Saturday, August 28, 2021

Shop Update on the 1 by 1 - Part 6

It has been two weeks since I updated work on the 1x1 engine, because I wanted to be able to say I'm finished with the two side plates and I wasn't quite done last weekend.  

The last thing I mentioned was completing the machining of the first plate, which removes a lot of metal.  The second plate was done the same way but couldn't use exactly the same G-code routines.  I was just able to use two out of three cylinder machining steps.  Side plate 1on the left.


These two close around the short edges that are almost touching, and with the exception of that short edge, all the edges get some tapped holes or another machined spot.  First, though, the exterior surface of plate two needed three holes tapped; two for 10-24 screws and one 3/8-16.  They're a little awkward because the 10-24 holes are almost centered on the edge of that raised area and the big one is almost on the edge of one of the carved out cylinders.  I should have tapped those holes before doing the other features, but too late for that.


Then it was on to tapping the holes on all the sides.  The top has a 1.100" diameter hole that I cut using the exact same approach as I did for the internal hollowed out areas, as well as four tapped holes.  The two large reamed holes on the left are for the valve push rods.  The big hole and four tapped holes are to mount the piston cylinder.  The big hole will pass the piston connecting rod.

For each the sides - this one, the edge on the right and the one facing down - I need to set an X and Y=0 point.  Tedious but not what I'd call hard.  The right side, though had one that was hard.  It's made by tilting the right edge up so that the angle between the bottom and right side is 40 degrees.  There's just one hole to drill and ream, a 1/2" diameter hole in side plate 2.

This turned into "think about it 30 times, measure it 20 times, machine it once."  I played with this in CAD over and over.  I think I wore a groove in the concrete floor and then tiles walking between the mill and this computer.  

During the process of checking it 30 times, I found that side plate 2 does not get the two drilled and tapped #8 holes you can see.  For someone like me without TIG welding capability, the fix is to put in a setscrew with some red LocTite. 

Finally, the bottom.  Notice that the side plate facing the camera is #2, not #1, unlike the pictures above.  The big, 3/8-16 tapped hole is in plate #1.  A milder case of check and recheck before drilling.

They clearly need some cosmetic work to gussy them up a bit, and while I've deburred the holes, some sanding both inside and out would help, so they're not Done done, but I think all the features are there. I honestly think this might be the most complex little assembly I've built.  There were lots of setups and operations done on the two pieces.  There's nothing equivalent in the Webster or my Duclos Flame Eater.

 


3 comments:

  1. Looks good, SiG.

    Leigh
    Whitehall, NY

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  2. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I would be able to machine those pieces and coming up empty.
    Well done.

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  3. It's just . . . beautiful. I love the elegance of parts like this. Thank you.

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