LTD Stirling

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Powder keg

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Well I couldn't wait till I had a weekend. I started school again and I have the opportunity to practice my CNC skills:O) So I started on my engine. I did the displacer cylinder a few days ago. It was turned in my lathe using a 3 jaw. I'll recreate that and post some pictures. Today after work I set the mill up and machined the pedestal. The main shank on it will be turned round in my lathe. I left a nub so I could center the piece in my lathe. After it is done, this will be removed. I didn't get any pictures because you couldn't see anything under the flood coolant.

LTD004.jpg


Hope it runs:O)

Wes
 
I used the acrylic containers from Walmart to make the displacer cylinder. To make them, I cut them using my band saw. I set the fence and slowly cut the pieces off. Here are a few practice pieces.
LTD005.jpg

Next, I chucked them up in my 3 jaw on my lathe and slowly trimmed them to length. I was only taking .010" cuts here. I was worried that It would come flying out and break. Didn't happen : O)
LTD006.jpg


Today I had a chance to run the CNC after work and made a couple Flywheels. They took 10 minutes to machine. I still have to deburr these. They are 5" in diameter and .085" thick. They are fairly close to the size of a CD.
LTD007.jpg


I'll make some more stuff later this week.

I hope it runs:O)

Wes
 
Messed around with another Flywheel design. I think I like the curved spoke model.
LTD008.jpg


Wes
 
Made a little progress:O) I made a jig to hold the flywheel pedestal while i turn it in the lathe. I had a picture of me center drilling the end in the mill, but it was to fuzzy?
LTD009.jpg


I chucked the piece up in the lathe and put a live center in the end to support it.
LTD010.jpg


Here is an action shot:O) I'm turning the pedestal round.
LTD011.jpg


To clear the 4-40 screws, I had to reposition my tool.
LTD012.jpg


To be continued.......
 
Wes, looks like things are coming along nicely. Looks good and I like the way you showed how your fixture was used. Very nice!
 
Thanks! I forgot to mention an important part. There is a key way cut in the end of the fixture that locates my piece. It also takes the strain off of the screws so they don't snap off.

Later, Wes
 
A couple of these brass pieces warped when I turned them round. To true them up again, I chucked on the round part and faced the end off. I'll post a picture later:O)

Wes
 
The way I did these brass pieces would make nice looking Con Rods on a little bit bigger engine.

Just a thought, Wes
 
The fuel of tomorrow:O)

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

Wes
 
I am planing on machining the top and bottom plates for my engine during school. I'll try and get a good video. It should be pretty neat. My engine is going a lot faster because of these CNC machines. I have the hardest pieces built now. The rest will mainly be lathe work.

I think I would have had a hard time building this in a weekend. There is two much "figuring out stuff" involved. I still have to mess with the displacer cylinder. I bought the foam today. Ended up with some Blue stuff. The 1" was cheaper than the 3/4" so I'll have to bandsaw it down a bit. I'm still not sure how I'm going to machine the foa in my lathe? But I'll get it:O)

Wes
 
Nice progress and good job with the step by step pics, I need to do that more.
When I built my LTD I made an Al disk which was a light press fit into the disp. cyl. so I could securely chuck
the OD and the acrylic wouldn't warp in order to get a flat face. And in case it grabbed when doing the o-ring
grooves. For the disp. I clamped it to the table under another Al disk and ramped down the outside on the cnc mill. Gave a real nice finish. I think we are the same age, been at this the same amount of time and have built
several of the same engines. What a crazy world!

Keep the pics coming

cheers,

-Kevin
 
Well I feel kinda bad. There's been bad snowy weather here and I was thinking of the drive to school about 50 miles away, and i forgot my camera:O( I wasn't able to get a video. The top and bottom plates are machined. It took about 4 min. to drill and machine each piece:O) I had the spindle set at 4000 RPM's :O) I'll post pictures after work tomorrow.

Later, Wes
 
Thursday I called to see if class was still a go and the instructor said it was. So, I braved the snow and made it to class. I was the only one who shower up:O) I must be dedicated:O) Anyway we tried to make another part for my LTD. The two bolts that hold everything together are pretty small. We didnt know if we could make them or not on the CNC lathe. They were to small to thread there, But I was able to blank them out. Here is what I ended up with. I still have to Debur them.
LTD013.jpg


The bottom plate needed a counter bore because I wanted the bolt heads to be flush. I ground a 1/4" drill bit down on a surface grinder. It worked really good.
LTD014.jpg


Wes
 
I forgot this picture.
LTD015.jpg

This is the bottom of the flywheel pedestal. I mentioned earlier that the pedestal's warped when I machined them round. I chucked them up in the middle and took a skim cut off the bottom. This evened everything out nicely.

Wes
 
I finished some of the bolts that hold the two half's and the flywheel pedestal together. I used a little split bushing to hold them while i threaded them. It worked pretty good.
LTD016.jpg


Later, Wes
 
Got the bearing boss made. It is a snug fit in the flywheel pedestal. I'll solder them together.
LTD017.jpg


I'm going to try and get the bearing made so I can mount the flywheel:O) today.

I think my camera is on it's way out? I'm having trouble getting it to focus up close?

Wes
 
Powder keg said:
I think my camera is on it's way out? I'm having trouble getting it to focus up close?

Wes

Have you been able to take close ups before (that close any way)? My digital has a 'macro' button for close up photography (macro).

Eric
 
Yea, I've been able to take pictures 1" away with crystal clear pictures in "macro" before?

Wes
 

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