.60 airplane engine

[bikedude987]

Hi, all!

First, I'd like to introduce myself. I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Northern Arizona University, graduating in may. Then it's out into the real world of job searching...

I have been fabricating for about 5 years and machining for about 3. This is my first large machining project where everything is machined, and to tight tolerances and surface finishes. It is also my first engine.

I am building it as a project for advanced CAD/CAM, in which I am currently enrolled. The parts made for the class must use CNC with code generated manually or by using Camworks.

I am building the .60 plane engine from plans found on this site. There were some missing dim's and it is very basic so there are some significant changes, namely to the crankcase, conrod, and cylinder.

I am mainly using a prolight1000 benchtop cnc mill, a manual bridgeport series 1(?) knee mill, and a monarch 13" engine lathe.
Thanks to all here who have inspired me and given me advice, albeit trolled advice...

I will post pictures when I get a chance, as they are not transferred from my camera yet.

 

[Maryak]

Bd987

Welcome to our forum wEc1

Best Regards
Bob

 

[bikedude987]

Sorry for the long delay, apparently my home computer will only upload one photo at a time to photobucket... so I got on a school machine and we're good to go.

First I'll introduce the machines I have at my disposal (they are the college's ).

A Prolight1000 benchtop cnc mill.

A 1953 Air Force timed out Monarch 13" engine lathe.

and an old Bridgeport knee mill with DRO

all the machines are pretty clapped out, but they are better than nothing...

First to make was the piston outside features

then to the prolight to hog out the inside

then the wrist pin hole

my drawings were a mix of this and Solidworks generated drawings

 

[bikedude987]

Then on to the cylinder sleeve, made from an old Jeep camshaft. Turns out it would eat carbide before I tried to anneal it...with great success.

then into the mill to get the ports. messed up on the first exhaust and spotted it at the same height as the intake. not much went through though, just a weird shaped hole...

next was the crankshaft. turned on the lathe...

then into the prolight for some fancy while loop code

 

[bikedude987]

Then onto the connecting rod.

then flipped and aligned

all together

still needed to make the port in the crank

 

[bikedude987]

Then for the aluminum bits... picking up stock on my moto.

and cutting on the horizontal

starting the crankcase

onto the supermax cnc mill

done

starting the cylinder

I hate finning...actually sheared one around half the base.

con ports

 

[bikedude987]

next: the bearing block

here's how it stands next to a cold one...

jb weld the liner in

all the parts, plus studs

got the glow plug in

I have the carb, needs an adapter, and the exhaust... and I think I will try making a ring for it as well.

Until next time...

 

[wheeltapper]

I really really hope you are not going to leave the cylinder head nuts like that.

I was enjoying this build until I got to that last couple of pics.
they look a little like that'l do to me.

the rest looks good.


just my two pence.
Roy

 

[nfk]

Nice work!
I will be a runner for sure!
Are you planning to use it in a model?

I agree with Roy, you need to change those nuts! I think it will look great by just adding a recess and some nice and shiny blind nuts

Norberto

 

[S3MIH3MI]

I really really hope you are not going to leave the cylinder head nuts like that.

I was enjoying this build until I got to that last couple of pics.
they look a little like that'l do to me.

the rest looks good.


just my two pence.
Roy

I agree. Maybe a cap to flatten out the surface for the 4 nuts. There is more then enough thread sticking out.

The rest looks great.

 

[Estaban]

The engine is coming along nicely...looking forward to seeing it done....nice Monarch too!!!

 

[steamin]

Looks like you are having a lot of fun. It reminds me of some of the good times I had in my shop classes back in high school. May I offer these suggestions. Counterbore the holes on the top of the cylinder head so a washer and nut will have 100% contact with the head and to incorporate some ball bearings on the shaft or at the very least a self lubricating bronze sleeve bearing. Bare aluminum does not make a very good bearing surface for high rpm's. It will gal up and seize in a heart beat. Thank you for sharing and I will be watching for the run results.

 

[bikedude987]

Haha...the stub nuts look 'that'l do' because, well, they are. I completely agree they look shitty, and will probably be counterbored in the near future.

as for the bearings/bronze bushing, it would be nice, but i doubt it will be a runner, more likely a conversation piece on the desk. I will try to get it to run, but past one run, i doubt i'll ever fire it again. too many other things I would rather do (like make a different engine!)

As it is, I don't have a lot of time as working on machining my capstone project...so I'll get back to this when I can.

 

[Lamachina58]

Fun looking project! What are you building for your capstone project if I may ask?

 

[bikedude987]

Sure, It is a measurement fixture that will be installed as a quality control measure after injection molding of wind turbine blades (fiber reinforced plastic of unknown variety...). It will measure the angle of attack at the tip compared to the mounting surface.

I wanted to do mini baja, but oh well....