Horizontal Steam Engine

[Jack B]

I have been working on this engine for a while now. The plans that I am using were published in the Live Steam magazine which I had a subscription to back in 1984. The project was published in May of 1984. The designer was Mr. Rudy Kouhoupt.
The machines I am using are all used and old. The cutoff saw which is an Asian import about thirty years old came from a yard sale. My lathe is a 12 inch Clausing about 1976 vintage. It came from a machine auction. The vertical miller is an Index circa 1951. It was a gift from a friend. The power feeds were removed from it but it is very accurate. I don't have a rotary table but I do have a very old Kearney & Trecker 10 inch dividing head also a gift from another friend which fills in as my RT. A small tool grinder about thirty years old and a ancient Buffalo No 15 drill press both from a machine auction round out the machines that I use.
This is the first engine model I have ever attempted. This is also my first post on this forum so I am keeping my fingers crossed all will go well. Below is a picture of my bench I call the command center. Jack

 

[hitandmissman]

That should turn out to be a real nice engine. Keep up the good work.

 

[Jack B]

I am feeling my way along on these first couple of posts. I have the square piece of steel being trued in the four jaw chuck. I plan on cutting one half of each wheel for the first step.

 

[4156df]

Jack,
That's a great start. Super photos, super write-up. Thanks for sharing. Always fun to watch one of Rudy's engines come together.
Dennis

 

[zeeprogrammer]

Welcome to the forum Jack.
If you get a chance, maybe post something in the Welcome thread and tell us more about yourself.
But anyway...great start and looking forward to more.

 

[Jack B]

Starting to do some turning. Using an old carbide cutter that has been hanging around here to do the rough cuts.

I am going to switch to a highspeed tool bit to do some plunge cutting on the wheel blanks. I am holding the camera in one hand to get a time exposure for a spark effect. Oh Oh it moved a little.

 

[Jack B]

Time to do some drilling and boring. I grind just about all of my lathe tools on the little red grinder.

The small boring bar will true the inside diameter with the outside diameter. I am following up with a reamer just to clean the feathers out and keep all me holes the exact size.

 

[Jack B]

Thinking ahead I will be needing a table on my dividing head to make a rotary table out of it. It's that hexagon shape in the four jaw chuck right now. I have mounted one wheel blank with some small holes I drilled in both pieces. The wheel blank is centered by a pin that goes through the holding device. The holes are in a position that will be cut out when the spokes are machined. Each wheel and spokes will be one piece. This should keep my wheel blanks concentric as I finish them in the lathe. Thank you all for your encouraging words. I will put more pictures on later today. Jack

 

[kvom]

It's that hexagon shape in the four jaw chuck right now

Looks more like an octagon, but still a nice start. ;D

 

[Jack B]

Yup!!!! It's an octagon. Here are the clamps I made that will be used throughout the project. This is a scratch build I didn't have any castings. At one point I even made 2-56 long screws on the lathe. The stock is just accumulated odd or scrap ends.

the clamps are holding the wheel blank on the fixture. I have the travel limits set to cut to dept on the inside and outside hub.

 

[Metal Butcher]

Hi Jack, and welcome to the forum.

Nice start on you build.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I can't seem to find a mention of which one of Rudy's models your building.

-MB

 

[Jack B]

I have now mounted my rotary table jig in the four jaw chuck on the K & T dividing head. I am truing it up for center of circular motion. Then I will raise it to an upright position.

Next I have it upright and starting to zero it in. You can get a good look at the large K & T dividing head. The final tuning will be done with an indicator.

I am now starting to drill the six locating holes for the spokes.

 

[bearcar1]

Hello Jack, welcome. Those old machines are like ones favorite shirt or an old pair of loafers, they are just comfortable and feel good being around. If I may be so bold, my I make a suggestion, I notice that your Clausing lathe has a 'square'-ish headstock as does my South Bend. From a safety standpoint this was not the best engineering idea, as it is all too easy to turn that surface into an elevated table that all too often is utilized as a place to park things such as tools etc. (ahem) Get yourself in the habit resisting the urge to do so, even if yours has what appears to be a recess specifically made for that very usage. If something were to get accidentally bumped or just plain vibrate off that high perch and get launched by the chuck, the end results could easily be at best a new hole in the wall, the worst, well, lets just say would probably hurt a lot. This is just my suggestion for yours or anyones considerations. Thanks.

BTW, that engine should be a great thread to follow, keep up the good work.

BC1
Jim

 

[Deanofid]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I can't seem to find a mention of which one of Rudy's models your building.

-MB

MB, it looks like the Kouhoupt engine I'm working on now. Rudy just called it Horizontal Steam Engine.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=6474.0

Dean

 

[Jack B]

That's right Dean and MB. If you look at my first picture you can see a photo of in on the blue magizine cover. I have also listed the date and issue in the first post. I retired in 1993 and that was when I planned to build this engine. But other things got in the way so I am a little late getting started. Dean I think that even though you and I are building the same machine our methods are different. Your's looks great. Jack

 

[Jack B]

Hi Jim Thanks for the kind words of concern. I will take your advise and try to keep the top clean. Jack

 

[Deanofid]

So's yours, Jack. Nice old iron you have in your shop, too. And wow, that's a whackin' big divider you've got there! Nice one.

Dean

 

[Jack B]

I am now setting up the jig to hold the wheel blank. A lot of figuring went into this setup. Each spoke has an outside and inside radius along the side edges of the spoke. All the dimensions are on the print and it is up to the machinist to visualize where to mount the wheel and make the cut. The plugs sticking up locate the wheel blank. To be sure I was in the right place I made a scriber, that fit into the spindle of the miller. I dragged this over the blank to layout where my cuts would be.

 

[Jack B]

I am now making cuts just using the K&T as a rotary table. I have laid out degree stops in chalk on the four jaw chuck . They coincide with the degree indicator at the bottom right side of the dividing head. I have marked the different stops with colored pencils as you can see by the green yellow and pink marks.

Here is a good shot of the cuts being made.

 

[Jack B]

This is a good shot of the progress so far. I left the little extra bump on the spokes so they wouldn't look like all the others. I thought, that shape gave them a Winged Mercury look denoting speed. I also left some extra stock near the inside of the wheel. I hope it will be just raised enough to look like a casting support. I plan to make other comedic changes as I continue the build. Jack