rhankey
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2011
- Messages
- 176
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Hi,
I need some help in choosing the right types of metals to obtain for a Stuart Triple Expansion engine that I am just about to start making.
First some background on me as I am new here.
I am just getting my home hobby metal shop going. I have done some metal working 30 years ago, but worked more in wood since then, so I have much to relearn. After searching for roughly 6 months, I was able to get my hands on a nice used Hardinge HLV lathe and building up the tooling for it. I am still on the lookout for a vertical mill.
My first real project will be a Stuart Triple Expansion for which I have the castings, but I am currently making a couple very simple Stuart Oscillators to make sure I am familiar with the new to me lathe, reacquaint myself with machining metal, and to make sure I can achieve the high quality and precision I wish to achieve when I dig into the triple. The HLV is a way nicer and more sophisticated lathe than the tired South Bends and larger tool room lathes Ive previously used, and I am very impressed with how easily the HLV is allowing me to achieve very nice cut quality and equally good precision. I don't care how long it takes me to make the triple, but the goal is to do a very good job of it. The triple is being built as a high quality and attractive show piece which I intend to run, but realistically it will probably not see a whole lot of use.
Enough with the quick background.
I need help/suggestions on what types of mild steel, stainless steel, and silver steel I should be getting.
The mild steel parts include the crank shaft, vertical columns, reversing gear. Most of these pars require a fair bit of machining. It kind of looks like 1018 would be a good pick for most parts, and perhaps 1144 for the crankshaft. Is this reasonable, or should I be using very different alloys?
The stainless steel is for the valve and piston rods, for which little machining appears to be required. I dont have a lubrication system and have not machined stainless before, so Im a little afraid of the unknown. What types should I be looking at?
The silver steel is for the reverse shaft and taper pins. I am not sure what the North American equivalent is for silver steel. The silver steel parts dont seem to require much machining.
I think I am ok in picking out the required brass and phosphor bronze, and have had experience cutting bronze.
I welcome any suggestions you can provide, and I promise to provide some pictures along the way, though it might be spread out over a bunch of time.
Thank you
I need some help in choosing the right types of metals to obtain for a Stuart Triple Expansion engine that I am just about to start making.
First some background on me as I am new here.
I am just getting my home hobby metal shop going. I have done some metal working 30 years ago, but worked more in wood since then, so I have much to relearn. After searching for roughly 6 months, I was able to get my hands on a nice used Hardinge HLV lathe and building up the tooling for it. I am still on the lookout for a vertical mill.
My first real project will be a Stuart Triple Expansion for which I have the castings, but I am currently making a couple very simple Stuart Oscillators to make sure I am familiar with the new to me lathe, reacquaint myself with machining metal, and to make sure I can achieve the high quality and precision I wish to achieve when I dig into the triple. The HLV is a way nicer and more sophisticated lathe than the tired South Bends and larger tool room lathes Ive previously used, and I am very impressed with how easily the HLV is allowing me to achieve very nice cut quality and equally good precision. I don't care how long it takes me to make the triple, but the goal is to do a very good job of it. The triple is being built as a high quality and attractive show piece which I intend to run, but realistically it will probably not see a whole lot of use.
Enough with the quick background.
I need help/suggestions on what types of mild steel, stainless steel, and silver steel I should be getting.
The mild steel parts include the crank shaft, vertical columns, reversing gear. Most of these pars require a fair bit of machining. It kind of looks like 1018 would be a good pick for most parts, and perhaps 1144 for the crankshaft. Is this reasonable, or should I be using very different alloys?
The stainless steel is for the valve and piston rods, for which little machining appears to be required. I dont have a lubrication system and have not machined stainless before, so Im a little afraid of the unknown. What types should I be looking at?
The silver steel is for the reverse shaft and taper pins. I am not sure what the North American equivalent is for silver steel. The silver steel parts dont seem to require much machining.
I think I am ok in picking out the required brass and phosphor bronze, and have had experience cutting bronze.
I welcome any suggestions you can provide, and I promise to provide some pictures along the way, though it might be spread out over a bunch of time.
Thank you