Slow Running On Air Video of My 3/4″ Scale Bassett Lowke Traction Engine Model
|
A newly made proper flywheel replaces the tiny lathe chuck in my previous video “First Time Running On Air” allows really slow running on compressed air.
Note that in this video I have not yet made the full reversing valve gear which is why it only shows one eccentric and rod.
Also the flywheel which was machined from a solid piece of 5″ dia cast-iron bar is still not yet 100% complete. Some cosmetic rounding of the spokes required.
Ahhhh,…I liked the lathe chuck,…it added character 🙂
Thanks for your comment Toymaker, I applaud your appreciation of character in our creations.
And reciprocating your sentiments, I think that the fins to your Evaporator Coils (10-stage Parsons type steam turbine boiler ) add more than a touch of character too. 🙂
https://modelengineeringinthailand.com/forum/index.php?threads/parsons-steam-turbine.62/page-6#post-1008
Alan
Hi Alan, must say that looks & sounds fantastic, your machining is first class ,no knocks/wobbly flywheel, eccentric crankshaft, & nice slow running, to be honest it just sounds like the real thing .
Thanks for the update
Kind regards,
Graham.
Hi Graham and many thanks for your comments and kind words.
It’ comments like these, from people like you, Graham, that give me the incentive to keep publishing content on YouTube and on the website.
Again, thank you so much.
Alan
Many thanks for your comment, George.
Making the flywheel was, at first, extremely difficult. The spokes are actually tapered althoght that’s hard to see in the movie. The taper was turned in the lathe and being an ‘internal’ taper needed two different turning tools.
Also, cutting out the spokes (in the mill using a rotary table) was at first challenging. Not so much the machining more understanding the cutting geometry and which way to turn the handwheel on the rotary table and by how much. Get any of those wrong and the jobs ruined.
But after I fully understood the geometry I got into a rhythm and it went quite easily. By the way it needed two different setups to cut the spokes.
I’ll make a Post on the website explaining all this because as I said it’s quite complicated.
As to the boiler, well that’s been put on the back burner for now. I’m thinking about changing the design. The one published by Bassett Lowke is very difficult verging on the impossible to build.
I want to get the engine valve gear and driving gear finished and working so that I can drive it along the ground under air before I tackle the new boiler.
A very nice bit of progress. Machining that amount of cast iron must have made a right royal mess.
Did you get any pictures of the finished water tubes soldered into the boiler?