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Twin Cylinder Steam Engine
sbwhart:
Yes thats the sort of thing.
I know what you mean about the chalenge of making a crank from solid, I've never tried to make one from solid but one day I just might give it a go.
Stew
bogstandard:
I'm here, eventually.
Darren, building your first engine is a state of mind. Some people start on say a loco, spend 10 or 15 years building it to perfection, then give up model engineering altogether. They started a major project, kept at it until the end, then just burnt themselves out. If they had taken time out, like Stew has done, to do a few more basic projects, then they would most probably still be making engines.
I am a firm believer at starting at the bottom, and work your way up. Doing it that way, your tooling costs remain smaller and you are not stretching yourself to the limits of your experience, you learn your techniques first, then start to climb the stairs.
I did a guide with step by step instructions, where a complete beginner could start off with the basic tooling plus a little turning and milling knowledge, and by gaining simple techniques along the way, end up with one of these, or one very similar, depending how far you want to go.
There is a member called Shred on HMEM who is doing the build at the moment.
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=4294.0
My composite method of building cranks starts here, on the post about building this engine.
http://www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2872.msg12371#msg12371
So YES, you can build a fairly complex engine to begin with, just like the one you are contemplating.
Forget about reamers and things at the moment, you can get yourself tied in knots and spend a lot of money and get nowhere very fast.
If you can bore to good tolerances, you shouldn't need reamers at this early stage.
Although it is against your wish, the first thing I personally think you should do is the most basic of oscillators (wobbler). That should only take a couple of days at most, but seeing it running, the first engine you ever made, will really give you the buzz to go deeper into it. By taking on a complicated build as the first one puts you into a bad frame of mind if you hit problems, or it doesn't run.
Maybe try #25 from the planset first. Fairly easy to make and looks good when finished.
http://www.john-tom.com/ElmersEngines/25_26_Wobbler&Boiler.pdf
Then progress onto the one you really want to do.
John
Darren:
Don't worry about me running out of puff John, I've got plenty of projects to pick up and put down. I also have patience, my bike took me four years to build. Not much was left original and that includes the engine internals. There wasn't a single nut left unturned.
I'd have carried on if some bugger hadn't swiped it.
But most of all, if it ain't a challenge, I ain't interested, just the way I am.
You should see my house, now that was/is a challenge....on going story..... :)
Lot's to read on your posts, getting through them slowly.
You get everywhere...!! I'm glad to say....:ddb: :ddb: :ddb:
Right, gotta go back and do some more reading of some very talented chaps engines over on Paddleducks
bogstandard:
Darren,
I do understand where you are coming from, and of course the choice is yours and yours alone. I can only make suggestions.
If you want the whole lot set up as a little book, I have it on disc, or if you want to download it, here are the links. It makes it much easier to read and understand. Even if you don't build it, the book is full of all sorts of hints and tips to do things if you don't have the 'correct' equipment.
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_01.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_02.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_03.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_04.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_05.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_06.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_07.pdf
http://www.rake60.com/photogallery/Piston_Valve_Engine_08.pdf
Rick (Rake 60) very kindly hosted it on his own site.
It only takes a few minutes to download if you are on broadband.
Save it from the PDF file to your computer. If printed out it makes up into a complete book of about 110 pages+
BTW, if building from Elmers plans, they are geared up for the US market, so you will most probably have to convert either to UK imperial (B.A) or metric.
John
Darren:
Thanks John,
I will download those and print them off for some bedtime reading :)
I already have a couple of reamers for the bores, nice and sharp too. I used them to ream the bronze bearings I made for the turntables.
About half inch, 31/64 if I remember rightly. One is still unused. Which just happens to be the size of the plans I linked earlier.
I'm umming and aring of course, but I will settle to a rhythm soon enough and get going.
Just an idea or two, I could use slate for the block and line it with some PB1 I have, or steel. It would be different, but would it be wrong? I dunno, can't make my mind up.
Could also use it for the base. It lathes, mills and drills ok.
I mean, it's not as if it's hard to find around here..... :) Cuts easily into blocks with diamond tooling.
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