Author Topic: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine  (Read 70945 times)

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #100 on: October 23, 2010, 06:11:29 AM »
I knew it was some sort of British code stuff.... you lot are amazing... and you call this English?? :) :D :lol:

wor lass ar lass.... might as well speak aramiac.... or whatever.....

Boys, I need the Queens English.... and I need it SLOOOOWWWW..... we done here arent real bright....... remember..we are descendants of convicts.... etc....
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #101 on: October 23, 2010, 07:20:39 AM »
 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: sorry Rob ,, THE WIFE   :lol: :lol: :lol:

http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/GeordieDictionary.html

Rob W  (a Geordie )  ,  some one who comes from the Toon ,,, Newcastle upon Tyne ,, :D

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #102 on: October 23, 2010, 03:38:42 PM »
Crazy lot you Poms....  :scratch:

glad you transported us now..... :beer:

The English language indeed...... :doh:

Hope you are well now mate....and not too seriously crook...
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Dean W

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #103 on: October 23, 2010, 07:55:29 PM »
Uhhh...  I ran the last few posts through google translator, and I still don't know what it means!
Reckon we're all brothers separated by a common language.. ; )
Dean W.

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Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #104 on: October 28, 2010, 07:54:51 AM »
I hear ya Dean.... shear lunacy.... friendly lunacy though.... generally a nice lot.... but the things we have to put up with.

Ok tonight. The weekend was a waste of time and nights have been filled so tonight (thursday night) was it....

Sooooo, what happened to the 'roll' I was on....??

I was going to achieve BIG things last weekend....

Well, reality happened actually....

I was all set up to knock out a couple of these...


Simple enough huh? Looked like it to me ... had the plate all sized up re: thickness.....

If you take the time to think about it, this ISNT a simple part, radiuses/pivots etc... I followed Mr Westbury's example (to a degree) and found that rigidity wouldnt allow a smooth cut...

A Jig was needed! (as bloody always....) making the jig took 2 hours, making the first part took 15 mins.... damn this hobby IS an exercise in patience....







In this pic you can see the original 'aborted' attempt....





And then using the rotary table to make the raduius... worked a treat....





Machines turned off... time for a beer.....



BUT.... even with the DRO's, I made a miscalculation and ended up with the curved 'face' only 1.5mm thick when the plans call for 3mm. Will it carry the load? Well, I think it will with the plate being 5mm wide...

So do I remake the part? Or do I make another one the same for the pair that are needed?

Im thinking that it IS strong enough and intend to make another the same... thoughts are welcome at this point... (any point for that matter...).





And finally, I dont see why this needs the ends of the slot to be squared off, Ill make the slider with radiused ends to suit and it will do the same job...

Anyway, time to call it a night...

Cheers all.

Rob
« Last Edit: November 04, 2010, 04:45:47 PM by Artie »
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #105 on: November 04, 2010, 04:56:17 PM »
I have all good intentions and yet it seems like a long time since the last post. Anyway Have finished the slot on the second reversing plate and am now in the process of mounting holes and profiling... the pics will tell the story....


Slot done and reversed in fixture for access with the file and then sandpaper..



Then flip and do the other side...



Back into the jig to crop it to size. (those are office worker hands by the way... looks good!)

To ensure that all holes are located the same from plate to plate...simply spot weld them together..this area will be removed later so it was the simplest way....



Drill, more filing.. and some judicial grinding...



And we are ready for the filing buttons to complete the small radiuses (3 on each plate)



Is this a 'lucky' fastener... or just a cock up?



Ill call it a cock up.. anyway I hope to start on casting the base plate this weekend, more later..

rob T

South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #106 on: November 06, 2010, 05:49:26 AM »
Well, today I have the second part of the crank done.....



However... I wasnt really happy with the construction of the first crank section..... The alignment wasnt exactly right and Im going to un braze the solder and do it again... Ive been thinking about this alignment issue all week and how I could overcome it.... today I did something about it.... Like always, the jigs and fixtures take the majority of the time...

In actual crank work, I reamed the holes a tad looser... and silver brazed them together.... this took about 5 minutes..... the fixtures took about 3 hours....... a couple of pics....

Firstly measured the width of the main and big end journals... and drilled some plate appropriatley.....

Then I parted this off so I had two plates with identical hole spacing.....





I had also drilled fixing holes and then tapped these and added a retaining plate... then clamped it all up....



This is a self aligning jig and this turned out extremely accurately, Ill definately do the first crank again using this method, just so easy although but very time consuming to initially construct.

I also made a couple of sets/pairs of parrallels using the  shaper and the surface grinder....limited pics sadly, just too busy while it was all happening. These are made of mild steel but are BLOODY accurate... not a bad alternative...





Again sorry about the nil pics of the missing steps but I was really hurrying today... I had stuff which I wanted to get done.... time was short....

Might have more tomorrow... sadly no casting of the base plate.....

Cheers

Rob T

South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #107 on: November 06, 2010, 06:22:48 AM »
Hi Rob  :clap: :clap: :clap:

That's a great idea for lining up and holding the crank for brazing ,, reaming on the loose side will give room for the silver solder to penetrate the joint ,,, I will be using your idea on my next built up crank  :thumbup:

Nothing wrong with mild steel parallels  ,,,, i make them up as and when i need them ,,, dose not matter if you drill or mill into them ,,, dose not break the tooling like the hardened  ones do   :doh:


Rob 

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #108 on: November 07, 2010, 05:52:59 AM »
Hey Rob, good to see you are still with us mate... thanks for the kind words... a little more...I did sweat the original crank apart and treated it the same as crank no.2, no pics cause it wasnt anything different from those that I have previosuly posted... I DO like the little crank jig, can recommend that one...

I also got the base plate plug made and as seen here its got one coat of paint.... I did have high hopes of casting but ran out of time (again).

Really nothing to report on it, as you can see by the following pics, its just a flat piece of board with the various features added to it. I started with 9mm flat plate and then used 3mm for the features with the rails/edges being balsa, the filler was plaster of paris, mainly because its quickly sandable and very EASILY sandable... in fact most of the dry shaping was done with my finger.....



This will have the entire engine assembally mounted on it and the 6 lugs will be the points that it bolts to the hull of the steamer.....



This is the seal coat and after its dry it will get a quick sand and then another coat... then we cast...... definately one night this week...

Cheers

Rob
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #109 on: November 07, 2010, 07:16:19 AM »
Hi Rob

I am still kicking  :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:  .

That looks a good size pattern  :bugeye:  ,,,,,,,,,, looking forward to seeing it cast ,,,,,,,, :ddb: :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:


Rob W

Offline Powder Keg

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #110 on: November 07, 2010, 10:59:36 AM »
Looking great!!! Thanks for the shaper Action Pictures!!! Pretty neat stuff there!!!
Wesley P
A Gismo ??? If it has a flywheel or spins and is made with small parts. I'll take one! If it makes noise, moves, or requires frequent oiling and dusting it's a better deal yet. It's especially right if its shiny and bright; but if it's dirty and dull it wont mater at all...

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #111 on: November 07, 2010, 06:46:05 PM »
Yeah Rob, shes a big boat! It will take a reasonable amount of metal and Im going to add multiple rises to feed the shrinkage..

Hi PK, ahhh, the shaper..... it was doing its thing..... and a mate walked past and asked me if I was asleep.... I said "no, just mesmerised......" It can do that to you.

Im using off cuts for the steel bits n bobs and therefore have to 'size' it... lots of good times on the shaper doing this.......it is just soooo easy.... :nrocks: :)
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #112 on: November 07, 2010, 07:35:48 PM »
A shaper in action....  :headbang:

That is a big base plate! Did you mention or show the size of the boat yet? I will have to go back and look through the thread.

Eric
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Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #113 on: November 08, 2010, 12:42:14 AM »
Hi Brass, yup, right at the beginning......the hull is 7.5 feet long... its a big boat....   :thumbup:
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Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #114 on: November 08, 2010, 12:49:18 AM »
The basic layout.... and scissors for scale.....



 :wave:
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Rob.Wilson

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #115 on: November 08, 2010, 04:33:15 PM »
Hi Rob


Well if your going to build one ,,, you may as well build a BIG UN  :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:



Rob

Offline Dean W

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #116 on: November 08, 2010, 05:55:36 PM »
Rob (artie), a guy really gets a sense of the size of things now!  Quite a bruiser.
Thanks for showing the crankshaft jig.  That looks like it worked out very well.  I've done quite a few
silver brazed crankshafts, and always seem to be fighting for position.  No more of that for me!  Thanks.
Dean W.

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Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #117 on: November 09, 2010, 01:55:30 AM »
Thanks for the scissors Rob.
I knew it was above average.... It's gonna be a big 'un!  :thumbup:

David D
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Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Offline Bogstandard

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #118 on: November 09, 2010, 03:24:39 AM »
Rob,

Your clamping jig has just sparked my brain cell.

I will be remaking some tiny stirling engine cranks in the near future (2mm diameter rods) and I really struggled making the originals. Your method (modified with slightly smaller parts) will really do it for me when I silver solder them up.








Thanks

Bogs
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Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #119 on: November 09, 2010, 06:02:09 AM »
Hi Rob, Dean, David and Bogs, fellas let me say it really IS my privilege to give something back to you lot, you've unselfishly supplied so much to us... 

The arrogance of Aussies makes us say that everything is bigger down here.. but conversly Bogs...that is bloody tiny.... I use glasses for all my machining work..Id need magnifying glasses for that.... but for all that it looks to be a very attractive little engine...

Im forging ahead and am taking tomorrow morning off work... I hope to trade this for a casting session... sounds like a good deal to me... Ill report back on the progress....

Incidentally, I ingotted this lot middle of last year.... Ive got enough left for this job... best get back onto that one.... time to melt some more fire extinguishers.....

Cheers

Rob T
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #120 on: November 09, 2010, 06:04:48 AM »
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Bogstandard

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #121 on: November 09, 2010, 07:48:33 AM »
That is why I picked up on it Rob.

Normal flat sided crank plates are no problem, it is when they are shaped like these that problems occur.

If it will work on a bigg'un, a littl'un should be easy.


Bogs
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Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #122 on: November 20, 2010, 05:56:35 AM »
 A couple of posts back I said I had "ingotted up this lot"... and then promptly forgot to put in the relevant pic... ere we go......  :worthless:



Im down to 4 sticks left.... must do another run...its all 6061 and I ahve about 150 kg in its natural state.....

Base plate tomorrow morning... I promise.... (yeah right).....
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline Artie

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #123 on: November 21, 2010, 01:16:20 AM »
Got the casting done today..... turned out to be much more difficult than I imagined... due to its large surface area, In fact this is the biggest casting I have ever done in a closed mold.

The flask was my big one and relatively thin and the plate took up almost the entire surface area.

The thing had to be rammed on a base plate and this used to turn the cope over added the drag and then rammed it all up. Again using the base plate (flat board under the flask) to put the flask on its side and seperated the cope and drag and did all prep work with them on their sides.... damned awkward...

As a result I got a fair few inclusions (or bulging aluminium where cavities formed... given the difficulty and the fact that this part will be painted... Ive decided to accept what I have...

Its no Rob Wilson job.... but then neither am I.. :) :D :) :D if you havent alrady, have a look at his thread A Bit of Casting, hes doing amazing things! http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=3841.0

Anyway here it is.....





Cheers all Rob  :beer:
South Wales, wait...NEW South Wales... Batemans Bay.

Offline sbwhart

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Re: Slowly casting up parts for a steam twin marine engine
« Reply #124 on: November 21, 2010, 01:39:35 AM »
Looks good to go to me.  :thumbup:

Well Done

Stew
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