C
chiliviking
Guest
Now that I got the DRO on my mill project completed I got back to working on my beam engine. I have made several changes to my engine as I go along both in material selection and design. My cylinder is made of cast iron rather than the 1018 the plan called for. Also I made the bore 1.125 rather than the 1.040 called out in the plans so I could use a ready available piston ring. I know many on the board offered good instruction on the making of cast iron rings but at $5 a store bought ring fits better in my timetable.
After I made the decision to overbore the engine I thought I hade been very careful to measure the cylinder wall thickness with the new bore but then I realized that the plan called for the exhaust port to travel under the steamport channels which was .180 that I hadnt accounted for in my calculations. I thought I had painted myself in a corner but after staring at the design for a couple days I decided I didnt like the idea that the original exhaust port ran through the bolt hole for the steam chest and decided that rather than one large exhaust port 4 smaller ports could be placed on a 45 degree angle and enter the steam channel from the side rather than from below.
Drilling the exhaust ports on an angle and having them come out where they are suppose to is always a tense time for me however the DRO made it a snap.
I made another diversion from the plans in the choice for the flywheel. PM Research sells a really nice iron casting for a 7 ½ flywheel cheaper than you can buy the material to make the 8 steel flywheel. The flywheel is wider than the plans call for which requires some rework of the dimensions on the baseplate but I prefer the look of a little wider wheel.
I have started the layout for the beam as I think that will be my next move. I have laid awake at night trying to plan the order of events and mountings required to mill the pockets that lighten the beam and give it somewhat of an I-beam casting look.
After I made the decision to overbore the engine I thought I hade been very careful to measure the cylinder wall thickness with the new bore but then I realized that the plan called for the exhaust port to travel under the steamport channels which was .180 that I hadnt accounted for in my calculations. I thought I had painted myself in a corner but after staring at the design for a couple days I decided I didnt like the idea that the original exhaust port ran through the bolt hole for the steam chest and decided that rather than one large exhaust port 4 smaller ports could be placed on a 45 degree angle and enter the steam channel from the side rather than from below.
Drilling the exhaust ports on an angle and having them come out where they are suppose to is always a tense time for me however the DRO made it a snap.
I made another diversion from the plans in the choice for the flywheel. PM Research sells a really nice iron casting for a 7 ½ flywheel cheaper than you can buy the material to make the 8 steel flywheel. The flywheel is wider than the plans call for which requires some rework of the dimensions on the baseplate but I prefer the look of a little wider wheel.
I have started the layout for the beam as I think that will be my next move. I have laid awake at night trying to plan the order of events and mountings required to mill the pockets that lighten the beam and give it somewhat of an I-beam casting look.