Let's Build a Model Steam Engine - Machining a Piston!
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- Опубликовано: 30 окт 2020
- This episode on Blondihacks, I'm making the piston and related stainless bobs for my steam engine! Exclusive videos, drawings, models & plans available on Patreon!
/ quinndunki
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Mr. Crispin making nuts : • Machining Nuts
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Наука
Hey everyone! Something I forgot to mention in the video that’s important for hobbyists: Make the cylinder first, because it’s a lot easier to hit a precise dimension on an OD than an ID, especially on hobby equipment. It’s much easier to let the cylinder be whatever it turns out, then fit the piston to it, than the other way around. You can always emery-paper your way down with an OD when you need to nail a dimension.
A lot of people are also mentioning the piston mounting. To be clear- the piston is not supposed to be threaded in this design. I did not change that. I only added a smooth shoulder to the rod. You can argue about whether an unthreaded piston is a good idea, but that is the design from the company. 🤷♀️
Oh yeah, now you tell me. lol
Are you planning on making a locomotive engine like Mr. Crispin? Quinn, you can do it! :-)
@@markfergerson2145 the 1" hones are used for honing brake caliper cylinders. When I was a front end tech many years ago I rebuilt my fair share of calipers.
@@markfergerson2145 I’m very new to machining, I have a couple of mini mills one of which I am converting to cnc and upgrading the gibs and a mini lathe that was a basket case that I salvaged and it will be converted to cnc. I managed to get my hands on some decent tools. Still need to get some steel and brass to work with.
Haha too funny.
Thanks for giving me a mention! I'm always pleased to see people promoting model engineering so good job. Cheers from the UK.
Thank you for your outstanding content! 😁 Your hat throwing skills are an inspiration to us all.
Thank you Quinn, I'll be subbing to you MrCrispin!
Great tip thx 👍😁👍
Excellent recommendation, thanks Quinn!
The best chain of consciousness explanations are what makes this channel so good..and sets it apart.
I second that!!! So, so helpful for beginning machinists! Thank you Quinn. 👍
I've gotta hand it to you, Quinn: since deflection was such a problem, cutting half the threads by single-pointing and then finishing with a die was an excellent idea! I'm going to remember that one.
I can see a need for good, i.e., sharp, taps & dies for working with hard to thread materials like stainless. I'll definitely have to upgrade my set of taps & dies!
Y'know what I love?
I love that I - who have never machined anything - had the thought earlier in the video "can't you do half single-point, and finish with a die"? And that's exactly how it worked.
A testament to your channel and content.
Hot tip: Countersink the holes to be tapped, out a little past the thread diameter. Then once you tap them, you don't need to mar the thread entry by deburring.
Machining is a series of problem solving.
Frickin' sweet Quinn. Love how you re-mounted the piston, to re-cut the seal groves.
I watch your channel because I am very much a beginner. Recently I had to turn the shaft of a steam valve on a miniature locomotive. This is a very small diameter part in 316 stainless steel using a method that may interest you.
The shaft needed to be 45 mm long with 10 mm of M3 thread and the balance 1 mm shaft in stainless steel. This was made more difficult as I do not have a collet chuck.
I achieved the part by by taking a 60 mm M3 machine screw and holding the head in the 3 -jaw chuck. I drilled a piece of brass rod just slightly smaller than the major diameter of the M3 thread and forced the end of the Machine screw onto this. I gripped this brass section in the tail-stock chuck firmly. As soon as I turned on the lathe it cut the brass so that it was turning truly concentrically between the chuck and the tailstock. I was then able to turn the 1 mm diameter diameter section 'between centres' to the required length leaving the M3 thread at the head end untouched. I then reversed the piece in the chuck and, holding the threaded part with my brass piece, turned the hex end off.
Blondihacks time! So glad I procrastinated changing my brakes on the truck.
Drive carefully 😬
@@Blondihacks will do! The wind seems to have died down a bit, so I'm probably going out soon.
I'm procrastinating fixing the lights on my bike :D
"First we face off the stock, as is part of the rites and customs of our people"
hey Quinn. I'm a 67 year old retired guy who out of the blue purchased and refurbed a 1950ish south bend 9" model A and decided learning how to operate a lathe would be part of my continuing education. just wanted to say that you are a very good teacher. I'm still way back on your vids from years ago and working my way up. thanks for your help!
I think doing half single point threading and half die cutting on that small thread was brilliant. I probably wouldn’t have thought that pragmatically.
That was very good. I was pleased to see you promote Mr. Crispin. He is Rolls-Royce's finest. To see him part off using a drill is to see poetry in motion.
Love Blondies videos AND she knows her stuff. Excellent 👍
It is nice to see it's still people who are able to make machines by hand. Good handcrafter. Have a nice day.
Noted the point about the eyes. I finally went to the opticians and got a pair of varifocals, which are great but now I definitely need a set that are optimised for close work. Getting older sucks.
I was taught that finishing cuts should be avoided on stainless steel. The final cut should be heavy enough to penetrate the work hardening. The worst that can happen is that a misjudged cut might leave the thread a few thou under-sized. But that won't kill you. Anyway, there are ways of supporting the work. I thinks someone has mentioned a half center. You could leave a half inch or so at the end of the work unmachined to accept a center or a travelling steady. Cut it off to length later.
Starting the thread single point and switching to a die , tidy little trick . Your emphasis on what's possible on hobby machines is a point well made. Great way to start a Sunday Coffee and Quinn.
How cool is this: I have one tab with a new This Old Tony video and another with a Blondihacks video! And I have an extra hour to watch them!
Quinn, I have an idea to share here regarding a cheap but accurate method of measuring the depth of narrow grooves,such as the piston ring grooves seen in this video. This involves modifying one of the many brands cheap digital vernier type calipers available for around the £25.00 GBP mark,or less. Simply mill the front faces of the jaws down to a thin cross section,say 1.5 mm x 10 mm wide reduced area. The mating edges of the jaws will likely remain to close together accurately though a little dressing with a fine stone will deburr them suitably. These calipers are easy to dismantle and remove the digital readout whilst the milling is performed. I think a set modified like this would perform very satisfactorily.
Mr Crispin is way smart on set up's. I was glad to see him back.
Sound and video is excellent. Your journey into becoming a more and more skilled machinists, gets documented with honesty. Love this channel! Great content!
Hello Quinn,
An enjoyable video and a good outcome.. I am off to refresh my memory on nut making with Mr. Crispin. He is a very knowledgeable engineer and I am sure will be grateful for your shout out...
Take care
Paul,,
Down at the steam shop we have the pistons out of our locomotive for a rebuild (a 1924 4-6-2 passenger locomotive built by Alco). The main cylinder is 30” in diameter and the pistons look exactly like yours. The key difference being that these are double expansion steam engines. This is Great work! Loving this series!
Enjoying the project and always learn something. On our small railway live steam locos we generally avoid Teflon rings because it swells or expands in presence of steam . I use o rings, red silicone or epdm.
You people and your precise measurements, fine surface finishes and your flat, plumb and level assemblies....... Nice work !
Following along with your “eventual successes” on this project is super inspiring. I pick up as many, or more problem solving skills as I do machinist techniques. Thank you for sharing your ups and downs.
I really enjoyed watching that. Thanks for making and sharing it. I felt satisfied when the piston fitted so nicely.
I don’t know why but this is the part I’ve been looking forward to the most.
This really coming along...the finish product is going to look so sweet. Thanks for sharing...Vic
Great job. Glad you mentioned Mr Crispin, he's a bit of a legend over here in the UK. As I was watching your video I thought that you needed his special parting tool and then you mentioned him. Dean in Oxfordshire UK.
Really liked that mandrel you made for fine tuning the piston ring grooves. Good video and I enjoyed watching you work your way through this. When I am making something the problem solving gives me at least as much pleasure as the making.
You should try some 303 for small machined part in stainless....there’s a big difference between it and 304....in rod form it’s not much more expensive
Nice tip about the hybrid threading methods. Wish I had known about that sooner… :)
Nice tip about the hybrid threading methods. Wish I had known about that sooner… :)
THANK YOU...for sharing. One beautiful job on the rod and piston. Very nice.
Very nice job Quinn. I like the technique of chamfering on the chuck side when needed with a swiss file. Thank you. Really good job !
That’s a beautiful looking part right there and I love your problem solving mind set.
As always thank you for sharing
Quinn, the way you do your videos is top notch. Vey enjoyable to watch, you can tell that you put a lot of time into them. I love your way of showing how to do things too. You are a great teacher of your way of doing things. I love it!
Another step closer to steamy operation. Great instructive bid Quinn
Regards Nigel
My new steamer has a built up piston like you show. Stretching Teflon o rings over a traditional piston does by work very well. I used this uiltnup method for boiler to o rings on my new electric. boiler.
Looks beautiful. Can't wait to see this running 😍
Great series! Thanks for sharing all the ups and downs.
Nice planing on your part with the piston remount and cutting of the grooves.
Amazing the amount of time it takes to do a job like this, the few jobs I have done here at home took way longer than I expected. Good work Quinn!
I really like your can-do approach to things. I just found your channel and am enjoying the work you do.
I watch so many of your videos that it seems hard to believe this video is a year old already. Old as I am, the years go by much faster than they used to.
Awesome channel, and I love the trick for using both single point and die to do small dia. threading!
Great job and good shout out to Mr Crispin
Over many vids I’ve noticed you have excellent dexterity and typical machinist hand strength. That along with your thin and long fingers add up to perfect storm for guitar fretting. I’m betting my wife it’s another of your many skills.
You can measure the groove depths (minor diameter) for the rings by miking over gage pins or small drill bits that fit in the grooves.
Then subtract the combined thickness of the two pins to get the inside diameter.
Divide by two to get the depth.
Unless the width is smaller than the depth.
@@Neptune730 in that situation a couple of bits of rectangular flat stock as the gauge pins. I think round wires may have been OK here.
I cut the recess in the piston for my PM #5 the exact same way. Nice work! Your engine will definitely be tighter than mine.
Really enjoying this series, keep up the good work.
Lol...i hear ya Quinn...had to use a magnifying glass to watch you turn those threads!! Piston turned out beautiful...great job!!
43 inch monitor. Don't need magnifying glasses.
(Yet!) But, I can get bigger monitors.
steve
Lose a screw in your glasses and try making one of those! LOL
@@disgruntledscientist. I've got cheap reading glasses
just about everywhere I go.
steve
Thanks!
That must have been very satisfying to make. Good Job!
Such lovely finishes. Inspiring.
great progress, your engine will be running in no time.
This is going to be a really nice little engine!
Ps: have a go at making cast iron piston rings.
So a trick for runout I have a mark on my chuck jaw when I turn a part I mark the part with a sharpie as long as the two marks are lined up I have no runout and even if you have to flip the part around it works
Some great work arounds with a small lathe and mill you need to adapt your methods nice touch on the regrooving
Excellent work. Really enjoyed that.
a very nice french accent ! with "la pièce de résistance" congratulations.
⚜️
Great stuff. Always enjoy the vids and the explanations are very clear. Hope to one day get a hobby set up myself
You really do excellent work at all scales.
Once again Quinn shows us how to make it look like nothing went wrong.
Those type rings are used a lot on automatic transmissions. And usually you are supposed to put them on the piston and use a clamp (hose type clamp) to squeeze them down to the piston grooves for a while before installation. Then once they are installed, they spring back out to fit the bore perfectly and seal nicely. Just and idea.
Hand sanding the rings with something like 400 grit instead of re-machining the groovy grooves worked for me.
Nice work... very thorough
Good to see the engine coming along Quinn, I love that fact that you USA guys and girls are all making little model steam engines lately, Its cool to see the infectious desease of model engines taking over youtube engineers :)
I too know the pain of cutting small threads in stainless. Part way through this video I had a brainwave and realised that I could single-point part way and then use a die. I even thought about pausing the video to leave a comment. Glad I didn't because I'd have looked like an idiot 😂
We use those rings all the time in automatic transmissions . If there solid then we use a clamp to squeeze them to size. If there split rings thay fit below the grove and expand with pressure
Bonjour, je regarde vos vidéos avec intérêts, quelle précision dans vos montages, j'admire votre travail, félicitations. Au plaisir!
Merci bien! ☺️
Loved this one Quinn, awesome as always :D
Ahhhhh atlast the HEART of the machine !!!!!
I'd go nuts working with tiny parts like that ,nicely done Quinn
They get smaller still, unfortunately! 😳 My next engine will be bigger. 😂
@@Blondihacks 😲
I am loving this series!
Oh, this was very cool to watch. As a person with old eyes I can tell you that to get new young eyes you only need magnifiers. I see thirty years younger with those things on my head.
I'm not a machinist but it wouldn't surprise me if the piston isn't 1144 annealed steel, even with my little 6" Atlas lathe it turns great and leaves a fantastic finish when done. If you haven't tried 1144 annealed I would suggest getting a small bar of it and trying it out. 1144 annealed comes in at 85% on machinability vs 78% with 1018 (1212 being 100%) and 12L14 being 170%.
I know the numbers don't sound that great vs 12L14 but I recommend that you give it a try since I believe it turns better than what the numbers indicate, it's a fantastic metal to use and I really need to find myself a local supplier for it since the cost of shipping is getting crazy when ordering it online.
Thanks for sharing Quinn. An enjoyable series.
Joe
Awesome result!
Fantastic as always. Keep up with the great content.
Excellent job Quinn.👍👍
Quinn, Love your work.
Looks beautiful
Great accurate work.
Wow nice French accent :D
Thank you for your video, i'm not a machinist but, learns lot of things :)
Yay. New blondihacks vid!
Nice idea to single-point first and then use the die!
Other possible hot tip: Dies that come in sets from lumberyards never make quality threads. You need to go for precision ground dies that they offer at machining supply houses. Once you know the right brands, you might find cheaper online. Good dies will make good threads on your Stainless, no problem.
My dies come from MSC Direct
Looking good. One question I have is that of thermal expansion of the piston rings. I’m wondering what happens if/ when you run on actual steam vs air if the rings swell or expand and bind. Typically piston ring gap is verified in the bore without the piston but my experience is with gas/ Diesel engines.
VERY nice work! I learned a lot.
Lots of pride around those parts :)
Pretty cool as always!
Someone may have already mentioned this, but a handy dodge is to rough in a thread by single pointing it and finish with a die. Helpful on tougher materials.
That’s literally exactly what I did in the video. Did you not watch it all the way?
@@Blondihacks Sorry, must have missed it.
"So, machined hardware always looks really lovely." Yes. Yes it does.
Rolled threads are usually stronger though.
I'm so happy i found this channel
I really enjoyed this video, as is tradition.
Nice project, you are great!
Beautiful....Great job. Thanks...I learned.
Nice work! Thanks.