Recent content by bouch

My gut instinct is to scrap bin the part and start over. Starting over will make sure you have it right. If you have a questionable fix, you might do a bunch more work just to find out that the piece is junk. You're really not that far into the work on this part, its not like it was the final...

Hi Kenny, I also do a lot of model railroading. I have 3.5" gauge live steam, N scale, and "2 rail O scale". My son does HO. I have both US and British prototype in the electric trains. The "2 rail o scale" is closer to HO and N than Lionel in terms of the electronics. There's only 2...

ITS ALIVE!!! Now that its done, time to take it apart and get it finished ;)

And the last major piece is now finished, the connecting rod. I wanted to have a rod that was functionally simple, but looked like it had “marine style” bearing ends, with oil cups, gabs and keys. Turned into more work than I expected, I should have just split the bearings. If these ever wear...

Its been longer than I thought since I last updated this thread, but I have been slowly working on the engine. The eccentric was the last thing I described, and now I’ve finished the rest of the valve gear. The obvious next item after the eccentric was to finish the cast eccentric strap. I...

Unfortunately, no. I bought them easily 15-20 years ago. Pretty much no one had seen the seller until recently, when he attended (as a spectator) my club's model engineering show. I talked to him about my engine, and he said that he enjoyed seeing how people built them with their own...

Just found this thread. Simply stunning work.

And the length of the connecting rod, between centers of the bearings, is 7.843". Actual measurement was 7.851, but I shortened it to the nearest 32nd for two reasons 1) to have a "nice number" for the length 2) As you can see in the previous post, at front dead center, the crosshead is right...

If you cover the ports at the top/bottom of the stroke, you're preventing any steam from getting into the cylinder. I wouldn't want that for any steam engine. The only thing that should prevent steam/air from getting into the cylinder is the valving, not the piston blocking the port. If the...

I've done a little work lately on the Barker engine. In the last post, I mocked up moving the cylinder ahead by about 2" to give more length to the connecting rod. I took everything apart, put the bed on the milling machine, and drilled some new holes. - 2 for the new "forward" crosshead guide...

I suggest you download Charlie Dockstater's valve gear programs. These will let you verify what you design for cylinder ports/valves/valve gear will actually run. http://www.billp.org/Dockstader/ValveGear.html Different programs for different valve gear. If you're going to build a...

Interesting. I bought my castings about 10 years ago, I wonder when they added that spacer. One other point. Grinding those cutting tools is a lot easier if you use a dremel/foredom tool instead of your 6" bench grinder....

Now for the long answer... 1) Take the cast crank and determine the center of each end. Mark it, center punch, and center drill both ends. This so you can put it between centers on the lathe. 2) Take a short bolt and nut (or a piece of stock cut to fit) and put it in the gap where the throw...

Its a prop, IMHO. But there are working versions kicking around live steam tracks everywhere. https://www.discoverlivesteam.com/magazineold/171/index.htm Unfortunately, Bill Connor died a few years ago, but his engines live on. If you google "Connor beam steam engines", you'll find more...

Short answer: Between centers in the lathe. Long answer: I'll take photos some point over the weekend of the tooling I used. I messed up the first one I did, so needed to get a replacement from PM. But, that lets me bring the tooling to model engineering shows as an example of how to...