John Deere Engine

[cfellows]

I've started another engine. I'm redoing the John Deere model that shows up on my posts. The original engine, powered by air, never worked the way I'd like, so I sold it. The crank throws were 90 degrees apart and it "fired" twice on each revolution. The exhaust was a hole at the bottom of each cylinder and the only the intake valve was operated by the cam.

My new engine will also have a cam operated input valve, but the exhaust will be through the sliding exhaust piston I originated. Also, the cam will operate at half the speed of the crank, so it will sound like true four stroke operation. Here's some pictures of my start:

This is the beginning of the crank. I've got it mounted between centers and driven by a machinist clamp.

Here's another picture. You can see the slits I cut parallel to the crank to relieve stress in the cold formed steel.

Here you can see the holes that are required for the three centers needed to turn the two connecting rod journals and the main crank journal.

Here, I've cut off the excess pieces and am getting ready to turn the crank journals.

This is the finished crank and the block with the cylinders bored and honed. The bore is a little over 3/4" and the stroke will be 7/8"

More to come...
Chuck

 

[bretk]

Chuck,

Thanks for starting this post, I have always been interested in doing an IC engine but always a bit afraid of the complexity as opposed to the "simple" steam engine.

Watching with Intrest , Bret

 

[rake60]

You have my attention Chuck.

I'm looking forward to seeing the progress.

Rick

 

[chuck foster]

looking good chuck 8) ...........just like rick i will be watching this one.

hows the three cylinder fairbanks coming
chuck (the other chuck)

 

[cfellows]

Chuck,

Thanks for starting this post, I have always been interested in doing an IC engine but always a bit afraid of the complexity as opposed to the "simple" steam engine.

Watching with Intrest , Bret

Hope I didn't mislead you, Bret. This will be a compressed air powered engine that will simulate IC operation.

Chuck

 

[cfellows]

Probably most of the group won't find this picture too exciting, but it does represent, by far, the largest silver soldering job I've ever done, and I'm quite pleased with the results. I probably used more solder than I needed to, but I did get a good, solid bond all the way around. This is the crankcase for my John Deere engine, by the way.

I started by cleaning the surfaces completely, then coating both surfaces with flux. Then I clamped the flat end into the bench vise and set the square tubing down on top of it. I placed a 3/8" piece of solder on the bottom plate next to each of the four sides of the square tubing. Then, I used my ox-acetylene torch to heat the plate from the bottom. I got each edge, in turn, red hot and when that piece of solder melted, then I went to the next on, and so on. Really worked a lot slicker than I would have imagined.

Now, what's the best way to remove the black coloration?

 

[cfellows]

Here's another picture of the crankcase, a lot closer to being finished. I had to mill all the sides square, so that took care of the discoloration from soldering.

The holes in each end of the crankcase are 1.25" diameter. They are spaced .875" from the bottom and the back of the crankcase as pictured.

 

[kuhncw]

Nice job on the crankcase, Chuck. I'm enjoying the photos of your Deere build.

Regards,

Chuck Kuhn

 

[Alphawolf45]

Why the first several pictures not showing up for me , just a red X?
.
I want to see picture or drawing of what this build 'sposed to look like when finished.How big will it be?
.
That silver solder job turned out very nice..I'da boogered it up fo'sure. :bow:

 

[cfellows]

Oops, I moved them to new directory on Photobucket. Will fix that in a bit.

 

[cfellows]

Here are some drawings of the cylinder and the head showing how the valving will work.

This is the exhaust stroke. As long as the inlet (ball bearing) valve is closed, the spring will hold the sliding piston valve (blue) in the position shown. This allows the air to enter and exit the cylinder through the exhaust port.

Here is the power stroke. When the rocker arm pushed down on the straight rod, the end of the straight rod, which is rounded, pushes laterally on the ball bearing causing it to open. This lets in the high pressure compressed air which, in turn, pushes the sliding pistong upward, exposing the cylinder port to the inlet and simultaneously closing off the exhaust port.

This valve arrangement will work equally well for 2 stroke, 4 stroke, 6 stroke, or hit n miss operation.

Chuck

 

[Brass_Machine]

Nice job Chuck. I like how the crankcase is coming out.

Eric

 

[bretk]

Chuck,

Thanks for de-mystifying the valving ! :bow:

-Bret

 

[CallMeAL]

Nice pictures and diagrams. Intersting valve arrangement, I am looking forward to future reports.

 

[gilessim]

Nice work there Chuck, looking good!, now I can see how you worked out the Halo valve system, nice diagrams ,very helpful!

Giles

 

[cfellows]

Nice work there Chuck, looking good!, now I can see how you worked out the Halo valve system, nice diagrams ,very helpful!

Giles

I've not actually seen drawings or a description of the Halo valve system. However, looking at pictures of the Halo, I think my intake valve using the ball bearing is similar. The exhaust system on my engine, using the sliding piston valve, is my own design.

Chuck

 

[Bogstandard]

And I can confirm, a great design.

Lookin' real good Chuck.

John

 

[BobWarfield]

Nice work!

I've got to do some silver soldering on a project one of these days. Long ago I used to make some jewelry silversmithing, so I know it isn't too hard. Did some lost wax casting too.

I don't know if you guys have seen John Bentley's site (The "Engineman") but he accomplishes a lot via silver solder in the way of making what look like complex castings. Flywheels and machine bases seem to be a staple and they come out looking great from an assemblage of bar stock pieces.

Cheers,

BW

 

[cfellows]

Got some more machining done on the cylinder block tonight. The cylinder block is 2" wide, 1.25" thick, and 1.75" tall. The milled slot is 1/8" deep and 1/2" wide. I'm a little concerned that I've gotten the crankcase material a little too thin. May have to silver solder a piece onto the cylinder side of the crankcase so I have a little more meat to screw the cylinder block to.

 

[cfellows]

More progress tonight. I finished the crankshaft bearing housings (is that what you call them?) tonight. The one on the right is domed as it will be the flywheel side. The other side is flat since that will be the camshaft gear side. The ball bearing races are 1/2" OD and 1/4" ID.

Flywheel Side

Cam Gear Side

The Bearing Housings will be attached to the crankcase with screws into threaded holes

Chuck