Briesch Hired Man or not?

[Generatorgus]

I purchased this kit a couple of months ago at an engine show, it has already been partially machined by it's former owner, a friend who has unfortunatley passed away, I bought it from his wife.
I'm sure it's an Associated hired man, but it's smaller than the kits that I've read about in this forum, IE: Briesch; 1/3 Associated Tips and Tricks « 1 2 and castings: Briesch « 1 2 » .
Is it a Briesch model? It has the "B" cast in the block, flywheels are 4 1/4" ,the stroke is about an inch with 5/16 crank dia. The base measures 4 5/8 x 2 5/8. The kit came with all the parts shown in the pictures, except the plate and shims I attached in order to mill the base (I was not at all ready to start machining it yet as I don't feel I have enough experience, but it looked so easy in the posts, I gave it a shot and it worked). I'm pretty sure the two items bottom left of the second picture don't belong, but they were in the box.
Long story short, the kit also came without plans, I borrowed a set for the larger model from a friend, but I can't scale it down as the ratios I get when I compare my parts with the drawings vary to widely. So the place to start is to find out who made this kit and then try to obtain a set.

I really enjoy this website and I've been reading many different posts with a wealth of information and hands on how to's from a bunch of freindly folks who are very knowlageable and ready to help a newbie like myself. I'm sure that sooner or later I'll get the courage to actually get to work on this kit, but I feel that I should gain more experience on something scratch built berfore I start hacking away on valuable castings.

 

[jim hay]

Hi Generatorgus
That is indeed a Briesch casting kit, it is the Little Brother. Jim

 

[Metal Butcher]

Generatorgus, I can't help out with the castings. But I recognize two parts shown in the second picture, lower left hand corner, just above the ruler. The round ball with curved rod, and the small brass flywheel are for a small rotary valve single cylinder engine. The plans were shown in Home Shop Machinist or Projects in Metal many years ago. The round ball piston was pushed up with air pressure and gravity brought it down, the curved rod was connected to a crank disc at the back of the motor.

I recognized the parts because I built one. Click on the link to my engine pictures. Its picture B) Upper Right. The engine is the 2nd one from the right.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=8849.0

-MB

 

[Generatorgus]

Jim, thanks for the kit ID, now I can get on with the plans search.
MB, Thanks also for the spare parts ID and your post showing all of those beautiful engines, and the excellent closeup photos, lots of ideas there.

I'm getting the urge to start working on this model, even without the right plans, but I think that might work out badly. I'll be content, for now, just to drill the mounting and dowel pin holes in the base and mounting plate, and those will be layed out with the approximate scale ratio, which I came up with when I averaged all of the ratios of the parts measurements as compared to the set of plans I borrowed. Looks like it will work? :-\
GUS

 

[Brian Thomas]

I know this thread is kinda old, but I have found the needed plans on ebay several times. There is a set listed now. I dont have the number but if you seach and use "plans" in the search it should come up.
Brian.

 

[Jadecy]

I own the plans, patterns, and rights to produce the little brother. We have new castings for this model and they will be available at the N.A.M.E.S. show next weekend. We do not have them listed on our site yet. I will have a running model at our booth.

Executive model Design - Doug Cvelbar