Author Topic: Making a Wood Beam Engine (Read 32019 times)

Gerhard Olivier · « **on:** January 16, 2011, 12:04:42 PM »

Hi all

I have moved my workshop to a small attic and it is above work - This means that I have a lot less shop time. This build will probably take some time.

Decided to build a wooden beam engine 61/2 inch flywheel with a metal band on the circ. The cilinder I want a smallish bore and a long stroke so it can go very slow???
I decided to make a occilating ratary valve on a eccentric? Main material is to be Mahogony and brass and some bits of cast iron.

The timber was cut to right thickness and then shaped on the fretsaw All the pieces of the flywheel was done first. Then the outer rings glued on the miters with super glue.

Gerhard

Stilldrillin · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2011, 12:26:50 PM »

Gerhard.
Now, that's different!

I like your style......

Looking forward to steady progress.

David D

saw · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2011, 12:30:40 PM »

Nice.

Gerhard Olivier · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2011, 01:11:18 PM »

Thanks David, Saw

Just the last bit of todays progress.

I found a piece of 6 1/2 inch cast iron pipe 1/2 inch wall 500 mm long in the scavinging jard With a lot of efford managed to cut a chunk of the stuff off It really is to hard for my tools,
This fit over the outer edge of my 5 inch chuck . Bored the inside as big as poss to allow 5mm ring cleaned cast iron. And parted of a 18mm wide piece.

On the mill I put a big piece of 18mmPlywood on the RT and mounted the wooden rings - Then I cleaned the outer edges to the same size as the hole in the cast iron - this hole was cut 6mm into the plywood then the ring was used to hold the pieces in the same place and clamped the outer edge to clean up the inner diameter.

The same setup was used to mill the centre piece with the spokes. the spokes are 10mm *10mm so on one end the the spokes had to be reduced as well. The centre of the hub was bored as the same setup as that keeps it concentric.

That is as far as I got today - the fly wheel needs sanding and glueing ( epoxy between the rings - with the joints staggered) Hopfully the epoxy will keep the ring in place. Traditionally the ring would be made to small and the heated and placed while bigger and crimps onto the wooden wheel??? Im not going to try that at all.

Hope this is not to far from the madmodder ideal!!!!

Gerhard

DavidA · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2011, 01:26:06 PM »

Very nice.

Watch it or this lot will have you making replica wheels for a Stephenson's Rocket.

Dave.

arnoldb · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2011, 02:19:17 PM »

Nice one Gerhard - looks good

I'd say a good epoxy should do just fine for holding on the ring.
Are you making the engine double-acting ? - then you can get it to run very slow; the main thing is keeping things in balance and as friction-free as far as possible - from what I've seen on Elmer's wood beam engine, final balancing is done with an adjustable weight moved along the beam.

Regards, Arnold

Rob.Wilson · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2011, 02:22:38 PM »

: Great stuff Gerhard

If thats the flywheel i cant wait to see the rest of the engine

Rob

Gerhard Olivier · « **Reply #7 on:** January 17, 2011, 04:35:20 PM »

Hi and thanks Dave Arnold and Rob

Just a small bit of progress- Base A start, the mortice and tennon joints was done with a chisel and mallet.

And the Flywheel glued and sanded and oiled with same raw linseed oil.

Flash is a bit to strong I'll try it with less light again.

The colour is better with this one but it doesn't show the detail.

Any way thanks for popping in.

Gerhard

saw · « **Reply #8 on:** January 17, 2011, 04:42:45 PM »

This looks so nice I cant wait for next chapter.

Stilldrillin · « **Reply #9 on:** January 17, 2011, 05:53:29 PM »

That's beautiful!

David D

madjackghengis · « **Reply #10 on:** January 17, 2011, 09:57:54 PM »

Hi Gerhard, I don't think you have to worry about complaints about materials when they are worked to turn out as you have the flywheel

I expect that engine is going to turn out to be a fine looking piece of machinery from the way you started. It looks really good oiled up and ready for a hub and a shaft to mount it on. mad jack

NickG · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2011, 04:13:53 AM »

Missed this but will read through it properly soon. Just looking at the pics it looks pretty amazing to me though, I'm useless with wood.

Nick

Brass_Machine · « **Reply #12 on:** January 19, 2011, 04:19:38 PM »

Quote from: geroli on January 17, 2011, 04:35:20 PM

Very very nice!

Eric

saw · « **Reply #13 on:** January 19, 2011, 05:32:14 PM »

I like...

sbwhart · « **Reply #14 on:** January 20, 2011, 02:54:38 AM »

What a cracking looking job

Stew

Gerhard Olivier · « **Reply #15 on:** January 20, 2011, 06:59:37 AM »

Hi All I feel a bit better - have to say was abit worried about the wood -Especially as I want to make this like it would have been when wood was about all there was and the metal parts limited to the minimum.

Thanks for kind comments Benni, David, Mad Jack, Nick, Eric and Stew

Just a small bit of progress today

I started with the Base the cross supports where hollowed out with a rasp ( my only yearly exersice)

Then the bearing supports fits on top of that- The bearing i am planning to use is a premade oilite bushing really?? Can anyone see any problems with that???????? The oilite bushing would be clamped to the wood bearing support by a split in the wood and a bolt and nut clamping the parts together. The reason I chose this is that it would look like a greased wood bearing but work like a "propper" bearing

Will post again when I have a pic that would explain better.

Thanks for looking

Gerhard

saw · « **Reply #16 on:** January 20, 2011, 08:04:23 AM »

I realy like your'e progress.

madjackghengis · « **Reply #17 on:** January 20, 2011, 11:12:26 AM »

Hi Gerhard, it looks like you're moving right along and have a plan, which always helps. I would say that with the wood bored for the oilite bearings, and the bearings then bored in situ, you won't have a problem as long as you keep your wood aligned, by ensuring the grain is well considered, as the wood will move and change with humidity and the like. I'd also suggest you seal the surface the bearings will fit in to minimize the wood pulling all the oil from the bushings, and perhaps put in an oiler for each bearing, just a Gitts type oiler will do, but something to allow you to have oil keeping the bushings full while you're actually running it. I'd also use an oil base finish, something like boiled linseed oil, applied many times, and that way the oil from the bushings would be compatable with the finish, and the wood would already have lots of oil making it less absorbant. I am looking forward with great interest, as few ever consider building engines with wood as main support material, but I expect it will look very much like a period engine when you are done.

cheers, mad jack

Gerhard Olivier · « **Reply #18 on:** January 21, 2011, 06:19:09 AM »

Thanks Benni and Mad Jack

Mad Jack the oilite do they need oil??? I thought that if you got oil on them they where damaged ?? I think it was John Bogstandard that cut then without any cutting oil as it would have damaged them??? ANy way the way this should have been done was to cut the bearing piece of wood in 2 nearly all the way then put a wedge in the open end and drill the hole with a piece of metal that was red hot , basicly burning a round hole through the wood the burning hardens the wood and slowly rotating the metal keeps the hole round.

As this bearing wears out the open end of the piece of wood would be closed making it tighter again. Animal fat was usually used as grease.

The oilite bushings is only about 3 pound for 16 so I think I will start by making it easy to replace them rather than building in oil cups????? If this is wrong PLEASE shout I would rather change the design now then having to keep messing with it later.

Gerhard

Bogstandard · « **Reply #19 on:** January 21, 2011, 07:28:21 AM »

Gerhard,

The reason I didn't use any lube, is because oilite bearings contain a thick lubricant actually trapped inside the sintered moulded material, and I didn't want to contaminate that inbuilt lubricant.

They are lubed for life bearings, so shouldn't need any further oiling, unless the bearings overheat, then the lubricant thins out and drips out of the bearing outer skin. The bearing should then be replaced.

For what you are doing with them, I doubt you will wear them out in your lifetime. They are used all over in industry and run in some places on a 24/7 regime, and they can sometimes last for years.

I would suggest you actually wrap the outside of the bearing with something like clear adhesive tape before clamping them in position. A couple of layers at most. This will stop the inbuild lube being wicked out by the wood over time and it will also stop the wood becoming oil stained.

I hope this explains things a little better.

John

andyf · « **Reply #20 on:** January 21, 2011, 08:21:20 AM »

Gerhard, my book on restoring antique firearms warns against oiling woodscrews so they will go in more easily, saying that the oil makes the wood expand and grip the screws so you can't get them out again. If that's true, some sort of impervious layer between the oilite bush and the surrounding wood seems a good idea.

Andy

Nelson92757 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 22, 2011, 07:04:22 PM »

Gerhard
I, myself I think that a sealed bearing would be better with the wood. Knowing how oil changes the look of the wood. And the bearing on that app. will never wear out. Good looking build.
Nelson Collar

Gerhard Olivier · « **Reply #22 on:** January 24, 2011, 04:26:03 PM »

Hi and thanks for the replays

John -I seem to remember that was what you said on the RT job that your doing

Nelson- I have a few spare so I ll make them disposable??? ( that is if they ever wear out)

John and Andy - I was Worried that any acidity in the wood may couse problems, my plan is the seal the inside surfuces with a layer of set super glue - this leaves and acrylic layer that seals the wood permanently then just to seal the outside with raw linseed oil like the flywheel. I dont think the packing will get into the sealed surface.

Wating for the Man flu to leave me alone so I can get back to the project.

Gerhard

shoey51 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 25, 2011, 03:09:44 PM »

just catching up with this build I like your stile there looks beautiful

cheers Graham

madjackghengis · « **Reply #24 on:** January 28, 2011, 12:40:07 PM »

Hi Gerhard, I suspect John didn't want the thick grease in the oilite bearings washed out with cutting oil. What he said about tape, and also your plan to seal the outside of them, and the inside of the wood will probably be fine, and by filling the rest of the wood with boiled linseed oil, it won't want to leach out the oil in the bushings either. Most electric motors don't use live bearings, but oilite bushings, but put Gitts cups so ten years down the road, you can replace the oil which doesn't last forever. I have replaced many worn out oilite bushings in my life, and they have been the exact cause of the need for repair work each time. At the same time, if you were building a full sized engine with real wood bearings, you'd put cups on it to put lard in, so the heat of the bearings would melt it, and keep everything lubricated, so the cups would look right in place. I've had to locktite or solder oilite bushings someplace they wanted to leave, and had to wash them dry first, and then replace the grease with oil, and they soak it up just like sponges. That said, I have no doubt what ever you choose for a solution will work out fine, as it probably would if you had just bored the wood and used wood bearings. Now I'm just waiting for your next installment, looking to see the engine come into being.

regards, mad jack

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Author Topic: Making a Wood Beam Engine (Read 32019 times)

Rob.Wilson