Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Daniel if you ever get an engine with this new (or copied) wheel hub system you will be an instant convert.
I've read countless stories of people who stripped the soft as butter allen screws by trying to over torque them to stop spinning flywheels and they are a major PITA
to drill out and remove and a lot of folks aren't set up to do it.
Even just thumb pressure on the hub locks it in place, in testing the gov and taking the wheel off and on many times I've just for sake of time put one bolt in and
it holds it firmly in place.

So Jim, what is that system comprised of? A cone tapered, split inner hub that acts like a collet to grip the shaft as it is drawn into a tapered bore in the flywheel by the cinch bolts?

If you build yourself an engine, pulley or new flywheel for something in the future, are you going to be machining and using this system yourself, taking many hours of close and careful work, or are you just going to drill and tap for a set screw with a flat on the shaft that will do the job fine with 15 minutes work? Granted, if not done correctly a setscrew clamping system on a fully round shaft can and will cause trouble for someone who doesn't do it properly but works fine if well done.

I built a collet chuck for my lathe once and can tell you that mating tapers and sizing them to properly perform their function is not quick nor easy and is fraught with great potential for failure and scrap!!!

In truth even a keyway is an easier endeavor, though it does want specialized tooling (a broach and a way to properly use it) to accomplish that method of securing a flywheel as well.

When properly done, CNC machining can make a setup like this with reasonable ease, not so a home machinist using traditional tooling and methods.