Philip Duclos "Victorian" IC engine project

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cedge:
Mike...
I took on a project I called the Water Pressure Engine, back year before last. I, like you felt a bit less than in control of the machines. Add to that the fact that the project had no drawings and was to be built from inside my head, you can imagine I was feeling like I was in over my head.

Bogstandard reminded me that all I needed to do was make one part. When it was right, make another. Once I stopped trying to build the whole engine and began making that open part, things got much easier. It let me relax and something amazing began to happen. I passed some unmarked point in my journey where I began to feel like I was in control of the machines and could make them do what I wanted, with a little thought before taking action. As I worked, that feeling became stronger as my confidence grew.

The point of all that is to say, this. Somewhere along the line, you'll crest a point where it all begins to click and make sense. It's an almost Zen like feeling and you'll know it when you experience it. From there, not much will stop you from achieving whatever you want o do. My own moment came when I managed to make a particularly difficult cut to the rocker saddle of the water engine. It had to be spot on or the engine would be a failure. I took time to "mentally machine" the piece several times (including while sound asleep) and then I carefully attacked the metal. The piece turned out perfectly and my learning curve suddenly passed an important "peak".

It'll come. Just keep at it until it also clicks with you. I build to please my eye, not to set any standards for others. Find your own "eye pleasing" level and work to meet it. The additional bling I bring to my projects is there to satisfy an itch I got from seeing German craftsmen turning out incredible jewels..... after years of apprenticeships. I set that level of work as my own personal goal.... one that I might never achieve, but you can bet I'll be trying....(grin)

Steve

John Hill:
Steve, I understand the water engines were suprisingly uncommon but I did recently see a building which contains the minimal remains of at least one and possibly three more.

They were used in a warehouse in Oamaru, New Zealand, for lifting grain sacks to upper floors. Unfortunately the engines were discarded some decades ago and replaced with electric motors the only relics remaining are the curved base blocks and the bearings that support a lay shaft for the electric motors.

MikeA:
Steve,

Thanks for the support and especially the concept of doing 'one piece' - I have a tendency to multi-task and end up bouncing all over the place. Indeed, I was looking at the plans for an engine as an entity, not a collection of individual parts to be made one piece at a time.

I'm slowly getting up to speed on what (and what not!) my machines can do - right now they're capabilities are way ahead of my abilities, but each time I do something I'm learning a bit more.

If I eventually build anything that remotely approaches what you've done, I'll be more than happy.

Best,
Mike

Darren:
Hi Mike,

I got my first mill about 2yrs ago, in reality I've not made anything awesome on it, just bits and bobs really. Looking back I remember the awful finishes and ruined cutters. Some snapped, erm, quite a few snapped :clap:

Now I can chuck a lump of steel in the mill and murder it without damaging a cutter .... next stop ... precision ... but I'd like a DRO first.

The last two years I have spent mainly collecting old affordable tools for the workshop and re-working them to fix what needs fixing. Made a bit of tooling on the way. But I can now at least make or mod something with relative success and that is very satisfying, to me at least.

I'm hankering after another big project, either another car build (I built a Lotus 7 from scratch) or another GSXR1100 strip tune and re-build. I've done it before with hardly any tooling compared to what I have now.

Now I have the tools and even better some good ones for what I'd like to do ...

Have a look here, it's doesn't really explain the extent I went to with these vehicles, or others missing from those pages, but I think that's where my passion lays as I'm hankering to have another go .... :dremel:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/darren.dean/

What I'm trying to say is, go slowly and it will all fall into place in time ... :thumbup:

MikeA:
Hello Darren,

Thanks so much for your words of encouragement and sharing your experience.

To the newbies such as myself on this forum, the quality of work posted is at such a high level, it's intimidating! I'm in that mode you describe of murdering chunks of metal and damaging the equipment. Thankfully, it's becoming less and less, but I still have a problem making a piece that exactly meets the spec, or for that matter, comes close to the spec. :doh:

I've done much the same as you over the last two years, i.e. getting together affordable equipment and refurbishing to useful condition. Made a bit of tooling, (not much but it's still working :bugeye:) and now looking for my first real project - a small engine of one kind or another. I'm getting a bit of static from SWMBO about 'what are you going to do with all this stuff!

One thing is massively evident - this forum is probably the most receptive, supportive and congenial one I've found and I expect if one asks for help it will be forthcoming - good to have such an effective parachute in the event of the inevitable mistakes.

Again, thanks for your words of encouragement.

All the best,
Mike

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