Chris's Great Western Paddlewheel Engine

Quote from: cnr6400

Interesting design.  Rather than having the crossbar connect directly to the lever arm, they have a drop-down post to connect them.  I guess the additional part count and complexity let them have a longer stroke length and allow the lever arms to extend below the level of the base of the engine.  But now they have to make sure the levers are all positioned between frames of the hull or they'd have yet another problem! 

They did a lot of things to keep the height of the engine as minimal as possible!

Kim

Quote from: KimInteresting design.  Rather than having the crossbar connect directly to the lever arm, they have a drop-down post to connect them.  I guess the additional part count and complexity let them have a longer stroke length and allow the lever arms to extend below the level of the base of the engine.  But now they have to make sure the levers are all positioned between frames of the hull or they'd have yet another problem! 

They did a lot of things to keep the height of the engine as minimal as possible!

Kim

Yes, I  guess they could have had the crossbar fit into the side lever directly,  had not thought about that. As you say, it would require a little extra hieght,  since the condenser  tank is in the way. From the cross sections of the hull I've seen,  the engine is already right at the bottom of the hull. The way I  had to cut into the base beam shows how the hull frames would have to be set such that the engines levers didn't get  hit. Quite a system! On Brunel's  second ship, the Great Britain, the steel frames were used as part of the engine frame, so the engine had to be built into the hull itself. Sort of like some of the huge water pumping engines in England and France, where the building was part of the engine. Fun to dig into the designs!



The Great Britain engine in the hull:
 

The rings for the ends of all four levers have been made, and the crankshaft-end short posts turned on the lathe. Here is one pair test fit on the crossbeam, and the other set in the background.

Have started the silver soldering/cleanup of the rings/posts. Some of the joints will be held with screws only, to allow for fine adjustments/alignments. I just need to make the short connecting posts that go through the rings and ends of the levers. Should be able to assemble things this afternoon and get the first roundy-round-uppy-down movements of the crankshaft, conrods, and levers!

After cleaning up the soldered joints, the pivot pins for the side lever ends were made. Just a length of 1/4" rod, cross drilled for retaining pins then cut apart into the individual pieces.

One set installed...

With all installed, it was time for some motion! All is moving smoothly, quite happy with it so far. Next up I think will be the cylinder assemblies.
https://youtu.be/cjy3vALeQMQ

Wonderful!  It goes around and around and up and down! 


That first picture there looks like you're making an elf flute! 

Kim

" No elves were launched during the making of this video..."  It rolls over very smoothly Chris! I thought I could hear some faint flute music in the background, though...  

Motion! Great milestone!

When you first posted the pictures of the beams on, I must say I was surprised. Despite seeing your CAD model I didn’t expect them to be on the bottom, and had to go back to the original model again.

Where do you find all of these great drawings and references?

Quote from: KimWonderful!  It goes around and around and up and down! 


That first picture there looks like you're making an elf flute! 

Kim

Quote from: cnr6400 " No elves were launched during the making of this video..."  It rolls over very smoothly Chris! I thought I could hear some faint flute music in the background, though...

When I was drilling the holes, I thought the same thing, an elf sized flute!

Going to be a bit of a slowdown on this project for a while. This afternoon I was going out to get the mail, and slipped off the side of the driveway, and wound up attacking the asphalt with my face and left hand. The asphalt won! Minor scrapes on the forehead and nose, but the left wrist hurt a lot. Went up to the local Urgent Care place, lots of them around since we have a major med school and hospital in Rochester. Xrays showed a minor crack down the Radius bone. Fortunately no seperation, movement, the crack didnt go all the way through. But, a splint/cast on the wrist for a while that will keep me from most shop work till it heals.    What a pain in the ... um, wrist!

Quote from: Rledoux313Motion! Great milestone!

When you first posted the pictures of the beams on, I must say I was surprised. Despite seeing your CAD model I didn’t expect them to be on the bottom, and had to go back to the original model again.

Where do you find all of these great drawings and references?

Lots of research, bits and pieces from different books and old builder models of similar engines.

Quote from: cruebyGoing to be a bit of a slowdown on this project for a while. This afternoon I was going out to get the mail, and slipped off the side of the driveway, and wound up attacking the asphalt with my face and left hand. The asphalt won! Minor scrapes on the forehead and nose, but the left wrist hurt a lot. Went up to the local Urgent Care place, lots of them around since we have a major med school and hospital in Rochester. Xrays showed a minor crack down the Radius bone. Fortunately no seperation, movement, the crack didnt go all the way through. But, a splint/cast on the wrist for a while that will keep me from most shop work till it heals.    What a pain in the ... um, wrist!

Yikes!  Glad you're mostly OK! Hope the wrist heals quickly.  That sounds like a lot of no fun! 

Well, maybe you'll have time to catch up on that reading backlog? 

Kim

Quote from: Kim

Quote from: cruebyGoing to be a bit of a slowdown on this project for a while. This afternoon I was going out to get the mail, and slipped off the side of the driveway, and wound up attacking the asphalt with my face and left hand. The asphalt won! Minor scrapes on the forehead and nose, but the left wrist hurt a lot. Went up to the local Urgent Care place, lots of them around since we have a major med school and hospital in Rochester. Xrays showed a minor crack down the Radius bone. Fortunately no seperation, movement, the crack didnt go all the way through. But, a splint/cast on the wrist for a while that will keep me from most shop work till it heals.    What a pain in the ... um, wrist!

Yikes!  Glad you're mostly OK! Hope the wrist heals quickly.  That sounds like a lot of no fun! 

Well, maybe you'll have time to catch up on that reading backlog? 

Kim

Reading, movies, shows...  Glad I got the bathroom painting done last week!  And some major writing and CAD stuff too.
Now the elves will keep tossing stuff to me on that side... Glad I throw with the other hand! 

The model looks awesome already and the Sherline chuck is great reference for scale!

Sorry to hear about your little accident but now you have more time to catch-up on some reading.

Quote from: KryptoThe model looks awesome already and the Sherline chuck is great reference for scale!

Sorry to hear about your little accident but now you have more time to catch-up on some reading.

Thanks! 

Sorry to hear of your mishap Chris. Hope you heal up quickly. No more acrobatics or pole vaulting for a while! 

Let me know if you need any remotely generated PA announcements in the workshop to keep the shop elves' mischief and natural tendency to larceny to a minimum...."You there! drop that miniature barrel of Navy rum!" 

Best wishes.