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| Green Twin Oscillator Cast/Build |
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| MetalCaster:
A little history about how I got into model building, and my approach to the same. I have had a lifelong interest in steam engines, and build my first one as a 12th grade science project, along with a boiler that was about 18" dia, 36" tall, vertical fire tube type with injector. Life has been busy since 12th grade, and I always had the intention of getting back to building steam engines and boilers. My dad got into the modeling hobby about 2001, and build a ludicrous number of model steam and hot air engines, and some full sized ones too. My intention was always to get with dad and build some models too, but again it was not to be. About 2002, I was working as an engineer at a large firm, and a very ambitions and rather ruthless junior engineer pulled some corporate political strings, pushed out the head of our department, took over, and then fired the entire department to "clean the slate" and install his own loyal people. He lasted about a year at that business, and then quit and took "his people" with him to start his own firm. I decided that the old adage "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" was something I had to adhere to, so in 2003 I started my own consulting engineering business, and have been running it as a one-man operation ever since. While the last few years have been nothing short of brutal, and one man in his own firm has to wear a lot of hats (I am the janitor, secretary, financial planner, marketer, draftsman, designer, you name it, I do it), there are some redeeming things about working for yourself, such as the fact that I have been the "employee of the month" every single month going on 11 years now. My dad died in 2006, and so I accumulated his machine tools and shop equipment. Building models seemed rather rudimentary to me, after all, dad made so many, and made it look so easy. But it was anything but rudimentary. I realized I was floundering in 2009 after getting the shop and equipment set up, so I discovered online model building forums, and began the process of learning how to machine engines from bar stock. Several things became evident very quickly, which were 1. I sucked at machining. 2. Machining can be extremely tedious and boring for someone like me with a short attention span. 3. Machining engines from bar stock generally required machining anywhere from 50% to 90% of the metal off into chips which fall on the floor and fly in every direction, and have to be cleaned up daily. I was bound and determined to make the brute-force method work for me, and so I drew a couple of my dad's engines in 2D CAD, and set about to build copies of them. After a year or so of what seemed like banging my head against the wall, I decided there must be another way. |
| awemawson:
And the "Green Twin Oscillator Cast/Build " ?????????????????????????? |
| MetalCaster:
Several things became apparent at this time. 1. Too much metal was being wasted to get the part into the shape I wanted. 2. Too many tool bits were being worn out to make the parts. 3. The parts never really assumed the shape/appearance that I wanted them to have. My dad had lamented that if he had enough space, he would have cast his engines. I really did not have the space either, but I considered getting into castings. Then I ran across Rob Wilson's work, got the 3D bug, and then discovered that with 3D, I could visually see the engine, as well as assemble the parts, and check for alignment, fit, and actually run the engine virtually. So I decided to give the casting thing a go. I tried a charcoal melt, to no avail, and then purchased a propane burner. I melted aluminum first, and had pretty good success with that for a beginner. I found a casting forum and leaned heavily on the information found there and in videos online, many by members here. My funace design comes directly from Rob Wilson's (thanks again Rob). You may ask, why does my furnace look so shabby, when Rob's looks superb? Well, I quickly realized that while my interests in self-discovery are high, my time and money are limited, and I am no spring chicken, I only have a limited amount of time to make a go of the casting thing. So my method has been to use the information available on the internet to maximum advantage to hone in quickly on workable (granded ugly) furnace, burner, equipment, etc. Trade-off's don't bother me as long as the focus is on the final product, and so that has been my approach. |
| MetalCaster:
--- Quote from: awemawson on July 27, 2013, 04:37:37 PM ---And the "Green Twin Oscillator Cast/Build " ?????????????????????????? --- End quote --- I got to have a lead-up to the story of the green twin. I will get there shortly. Chafing at the bit are we? Edit: I attended a concert one time and the musician came out and began talking incessantly, and finally someone yelled "Are you daft man, stop yammering and get on with the show", and he said "righto", and the show began without further ado. |
| MetalCaster:
So then one day, I was doing a group build on another forum, and a guy says "I am going to build a green twin oscillator" that I saw on Preston's services. So he designed on it for a while, and I offered some ideas/suggestions, and it got complicated, and not wanting to see it all go by the wayside, I jumped into the design. Luckily my wife was gracious enough to give up her two-car garage and half the driveway, and without even divorcing me (yet). So I started in earnest on the green twin, and about a year and a half ago, I got the mother of all work projects, and all work on the green twin ground to a halt. I am just getting to the point of catching up at work to begin on the twin again. So here is where I left off with the green twin. |
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