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The Radial Five
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If you would like to see how the outside of each cylinder was machined? Click Here!
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Well, it all started with this issue of Home Shop Machinist. I saw this at the local news stand and I was instantly interested. I brought home this issue and studied it over and told my wife,” I wish I could build this little engine.” Well each other month I went to the news stand and picked up the next installment. I was studying the articles over and waiting to see something that I couldn’t machine. After a year, I was ready to give it a shot. There were several things I had never machined and tools I had never used, but I felt I could get through it. So when the last issue arrived, I started the project. The original idea was to build it in 6 months and give it away as a Christmas gift, but I didn’t finish it until January. It looks like I will have to keep it.
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Here was the first pic, the jig/fixtures. This was a first test and they had to be right. So I machined slowly and measured carefully. Also this is the first pic of my new rotary table. I had never used one and had no idea how it worked, but I brought it home to get started. After they were completed and I used the rotary table to locate the four holes for mounting the faceplate, I was excited. Things learned here were how to machine a back plate for my lathe, how to locate the rotary table and accurately locate/dill the holes correctly with the rotary table
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Here was a huge moment in the shop. This was the beginning of the crankcase. I had mounted the rotary table vertically and used a wonderful thing called a wiggler! I used the wiggler to locate the part and then used the table to rotate the part so the flats could be machined. Things learned here were how to use a wiggler and learn/understand a new way to use the rotary table.
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Next on the list, machining the mounting/through holes for the cylinders. Well, I had never used a boring head and this was an experience. I didn’t really know how much I should remove with each pass or how fast I could bore the cylinder out. This had to be done with some accuracy, this would eventually place each cylinder and it had to be right. Things learned here was how to locate holes with some precision and how to use a boring head.
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I had just completed most of the machining steps for the crankcase and I was beside myself! I must have showed everyone I know this neat little thing called a crank case. Now came the bearing housing and the valve housing. Here several things that were learned in the previous steps now were now used again. Here is a pic of the valve housing. This one part had seven steps to complete it. There were 4 lathe steps and then the hard part came when I had to use the rotary table to locate and drill/tap 25 4-40 holes. This was a first to say the least. Horizontal and vertical setups were used to locate all of the holes. Lastly, all of these holes had to align with other holes in mating parts. Here I learned to use multiple setups to complete a part. There was certain steps had to be completed before others. Also, something I had to work on was drilling small holes and keeping them where they need to be. This would be an on going battle through out the project.
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Here is the bearing housing. This was a little easier and little more enjoyable for me. I have had my mini lathe for four years at this point and I am very comfortable with using my lathe. However, I have had my mill a little less than a year at this point and this was my second project will a milling machine. Here the case and the case fixture were used to machine the housing. Then two Bronze bearings were machined, pressed in and reamed to fit the crankshaft.
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Here is a pic of the mostly completed bearing housing. You may notice that there is some added mounting holes and a small brass plug in the top. The next step was one of my favorite things I have ever machined and I consider this one of coolest thing I have ever machined.
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One of the smallest parts of the engine, the oil/ crank case vent was machined using several steps and setups. This little part unscrews so oil can be added, plus it also acts as a breather for the engine. First the part was machined to its final diameter. Then the part was centered drilled to a certain depth. At this point the part was threaded using a die and die holder. I had never used a die or die holder, which also means I had never had to calculate thread depth before. Next, the part was flipped in the lathe and with the lathe turning at a slow speed I hand filed the radius on the end of the part. Lastly, I had to machine a hole from the side of the part to intersect the previous hole that was centered drilled earlier.
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To make this part functional, I had to accurately drill and tap a hole in the top of the bearing house. This hole had to be on the money to keep the looks of the engine correct, but it also had to intersect exactly in the middle of the bronze bearings. To make the crank case vent, another hole was drilled from the backside of the bearing housing and it had to intersect into the same hole for the oil and bearings.
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Things learned, how to use a die and holder, how to machine a radius using a hand file and how to calculate thread depth.
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