Building one of Rudy's steamers

[Deanofid]

Thanks again, fellows, for the support, and occasional ribbing.
: )

A few shots today, of what was actually done yesterday. I had a little 1 1/2" X 1/2" poplar
that looked decent, and was the kind that had been finished with hard square edges. I don't
know what that finish is called, but you know how 2 X 4's have kind of rounded corners when
you buy them at the lumber yard? Well, it's not like that.

So, got out the ol' wood working tools.
This represents the sum total of my wood shop. I cut four pieces of the wood to an appropriate
length, then glued them together butcher block style to make a bigger piece of tree. Then put it
in the milling machine, (which is made for real metal!) and milled everything square, flat, etc. It
was hard to do, because the dials on my milling machine are not calibrated in sixteenths of an inch..

The horror...

The horror.

There it is. Still a piece of wood.
It got some stain, but no pics of that. Would be like watching paint dry.
Now the milling machine has to be taken apart and cleansed, blessed, and oiled.

I expect to have a video by New Year, (USA Pacific time!), for all the nice folks who have been
following this for so long.

Thanks again for checking in.

Dean

 

[Twmaster]

The HORROR!!!

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Thanks again, fellows, for the support, and occasional ribbing.

Who's ribbing you? Somebody ribbing you? There's no call to be ribbing you. ;D

There it is. Still a piece of wood.

Uh....isn't it supposed to be? What am I missing? Am I missing something? I NEED TO LEARN!!! ;D

Looking forward to the video.

This is a great thread. Quality work, educational, fun...
And I'm not ribbing. ;D ;D

 

[cobra428]

Zee,
I was ribbing Dean. I sent him some thin mahogany and walnut to make his lagging out of. So it was an inside joke.
Dean, Ya done good on the base!!

Tony

 

[ksouers]

Now the milling machine has to be taken apart and cleansed, blessed, and oiled.

Uh, shouldn't you have to sacrifice a chicken or something, too?

Seriously, fantastic build, Dean. Thank you.
(I'm finally starting to catch up on the build logs again...)

 

[NickG]

Dean,

I have to say the wooden base looks ... well, wooden!

No seriously, you've done a great job on that, you didn't have to show us those gory pics of it being mashed into shape on the milling machine though did you !

Looking good.

Nick

 

[Deanofid]

Sorry folks. I had to show what happens when you play with wood. It's everywhere in
the milling machine, and I really do need to tear it down.
It's like when your parents told you "Don't take the marijuana", but in this case it's,
"Don't do wood!". "This is your brain on maple..."

: )


One more thing! The wooden base looked okay with the engine mounted, but didn't look
like it was very substantial. So, not wanting to sully the milling machine again with "that stuff",
I went to a store that sells what seems to me like usless stuff, and found this:

I guess my mother or sisters would think it was pretty, but to me, it said, "I need paint", so
I painted it. I used a color that looks similar to the color on a lot of builds here, but not because
of anything other than I already had that color. I have a whole lathe painted in this green color,
and had some left over. It does look good on engines.

We are having a little blizzard going on today, and my first try at painting it didn't go so well,
with the snow flakes flying around and landing on it. So, after it dried, I sanded the bumps left
in it from the snow flakes, and tried again. This time I did it in the bathroom. Turned on the
exhaust fan, opened the shower curtain, and sprayed it in the shower. I kind of like a green
shower stall...

(Needless to say, there is no one in the house to complain. If I had been, I suppose I would
soon be single again, after someone saw the new shower color.)



Okay! It's done. No video until I get back from supper.

Hold tight. Video soon. Hour or two. I only promised to have it by New Years, so I'm ahead of

schedule, the way I'm thinking.

Thanks again for looking!

Dean

 

[cobra428]

Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean,
Absolutely Magnificent.
But do you know how much better it would have looked with a walnut lagging! (inside joke folks) Rof} Rof} Rof} :hDe:

You have done a marvelous job. And sorry for the ribbing. I will have to give a seminar on how to do lagging. I have to do my PM-1. I just have to find a way to cut some brass sheetmetal straps (notcher, oh yeah, if I can find one less then a $1000).

The bride's going to miss the orniment.

Tony

 

[4156df]

Dean,
Beautiful job. Thanks for taking the time to post the build.
Dennis

 

[Deanofid]

Here's the video, all, and well before midnight, (here).
Sorry for the color cast. I had suggested to someone else to try setting the white balance on
their camera to get rid of weird colors on back grounds and such, and here I am with strange
colors. What a hypocrite!

There were so many nice folks that took time out of their day to make comments, suggestions,
ask questions, and generally being just flat-out nice, that looking over all the posts to this build
thread, I'm kind of overwhelmed by it all.

Most sincerely, I thank you all very kindly!



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xarUbGBE2mA[/ame]

The engine is running on about 5psi in the vid, but the regulator on my storage tank is going
south, and it's a little erratic. You can see it increasing and decreasing in rpm in the flick, as
the regulator tries (unsuccessfully) to keep a steady pressure. I have a new one coming.

I'll have a couple more vids for this engine with it actually running something. Probably will get
them up tomorrow morning, and they will be put in the "Photos and Videos" section. Hope some
of you will get a kick out of those.

Again, thank you, all!
Happy Near Year.

Dean

 

[joe d]

Dean

That's a beauty! Too bad about the wood base, but as a long-time wood-worker I've got to tell you that you should try to avoid working with green wood, it'll warp & cup and all sorts of things.... :big: :big:

Seriously, really nice job, I've enjoyed following along, thanks!

Joe

 

[ksouers]

Hey Dean. Congratulations on such a nice runner :bow:

She's definitely a beauty!

 

[Metal Butcher]

Beautiful work Dean! Congratulations on your successful build! :bow: :bow: :bow:

That's was a very complex project, and you put a lot of hard work and time into it. I visited your build thread frequently during its construction and was always amazed by your abilities and machining techniques.

I also like the genuine scale "steam engine" look along with the curved spoke flywheels. A truly "classic" and timeless style.

Did you know that the stunning green color you picked is a favorite of mine. ;D

-MB

 

[thayer]

Congratulations Dean, that is glorious! I didn't think I would have one of these on my list so soon, but that is great! I love how it slows down to almost nothing.

Thayer

 

[Maryak]

Dean,

Great job and great sound. :bow: :bow:

Best Regards
Bob

 

[Twmaster]

Absolutely magnificent. I'd bow to the west but my back hurts like hell.

 

[Deanofid]

Dean

That's a beauty! Too bad about the wood base, but as a long-time wood-worker I've got to tell you that you should try to avoid working with green wood,
Joe

Heck, Joe, when it comes to working with wood, I'm the one that green.

Kevin, thank you!

MB, thank you for the kind remarks and support. Yea, that green paint is more up your alley. The stuff I used was leftover from a lathe painting job some time back, and had a little left in one of the cans. Called Ace Sage Green, from the hardware store.

Thayer, thank you, too!.. It's a good one to put on the to-do list. Rudy's plans are very good.

Bob, thanks a bunch!

Mike thank you. You take care of that bad back, now!

I have one other video of it running that I made a couple of weeks ago when I was getting it tuned up, getting the valve timing and eccentric throw in the right place on the crankshaft. Just a short clip from when it was still not all put together:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b973DN0aa1o[/ame]

Two more coming tomorrow that I think a few will enjoy.

Dean

 

[NickG]

Dean,

WOW! It looks fantastic :bow: and it runs so smoothly, brilliant project, thanks for sharing, it was very interesting and people will have learned a lot.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[ozzie46]

Yeeeaaaahhhh Dean. Looks great and runs great.

Ron

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Awesome Dean. Just wonderful.
And an awesome thread. So many learnings, tips, and techniques...and great fun too.
I can't wait for the next build.
Thank you for a wonderful trip.


Ribbing....ohhhhhhh....