Steam Launch parts acquired

[seikeinlemming]

No Title

All images at the bottom, something wasn't letting me post that many in line and have them show up, so I reference the photo with each paragraph.


Rounding out the home stretch of getting the engine running on air. We are still shooting for next weekend, if we miss it, it won't be by much. This was kind of a unique piece to machine, so I'm specifically showing it.

The particular piece mounts in the linkage that moves the sliders back and forth that direct steam into each cylinder, so there will be two that are identical to each other (one for each cylinder). Due to how this runs, it needed to be machined with a curve to the entire piece.

[Image 5]To accomplish this, we have a rotary table that mounts on the milling machine. This allows me to spin a piece 360 degrees and make cuts into it at different angles. We put a piece of sacrificial steel that mounts to the table and extends out to where we need to mount the piece to be machined. In the photo below you can see the sacrificial steel mounted to the table with the exact center towards the camera indicated by a sharpie plus sign with a tiny indentation into the steel. The actual piece we are making is then mounted to the far side (roughly 16" from 0,0).



[Image 1] Here is a closeup of the piece being machined. This started off as an 8x4 block of steel (outlined in sharpie on the base). By turning the rotary table on the far side, I am able to make all of the cuts that are on a curve as well as doing the straight edges. Here is where right triangles and corresponding angles come in very close, and half a degree moves the piece an entire tenth of an inch - once again, precision is a must.


[Image 2] Here is the plan for this particular piece. You can see what dimensions are given, and everything else (angles etc) must be calculated from this. You can also see the slight curvature of the piece.



Another angle of the link in the milling machine. Showing a "straight" cut which is really cut at a slight angle to the piece (think like spokes on a bicycle wheel and their relation to the wheel/tire).



The link after it is taken out of the mill.

 

[archbuilder]

Very nice work as usual! The pics aren't showing up correctly in the boy of the text, at lease in my browser.

 

[bobkat1864]

Very nice work. (from one machinist to another)

 

[pckeen]

Just back on here after a break - did you get it on the water?

 

[seikeinlemming]

Pckeen -

We?re still a bit off from getting on the water. Had hoped to get the engine running by Labor Day, but a few setbacks in needing to re-machine pieces delayed that. Fingers crossed to have it running on by the end of the year. From there we can put individual components inside the hull and get things connected.

 

[Ned L]

Sorry to hear about a setback. Looking forward to your future updates.

 

[seikeinlemming]

No Title

A few photos of updates here:


Crankshaft has been machined in the lathe and test fit in place. Cardboard wrapped in duct tape protects the parts where the rods will attach. This just needs to get run through the mill for a few quick flat cuts yet.




This piece will mount underneath the propeller and hold the rudder in place and allow it to pivot. It started as a casting and we squared it up and then machined the faces flat that will mate with the hull.




Counterweight in milling machine - there are four of these counter weights that will attach to the crankshaft to balance and make the engine run smoothly. They are machined in a rotary table that lets me mill the curve that they need for clearance. You will see a piece of stock with three screws that bolts into the table. This ensures consistency in all four counterweights and took longer to make than the weights themselves! Often more time is spent setting up the cut and making pieces that will never be in the final engine, just used to hold another piece in place.

 

[seikeinlemming]

Crankshaft is officially finished and counterweights are finished. Int he photo you can see the counterweights mounted. Right now pieces are being painted as we assemble the engine and finish up the loose ends and see how it all fits together.

 

[Scott Danforth]

looking good

 

[oldrem]

Fantastic work

 

[Ned L]

Just beautiful!

 

[archbuilder]

Great work!

 

[seikeinlemming]

Progress continues. It is taking a little longer to assemble and run for the first time than planned because we made the decision to paint it as it goes together for the first time. Once the engine is oiled up to run it, oil coats the surfaces and makes it difficult to get paint to stick, so you will see that the support columns have been painted red, and other pieces are coming together. The baseplate will ultimately be painted red, and the bearing caps will be polished to a shiny gold.

Most notably, there are a few closeups of the end bearings which are in place. I am very happy with how the bearings came out because there is essentially zero play in the crankshaft/bearings. This makes the engine run quieter, smoother, and takes much longer to wear out. We still have to finish the middle bearing, but it is in progress as I write this and will be done in the next few days. You will see this bearing sitting in two halves on the base in the photos of the entire engine.

You will also see the steering wheel with two coats of finish (more coats to go, but that's where it is now). This is mahogany construction with stain and Man O' War finish. The interior of the boat will be this same finishing process, so it will match the color of the wheel.

That's all for now! We'll keep plugging away and posting some photos as things progress!

 

[archbuilder]

Thanks for posting the update, very amazing project!

 

[Grub54891]

You sir are an artist. And a darn good one at that.

 

[mickyryan]

I would kill to have your shop awesome project so far

 

[seikeinlemming]

Assembly continues. Here you see the bearings on the crankshaft have been completed. Additionally, we have all the pieces in place to connect one of the cylinders to the crank shaft. You will see two closeup shots of various parts as they have been assembled. Note that functionally these pieces are complete, but we will clean them up to look less blocky and have a nicer finish. For now the goal is just to get it running - so that part can wait.

 

[archbuilder]

Nicely done, the craftsmanship is amazing as usual!

 

[seikeinlemming]

Things are going to start changing fast soon! This past weekend we got a lot of work done, some that is very high precision.

On Friday we managed to roll the hull off of our dolly into the grass to drill the holes that attach the bronze piece of the skeg. Too many pieces to hold together to get it all in one photo, but the first shot is the propellor/rudder in place (just enough to see what it would look like). We very quickly found out that the hull came from the factory with the rudder hole ( pictured at bottom of photo) drilled 2 inches too far away from the propellor for the skeg that was supplied. After a few adaptations, everything will work out, but it is just an added process of brazing some additional material on to the piece to make things line up.

The next three photos are one of the places on the engine where tolerances are very tight. You are looking at two valve liners. The slots in these have to be machined to within a thousandth of an inch so that steam goes into cylinders at the correct time. There will be a piece that is machined that slides through these directing the steam into each side of the one cylinder. Any variation from the plans will result in steam getting into the wrong spot at the wrong time and makes the engine run rougher. The last picture shows one of these installed in the valve. They are inserted with a press and the diameter needs to be a tiny bit bigger than the diameter of the hole they are going into. In this case, it is about 1/2 of a thousandth of an inch. If the fit is too tight, the piece may break going in - too lose and it will slide around once in. Fortunately for us, both went in perfect the first time.

One valve liner went in the top of the casting, and the other went into the bottom of the casting for the same valve. The second cylinder has a different style of valve that will route the steam as necessary.

After all of this excitement, we sat down and calculated out how much mahogany we will need to build out the deck and inside of the boat. In the next 2 weeks, that will be ordered and then the wood part will start to come together very rapidly since there are a whole lot less parts that have to match up with wood.

 

[archbuilder]

Great work as usual! I cann't wait to see the splash!