"How to Build model Engines" the Book

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I am following your suggestion and started reading the Paddleduck book. You are right, it is excellent, and satisfies many of the needs for engine building. I will be attempting to learn silver soldering by following that chapter.
Perhaps I should do much more digging and reading before I open my mouth suggesting the need for things. My apologies to all if I wasted your time and forum space.
Of course, one advantage of a book would be the ease of seeing all of the topics in an easily accessed place without reading many pages on the forum.
I will continue to compile my own notebook printouts of juicy builds like those of Steve and George and others. And, I will be reading many of the others listed by Tin.
Thanks again for your patience with this hatchling.
Mosey
 
Troutsqueezer said:
A couple of years ago, some may remember, a forum member who went by the name "BigBore" took it upon himself to take some of the build threads going on at the time and cull the impertinent posts, then combine what was left into a cohesive pdf document then post it in the Downloads section. It appeared he was getting quite a bit of enjoyment from this activity and did this with maybe 6 or 7 build threads, including mine. Then one day, suddenly, he was gone, never to be heard from again. I still wonder where he went and hope he is ok. I still remember his tag line: "I've got your back."

Absolutely Trout',

I remember BigBore as well and thought his efforts were top notch. I truly enjoyed being able to revisit all of those remarkable builds of the time without the 'attaboys' and such in the mix. I often PM'd him and let him know how appreciative I was of his endeavors and as you said, one day he disappeared. For while I even attempted to "assemble" some of the archived feature builds for my own personal use and man I have to tell you, it is ALOT of work. I lost interest in that but always thought it to have been such a terrific concept.
Still, we all do have this forum as our playground and can take comfort in knowing that the answers to our questions are only a few keystrokes away. ;D :bow:

BC1
Jim
 
I have recently done an abridged version of my Scott engine build that I did when over on Modders. It ran to 12 pages on that site, but I have got it down to about 5 or 6 pages now by taking out all the comments, questions and answers, plus modifying a bit of the original text.

The engine was never finished because of personal reasons over the last year, but when I do start it again, I hope to put the abridged version on here in serial form, so people can ask their own questions after each bit of the serial, and when that is finished with, I will carry on with building the engine, which has about another 50% to go.

It didn't take long to shave it down and proof read it, about two days in my spare time, so not a big project at all. I'm sure most good engine builds could have the same done to them, then put into their own heading and locked up.
If people then wanted to ask questions of the builder, they can raise their own topic, pointing to the build sequence in question.

The main problem is which builds are chosen, and will the originator be willing to edit it, as it is not really any use getting someone else to do it, as the text needs to be changed in the original because of some of the questions and comments made. That is what took me most of my time.

Now Mosey, you brought up the subject, so it is now up to you to choose which builds, and to persuade the authors to carry out the editing.


John
 
OK Bogs, I will take the challenge and pick an engine build, but can it be after I finish the Bullet, yes?
 
Mosey,

I was only pulling your leg.

But if anyone is really interested, then join in, and if the people who did any of the selected posts are no longer with us, then I don't mind doing a bit of offline editing to make them presentable. But I will only work with posts that have off site links to pictures, not the tiny on site ones that people are using now.

Just get your builds selected and make up a list.


John

 
John, If you click on the tiny pictures you will get the full size version pop up.

Jan
 
This thread has caused me to review the peter wright book . Lots of good basics in there.
Tin
 
Tin Falcon said:
This thread has caused me to review the peter wright book . Lots of good basics in there.
Tin

Page 29
has a gem that should be the standard reply to the regular newbie question "What do I start on?"
Quote Choosing the First Project
"Your First project must be chosen with care. It must be relevant to your interests, and interesting and challenging to make, but above all, it must be a project which has an achievable conclusion. It is a mistake to commence your modelling with a too-detailed model as it may take so long that you will become discouraged and the project will flounder due to lack of progress"
Peter Wright th_rulze


 
Jan,

I know that the pictures come up to full size, well some do, it is the fact that the pictures are not embedded with the text they go with is the reason I, and most probably others, don't read them.

What is the use of half a page of text, then half a dozen pictures that you have to work out what is being done.

Text then a picture (as I do), or a picture with text underneath is the easiest way for anyone to read a topic.

In fact there should be a plethora of pictures being shown to explain what is being done, finished parts are no use at all, they just don't show anyone how it was done.

Besides, we all like looking at pictures.


John

 
I think the problem with this hobby is that your average Joe cannot afford $20,000.00 worth of equipment, digital readouts, CNC, etc. etc.

Seems like it has to get back to the basics, as was laid out in books like Greenlee, with a small lathe, a drill press, hand files, manually operated dials, a small garden shop.

Elaborate builds using elaborate equipment are great to look at and read about, but if you want to teach someone how to make engines in a way that is affordable, then start with the basics, and keep it basic.

It makes no sense in making simple (cookie cutter type) engines using extravagantly expensive machine tools.
Few can afford to do such things, but in a greater sense, that is not really what has traditionally been defined as "model engineering".

I use to ask my Dad "How can I earn a million dollars?".
His joking response was "Well first, you get a million dollars, then you ........"
But the moral of the story is don't put the cart in front of the horse, or you can make complex engines using simple machines and methods, just read Greenlee.

Edit:
I think there is too much focus on high-tech equipment, CNC, DRO, VFD, the list goes on and on, and little focus on what or how to build complex engines without all that.
The best piece of equipment you could ever have is between your two ears.
 
Here are model engineering books by Yates and Greenlee, the masters of model engineering.


No milling machines. Many shops did not even have electricity (lathes were powered by a steam engine).

A few pictures from the books.

Greenlee.jpg


Yates-02.jpg


Yates-03.jpg


Yates-04.jpg
 
So obviously any model built using primitive equipment in dimly lit shops would also be rather primitive....right.....

Wrong, some of the finest models ever built.

Greenlee-02.jpg


Yates-01.jpg
 
If you happen to live, or visit, the Seattle region, make an effort to go by the Seattle Museum of Flight, adjacent to Boeing Field in Seattle.

Boeing Field is not the international airport, it's the site where Boeing first really started building airplanes ( the very first site was a boat dock in the harbor )

The museum has a lot of rare aircraft (one I helped restore just got hung in the display area, a YO-3A, of which only a dozen were built), but the real attraction for you would be the restored workshop. This is the old style workshop where everything is powered by belts driven off of overhead power shafts, driven by an engine elsewhere. It's really interesting to see how what we might now consider primitive machinery was used to create some of the earlier production airplanes.

- Ryan
 
Someone mentioned (I think the editor of MEB) that there was a display at a recent modeling show, and the display set up to teach the young people consisted of allowing the kids to push a button to start a CNC machine, which then produced a part.

It just makes me want to sit down and cry......

Lets face it folks, most have pretty much lost the "art" of model making.
Now days it is all about the equipment.
 
One of my favorite books is LC Masons Model 4-Stroke Petrol Engines. It is no longer in print but can be found used. I have been into this hobby since the year 2000 and I have tried to collect all the info in print that I can. There isn't alot out there to be had. There are a few reprints of full scale engine manufacturing from early in the last century and they are really nice if you like to scratch build. Right now I am nursing a couple of bruised ribs from my last project and I'm not into lifting my boxes of books to find them. I will later if there is interest.

I'm with Marv on the access to knowledge in this forum. I apprenticed as a Tool&Die maker at 19 years old. We were night schooled for 4 years in anything from blueprint reading to basic physics. This was to get basic knowledge in a broad range of subjects. When you had the need you were expected to find the info on your own, that was driven into us. That was done by going to the books, trade manuals, parts manuals, anything you could glean something from. If you couldn't solve your dilema then you went and asked your co-workers. I had good journey men as co-workers that would help but they would expect you to get as much as you could on your own. You didn't want to be the guy who always asked questions before his first attempt.

We were always told that our job wasn't to be good parts makers, it was to become good at making parts and then use that ability to make everything around us better. If you saw something you could improve, management was into that. To do this we were expected to have a good feel for materials, heat treatments, metrology, machining, grinding, etc. My point in all this that we model engine builders take on a huge undertaking when we build our models. There is a need for aquiring knowledge about alot of different subjects. The book would be way to heavy to read or pick up that would cover all that would be needed. That is why this forum is so great. You have a forum of individuals that all have different experiences and backgrounds here. They are all of the helpful type and are willing to share their knowledge. No book will ever be a substitute for that knowledge. It would be nice to have a model engine bible for everyone to have at their disposal but the task of writing it would be greater than than any mortal man that I know.

My suggestion for anyone into this hobby is to find every book on machining you can find. If you have any questions on setups you can always go to the local engine rebuild shop and ask to see how they do it and then adapt that to what you have at home. Find a local machinist mentor, they are still around. One thing I have learned is when you find something you think you may be able to use in your hobby, buy it. I passed on too many things over the years that later I had a use for.

Sorry for the ramblings, but I have thought about this subject many times and have even attempted my own version but I found that there is so much that would be needed that it is beyond my abilites. Dave
 
"It would be nice to have a model engine bible for everyone to have at their disposal but the task of writing it would be greater than than any mortal man that I know."

There were two such books written by the mortals mentioned above (Greenlee and Yates).
Free books in PDF format.
 
I wish humanity was more trustworthy in this era, but sad to say, this is what happens often in these situations. Just look at all the lawsuits about lottery pools gone wrong lately.....:mad:



427 engine
 

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