Elderberry Mill Engine/ Elmer's 43 by AOG

After more than a month on the road for work, it's time to start a new engine. After diving into my closet of kits I came up with the Elderberry Mill Engine kit from LMS.



As you can see it looks very similar to Elmer's number 43 engine. After looking at both sets of plans, I have decided to cherry pick elements and processes from each for my version.  Let's get started with the base. I started by squaring up the base,



Then I fly cut the surfaces flat.



Then the design was laid out.



Then I milled out the cutout.



And drilled the holes.



I don't have a counterbore so I used a 2 flute end mill (slot drill) instead.



Next up was the column. I started off by squaring up the piece and then using an end mill to mill the top and bottom flat.



Then I laid out the column.



I drilled



and reamed the holes



Then I drilled and tapped the mounting holes on the bottom.



Then I started shaping the column. I milled out the top of the column.



Then I flipped it over and cut it to depth.



Then I tilted the column and cut the angled sides.



The next piece was the bearing. It was a simple turning job. I turned the profile.



Drilled and reamed the center.



Then I parted it off and flipped it over and cleaned up the other side.



Next I drilled an oil hole in the bearing



That's all I have time for now. I will finish the rest this evening.

That's a great start Anthony. I'll be along for the ride. Glad you have found the time to get back in the shop as well.

Bill

Thanks Bill. The next piece was the crankshaft. The elderberry design calls for a one piece crank while Elmer uses a 2 piece design. Going into this build I was one in four for the single piece cranks. I decided to try again figuring I could convert to to a 2 piece Elmer style crankshaft if I screwed it up. I faced the end of the supplied bar and then center drilled it.



Then turning between the chuck and the tailstock center, I thinned down the shaft.



With bated breath I parted off the piece. And no "tink" or bending.



Then I turned it over and cleaned up the back side.



Then it was over to the mill to drill and tap the hole for the crank pin.



The last thing I did is to mill a flat onto the shaft. Looking at the pic I had the part out way to far and I could have bent it during this operation. I won't do that agin.



The next piece I worked on was the eccentric strap. This is the most advanced thing I have done on my rotary table so far. I started by laying out the part



Then I took a piece of sacrificial scrap and drilled and tapped it for 10-32 hold downs.



Then using my laser I picked up the center of the large hole. That would be the datum for this piece.



The hole was then drilled.



And then bored to size.



The other 2 holes were then drilled.



Then I turned 2 bushings. One for the large hole and one for the center.



Then the eccentric strap was mounted to the scrap.



Then I mounted the scrap onto my rotary table tooling plate. I realized that the tooling plate had a 10-32 hole in the center so I replaced the screw in the large bushing with a stud and nut. That made aligning everything easy.



Then I milled out the shape followed by some cleanup on the die filer.



The last piece for this weekend was the flywheel. I decided to go with an Elmer style flywheel. I started by facing both sides of the blank and then marking out where the rebate would go.



Then using my  round profiling tool I cut the rebates.



Then the center was drilled and reamed.



Then it was over to the mill to drill and tap for the set screw.



Then the flywheel was mounted on a mandril and placed in the collet chuck. The outer edge was trued up and turned to final diameter.



I'll end this weekend's post with a family shot



Tony

I will follow along as well.

Mike

That's a good start with just a weekends work     

I saw that you were using a replaceable tip tool in your fly cutter. Do you get problems with chipping the tips due to the interrupted cut?

Quote from: Roger BThat's a good start with just a weekends work     

I saw that you were using a replaceable tip tool in your fly cutter. Do you get problems with chipping the tips due to the interrupted cut?

I wish I could be that productive normally but this was a " I just got back from a long trip weekend" so it had a few extra days in it. The jury's out on the fly cutter. It never worked well for me on my old mini mill. Since the new mill has a power feed I thought I would try it again. I didn't have any problems with the tool chipping this time but I was cutting Aluminum. I also didn't get a surface finish that I was totally happy with. I will continue to test it with different DOCs and feed rates to see if I can dial it in.

Tony

This weekend was very frustrating. It started well enough. I decided to start with making the eccentric. I turned one end of the bar to get a good slip fit on the eccentric strap.



Then I parted off the piece and faced it to dimension.



Then the four jaw was offset for the throw and the piece turned down.



Then the hole for the shaft was drilled and reamed.



Then it was over to the mill where the hole for the set screw was drilled and tapped.



With the eccentric completed I decided to start the reversing lever. The build guide says to mount the part in the four jaw and turn the boss. Their recommended setup made me uneasy because I didn't have anything to properly support one end of the piece. I should have paid attention to my instincts. When I turned the part the interrupted cut caused the part to shift and I ended up with this.



I figured that it was no big deal and that I would clean it up in the mill. Then I forgot to add in the radius of my tool and ended up milling off part of my boss. Needless to say that piece was scrap.



Ok on to try number 2.  I used an end mill to clean up both faces of my second blank.



Then I drilled and reamed the hole in the center of the boss.



Then I mounted the blank onto the sacrificial plate on my rotary table and cut the boss.



Then I took the rest of the blank to size and realigned the table to the center of the boss using my coaxial indicator.



Using that as a reference point. I coordinate drilled the ends of the slot and the corners where the handle would be cut.



Then the slot was milled out.



I was cutting the handle free when disaster struck again. I ended up over rotating the rotary table and cutting off the handle.



That was it for me. I called it a day (as I was inventing new swear words). I'll take a work break and be back at it next weekend. I refuse to allow this part to best me.

Tony

Some days are like that Tony...we all have screw ups. Just makes the redo that much better when it turns out right. Hang in there!!

Bill

Of the few engines I've managed so far...this was one of my favorites. Keep at it. It's worth it. It's a neat little engine.
If you're redoing a part only once...you're far far ahead of me.

I always buy enough stock to have three goes at a perfect part,  so far I haven't  gained a lot of excess material 

Eric

That stinks Tony.  What always irks me is that the fatal error always seems to happen when one is 95% or more finished with the part.

-Bob

Tony, there are monetary expenses for plans and materials and then you have to pay your dues to the fabrication gods.....they can be persistent. The next one will be a breeze.

Mike

No worries Tony, we've all been there.  You'll get it done, then you'll have that sense of accomplishment

Cheers,
Phil

The term is test or trial pieces  I think I can safely say we have all made some/lots of them 

Thanks guys. I figured out what happened. I transposed 2 dimensions that were drawn close together and as a result insured that I made a "trial" piece  (nice term Roger). I'm going back to Elmer's original drawings for the next attempt. Hopefully that will make things easier.

Tony