First engine and it actually runs !

Hey Guys this is my first post and I wanted to share with everyone the little steam ( compressed air till the boiler is done ) engine I made.

I am no machinist by any stretch, I killed a bunch of metal and even broke a few gears in the mill but it sure was fun trying !!!

I did a bunch of reading on the net about steam engines and what makes them tick and with that info this is what I came up with. I did it a quite a few years ago when the kids were small and I had time but now that they are older I am finding very little time to work with my machines ( harbor freight mini mill and lathe ) The kids are almost driving and from what I hear they will be gone at that point. I wont waste the time I have left with them but once they leave I am gonna make more metal beg for mercy !!

I was thrilled to find this great website about a week ago and looking at all the fantastic work you guys do it has me wanting to get back work to put steam thru this little engine to see what happens.

It was made from scrap, mostly 7075 T6 alum from the leftovers from a real machinists in a real shop. I can pick thru the waste and buy it by the pound. There is a little brass here and there, and delrin for bushings.

The dimensions were determined by the TLAR ( That Looks About Right ) method. The cylinder size started it all because that was the size of the round stock I had.

The crank shaft was the hardest part for me since I decided to try to make it one piece. I even tried to balance it out a little by adding lead to the counter weights.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl4nolUN81s[/ame]
I am not a machinist by any stretch, I made so many mistakes and wasted a bunch of metal, but it was really fun !
Thanks for looking !

Pete

Pete-

Very impressive! Especially balancing the crank. :bow: :bow: :bow:

Bob

Hi Pete,welcome to the forum.That is a great looking and running engine!After building that engine I would say you could call yourself a machinist ;D !
Crab

Very nice job Pete....you are hooked now...so what do you have planned for #2 :big: Welcome to HMEM and thanks for sharing.

Bill

I am not a machinist by any stretch, I made so many mistakes and wasted a bunch of metal, but it was really fun !

Hi Pete,

Very nice indeed.

As for the above quote, I am a machinist by trade and have been for just over 40 years and have only recently got into this model engine hobby. I can now scrap stuff without worrying about it and I can share your fun doing so!
In my case now, not having to explain how it happened and why I did it.

I would also call you a machinist!!

Ron.

Sweet engine !!

I still remember the thrill I got when my 1st engine ran !! :big:

Hell of a first engine for you Pete! I would say you can call yourself a machinist now, well done!! :bow:

Regards,

Will R.

Hi Pete Thats a very smooth running engine. Welcome to the forum

Wow I didn't expect all those kind words thanks to all of you !!!

I sure am impressed with this group of guys, reading through tons of threads I can easily see the great support you give eachother. I am glad I joined hopefully I can be a good contributor.

Bob - balancing the crank was just guess work getting the lead to stay in after it cooled and then stay when the mill cut it was harder than i thought. I ended up drilling a few shallow holes at an angle so the lead would have roots into the crank. before I did that it would just spin out. The engine doesn't shake as much as it did at first i am not sure how to calculate the exact amount but its pretty smooth now.

Crab, Ron and Will - I really appreciate the machinist comments, I guess I hesitate to call myself that because of things like the size of this engines piston had to change because I goofed the bore of the cylinder. Instead of remaking the cyl I just bumped up the piston. The crank throw came out a little off so the piston doesn't run the full travel of the cyl by just a little. Stuff like gets me that but maybe some planning ahead and a little math would help !

ChooChooMike - I wont forget it either, my wife had dinner ready and I was getting close to getting the thing to stay running and forgot she called me in. Needless to say when I came bouncing in with the great news that it was running finally she wasn't as thrilled as I was...dinner was cold !


Bill - Next will be steam, I started a boiler that's 3 inches x 12 inches and got it to hold pressure but got to the point of making all the fitting and stopped there I didn't know how to make all those items. I cant afford to buy all those fittings and pumps but I have the brass. I found lots of that info on this site, another reason I am wanting to get going on it again. I want to see what happens when parts of the engine get hot from the steam and what happens to all those clearances.. Ultimate goal a sternwheeler paddle boat with my boiler a horizontal cylinder engine on each side driving the paddle and run it on a pond !

Herbiev - thanks a bunch !! I wanted it to run really low pressure just to see if i could and that made it harder than I expected like everthing else but lots of shimming and carefull polishing and it came out pretty good.

By the way what does happen to an engine once it heats up, can it mess with an engine that runs good on cold compressed air ?


Pete

Say Pete, that is a delightful little bugger you produced from scratch, well done! Thm: To be able to come up with the initial idea and then to follow through with making it come alive is a tremendous accomplishment even for a seasoned veteran, much less someone that is just starting out. Truly a good first effort, BRAVO!!

BC1
Jim

Pete

Machinist... Definitely.

It's the goof ups and how you get round them that make this an interesting place to be never be ashamed of them, Pick out the finest engine you can find on here and the builder WILL tell you all about theirs. it's how we learn.

Oh and you had also better wear the designers hat as well. that's a beautiful engine and it runs superbly, I really like S L O W runners, they ARE more difficult to build than something you have to wack huge pressures into to get them to turn. Top job and a brilliant first engine. I'm sure we all share your joy at it's first run.

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Malcolm

great looking engine!!!

That is just so smooth and sweet running Pete, and the valve rod and its attachment to the eccentric sheave is unique. A wonderful first effort!
Stew

Jim - thanks a lot ! I just used a bunch of ideas I found on the internet here and there and this was the sum total. I wanted to try the walking beam type engine but that seemed a little too daunting to try first

Malcolm - I guess your right everyone makes mistakes but so many of these engines on this site look like artwork and to imagine how much scrap I would make to get that kind of finish. I think the used metal bin I get my stock from wont keep up. As far as designing goes I have always loved to make stuff no one else has, so that is usually my goal...makes it harder on myself but it is great fun IF it works. The ' Dad hat ' has slowed me down a bunch but I will get going again soon. Thanks for the encouragement !!

Piper pilot - Thanks for taking the time to make my day. This has been great to hear from others that know what they are looking at. So many people around me have seen it and say ' that's nice what does it do ? ' Doesn't have the same kick as hearing it from you !!!

Stew - I went for slow running because then I can see what it doing. Turns out it runs better that way too. I am not sure how the eccentric came to life. I think it was just a combination of things I have seen in life, I love seeing machines and watching them work so it was probably something I saw and adapted to this.