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Twin Cylinder Steam Engine

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Darren:
I've been asked by PM what tools I use with my shaper. I thought an answer here may help a wider audience.... :ddb:

OK, I just like to talk a lot.... :lol:

In this case for the cast steel I used a tungsten tipped lathe tool. It worked just fine and cut very smoothly as you can see.

For other materials I also generally have used lathe tools. For the hardened shaft I made my quick change tool post dovetails I used a HSS with 8% cobolt ground to the shape that was required.

For softer materials such as steel, brass and allloy, I find ordinary HSS lathe tools quite satisfactory.

Hope this helps.... :D

kvom:
FWIW, I totaled up the number of tapped holes in my block (your number may vary):

Top caps - 10 (I used a pentagonal arrangement for bling.  Fewer will work)
Bottom glands - 8
Bottom plate - 6
Side mounts - 8

So 32 tapped holes plus 4 untapped plus 2 cylinders - lots of drilling and tapping (did I ever mention I hate tapping?) 

One of these days I'll need to total all of the screws that go into this thing.   ::)

Darren:
Wow.... :jaw:

Is it that many.....brass it is then..... :lol:

Thanks for the wake up call..... :thumbup:

bogstandard:
Gents,

When I made it, it was either use lots of fixings or more complicated machining and joining techniques.

The screws won.

Lots of little easy bits screwed together to make one complicated bit. The crankshaft being a good example.

The cylinder assembly is in fact no more bolt ridden than any other model steam engine plans out there that use this type of valve gear, except for the top plate. The upright supports are usually machined into the cylinder assembly rather than using a plate to support the cylinders. All done to keep costs and machining down.


Bogs

Darren:
I had a good look at those sash weights tonight with a vision of using one for the cylinder block.



Alas most of them are cast steel, I think one or two may be cast iron but they are too small..... :doh:

I had a go at milling one of the steel ones and it machines fine, but it's the small drilling and trappings that give me concern.
So back to brass then, should be a lot safer. I'll save the sash weights for another project sometime.

I wonder why virtually all the sash weight I find are made of steel....?

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