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Workshop
You will need access to a
reasonably equipped workshop to build this engine, or any other steam engine
for that matter
Essential Equipment
| Lathe |
The minimum size
would be 6" centre height, 36" between centres. You might get by with a
smaller one for most jobs but you will need 30" to turn the columns, 34"
for the crank etc. You will also be glad of the power that a lathe of
this size has. I had to reduce the diameter of the crankshaft
counterweights a bit as I was tight in the swing dimension over the
saddle Mine is a Taiwanese
machine, 1 1/2HP |
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| Lathe Tooling |
A full complement of
tooling is necessary as turning, facing, thread-cutting, parting off
etc. are all frequent operations |
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| Mill |
If you are going to bore the block
yourself you will need at least 7" of knee travel. Mill/Drills generally
have only 5" on the quill. My mill has
only 20" of long travel, and although fine for most things I had to take
two "bites" to machine the length of the bedplate and the cylinder
block.
Throat depth has been a continual restriction
at 8"
Given the choice I would have bought an old
mill with a 48" table but I wouldn't have been able to get it down the
stairs into the workshop! |
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| Mill Tooling |
A variety of milling
cutters are necessary. I have found essential an imperial collet set, a
38mm tipped end mill cutter, a 100mm tipped facing cutter, a boring head
(with 150mm extension), a slitting saw arbor, a dividing head |
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| Digital Readout |
The 2 axis DRO on the mill has
been essential for me. At A$2000.00 it was expensive but saves me hours
on every job. I have been able to get
away with very little marking out, positioning holes is a breeze as is
taking a specific cut, finding the centre of something etc. Drilling the
76 holes in the cylinder head for the covers was a breeze as was
drilling the holes in the covers themselves... just centre the cover and
tell the DRO the pitch circle diameter and the number of holes, press
ENTER and Hey Presto!..there are the coordinates for the next hole
An essential for the amateur machinist |
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| Measuring equipment |
Micrometers up to 4", Vernier
calipers, telescopic gauges, cylinder bore gauge, Dial gauge |
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| Basic Stuff |
Grinder, Drilling Machine,
Linisher, LPG Torch, Guillotine (for shims), Shop crane (the cylinder
block is only just liftable) |
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| Tooling |
Various Taps, wad punches, screwdrivers,
spanners, drills, cutters etc. There is always something to add to your
collection |
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| Bandsaw |
I should have bought one of these years ago.
It has saved me its purchase price of around A$300.00 several times.
Steel bought as a cut length is twice as expensive
as that purchased from the "off-cut" bench where there is usually a
large selection of stock in lengths of about a metre.
Buying a metre of this and a metre of that for
a few dollars and cutting it as needed has totally changed my approach
to various setups and the manufacture of jigs. With a bit of general
material in the stock box it is easy to design and manufacture a jig or
tool as needed rather than design the job around not making any lengthy
cuts by hand.
It has also been essential in cutting in half
the crankshaft counterweights, eccentrics, eccentric straps and various
bearings |
Shown here cutting the eccentric
straps in half |
Wish List
Equipment I don't have but have
needed (ie someone has done it for me) or that would have made life easier
| Surface Grinder |
There have been a few jobs that
have needed surface grinding: the top and bottom faces of the cylinder
block to ensure parallelism and finish, the slide bars and a few spacers |
| Scissor lift assembly table |
I seem to always be bending over
or standing on a stool. It would be nice to make the engine go up and
down to avoid this. This sounds a bit petty but if you decide to make
this engine you are going to spend hundreds of hours in very close
proximity to it while you put it together and take it to bits over and
over again fitting things. Revision
December 2002
After taking delivery of the table and lowering
the engine on to it there was an alarming swaying of the table possible
when lifted to bench height.
Conclusion: Far too unstable to safely work on
the engine at bench height
I returned the table as unsuitable & Hare &
Forbes (Sydney Machinery Dealers) refunded my money without question.
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| Full size Mill |
See above |
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