Let's Build A Model Steam Engine - Machining a cylinder casting!

This episode on Blondihacks, I'm machining the cylinder casting for my model steam engine! Exclusive videos, drawings, models & plans available on Patreon!

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[Blondihacks]

Hey everyone! A few folks have asked for a direct link to Keith’s video on this topic. Here you go:

Also, while I didn’t mention it, it is indeed AvE with the red nose in front. That’s axiomatic so I didn’t state it in the video.

[jimmccorison]

It’s refreshing to see folks that don’t do it perfect every time, or at least on video. Because you know that everybody makes mistakes. Sure after enough years of experience your mistakes are infrequent, but they still get made. The key part, is when you do, how do you recover. Sharing those recoveries are great teaching moments. Thank you for that.

[qcnck]

I have to say I learn a lot from the oops moments. It shows where things can go pear shaped, as they would undoubtedly do for me.

[cliveclapham]

Nice work 😎 Quin
No such thing as mistakes only *unscheduled chargeable modifications*

[jeffanderson]

I have watched most of Kieth’s videos on steam engine building. He is an authority on the subject imho.
The only thing I found that didn’t work was setting up the cylinder bore using the mandrel. My casting bore was so crooked I had to replace it. The next two I indicated off the outside of the casting on the three points to find my center. I then bored to dimension and cut the face in the same set up.
Many model makers use transfer punches and super glue. It works, I use my DRO as much as possible.
Blonde, I enjoy your videos on this subject more than that professional machinist.
You are human, don’t ever change. You are a character. Way better than TV 😃

[Zarlax]

The hallmark of a master is the ease and completeness with which they hide their mistakes. Living vicariously through you because I have neither the machines nor the skill to make a steam engine (on my bucket list).

[Pest]

I absolutely love that you share your mistakes so openly. There's so much more to learn when things don't go as perfectly as one wants. When a Keith, a Tom, a Robyn, or a Stefan perfectly executes a project from start to finish, we get to see the way something should be done. However, unless they make a point of explaining what can go wrong and how to fix it if it does, we only get part of the picture. When you encounter a problem, we don't just get a bunch of how, we also get a bit of why as well. That's great.

[debonh]

Used to use graphited string as cylinder packing. Bored cylinder in lathe, t hen fitted homemade mandrel to face both ends. If there was enough meat in the castings, then slice off the valve chest, you can see what you're doing with the steam ports, and you will be able to lap in the port face. Cylinder hone, slit in a piece of broomstick, and strip of emery.You're doing a great job of showing this - LBSC would be pleased!

[robertoswalt]

I love your measurement units as well as your ability to recover from when the gremlins attack.

[ROTTK]

the bad thing when machining is once you start excepting modifications to one part it could bite you several steps later effecting 6 parts, the good thing is catching things early and it can award you with a good final product and experience.

[alvabaker]

Great job, simplified where we all can understand it, plus being made aware of potential mistakes to be had!

[eric]

I'm gonna say this because I know you'll take it the right way - I love it when you make mistakes. I'm working on a machinist's hammer right now and it's disturbing how often I do some operation and then think "Oh, crap...I should've/shouldn't have/wish I would've done...X instead of Y". The way you handle the mistakes is as instructional as anything else you do.

[Preen]

Great work!

In regard to honing. Basically everything you said is correct in its own context. And that is often the issue.

The finish and crosshatch angle will depend on what ring (or seal) material you have, ring design, application. Most certainly the grooves are used to retain oil and bed rings in. And the angles you were talking about are within normal range.

One point about honing technique is to give a few short strokes each end every so often, as you pass the middle twice as much at the ends and if you're not careful you'll end up with the centre being oversize.

[yetanotherbloke]

So I just came over here from Rex Krueger's channel and this is my first video, coz you know, steam engines are cool. What an astonishing amount of very finely toleranced work you're doing. Your comment that you were a mile out on centering that boss was something. You're clearly on the 1mm:1 mile scale. Far out.

[stephenwalsh]

Hi Blondie, that was a bum clenching video, it was like walking on thin ice all the way; I felt your pain. 10/10 for perseverance though. As consolation, castings are always a pain in the butt to start and professional engineers are well paid because it requires a lot of experience to make it easy! Especially one of jobs.
You got there though so well done.

[JBFromOZ]

Great to see another approach used here, especially with the cast boss used as a reference feature, it makes centring on the gland nut all the more obvious thanks for sharing

[Reach]

The bucket list has another scratched-out entry. By the end of an hour, I'd be a shell-shocked mess working on this project. Hell, I'm a mess just watching *you* do it!

[dangerrangerlstc]

Diesel engine tech here. Cross hatching is most definitely still used in modern engines. It is mostly for oil control. You can't have a polished cylinder wall (in diesel engines at least, can't speak for steam) or you will burn oil excessively. You have to have a film of oil on the cylinder wall, and having the microscopic peaks and valleys gives the oil a place to go when the oil control ring on the piston goes past. The oil helps keep the cylinder wall cool, and helps keep soot from sticking. Spray paint over water droplets and see what happens. Rebuilt many engines that had oil consumption problems due to polished cylinder liners.

[cellularmitosis]

Thank you so much for leaving your mistakes in! Seeing you solve them is so educational

[ADBBuild]

If they would have dimensioned the edge of the steam chest to the center of the cylinder bore, it would have made things a lot more clear!

As far as cylinder honing, in gas engines anyway, if you are rebuilding an engine and don't hone the cylinders to give them a new cross hatch, the rings won't seat and you will get blow by. On a miniature steam engine, I can't imagine it mattering as the forces are so low, I don't think it would matter. With a rubber o-ring, I would think you would want the surface as polished as possible to avoid abrading the o-ring.