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| Philip Duclos "Victorian" IC engine project |
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| Bernd:
Ya, what they said above. WOW :jaw: :bugeye: :jaw: :bugeye: Now that takes guts. I have to give you a couple of :bow: :bow: for that one. I'm impressed. Bernd |
| cedge:
Thanks for hanging in here with me guys. The encouragement is keeping it all going and makes it fun to share the project. Darren.... if it can't be done manually... please don't tell me....LOL. It's all based the bumblebee theory... if I don't know I'm not supposed to be able to fly, I can ignore the fact that I can't. But I digress. I got a phone call, today, chiding me for the long silence on this thread....(grin). Worry not.... I've been steady at it, between taking care of family obligations and attending small local weekend tractor and engine shows, so without further delay....here goes. This installment begins with a slug of rather ugly cast iron which was turned oversized to allow me a bit of room for creativity. I'm steadily drifting away from the original Victorian design, more and more, as I add small touches of my own. The critical dimensions are still those Duclos prescribed, but the devil is in the details of the final product.... as you will soon see. That slug of iron is the genesis for the engine's cylinder head. The first attempt went well, right up to the moment I was counter drilling flat spots to seat the acorn nuts I'd chosen to use instead of socket head bolts. I'd already completed a lot of polishing and hand finish work when I was bitten on the arse by an old adage. Measure twice and cut once. Add in the mistake of seeing one end mill with my eyes and my hand grabbing the next larger one and things went pears shaped.... real fast. I managed to open an unwanted hole directly into the combustion chamber, ruining hours of work. This is why you'll possibly notice two versions of the head in the photos. The photo below shows the head from the bottom side where the combustion chamber and the valves can be seen. The valves are 5/16 inch in diameter and 1 1/32 inches long. The seat angle is 45° and only 1/16 inch in length. Yep.... we're working tiny here. The valves were successfully lapped and the cast iron cooperated, giving me a nice tight seal. Too bad, this head would sadly die only half an hour later...(grin). Here you see the cylinder head from the top, with the valves in place. You also get a first peek at the newly reshaped water jacket and cylinder. More on that change to he original version in a moment. Sometimes, serendipity or perhaps, even more rarely seen, synchronicity enter the picture. The tulip contour, along with the need for a little added metal in one section of the head lead to several interesting "obstacles". The use of a ball end mill along the corners of all vertical areas also added to the fun. The Tulip shape required a bit of an under cut to the bottom edge of the head. When everything combined, the end result was a series of odd looking edge lines around the head, once it was turned back to the final dimensions. None of this was predicted when the cutting began.... it just came to be as things progressed. The photo below shows the end results. I typically do a lot of hand filing to get the look I like, so my first thought was "no biggie... it can be filed away". As the filing began, some very nice clean flowing lines began to present themselves to my eye. They were pleasing in a natural sort of way so I began to try to figure out how to use them instead of removing them. I liked the results and they are now part of the design. No straight edges in my world...(grin) Once again, the obligatory test fit photo..... (grin). The valve springs and keepers are now in place, all the head ports are drilled or threaded and the acorn nuts are installed. The head will have a lot of brass attached to it as the carburetor, muffler, oiler and the cam roller assembly, so I toned the head down a bit after it was all polished. It received a gun blue treatment which was then lightened to a "Hematite" silver using a gentle 0000 steel wool rub. The lower neck was also given a bluing, but left darker to help highlight the tulip contour. As I mentioned early on, this engine is destined to become "my" engine, but will remain a tribute to the skills and generosity of Philp Duclos. I dunno.... but I think he just might approve... eh? Steve |
| Stilldrillin:
Steve........ I just don`t have the words to write.......... :bugeye: Sorry........ ::) David D |
| cedge:
This installment deals with a re-engineering project that I'd been mentally toying with ever since the engine build began. The original design called for a very simple governor that strapped two springs to the flyballs to force them to collapse at low RPM. Functional, but with its square shafts and those springs hanging out like sore thumbs, I decided I wanted something a bit more complex and visually mechanical. The redesign began with a pirated copy of Bogster's Crap-O-cad V.3.0 which I nabbed while he wasn't looking. This highly technical program gave me a chance to think the basics through while enjoying the fact that Bogster was out for one copy of his best...(grin). From this simple sketch, I launched off into the creative voids. The first thought was to use a simple pair of simple straps running from the ball rods back to the lower tensioner, but space was a wee bit tight in there between the rods and the crank shaft. The connectors were finally made at a 90° so that they could fold up neatly and still allow full travel of the flyballs. When expanded, the linkage almost appears to be a small eagle with its wings spread. The spring was hand wound, but it is a shot in the dark which will probably have to be adjusted a bit once the engine is running. I made several of differing tensions to deal with that when the time come. I then began the flywheel which is seen here in its first fitting. The rim is hot rolled steel which donated to the cause by Zuesrekning. Thanks Tim. The center is brass which was press fitted (.004 overlapped dimensions) using my patented 4 pound press. Can you say small sledge hammer? The final version will be a 6 curved spoke flywheel which will allow the works to be seen and contribute to the opened up look I've been chasing. Since the first photo gave a small insight into the thought process in use, the last one will give another peek. Here the fuel tank is getting a bit of experimentation and visualization. This type of thing helps me get a better image in my head of how I will want to secure it when its time comes. The tank is a small steam engine boiler that is doing stand in duty until I've made the real deal. I had planned to use a hexagonal tank, but once it was tried out , it was immediately and definitely apparent that it was not meant for this project. The ignition system will be ordered on Monday and the carb and exhaust muffler are yet to be built, but the project is getting closer to completion than I expected to be by now. Hopefully this one will be running before Labor Day when I'm supposed to exhibit some of my engines. Steve |
| shoey51:
what a great bit of workmanship looking forward to seeing the finished job now :headbang: :clap: |
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