Hick & Son Crank Overhead Engine

I am now back from Ally Pally with a considerably depleted bank balance. However I did find some really tiny needle files which are less than 1 mm thick and some piercing saw blades. I don't think they are particularly good quality but they might just do the job. Also got some 3/64 silver steel rod so I can also try the D-bit approach.

If I have no success on a trial piece then the search for 1mm screw end slot mills will have to continue.

Success. I have just made a perfect trial slot in about 15 mins.

I adopted Jo's approach. I chain drilled a series of 3/64'' holes and then joined them using a piercing saw. I then swapped the blade for a larger size, more like a fretsaw and opened the slot until I could just fit one of the tiny files I bought at Ally Pally. Five minutes careful filing and I had a perfectly rectangular slot.

No setting up the mill with a tiny cutter and no stress as I waited for it to break.

Suddenly that con rod does not look half as intimidating.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Peter

Piercing saw! I can't get one of those blades to last more than a few strokes... just plain ham fisted.

Neil

Take it gently Neil, and us some candle wax to lubricate the blade, just let the blade cut at it's own rate, and don't push it. Blooming tedious if you have a long cut. Ian S C

When I use the piercing saw, it is 5 strokes (of course pulling) then candle wax, 5 stroke candle vax, 5 strike candle vax , well you got it right ....

Makes the blade last for very long, think i might be combination of cooling and lubricating the blade this way.

Mogens

Good suggestions, but I don't think I have ever got as far as five

Neil

Just like a fret saw in wood is the way to hold it, make a saw table with a V shaped cut out in the front of it, my one fits in the bench vice, don't push too hard, and don't twist off the vertical, I suppose it's a bit of an art/skill. Ian S C

Hello.

I have a set of drawings, plus castings, for the Hick & Son Crank Overhead Engine.

I haven't started work on it yet, as it looks a bit daunting and Hemingway don't have any construction notes for it.

Is there any chance of anyone on the forum having any notes on where to start? Or should I sell the stuff on, and find a more manageable project do you think?

I've built a Tubal Cain Polly, and a Sparey Diesel so far. I have a 5" Boxford AUD, and a cheap Warco milling machine. But I lack experience and expertise - just a humble primary school teacher for past 40 years or so, not an engineer!

Any guidance gratefully received.

Julian

It is quite a complex model, you may be better to put it under the bench (far better than selling on) and try something a bit less taxing such as one of the smaller Stuart range where there is plenty of info on the builds.

Chris who built the one pictured on Hemmingway's web site does occasionally visit MEM forum so you could ask there, he goes by the name of ModelSteam. This is another picture of it with him behind at this years Guildford show.

J

Thanks for that, Jason. I won't sell it on then. Perhaps I'll have a nibble at it and see how I get on!

The one pictured looks to be twice as big as mine. Mine has a 71/2" flywheel. Or is it just the perspective? My drawings and castings are by Woking Models, whom I believe were bought out by Hemingway?

Julian

Sounds about the same size, that is a standard mug just to the right of the engine so about 4" high which would tie in with your 7 1/2" flywheel. Its just teh camera angle.

Yes Hemingway took over teh range from Woking

Good suggestions, but I don't think I have ever got as far as five

Try changing hands Neil

Ha! The blades will snap before I even get to the metal if I pick up the saw in my left hand!

Neil

Re: Piercing saw blades.

It's not necessarily your clumsiness that's causing the problem gents! I bought some piercing saw blades two or three years ago (as one does). Marked out brass plate made my self comfy and broke blade. Fitted new blade, cut about 1mm, blade broke. Fitted new blade, took one light cut and inspected blade. The teeth had stripped off! Absolute rubbish! It's only because I've used good quality blades that I know this shouldn't happen.

Hi Peter,

I built one of these engines some years ago. To form the slots in the connecting rod, I cut slots in from the end with a slitting saw, then silver soldered pieces steel in to close the slots. I make them "T" shaped to locate them, and achieve an accurate width of slot, then machine the waste away after. When assembled the joints will be invisible. I have used this method on parts which do show; if the infill is a close fit, and the parts polished, the joint is barely detectable.

regards Maurice

Just a newbie's curiosity.... but couldn't you mount a dremel cut-off disc (or even the tool) and cut the majority of the slot with that, then file up the ends?

Maurice

Thanks for the suggestion. However I completed the task in January using the chain drilling, fretsaw, and mini-file technique. Nevertheless it is a an approach I will bear in mind for future projects.

Presumably you cut the slots before making the bearing housings on the end of the crankshaft and also before milling out the tuning fork?

I think I made the slots as the last step in the crankshaft fabrication.

After a long break during the summer, when the prospect of making the Watt regulator put me off, the model is nearing completion. Just a few minor parts to produce (including the regulator butterfly valve.

Peter