Building my "Radford Red Deere" Finished w/ Video

[Metal Butcher]

Having had a lot of other hobbies in the past I am wary of buring out, and generally limit my shop time to half a day at a time. I have to keep telling myself not to be in a hurry to finish any particular part.

Know what you mean!I got burned out a few times over the winter. I was having some sort of insane imaginary contest to see how many motors could be built before April 1st. It was a mad house of broken tooling and a scrap pile that any one would be proud of! I managed to survive the ordeal and learn from it.

With my rookie year behind me I eased up the self inflicted pressure and slowed down quite a bit. This new approach is working well and allowing plenty of time for my spring and summer hobbies.

BTW I got into off road ATV riding last year. I manage keep up with the young pups! They refer to me as that "crazy old guy". I feel honored!

-MB

 

[cfellows]

Going the extra distance is going to make this a fine looking engine. I particularly like the intake manifold - adds to the realism.

Chuck

 

[Metal Butcher]

1) I machined the two valve bodies from 360 brass. They were easy, strait-forward turnings done on the lathe. Earlier on in the build I changed the bolt locations on the cylinder and it’s head to accommodate the 4-40 screws I'll be using. These changes made it necessary to use a smaller 5/8’’ flange diameter and a smaller bolt pattern on the valve bodies. During the changes I decided that 2 screws in a vertical line would match the 2 and 4 bolt patterns used on the rest of the motor.

2) The valve stems were built up from two separate pieces of stainless steel pressed together along with Loc-tite. I machined two brass spring keepers instead of using plain washers. The 3/32" E-clips are Enco #325-2834 and the .240" dia x .020" wire x .500" long valve springs are Enco #240-0567. The O-rings are buna-n-70 1/4" x 3/8" x 1/16" industry standard #01-010.

3) The picture below shows one of the valves assembled for test fitting. The brass spring keeper below the E-clip is .240" in diameter with a 3/32" central hole. I stepped it down to .1875" x .020’’ long to fit inside the spring and keep it centered on the valve stem.

4) During the test installations of the valve assemblies, four O-rings were severely damaged. They are getting cut by the knife like edge shape created in the valve body bore by the angular intersection of the exhaust valve bore. De-burring and polishing these edges didn't eliminate the problem. It seems that the only solution is to install a sculptured filler rod down in the exhaust bore to block out the O-rings as they pass this intersection during assembly.

-MB

 

[cfellows]

Lookin better and better, MB!

Those o-rings can be boogers to get in without damaging them.

Chuck

 

[radfordc]

You only need to cut up a couple more o-rings and you will be even with me!

Charlie

 

[Metal Butcher]

1) Hi to all the wonderfull members of HMEH. It's good to be back! With summer gone its time to get back down to the shop and pick up where I left off at the beginning of summer. The completed parts of this engine build were found on my bench just the way I left them. After a little head scratching I picked up where I left off.

I machined (end milled) the cam as one piece in the MD using a 5C spin fixture. This made the 90 degree offset simple and accurate. Moved the work to the lathe to drill and ream the 1/8" hole for its shaft before parting it off.

2) The cam was attached with loc-tite to its shaft.

3) the complete camshaft assembly showing the bushings that will go through the crankcase. The gear and E-clip will keep it centered in position.

4) The intermediate (center) gear is a running fit held in place with an E-clip on the 1/8" shaft. With the other two gears mounted I used the gear held in place to locate the shaft center line using a pointed edge finder in the gear shaft hole.

5) All three gears installed for a test fit. The gear fit seems right on, with smooth mesh.
This was a big concern for me.

An old friend used to say "99% of the things you worry about already happened, or never will"

Summer was a lot of fun, but it's no substitute for the time I enjoy in my shop.

It's good to be back!
-MB

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Huh? You were gone? :big: Sorry. ;D

I'm a little lost. (Don't say it!). I did a quick run through the thread...but didn't see anything about the gears (I might have missed it)...they look really good. Did you make them?

How about a quick 'when last we left our hero' so I can catch up?

 

[Metal Butcher]

Huh? You were gone? :big: Sorry. ;D

I'm a little lost. (Don't say it!). I did a quick run through the thread...but didn't see anything about the gears (I might have missed it)...they look really good. Did you make them?

How about a quick 'when last we left our hero' so I can catch up?

The gears are Robinson Racing. Charlie Radford (radfordc) provides the part numbers in the plans he drew up based on cfellows original design and thread - "Chuck's John Deere."

The plans are in "file repository":

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item191

Heres a link to when I left for the summer.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=4707.0

 

[radfordc]

Well, look who's back. Like you I've been out of the shop for a long time. Too much time playing with the plane, riding the Shadow, etc. Also trips to England, Ireland, Iceland, and Korea. Now it's almost duck season so the machines will have to wait till after that.

Charlie

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Wow. Thanks for that MB. You were taking a vacation just as I was joining.
Thanks very much for the link. Very nice work there.

 

[Metal Butcher]

Well, look who's back. Like you I've been out of the shop for a long time. Too much time playing with the plane, riding the Shadow, etc. Also trips to England, Ireland, Iceland, and Korea. Now it's almost duck season so the machines will have to wait till after that.

Charlie

While you go for that duck I'll try and finish up this leftover build.

Shadow! Nice weather Thusday I might uncover the Yami!

Your corrupting me. :big:

-MB

 

[Maryak]

MB,

Welcome back and with great trepidation...........................What's a YAMI ???

Best Regards
Bob

 

[gmac]

Motorcyclist speak for Yamaha - similar to my Kawi - Kawasaki... ;D

Garry

 

[cfellows]

Welcome back, MB. Always nice to see your posts and pictures.

Chuck

 

[Metal Butcher]

I machined the rockers, their mounting block, the supporting feet and wood bases. An attempt at a test run proved to be a disaster! The motor refused to run! I discovered the previously mounted crank and cam gears were reversed (see previous post and picture). After correcting my memory mishap the engine was painted and assembled. The motor runs well with 15 to 25 lbs of air pressure. With air pressure above or below it stalls out. Most of my motors run well with 1 to 2 lbs air pressure leaving me somewhat disappointed with this build. The motor has been apart so many times in the last few days that the paint is beginning to chip and wearing off. Rather than dwelling on where I made my mistake(s) its been shelved for display. I guess it could be worse. It does run! Its time to move on and plan the first project of the up coming build season that starts for me on Nov. 1st.

Below are the final pictures of the assembled motor.

-MB

-MB

 

[cfellows]

Beautiful workmanship, as always. Don't be disappointed with the pressure it requires. All my engine designs that use the spring loaded, slave exhaust valve require more pressure to run. That's because of the pressure required to displace the spring loaded exhaust valve. It also makes the exhaust note louder (and more pleasing).

The fact that it stalls at higher pressure makes me think that your cam dwell is too long or perhaps the timing is too slow. The inlet valve needs to close well before bottom dead center to give the exhause valve time to return to it's home position. Stronger slave valve springs would probably also correct that problem, but then it would require more pressure to get it going. It could also be that you have a leak around the inlet valve assemblies. This would also tend to keep the exhaust valves closed too long.

I prefer that my engines tick over at a nice, slow but steady idle. The full sized John Deere tractor engines after which this engine is modeled had a top RPM of around 1,000 - 1,200, depending on the model.

Chuck

 

[Bill Mc]

Hi Metal Butcher - It was worth the wait. Your engine has turned out beautifully. The Completed photos are equally nice. Congratulations. I think you have a chance for 'Project Of The Month'.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

It's a beautful engine.
Shelved for display?!
Any chance of a video of it running?

 

[Metal Butcher]

It's a beautful engine.
Shelved for display?!
Any chance of a video of it running?

I'll see if I can get some help with that video you requested.

Not a promise, but I will do my best.

-MB

 

[Metal Butcher]

Below is a short video of my running "Radford Red Deere." The first part of the video, the motor is running at about 20 PSI, and then increased to about 25 PSI.

[youtube=425,350]YG1ALeuTxZc[/youtube]

-MB