Trivet Engine?

Hi,

Yesterday I lost a filling; today I went to the dentist. To get to the dentist from the car park I have to pass a charity shop; being a little ahead of time I went in and bought a very rare four legged trivet. I assume the 'tri' bit means three?
I spent the afternoon in the shed. I had already bought a pair of candle sticks from another charity shop while away on holiday a few weeks ago. I often buy them as their stems and bases can come in handy for the ornamental part of models. So I decided to see if I could make anything of the trivet and candle sticks.

Trivet as bought.



The candle sticks.



The feet of the trivet weren't flat.



So the legs were heated and bent so their feet were flat.




The candle sticks were taken apart.



The candle sticks were turned into columns and bolted to the trivet to support an axle.



This is the general idea.




The flywheel came from another charity shop purchase of a model cannon. I have no other bits yet but perhaps other visits to charity shops will provide them?

Regards Tony.

This is going to be very cool!!!

Hi,

I found some photographs of where the flywheel came from. Another charity shop purchase.

The model cannon as bought; brass barrel the rest cast iron.



Alas one of the cast iron wheels was chilled so I ended up with only one usable wheel which I made into a flywheel by removing every other spoke.



The cannon ended up with plastic wheels.



I think I will make some bearings for the top of the columns. Then perhaps some more bits from a charity shop.

Regards Tony.

Hi,

Today I made some bearings for the top of the columns.




A couple of oil cups can be made and that's it until something to make an engine from crops up.

Regards Tony.

Some people see 'stuff'. Tony sees engines!! I love it!!

:idea::idea:

Pete

Hi,

I had a little time before I start on a new project so I decided to get as far as I can with the model. The bearing columns have been pined to locate them and oil cups have been made and fitted.




Some time in the foreseeable future other parts to complete the engine will be found.

Regards Tony.

Tony's creations remind me of Roland Emmett's machines.
http://millenniumpointblog.org.uk/explore-rowland-emmetts-wonderful-world/

John

Hi,

I have yet to find any further bits to add to the Trivet engine. However I did come across a piece of a bronze bearing which could be used to add a little mass to the flywheel.

Unfortunately it was just too big!



So some sums were done and a piece was cut out of the ring.



The ring was annealed and bent inwards.



After cleaning the joint it was hard soldered together.



The now complete ring was then machined.




A step to located the flywheel in the ring was turned.



With the ring Loctited to the flywheel it was trued.



As the heavier flywheel looks on the Trivet.



I think I might reduce the thickness of the new rim but only after I see how the rest turns out.

Regards Tony.

Some clever thinking and work ! Looks neat.

Brian

Hi,

Today I found an old brass pipe fitting, which I have started to make into some pulleys; one of which will be used on the trivet engine.

The brass pipe fitting.



Partially machined and as can be seen the bore isn't very concentric.



Ready for parting off with a step machined for the boss.



The section of pipe made three pulley rims a test piece to see how thick they would turn out and some swarf.



At the end of play today I had cut out a boss with piercing saw.



To feel I had done something to the engine itself I painted the flywheel.



Regards Tony.

Hi,

Today I thought I would finish the pulley and that would be it as far as the engine went with the bits that I had. I have mentioned that one the types of engine that the model might end up like was a Half Beam Engine. I have never made an engine of that configuration so it would be a little more interesting to make. For this I will need something to make the beam out of as well as something to support it. Well I found the support; legs from another trivet!

Donor trivet.



It took a lot of heat to get the solder to melt that held the legs onto the top.



I think the legs were castings which had then been hand turned between centres to clean them up; possibly somewhere like India.



The shortest of the legs was turned first and had holes drilled then tapped in both ends. The other legs were turned to the same length as the first. Then cleaned up along their length.





The base for the bearings for the end of the beam was cut out of the back door of a clock.




This is how the engine looks at this moment with the columns and bearing base fitted along with the finished pulley.





I am fairly sure that I have no other bits in stock that will allow me to do further work on this model. We have a railway exhibition at the NEC in the Midlands this coming weekend so I should get on with preparing the layout for it. I doubt I will find anything there that will allow me to do any work on the model in the near future.

Regards Tony.

Tony,

I've got to admit I do admire the way you can just develop an engine in your head from relatively random pieces of metal. Do you actually plan what it will look like, or just make a component from whatever you have just found.

Following with great interest.

Colin

Hi Colin,

Do you actually plan what it will look like, or just make a component from whatever you have just found.

I think mostly I see some thing like say a trivet and think it could be used as the bed plate of a model engine that might have been made in the late 1800's. It would be fairly easy to design and make the flywheel cylinders etcetera from scratch but it is a bit more fun trying to find and use bits that had a previous life. I really don't know how it will turn out other than it is likely to be like a half beam engine. To that end I will have to do a drawing to work out height and length of the beam which will give me an idea of what stroke I could use. So now I have to find some more possible components which might make it a totally different engine to what I am thinking of at the moment.

I was recently told: Tony. 'You find solutions and then invent problems for them'. My wife agreed and I didn't understand!

Regards Tony.

Hi,

I have found some material to make the beam from and I have decided to copy the main bearing stands that were made from candlesticks for the beam support. I did find another candle stick that I could use but I think it will look better if the bearing stands look the same.

Photographs so far of the beam being made.





Regards Tony.

Hi,

Today I made the support for the end of the beam. It is a bit shorter than the main bearing support but of a similar style.

First some hexagonal brass was turned to the correct height and shoulders turned on it to the finished diameter of the supports top and bottom. A threaded plug centre was fitted into the threaded hole made for the bearing. A nut was used as a holding point on the other end of the support which has a 0 BA thread.



The support was roughed out using a fixed tool.



The compound tool holder was removed from the saddle and a 'T' rest fitted.



A hand graver was then used to finish the support.



The work piece was turned around to finish its base.



The finished support with its bearing fitted.



The support with beam fitted to the engine.




SWBO hasn't missed the cutlery yet.

Regards Tony.

Now Tony, you didnt' make that beam from knife handles did you?

Naughty, naughty.*knuppel2*

Pete

Hi Pete,

Now Tony, you didn't' make that beam from knife handles did you?

Yes! The idea did come from the cutlery draw but the knifes came from a charity shop at 20p each which has added substantially to the cost of the engine with now stands at £9.38 paid in charity shops.

Oddly the knives purchased are know as bead edge design which is similar to the ones we do use.

Regards Tony.

Dang, that's getting to be a very expensive engine!

Rof}

Pete

Hi,

Other than making the big and small ends for the connecting rod and piston rod I can do little more until material for the cylinder arrives. However I have made the first drawing for the engine to work out the connecting rod length and the stroke when the type of cylinder is decided on. I have cleaned the trivet up a bit using citric acid to get rid of the staining caused by annealing the legs to get the trivet to stand flat.

Regards Tony.

Hi,

Today I made the big ends and their oil pots.






Regards Tony.