Shed Matters 3

[Stanley]

More work refining the steam valve. First to cut the slot for the driver key and fit that. Next I machined the recess in the bottom of the valve which is the steam passage. Then to make sure the valve is central in the valve chest and drill the 5/32" hole for the valve rod through the valve. Tomorrow I shall transfer that bore to the driver and drill and tap that for the 4BA thread on the valve rod.

[Stanley]

I had decided that it was clement enough for a short walk but then it struck me, if it's good enough for a walk it's good enough for a bit of wood bothering in the back yard.... So I got my router out and then the orbital sander and a pot of raw linseed oil and here we are Three oak engine plinths sat there soaking the oil in slowly.....

[Stanley]

Today I finished fitting the steam valve in the steam chest. This entailed drilling the driver block and tapping 4BA to accept the valve rod. Then I put witness marks on the block and the valve to ensure proper orientation. Then I opened the drilling of the steam valve enough to allow the valve to float, even when driven, and to be able to sit down flat on the valve face. That took the whole of the hour.... Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

Today I have to make sense of the governor stand which is also a support and guide for the valve rod. I started by milling the two faces that it's essential are at right angles to each other and then I settled in to slow patient handwork to get it looking as though someone cares! All this took 50 minutes and I finished up ready to drill for the valve rod and the two bolts that will hold the stand on to the base. It looks a bit more presentable now....

[Stanley]

I didn't do a picture of my first move on the valve train this morning. That was to drill the hole through the top of the valve rod support and get it in the centre of the casting. This was not easy but by taking my time and making a lot of small adjustments I got it right, dead central and level. Next I had to mount the valve in the steam chest in order to check that I had the support right and could mark it for drilling for the bolts that will hold it on the bed. But before I did that I had to enlarge the holes in the valve chest by 1/64" to make sure the casting fits easily on the studs. Then all the studs had to be installed using Loctite to make them permanent. Next I had to check that all the studs had good threads. That entailed running the 4BA die down them and checking the nuts were an easy fit. After all that was done I installed the valve and the rod and checked the fit of the valve support before marking it for the bolt holes. That was enough for this morning so I knocked off. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

The first task was to extend the 4BA thread on the end of the valve rod to make it possible to adjust the valve later. Then I drilled the valve rod support base clearance for the 5BA studs that will hold it on the side of the bed. So far so good but then I made a mistake, I drilled and tapped the bed 4BA which of course is the next size of BA stud up! Sheer carelessness. Not a disaster as it will still work but tomorrow I will have to open up the clearance holes I drilled this morning in the rod support. I can work round it. I think we can put it down to a senior moment! Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

The castings have arrived for the next engine after this one. I haven't opened it yet. It can wait unyil the current one is finished.

[Stanley]

This morning was a succession of adjustments to get to a point where I had a functioning steam valve. It started with finding two 4BA bolts to fasten the valve support to the casting. Once I had that I had to make sure the clearances were right to allow the use of the 4BA bolts and then make sure I had the valve a good fit to the support. Then I had to make sure the steam valve was right to the right size and also adjusted the size of the valve support was allowing the valve had enough to enough free to allow full adjustment. At knocking of time I had it all correct and what I need to do now is make the last fitting of the valve train. I will do that tomorrow, today it is time for breakfast!

[Stanley]

I went in the shed early this morning because I knew I had my work cut out. My aim was to get the engine bed mounted on it's final oak plinth. Before I did that I had to split the bed from the base and make sure that was ready and in addition I had to get the excess raw linseed oil off the three oak plinths. The oak is that tough the oil wasn't able to all get in to it, some was left on the surface as a sticky mess. I had to use turpentine and then an acetone paint thinner to get to the stage where I could sand the bases with the orbital sander, that took over half an hour. Then I had to mount the base on the plinth and cut and glue the protective rubber shield for the bottom of the base to protect whatever surface the engine will be stood on. As you can see I managed to get the base mounted under pressure in the vice. It can sit there for 24 hours to make sure the impact adhesive has worked. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

This morning was simple. Finish building the engine and put it on the kitchen table. You can't have too many steam engines!

[Stanley]

One engine went out of the shed yesterday as a gift to a young friend of Mine, Vicky Barritt. As I am sure you remember I am convinced I cannot die while I am building an engine so immediate steps needed to be taken. I have already spent £633 on a fresh set of castings and so I unpacked them this morning after putting the detritus that is always left after a build into the various boxes I have waiting for them. As you can see I have everything out of its shrink wrapping and ready to be worked on, the smaller items being in their own plastic box. All the packing materials in the bin outside. I also spent a few minutes cleaning up and sharpening an old and very well worn US army knife which I have decided will be OK as a bench knife.
That was a good and productive hour. I am ready now on the starting blocks of another steam engine. And yes it's the same as the last but I know my limitations and there is less chance of cock-ups due to senior moments because I know the build so well.

[Stanley]

The first job was to clean up my bench and oil the surface plates before putting a clean tablecloth on.
I intended to start work on the engine proper by hand fettling the castings with a big rough file but when I looked at the flywheel casting I saw I had my work cut out because it was far worse than usual with Stuart castings so I put the big 3 jaw SC chuck on, changed to the outside jaws and set the casting up as well as I could, then starting to turn it so that it became concentric and accurate. By knocking off time I had one side done and bored for the crankshaft. That's right! I am off to a flying start with this engine as the crankshaft is chopped out of the solid already. I have the oak plinth ready as well looking a long way forward. Tomorrow I shall reverse it in the chuck and turn the other side to match. Not a bad start so it was a good morning.

[Stanley]

This morning the job was to finish rescuing the flywheel casting which is one of the worst I've seen for a long time.... I reversed the casting in the chuck and finished the turning. When I was certain it was as central and concentric as I could get it I moved operations into the vise and used files and emery to get the flash off the parts the lathe couldn't reach and yes, the turning and the fettling used up an hour but it was time well spent.....I am a happy bunny.

[Stanley]

The first half hour of shed time this morning was spent on changing the 3 jaw chuck back to internal jaws, taking it off Mrs Harrison and cleaning and lubricating the scroll in the chuck. Than fitting the 4 jaw SC chuck and considering cleaning the valve chest up on the lathe but then deciding that was a bad idea and moving over to the El Cheapo VM to clean the casting up. Half an hour later I have one more casting fettled and ready for further refinement. Another nice morning in the shed....

[Stanley]

This morning more work refining the steam chest casting. Making sure it was all square, the correct shape and machined to size. I also marked it with the witness mark that ensures it is always oriented correctly and cleaned out the interior to size by hand with the biggest files I could get in there. At knocking off time it was ready for final fitting when I get round to it. Another casting clean and sized.

[Stanley]

Today's target was the cylinder casting. First a quick break off of the worst of the flash with a hammer and punch and then a session on the grinding wheel to remove the worst of the external problems. Then the same in the bore and this included a session with a big rough round file. Once I had the worst off I started measuring and further refining under the mill. By knocking off time I had most of it done and knocked off ready to address the other end of the cylinder. Time for breakfast, There is no rush, that was a productive hour and some good work.

[Stanley]

My goal today was to bring the cylinder in to the point where it could be bored, So that's what I did. I ended up with the cylinder having an exhaust port and having been drilled and tapped for fitting the exhaust pipe. It took almost an hour and a half, long time since I did overtime!

[Stanley]

Still pursuing the boring of the cylinder. First I took the 1/4" slot drill out and put the normal cutter back in the mill. Then I did a bit of wood-bothering to make a plug I could drive into the cylinder and cut back to give me a surface I can measure and mark on. You can't make an accurate marking on an empty bore. I finished up with the cylinder marked and ready for boring and tomorrow I'll set it up in the mill.

[Stanley]

The full hour in the shed was taken up by getting the mill set up for boring and then setting the cylinder up after taking the plug out without losing the accurate positioning. At closing time I have it ready for boring. Not my finest hour but everything has been done without error and we are set up for tomorrow. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

Straight into boring the cylinder to 1.5". I reached that and check measured it, the bore is accurate and parallel inside the cylinder. So I broke the set up on the mill down, had a chip chase and reinstated the normal cutter. The boring head went back in its box and was put away. Next I found a piece of brass stock and made a piece of pipe 1/4" OD and 5/32" bore for the steam and exhaust pipes. That's ready for me to finish the individual pipes tomorrow and install them. That was a good morning and I like the results. Now for breakfast and second sleep.....

[Stanley]

I started this morning by finishing making the small pipes that are the steam and exhaust pipes. Then I drilled and tapped the steam chest to accept the steam pipe and fitted them both. That's as far as I want to go with the cylinder and steam chest at the moment. I need to look at the other castings. I started with the bed, I mounted it in the vise and cleaned up the base and the ends. Then I started setting up for milling the target face on the bed. doing it now ensures that it is at right angles and perpendicular to the rest of the bed. That was knocking off time so I left it at that for tomorrow morning. Now for breakfast....

[Stanley]

Sorry to say that there will be no post this morning in Shed Matters. I had a domestic emergency and declared a holiday in the shed..... I shall be back tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

I started the morning by using the setup I already had to mill the face of the target end. It wasn't a good setup. it would have been far safer if the casting had been fastened directly to the bed but doing it this way had the great advantage that it was automatically at right angles and perpendicular to the centre of the bed. So I did some careful patient milling and got away with it! The next job was to take the vise off and wipe the bed with my diamond hone to take off any dings. After that it was into the vise and some filing with the biggest roughest files I had to make the casting more civilised. I've ended up with a casting ready to have some final milling done on it but that's for tomorrow. A good morning and I'm ready for my breakfast.

[Stanley]

The first job was to clamp the bed down on the milling table making sure it was lined up correctly. Then I spent half an hour milling those parts I could reach with the long milling cutter I had mounted. I changed that for my normal cutter and milled the crosshead slide and the top face of the horns that will hold the flywheel bearings. Then a bit of a diversion to skim the shank of an almost brand new 16mm end mill down to 5/8". Once it would fit the bushes in my Clarkson T&C grinder I sharpened it and mounted it in the mill. I am ready to cut the slot in the horns of the bed but that will do tomorrow. I have been meaning to bring that metric cutter into use for a long time, at last it's done!.

[Stanley]

I started the morning by cutting the beds for the flywheel bearings using the cutter I refined yesterday, it worked well and I shall use it for other jobs this morning. When I had done the beds I cleaned the outsides o0f the horns and part of the governor stand. Then I took the bed off the mill and bolted the base down so that I could mill the bottom face of the casting. That was as far as I got this morning. Tomorrow I shall mount it the other way up and mill the top face and the faces of the lugs for the fixing screws. More slow and purposeful work with no errors. So a good morning. Now for breakfast!