Ageless 9 and 18 Radial

[Bentwings]

I want to use an oven for the rings. Anybody have suggestions for a small tabletop oven that can be set at 1000F??

you might look into induction heaters regulating exact temp might be difficult but I think there are set table or adjustable ones these can heat a rusty old nut in a few seconds Amazon has a number listed
Byron

 

[rlo1]

Ordered a jeweler kiln. Should work perfect for this application

 

[paulc]

I just posted this thread on how I made my piston rings, using no heat or ovens, so with the absence of any heat treatment, you will have zero distortion.
I have not seen this method discussed before, take a look. I certainly worked for me.
https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/how-i-made-my-piston-rings-no-heat.33973/

 

[simonbirt]

I want to use an oven for the rings. Anybody have suggestions for a small tabletop oven that can be set at 1000F??

Hello,

I have a small oven which was made in Turkey
https://www.cooksongold.com/images-prod/855_1004_1.jpg
I imagine they are wildly available. It works really well and holds a steady temperature.

 

[stevehuckss396]

Years ago I bought a little paragon kiln. It has an electronic controller that held 1100 plus or minus 8 degrees for 3 hours. Says it can go to 2350F but I have never had it up to that.

You will want to soak those rings at 1100 for 3 hours

 

[rlo1]

Excellent info all! Thank you

 

[rlo1]

Made a bunch of pistons. Step 1 was the blank

Step 2 was the inside of the piston

step 3 was the ring grooves

step 4 was the oil ring holes and the piston pin hole

next is parting and finishing.

 

[rlo1]

Started rings this weekend.
step one was boring and od turning

Step two for the compression rings was parting.

 

[rlo1]

Also made the oil control rings.
Step one was the OD turning again

Step two was to drill all the oil ring holes. I used my micro arc 4th axis and a 0.03125 endmill to drill 240 holes in the tube.

After the holes were finished I grooved and parted the rings using my 15L lathe.

 

[rlo1]

My parting blade setup on the 15L

 

[rlo1]

I used an alignment jig prior to the piston hole drilling

 

[rlo1]

 

[rlo1]

Grooving and parting oil rings

 

[Vietti]

For what its worth, I hold the piston blank in a vertical square collet block in the vise, centered of course, once the internal machining is finished, lay the block down, rotate the block 90 degrees and drill the wrist pin hole, properly centered and square with the world. Quick and works good.

 

[Bentwings]

Made a bunch of pistons. Step 1 was the blank
View attachment 134809
Step 2 was the inside of the piston
View attachment 134810
step 3 was the ring grooves
View attachment 134811
step 4 was the oil ring holes and the piston pin hole
View attachment 134812
next is parting and finishing.

Nice work!
Byron

 

[rlo1]

Trying to understand the plans for the method to what you’re supposed to Cleve the rings prior to heat treatment. It does not make a lot of sense to me. The plans are not intuitive enough for me to figure out. Anybody have a good idea and the best method or technique to cleave these rings without destroying them?

 

[rlo1]

 

[Bentwings]

Nice work!
Byron

piston weight probably doesn’t mean much here except there are a lot of them
I’ll see if my son can take pictures of a race car piston . A lot more is machined out of them but if you are doing these manually it would be a lot of work to lighten these pistons significantly I don’t think it’s really necessary unless you want to run at high speeds .

Trying to understand the plans for the method to what you’re supposed to Cleve the rings prior to heat treatment. It does not make a lot of sense to me. The plans are not intuitive enough for me to figure out. Anybody have a good idea and the best method or technique to cleave these rings without destroying them?

well after breaking a lot of them in the race cars I YHINK the tiny scratch or grind mark is best. I break tungstens for TIG welding like this jus a nicknis all it takes a sharp edged back up block then equally sharp edge striking block right at the break line . A quick tap with hammer or striking object should pop throng easily . Mak a few experimental pieces first to get the process down. The gap is pretty smal as I recall . I suppose you could try a thin slitting saw but it might leave a rough cut areas. I just go for it myself . I YHINK it might be harder to get the good rings on the pistons withou breaking too many.
byron

 

[Bentwings]

piston weight probably doesn’t mean much here except there are a lot of them
I’ll see if my son can take pictures of a race car piston . A lot more is machined out of them but if you are doing these manually it would be a lot of work to lighten these pistons significantly I don’t think it’s really necessary unless you want to run at high speeds .
well after breaking a lot of them in the race cars I YHINK the tiny scratch or grind mark is best. I break tungstens for TIG welding like this jus a nicknis all it takes a sharp edged back up block then equally sharp edge striking block right at the break line . A quick tap with hammer or striking object should pop throng easily . Mak a few experimental pieces first to get the process down. The gap is pretty smal as I recall . I suppose you could try a thin slitting saw but it might leave a rough cut areas. I just go for it myself . I YHINK it might be harder to get the good rings on the pistons withou breaking too many.
byron

I finally found my new 1/4 40 TPI ME tap and die. I was all set to order another set i enemy had PMR esearch catalog out. I decided to make one more pas looking for it I don’t like doing this as it means moving things that are in logical positions but there it was in my steamer parts tray Uber a small plastic bag. Now where did I put it? I think back where I found it as I’m using the parts tray.” Remind me when I’ve misplaced it again .
Byron

 

[petertha]

Not sure if Ageless is the Trimble method, but Terry did an extensive writeup on his 18-cyl build for reference.
https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/another-radial-this-time-18-cylinders.21601/page-11