Comments for Start Model Engineering

Comment on ‘Johnboy’ Stirling Engine – part 6 by Unal Kazak

Unal Kazak — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:54:43 +0000

Dear John,
How right you are sir,
It is really tempting to start no later than today, but I am all geared up for the “Mill” as you know. Count me in on this. It is kind of project that even thinking about it, brings a smile on ones face. I can hardly wait to see my daughters’ faces at the breakfast table in the morning when they see one running…

Thanks again for this outstanding post and immaculate instructions

Cheers,
Unal

Comment on ‘Johnboy’ Stirling Engine – part 6 by John

John — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:41:38 +0000

Another engine for your growing build list Unal.

John

Comment on ‘Johnboy’ Stirling Engine – part 6 by Unal Kazak

Unal Kazak — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:38:05 +0000

Oh! John,

It is a real treat!
This is “A #1″ great one. Hard to believe it sis only running by a coffee steam…
Now! I believe everybody want one for sure… It is a great show.
Do you think it would work with a Turkish Coffee too? But our cups are so tiny,…

Well, our hot tea surely would run it. It is a great model. It would be great to have it in the shop too, it could keep the chips off the coffee.

Thank you for sharing.
Unal

Comment on Glowing balls by John

John — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:57:59 +0000

Clearly it’s not an easy life being an international media mogul.

John

Comment on Glowing balls by Ralph (AKA divided head)

Ralph (AKA divided head) — Sun, 06 May 2012 00:27:35 +0000

I am trying Harry, John.

I spent hours editing a film with all the instruction in it and then the ever more annoying Windows movie maker decided that it didn’t want to publish my masterpiece!?

I’ll sort it out but will be a few days/week. Very busy at the mo’.

Ralph.

Comment on Elmer’s Wobbler, a Turkish Delight by John

John — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:42:06 +0000

Hi Unal

Good to hear you are back in production, that’s one of Elmer’s engines I haven’t built so I shall be interested in the finished result. Hopefully we will be able to feature it on the site.

John

Comment on Elmer’s Wobbler, a Turkish Delight by Unal Kazak

Unal Kazak — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:17:55 +0000

Hi John,
You wont belive this but I started the Elmers Fancy II. (Just flexing the muscles before the Mill) I am recording it. I hope it comes out right.

regards,
Unal

Comment on Glowing balls by John

John — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:57:14 +0000

Over to you Ralph

John

Ralph will be posting a video on the process shortly.

Comment on Glowing balls by Harry

Harry — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:12:21 +0000

I was interested to see that Ralph used epoxy resin with glow in the dark powder. Could he perhaps give more details on how this was mixed, as I am sure that it could be used to good effect in the GID keyfob.
Love these projects, keep them coming please!

Comment on Elmer’s Wobbler, a Turkish Delight by murat deveci

murat deveci — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:04:06 +0000

Greetings from,Istanbul!

I am impressed with Unal’s work. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Such a great website,John. Appreciated for letting us to see this kind of awesome metal-works on the web.
I hope,I can be as good as you guys.

Cheers,
Murat.

Comment on Elmer’s #32 part five by John

John — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:06:23 +0000

Hello Brian

Apart from a little extra work in adjusting the dimensions on the plans I found that building to an increased size was no more difficult, in fact almost the opposite as the larger components are less ‘fiddly’.

I am not too sure about the fine detail on powder coating except that items are sprayed with a dry paint powder then heat treated in an oven and provides a very tough paint finish. It’s a popular treatment with motorcycle restorers for that reason. I have a local company who will add a model engine frame or chassis to one of their batch runs for the cost of a pint. I make a point of showing them the finished engine on completion and they seem well pleased – or maybe they are just being polite. Two things to bear in mind – do fill any drilled or tapped holes to prevent paint entry and allow for the fact that often powder coating can be quite thick so could affect tolerances. The alternative method I use for most of my models is a brushed coat of etching primer followed by several coats of aerosol car paints from Halfords. Then leave for several days to fully harden. I use a large cardboard carton on its side as a spray booth. It’s easy to suspend wire hooks inside the carton to hang components.

John

Comment on Elmer’s #32 part five by Brian Carter

Brian Carter — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:14:08 +0000

Good Morning John,
Will do. I built my Vertical to original scale, there being enough intricacies in the original design to more than challenge my skills.

I note that several of your completed models seem to be powder coated, and I wonder if you could give me a little advice on the process.

Many thanks,
Brian

Comment on Elmer’s #32 part five by John

John — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:20:57 +0000

Hello Brian

I was really pleased to hear from you and that you are into the final stages of your build. What I want to know is did you build at Elmer’s size or increase by 50% ? I would love to see pics of your finished engine and maybe you would also consider adding some notes on how your build progressed. Such information is often very useful for others.

John

Comment on Elmer’s #32 part five by Brian Carter

Brian Carter — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:39:31 +0000

Hi John,
I am a bit of a disappointment I’m afraid. I note the date of my last comment, with the promise of beginning Elmer’s Vertical Mill Engine- and then silence! Well here I am again after much delay, but finally at the assembly stage. I got a bit side tracked! As you described, I too, puzzled over the linkage conundrum, and thought for a moment or two that the arms just might be too long. Of course there was no mention of soldering and cutting the pins as you describe, but that certainly seems the only sensible course. I like your approach using nuts and studs and plan to adopt that method as well- it ‘feels’ better. I have the engine and steam box complete, and have what appears to be a satisfactory valve- milling that up using a 50 yr old cast iron Atlas Milling Adapter was a treat! I had to permanently affix Dial Indicators to the Y and Z axises to compensate for backlash but it worked. It fits very nicely into the nut.
I also liked your superglue approach to dividing the head bolts- I had seen that here before and promptly forgot about it. It might have saved me some headaches!

It is very encouraging to see Your finished efforts and realize what can be done with a little care and effort. My tooling is rudamentary, but I feel it is all within reach. Elmers’ Vertical is my third engine since retirement, but the most exacting.

Comment on Nuts and bolts by John

John — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:39:57 +0000

Hello Sam

I suggest you have a look here

John

Comment on Nuts and bolts by sam weaver

sam weaver — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:34:37 +0000

I am interested in buying small packs of nuts & bolts,metric,BA,etc for model making,do you offer this facil.
regards SW,

Comment on Glowing balls by Ralph (AKA divided head)

Ralph (AKA divided head) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:38:26 +0000

Happy you like it Unal :-)

Please send pictures to John of any you produce. I would really like to see them.

“useful” Funny, many people think it’s just “boys and their toys” until they have something made for them :-)

Good luck.

Ralph.

Comment on Elmer’s Wobbler, a Turkish Delight by Unal Kazak

Unal Kazak — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:31:46 +0000

Thank you John,
I will need all the help I can get for the #33 Mill Engine. As you guessed, for me, the cylinder will be hardest part, for I havent seen any 3D pictures or drawings of it. some pictures would be realy great help. I am also thinking to scale up to 50%, but fly wheel gets on the way. since I havent got the RT yet. so, somehow I have to find a way to make it in between the Lathe and the mill.

Unal

Comment on Elmer’s Wobbler, a Turkish Delight by John

John — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:46:10 +0000

Hi Unal

Viewing the project as a whole can be very daunting to start with. Just take one component at a time and you will quickly gain confidence. Take your time with plenty of breaks between each machining operation. Thinking time is sometimes more valuable than machining time.If you decide on the mill engine I will see if I can find you some pictures that I took during construction which may assist. The machining of the cylinder can appear confusing at first so some pictures may help.

John

Comment on Elmer’s Wobbler, a Turkish Delight by Unal Kazak

Unal Kazak — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:44:40 +0000

Thanks John
One just starts working, when retires…
Actually John, I was struggling back and forth in between, (to decide) weather do make Beam or the Mill. Like old air fighter pilots have saying, that, “…if you are going to go down, you might as well go down smoking…” either one of these engines seems quite a task to tackle if you don’t already happened to have a few rusted engines left behind on dusty corners of the shop. Since you mentioned #33 Mill, that might be the sign! But, one thing is for sure, I will be bothering you during the progress.

Kind regards,
Unal