on the Muncaster double acting oscillator engine.

All of a sudden I now seem to have the major parts completed so I did a trial assembly

After that it looked as if it would run so I hooked up some air and lo and behold it did.

I’m pleased with the way it ran considering the cylinder bottom cover is held with just 2 fasteners, there is no piston ring or piston rod gland seal and the port face has not been bedded to the cylinder.

Plenty still to do. It needs a dummy output pully, some cylinder cladding, a wooden base, some decent pipework and of course a splash of paint.

Jim

Edited By Jim Nic on 28/01/2020 21:30:27

Edited By Jim Nic on 28/01/2020 21:32:12

Looking nice Jim; running nicely with more of a 'sigh' than a tick, tick, even without the gland seal & port face bedded in.

George.

That is lovely. Great to see it running.

Made these what I presume are called T bolts, from some redundant 8mm coach bolts. Turned down the threaded 8mm part to 6mm and cut a new thread. Then milled flats on the sides of the bolt heads so they would fit in the T slots of the table I will be using on a tool and cutter grinder I am rebuilding.

Well done, looking good, some nice personal touches, domed nuts, studs and nuts, two piece bearing housings and brass oilers.

What sort of compressor are you using? I use an airbrush compressor and I found it lacks the volume to run this engine at high speed for an extended period. It will run it all day just ticking over but high speed only in short bursts.

Keep the photos coming Jim enjoying it.

Have a look in your mailbox I'm sending you a P.M.

Geoff

George, Stevie and Geoff

Thanks for the kind words, after that I'm tempted to leave it as is.

My compressor is a Bambi, not the silent type as the ones I saw at the time I needed one did not have a very big free air delivery rate. It is quite compact though and has a decent size receiver so once it's up to pressure it will run this engine at a slow speed for ages before it kicks in again.

Jim

A couple more pieces made for my beam engine ; eccentric rod & yoke, main con rod & yoke ...

Conrod yoke held in Stevenson block for easier machining.

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 01/02/2020 16:43:35

Been steadily working away in the shed since 09:00 making a 'tray' to sit the beaver milling machine in. The shed floor isn't as even as it should have been (my fault), so self levelling casters/feet are an alternative to wedging/grouting machines into place. I finally gave up at about 20:00 when I realised that my welds were getting worse with practice...