Casting Quality.

[lancelot]

Hello All,
just received a copy of ''The Engineers Emporium'' catalogue of engines and castings, so a few questions off the group if I may, firstly, bearing in mind lathe has 3 1/4'' c/height and 18'' cent/s and my mill is not overly sturdy,has anyone with this type of tooling ever built any of their engines from castings.
What is the quality of the ''castings'' for dimension tolerance and ease or otherwise of machining, I would appreciate any comments on above from the group.
All the best for now,
John.

[chrisw]

Hi John.
I havnt used the engineers emporium but have machined a set of castings for a Vulcan beam engine using similar eqipment to you. I managed OK just a matter of time cleaning up the castings by hand then using small cuts so not to over stress the machines. For size of model see Brunell models web site. Cant comment on quality as this is the first set of casting I have bought so nothing to compare with but there was ample excess material to allow machining.

Chris.

[hitnmis]

Hi John

I have a set of castings for the Junior engine from the Engineers Emporium. Apart from being all aluminium the castings they have a good finish in the raw state. Although I have not started building it yet I dont see why they should not yield a good finish when machined.
There was an intresting build article started in the Model Engineer back in 2002 issue 4176 on how to build this engine on a small 31/2 lathe by Stan Bray.

Regards Andy

[lancelot]

Hi folks,
thank you Andy and Chris, I will have to do a bit more research on their engines, meantime I am well on the way with the James Coombes table engine, I machined the bearing set today,...Tricky>>> but worked out well, the flywheel I bored and reamed on the mill, then made a tight fitting mandrel with a slight taper, this will let me machine the outer diameter on one of the clubs lathes, mine just is not big enough, next job is the crankshaft and the crank web casting.
All the best for now.
John.

[spurley]

Hi John

The offer of my lathe, 16 1/2" swing (210mm centre height), still stands, although I think I am going to Cultra this Saturday with John and his Sweet Pea. Maybe see you there? Otherwise I'm home on Sunday and then from next Friday if you're thinking of coming to me.

Cheers

Brian

[ron]

Hi John
The James Coombes looks as if it has the same flywheel casting as the Victoria, I had a bit of a problem machining it which hopefully you won't have but it's worth knowing about. I found the outer rim totally impossible to turn due to that hard chrystaline crust that you sometimes get on cast iron [don't know what the technical name for it is?], tipped tools just slipped off it or if forced shattered, and my lathe wouldn't go slow enough and isn't powereful enough to get a deep cut underneath it.
I solved it by carefully removing it with an angle grinder and then it machined no problem.
I haven't come across this with any other Stuart castings and I've just finished the No 9 flywheel without probems but as the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed.
Ron

[lancelot]

Hi Ron,
thank you for the info, I will bear that in mind.
I meant to ask you if I might have a copy of the drawing of the ''reversing gear'', at some time I will attempt to fit my engines with them.
All the best for now.
John.

[ron]

Hi John
I've e-mailed them to you,
Ron

[lancelot]

Hello Ron,
just printing it out now as we speak, thank you very much, most useful.
All the best for now.
John.

[lancelot]

Hello all,
anyone any experience of the castings from,
SOUTHWORTH ENGINES...in chesterfield, I was looking at the ''Corliss valve'' engine for a build but would like a bit more information on their castings if possible.
All the best for now,
John.

[Jo]

Hi John,

I have a set of the Cross Compound castings from Southworth, no complaints.

But the hand draw drawings by Arnold Throp are a bit cramped and as the same set of drawings covers so many different configurations you will have to carefully go through them to find which parts relate to your chosen engine.

These are not engines for the novice.......but if you want a challenge.

Jo

[lancelot]

Hello Jo,
thank you for the info, I got to speak to the chap in Southworths, he agrees with what you say, but advised that the drawings are only a ''Guide'' as such, all the parts have to be ''made to fit'' with each other, so to speak, as the castings may or maynot be on drawing sizes!?!...this as you say could very well be quite an interesting challenge. He is sending me some pictures and information on the Corliss engine build. Have you started on the build of your engine yet?
All the best for now,
John.

[Jo]

Hi John,

I have Emailed you some odds and ends about the southworth engine.

For anyone else who is intrested: Back in August 1982 there was a couple of articles on these engines by Arnold Throp in ME. He also uses this engine in the photo's in his book on Milling in the Home workshop.

Jo

[lancelot]

Hello Jo,
got the mail ok, thank you, I meant to ask if you would scan the articles by ''Throp'' for me, that would be appreciated and most useful,
All the best for now,
John.

[gugger]

Hallo John,
Since I am in the process of building a Cross Compound Corliss from Peter Southworth, I may give you some comment to your query.
The castings in general are not bad except that both cylinder castings were undersized in the width, which resulted after machining in a fault of 1/16”. This has to be taken into consideration for the layout of the control gear. On the machine beds the cast eyes for the handrail stanchions must be corrected in order to get a good looking engine. More or less a minor point.

The drawings are in some cases not easy to read. All measurements have to be checked very carefully and a calculator, paper and pencil have to be at hand to sketch things out. Also some power of imagination is required. Some details shown on the drawings can not be taken for realistic. Since I am working in metric things are more complicated.

This Corliss engines have been built by other people successfully before and I am also confident that I will have an interesting machine in the end.

However, it is not a model for a novice.
Walter

[lancelot]

Hello Walter,
your comments are most useful, illustrates just what the chap in Southworths said in relation to drawings and castings, ''have to MAKE them fit'' is that not part of the fun?
This web site might be of interest, [click...illustrations at top for drawings etc,]

www.wkinsler.com/technology/corliss/index.html

I am waiting on him sending me some more information before I jump in at the deep end.
All the best for now,
John.

[gugger]

John,
Jumping can be fun!
Thanks for the Link.
Have you seen the Corliss Engine working in the Queen Street Mill in Burnley? That's where I got hooked.
Regards
Walter

[lancelot]

Hello Gugger,
following up on the ''corliss''. I have just recently got the drawing set and propose to build the single cylinder one, I will be obtaining the casting set soon, I am thinking of getting them in ''gunmetal'' rather than cast iron for the reason that if I break a drill or tap. it would be not so difficult to remove.How are you progressing with yours, any photos of ''before and after''
All the best for now,
John.

[gugger]

Hallo John,
As it is the case with such projects, progress is slow but steady.
In my Photobucket Album you can see some pictures taken at various stages:

s89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Gugger_2006/

Getting the castings in Gunmetal can have some advantages, starting with cleaner fingers and machines.

Wintertime is ideal to start a new project, so do not hesitate to get the castings and get stuck into it.

Good luck.
Walter

[lancelot]

Hi Walter,
thank you for the link, great work, could take up to two months for delivery if I go with Gun metal but I think it's worth the wait, in the mean time I have the ''Coombes'' to finish.
All the best for now,
John.