Hi ho from Southern Illinois

[Rocketcaver]

I have been lurking on here for some time, thought I would say hello.
I have the ever famous (or infamous) Grizzly mini lathe and similarly sized mini mill from MicroMark along with misc tooling for each. No rotary table yet though, as we have recently moved and have had to tighten the old money belt a few notches. I have had these machines for a few years and had lots of fun making small parts for work and around the farm. Now I have decided it's time to get off my duff and start making engines.
I have no training in machining, just what I have gleaned from books and several videos from Swarf Rat Productions. (I hope I am allowed to say that)
I have made the wobbler kit from LittleMachineShop (another plug, sorry), and a couple more similar ones from bits from the scrap bin. Now I am looking through Elmer's engine plans for something a little more challenging. I think I'll start with his Standby, as it's not much more complicated than a wobbler, after that I haven't decided. Having followed many excellent build threads here I am chomping at the bit to get into one of the more interesting engines, but am all too aware of my lack of skill and the need to start small and work my way up.
I suppose I need to finish insulating my workshop and get the heaters working, as winter (which is my prime shop time) seems about to settle in.
Thanks all for wading through my rambling introduction, and hope to "see" y'all on the forum.

 

[Philjoe5]

Welcome to the forum Rocketcaver. Sounds like you are starting where many of us did too. The videos and LMS come highly recommended from others as well. No problem mentioning vendors. We've all had good and bad vendor experiences. Pretty soon you come to realize which vendors rarely if ever end up on someones "Bad" List.

Another good beginners engine is the Mill Engine #3 from the HasBrouck site.

http://hasbrouck.8m.com/

It's not too difficult to make. It was the first engine I built and managed to get running.

Good luck

Phil

 

[starnovice]

Welcome! I would be interested in seeing you do a build thread on your experiences and lessons learned along the way. Good luck with your build.

 

[kvom]

SIU graduate here; grandmother lived down in Brookport across from Paducah. Welcome.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Welcome thanks for the introduction.
Tin

 

[Rocketcaver]

Thanks all for the nice welcomes.
I hadn't seen the HasBrouck site, thanks for the link. The #3 looks like something I would like to build. If I decide to try it I know where to come for advice.
I never attended SIU, but have been on campus many times and know Carbondale well. I live just about an hour's drive from there.

 

[skyline1]

Hi Rocketcaver

Welcome to the forum from "across the pond", I think you are at the most exciting (and frustrating) part of the hobby, just starting out and feeling your way so post about the successes and the failures. In fact especially the failures, chances are there is someone here who will say "Ah just the same mistake I made on my first one", and show you how they got around it.

Regards Mark

 

[Tin Falcon]

Rocketcaver:
Like Phil said you have started this journey in the same way many of us have. A grizzly lathe and a Micro mark mill . The same machines I have although have added a few over the years as well.
the McCabe runner is a nice one for a first or second build . Not an ocsillator but a simple design and easy to get running.

http://npmccabe.tripod.com/mccaberunner.htm

Here is my runner. One of my early builds.

Later I did Claire a see through version of the runner.

If you notice these are my interpretations of the design. this is another fairly popular engine design and one I recommend to those just getting started.
Tin

 

[Rocketcaver]

Thanks for posting those pics. I followed the link, and I think I have a copy of the plans that he based his engine on, or at least one very similar, as a few years ago I build my own version of an engine that uses the same valve arraignment. I used a piece of copper water pipe for the cylinder and an old cog salvaged from work as the flywheel, and turned down a bit of aluminum stock for the piston. It runs very well on breath power. I even built a small pot boiler for it and ran it on live steam for a while, but the boiler eventually rusted out as it was made from a spent hairspray can. It isn't much to look at but was a fun project, and my first running engine.