Anthony Davies Fire Eater Engine

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Shipdisturber

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I have started a build by the name you see above. I already attempted something like this based on his plans but as usual I thought I had a better idea and it didn't turn out. I will say one thing for that build was it did turn over a couple of times on it's own but the valve system I made would sometimes hang up. Today I cut down that same cylinder to two inches long and tried my line boring bar for the first time. Not good, even though the tool seemed solid enough it still chattered and made a rough looking cut. I then tried my smaller finer boring tool and got much better results but in the end found some interesting things. During my cuts the bit would make some noise like it was hitting a hard spot in a couple of locations which I hoped would be OK. Once I had a smooth looking cut I removed it from the chuck and had a look down the bore, the pictures will show you what I saw, any input is welcome please. Has anyone run into hard spots in Brass? I have run into that when turning brake drums but they have a good reason for hard spots. I've now started on an aluminium cylinder hopefully I'll have better luck.
 

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Found a piece of aluminium that was round and drilled out to 5/8 of and inch I then finished the bore till it was shiny. I started machining the fins on the cylinder next. Because I didn't have a centre point big enough for the bore I couldn't use mine, the cutting bit grabbed and pushed the cylinder over and stopped my lathe. I don't think it distorted the bore but I haven't checked yet, that will be last. I went a little easier on cutting the fins after that and I think they will be good enough. Next on to the El-cheapo milling machine another learning experience.
 
Milling the valve face on the cylinder. I am learning just what my El Cheapo milling machine can do. First lesson do not place work in a vice that will allow the work to roll or tip, hence the awful first cuts. 2. Have an accurate way to measure how deep your cuts are (next thing to fix) otherwise you get lots of chatter when too deep. 3. Always make shallow cuts in the same direction, makes a much nicer job and your mistakes are easier to fix.
 

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Finished learning how to cut that particular cylinder a lesson I hope I don't forget before I discover a new way to botch things up. One thing that is essential for an El Cheapo milling machine is a good set of files as you can see from the last picture. So far this looks good, I'll keep you posted on my progress.
 

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The cylinder went well and the head is in the rough stages. I drilled five holes in the head and cylinder and was in the process of tapping the last hole in the cylinder while saying in my head "don't break don't break" of course when I'm almost done the tap breaks off in the hole. Once the tears dried and the cussing stopped, I thought maybe this can still work. Because it doesn't run on combustion there is no compression, so no real pressure against the head just vacuum. I think the four bolts would be enough and if I put some Loctite 609 between the head and cylinder that should be good.
 

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Good sliding fit and holds in place when I cover one end with my thumb.
 
Right now it's on hold until I get my Smithy lathe/mill up and running.
 

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