ptwizz Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Machining the cylinder heads for pushrod tubes with proper seals. The original Russian design has steel pushrod tubes which are shoved into the rough bored holes in the head casting, presumably by a stalwart Russian woman (I've seen photos of the factory - all the stereotypes are based in fact!). Much time has been spent recently machining unimpressive parts (pushrod tubes and collars, bushes etc). Fairly soon I should be in a position to assemble all the valve gear and make a short video with the engine turning over slowly to illustrate the motion of the cam, followers etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Thanks for the update :-) If its OK with you, when the new site goes live I will turn this thread into a proper 'blog' as we will have a section for that. It will allow you to drag and drop videos and pics in to a post (any file format) without the current agro and also make it easy for people to find I just cant't wait to hear it! I started my book at about the same time you started your engine build... I have been having a race with you since, without you knowing! lol SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 OK with me Simon. It is my assumption that anything I post on the forum is in the public domain and anyone can do as they like with it. So, what's the subject matter of the book? PPG? Helicopter? Film making? I feel the 'race' thing has added some responsibility to the project. If I don't make progress, you have nothing to race against. Another weekend of making small uninteresting parts. Another step closer to the sound of 7 cylinders on open exhaust stubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 It's a book on how to build a Radial Engine in a week ;-) Or it could be an introduction to Meteorology for Pilots. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 "Meteorology for pilots" by Simon Westmore immediately has at least one customer. However many times I read through the chapter in Cosgrove (and other sources) I fail to see how I am going to remember enough to pass an exam. Approximately half of what the weather does is non-intuitive and I can't remember which half! If it's "Meteorology for Dummies" (i.e. written like C for dummies) then you will have a ready market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 A family of swinging tappets. Each has bronze bushes pressed in and machined to finished size in-situ. The roller cam followers are off-the-shelf items. Alongside the tappets are the silver steel pushrod cups which will be hardened and pressed into the tappets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Pushrod tubes. From Stainless steel tube with separate collars machined and pressed on. Large chamfers at the ends are for insertion into the O ring seals at the heads and at the tappet ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Assembly of tappets. All 14 swinging tappets are identical and interchangeable. The cam ring will be gas nitride hardened - one of very few operations that I can't carry out in my workshop. I could have salt bath nitrided it, but it's a little difficult to get hold of the cyanide salt (and there may be some health and safety whining). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 All together again. At the first attempt to fit one of the heads with the pushrod tubes in place, I struggled for several minutes and couldn't get everything to play nicely. When I finally stepped back and let go of the head, it dropped into place on it's own! It's amazing how much more easily things go together when you already know that they fit. The other 6 assemblies were a breeze. Next job is the pushrods, which will be from 8mm aluminium tube (pre-anodised from Wickes of all places!) with hardened silver steel tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Mate, that is stunning!! SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Another hiatus in the engine build while I restored my wife's bike: 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 ...and made a radius turning attachment for the lathe, so i could turn the ball ends for the pushrods: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 A collection of hardened pushrod ends and cups. Only two fingers were burnt in the making of these parts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin (Simon W) Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I am guessing this will be a Fly-in 2017 thing? It was nice to see the progress 'in the flesh' at the 2015 one! SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 I can bring it to this years fly-in, but there's not a lot more to see than last year unless you're an engineering anorak. I'm guessing about another 18 months before noise happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hann__ Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) You know you`re in deep when you have to make a tool, for use on another tool, to make a part for the thing you`re making......... Your patience is impressive, to go with your engineering skillz. Are you making to plans, or ad-hoc? How on earth for instance did you work out the cam timing on that beast? What`s your (top-end) lubrication set up going to be? Good work, i guess we`ll all have to be patient to see the start-up video... Edited July 4, 2016 by Hann__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 Hi Hann, toolmaking is all part of the fun of engineering at home. I have a collection of tools which were made by my grandfather, and a few made by my uncle, to which I am adding as projects progress. I have modelled the whole engine in CAD and produced drawings for all the parts. To establish the cam timing, I first measured timing from a camshaft from the same engine that the cylinder heads came from. This was then translated to the ring cam, using a spreadsheet calculation. The cam timing / lift spreadsheet is relatively simple when compared to the one I created to calculate the dynamic balance of all the moving parts. That is a huge, rambling set of iterative calculations (which i suspect may have become self-aware). Each cylinder head has it's own pressurised oil feed, with a spraybar arrangement to ensure that the valve guides and the exhaust port areas of the heads are liberally supplied. Most of this is for cooling rather than lubrication. The upper cylinders will drain via the pushrod tubes into the timing chest, then via the lower cylinders pushrod tubes into the lower rocker boxes. The lower rocker boxes will have drain tubes to a collector tank, where a scavenge pump returns drained oil to the main oil tank, via an oil cooler and filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Amazing work Pete. I have great respect for anyone that can design such a complex mechanical unit. Electronics and audio engineering seems so simple in comparison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Thanks for the compliments gents. I should say again, I am only copying the work done by pioneers over 100 years ago. I am quite happy with 'slow burn' projects. As I tell my wife, if I said I'll do it, I'll do it. I don't need reminding every year. It's all a matter of perspective. To my mind, mechanical stuff is simple. I can see how the parts work together and get a reasonable feel for the loads involved, so when a calculation or test goes wrong, i have a good idea what to look for. I am learning about electronics as I go along, so i can make my own ignition module, which will later be expanded to engine monitoring and possibly fuel injection. When a PIC doesn't do what I expect, it doesn't give me any clues (or more likely I have no idea where to start looking). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 I have caused myself a further delay to the build, this time by deciding that the Russian valve rockers are just too crap to tolerate. When I came to assemble the pushrods, I checked the lengths of a few in situ only to find that the clearances were all over the place. On investigation, the variation turned out to be in the rockers. I have designed aluminium rockers with roller tips and improved geometry. I have turned the blanks for them (fourteen 75mm diameter billets, 42mm long) and started milling. When they are finished, I'll be back to where I thought I was 2 months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin (Simon W) Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Bugger! That's just not cricket chap! SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi k Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Si i know Pete personally and he's as mad as a box of frogs, but he excels in engineering and he will take his time but he will deffo finish this 1 day 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin (Simon W) Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Ahhhh I was referring to the Russian parts SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 Apologies for the radio silence on this project. My time outside work has been divided between motorcycles and the pursuit of NPPL(M). While I haven't made much headway with machining parts recently, I have obtained a starter ring gear and starter motor which will be suitable for the radial. When I have made all the major assemblies (i.e. finished the valve gear, made the supercharger and the oil tank) I would like to make a time lapse video, starting with the crankshaft mounted in a bearing and rotating slowly (driven by a small motor), then adding parts so that it is clear how everything works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodders Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 That sounds like a great idea - really enjoy the progress on the this project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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