Brian does Ridders flame eater

[CFLBob]

This mornings work yields a pretty little brass flywheel. The best thing about it was that the material was "left over" from the Stirling engine. I try and salvage every little short left over piece of material that I can.

That's pretty.

One of the pains of this hobby is buying metals to work on. I just did an order with Online Metals for parts that will end up in my Duclos engine and really hit a brick wall looking for 3-1/2" aluminum for the flywheel. The smallest piece I could get from Online Metals was $65 - for like an 11" cutoff scrap that I'd need to cut 1" off. I found a guy on eBay that would sell 1" slice for $12 - $7 for the cutoff and $5 for shipping. If I had that brass you had, you'd better believe I'd be using it just like you did.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

CFLBob--Whenever I need little bits of this or that, I buy a foot of it. It keeps the metal supplier from going crazy, and the stuff I have left over from each build always finds its way into the next build. Even at that, the average "little engine" I build costs me about 50 to 100$. By the time you buy the material and the bearings and any other bits necessary, it adds up. That is why I sell my engine plans. It's never going to make me rich, but it does help with the cost of material.---Brian

 

[Brian Rupnow]

And to wind up the day--A couple of "in process" shots of the 316 stainless cylinder.

 

[el gringo]

Brian, is it possible to purchase your 'imperialized' plans? I have Ridders metric drawings of this enginne but I hate to translate as I go during the build as I have with his nice drawings the past.
Ray M

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Brian, is it possible to purchase your 'imperialized' plans? I have Ridders metric drawings of this enginne but I hate to translate as I go during the build as I have with his nice drawings the past.
Ray M

Ray--I've been thinking about that one. The plans are certainly the intellectual property of Jan Ridders. However, It took me over a days work to model everything and create inch friendly versions of the plans. I think it would be okay for me to sell the inch version of the plans, as long as the purchaser is aware that I didn't come up with the original design in the first place. I would advise you to wait until I finish building the engine, because I quite frequently change the plans as the engine is built, if I see a better or easier way of doing something. I will have the engine finished probably within the next two weeks, and the drawings all updated by then. Contact me at [email protected] when you see that I have the engine finished. The cost will be $25 Canadian funds, paid to Paypal

 

[el gringo]

Thank you, I understand and look forward to your finish...should I do the paypal thing now?
I am also very interested in the imperial conversion of his 'puppy mk2'

 

[Brian Rupnow]

No, don't pay any money until my engine is finished and the drawings properly updated. Just watch this thread. When you see my engine running, then do the Paypal thing.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I like my cylinders so much better when they can stand on their own two legs----Said legs are made of cold rolled steel, and still require a fit of polishing to get a really good finish.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

This morning I whittled out a pair of crankshaft bearing stands. Nothing too exotic, but it'll do. I don't have the bearings yet that fit into the stands. I don't know if I have material for the baseplate or not---Will have to search my odds and sods basket to see.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

VOILA!!! We have a base for our flame eater engine. I was supposed to go across town today to my "real job" but got a last minute reprieve by email. I hope my bearings come in today.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

In the above picture you can see the chatter marks made by my parting off tool when cutting the fins. Other than a narrow file, does anybody have a better way to get rid of these chatter marks?

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I spent the lions share of today making a crankshaft, a crank throw and con-rod big end pin. I called about my bearings but they won't be in until tomorrow. I also drilled the 1/8" hole for the valve rod full length of the cylinder---You can see a 1/8" piece of cold rolled setting in the hole.

 

[WSMkid]

As always it's looking great.

You will have her running in no time.

GJ

 

[Brian Rupnow]

As always it's looking great.

You will have her running in no time.

GJ

Thanks GJ--I just watched about two dozen videos of this engine on Jan Ridders website, all built by different people. They seem to be great runners.--Brian

 

[WSMkid]

Thanks GJ--I just watched about two dozen videos of this engine on Jan Ridders website, all built by different people. They seem to be great runners.--Brian

I enjoy watching these little gulpers run. There is one floating around on YouTube that looks to have about a 2" bore and 10-12" flywheels. I've watched that video many times wishing I had the setup/time to build one.

Are you using ball bearings with the seals removed on this one? Wasn't sure what type of bearing you were waiting on. (Thinking back to time engine you tried a needle bearing.)

GJ

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I don't think you can even buy bearings without seals now. My bearings will be sealed single race ball bearings. I will remove the seals and wash out all of the factory grease. Then, depending on how freely the flywheel rotates I MAY add a bit of light oil.

 

[WSMkid]

I will remove the seals and wash out all of the factory grease.

Sorry, this is what I was referring to.

GJ

 

[rlukens]

In the above picture you can see the chatter marks made by my parting off tool when cutting the fins. Other than a narrow file, does anybody have a better way to get rid of these chatter marks?

I can't speak from experience, with that particular issue but...
I'll often put a piece of rag between a countersink and the part before cutting. Old trick that always prevents chatter. I've never tried it with a parting tool.
Of course you know that a solid set-up is a must. Beyond that speeds and feeds?

 

[Dalee]

Hi,

Open bearings are readily available. And I think are pretty necessary for this engine.

I ordered mine off of eBay. The 3mm ones were dirt cheap, .77¢ for 10pcs. The 10mm cost me a dollar for two.

 

[el gringo]

I am working on my third 'flamegulper' type engine.This one being the POPPIN. I am using ball bearings because of design criteria. The first two, Duclos "little blazer' and the larger 'flame eater' both use bronze bearings and run very well.
I am using shielded ball bearings on the POPPIN main and rocker shaft.
https://youtu.be/V0DCyjwoFTs

I feel ball bearings might be overkill and if sleeve bearings are properly made and installed will work just fine on these engines if the overall design is efficient enough.

Southbend did well on my old 9", babbit bearings although later upgrading to 'frictionless' brgs.

I broke open some of the cheapo bearings and looked at the balls through magnification, kinda like the surface texture of the moon.

Have used Bocabearing in the past with positive results.

Ray M