Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines
Builds, Repairs, Show Your Machines! => Technical Tips, Builds, and Help => Topic started by: St Paul Steam on December 27, 2020, 10:26:48 pm
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The transmissions are works of art.
Your to kind , many here could make them (you could) :)
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The transmissions are works of art.
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I went back and watched your videos on those transmissions. Wow, that was a lot of plunge cutting on the lathe to make all those steps in the pulleys! Awesome build!
Over the long holiday weekend I watched some of the Jensen shop tour videos on YouTube and noticed in the background an old South Bend lathe and it looked like the machinist was in the process of making some belt pulleys. It looked familiar to me because that's what I was doing just the day before on my (not quite as) old South Bend lathe! The amount of run time on their lathes to make all those parts for so many years must be mind boggling.
Hi Doug , I toured the Jensen factory & they allowed me total access to film anything I desired, I took the approach that this might be my only chance I would have & filmed it with the though in mind to show everything that an enthusiast would want to see. I didn't see anything at Jensen Mfg. that looked like it had been purchased in the last 50 years (except metal stock) it is definitely a step back in time to go there.
Re:making pulleys, it is a lot of plunge cutting & time consuming & none of my pulleys are exactly the same as they are all custom made. I think about all the time it takes to make a Jensen #25 for example...I marvel at how they can sell them for the price they do.
I watched several of your videos on your site & found them very interesting , good work there.
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I went back and watched your videos on those transmissions. Wow, that was a lot of plunge cutting on the lathe to make all those steps in the pulleys! Awesome build!
Over the long holiday weekend I watched some of the Jensen shop tour videos on YouTube and noticed in the background an old South Bend lathe and it looked like the machinist was in the process of making some belt pulleys. It looked familiar to me because that's what I was doing just the day before on my (not quite as) old South Bend lathe! The amount of run time on their lathes to make all those parts for so many years must be mind boggling.
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A thoroughly enjoyable thread Bruce, thanks for taking the time to illustrate how you are doing your mods.
Thanks Jim, after several days & only 1 positive post Re: this thread, I thought maybe there was little interest & was going to let it die a natural death , but the view count was increasing so I decided to finished it off here :) .
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A thoroughly enjoyable thread Bruce, thanks for taking the time to illustrate how you are doing your mods.
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I have one more thing I want to do with it...but I'm waiting for that part to come in the mail.
I think you need to send this one off to your nickel plater ;)
Would sure end up being one expensive D3 :D
I don't have all that much money in it Nick , less than $100 , but I'm over 12 hrs. In the build time now (time is money) & I still have about 1 hr. Of work still to go. Nickel plate the boiler....hummmm 🤔
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Best running D3 I've ever seen in no small part to your mods. From what I understand, you're lucky if you have one that even runs. Mine runs, but sloppy.
Do you have a video of it running in stock condition? Interesting to see how much improvement over it's original form.
Bret , that was an excellent Idea & wish I would have thought about that 1st, I shot a little air to it to see if it would run....it did , & off I went to disassembling it, it was only after I put it back together when I realized how poorly everything was machined. I do remember that it took 6psi to even run , I think because it was such a poor runner & it looked like it had only one firing judging by the very clean condition of the fuel tray & engine itself...the original owner was somewhat dissatisfied with it & moved it on.
I could also observe that its breaking in very nicely, the more I run it , the better it runs. I have approx 3 hrs run time on it now & its really running quite good now. I highly suspect that most of these don't get run often/long enough to get properly broken in 😔
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Great stuff in this thread Bruce, including your supersizing your order of the double deluxe transmission.
I would never have thought to take a Wilesco current production whistle and make a shutoff valve with it. Nice.
I guess the one you used was similar to: https://www.ebay.com/i/333800981356
Thanks Scott.
I had a baggie with several old stock (Metal) whistles, the one thing that seems difficult to find is a Wilesco throttle valve that actually has a parallel or positive on /off location, Wilesco tends to not care where the handles ends up for open/close.... ::)
mine was more like this one ...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilesco-Old-Style-Metal-Valve-Whistle-Part-510-for-Model-Toy-Steam-Engine-D405/353307811222?hash=item5242c95d96:g:GtkAAOSwX-BfzCGT
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Best running D3 I've ever seen in no small part to your mods. From what I understand, you're lucky if you have one that even runs. Mine runs, but sloppy.
Do you have a video of it running in stock condition? Interesting to see how much improvement over it's original form.
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I have one more thing I want to do with it...but I'm waiting for that part to come in the mail.
I think you need to send this one off to your nickel plater ;)
Would sure end up being one expensive D3 :D
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Great stuff in this thread Bruce, including your supersizing your order of the double deluxe transmission.
I would never have thought to take a Wilesco current production whistle and make a shutoff valve with it. Nice.
I guess the one you used was similar to: https://www.ebay.com/i/333800981356
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Now that is a serious and nicely done set of upgrades!
Gil
Thanks Gil :)
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Some very nice improvements, you´ve made on that D3 there.
Great job Bruce !!!
Thanks Jan :)
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Awesome build!
Thank you 🙂
Thanks Nick :)
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Hi Bruce a superb upgrade to that little Wilesco unit.
I was looking at the multi step pulleys you are driving with the engine. I think you say they are Jensen transmission units. They look brand new, maybe they are new old stock. Are they available to buy anywhere at present?
Regards Brian
Hi Brian , thanks for your interest, re:the Jensen transmission , I made those out of the Aluminum base Jensen #15 generator's, when I was there I was able to secure a handful of just the bases & decided to make a set of transmissions out of them , I have the double & Charlie M. has the single, they are custom made & not available anywhere.
https://youtu.be/T4xSm_a2ucQ
https://youtu.be/ad0AvOXn7hs
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Hi Bruce a superb upgrade to that little Wilesco unit.
I was looking at the multi step pulleys you are driving with the engine. I think you say they are Jensen transmission units. They look brand new, maybe they are new old stock. Are they available to buy anywhere at present?
Regards Brian
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Finishing up with the D3 & decided it needed an outboard drive pully , so fab'ed one up real quick. I have one more thing I want to do with it...but I'm waiting for that part to come in the mail.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20210101_090548.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/1a1e03e2-97ab-48b2-9639-768b87c81a29)
The "near" finished Wilesco D3
https://youtu.be/xxMT1OspPK8
Wilesco D3 doing a fair amount of work (for it's size)
https://youtu.be/DxscQaGHeXE
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Now that is a serious and nicely done set of upgrades!
Gil
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Some very nice improvements, you´ve made on that D3 there.
Great job Bruce !!!
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Finally had a chance to read through this, What an Improvement!! :o
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Awesome build!
Thank you 🙂
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Awesome build!
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Bearings installed in the firebox
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201225_112545.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/7ffcc3ea-a506-4e54-bb9e-2f4be84c80f4)
axle was very true
https://youtu.be/DBsAZ7v4VEQ
https://youtu.be/YKHrmOATLyU
brass inserts made for the bearings
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201225_111547.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/f1396ef9-f060-4d24-bcf5-6f7c21aab4fd)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201225_112154.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/53dc2b32-424a-4323-af32-c0917b8502e2)
2k watt voltage reducer installed in base
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201227_093514.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/f26b4b4f-6ef6-45c9-86f8-44c167127b34)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201227_140827.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/d21dff54-9d97-4a9d-b595-664a14c784de)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201227_101201.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/aff4beb8-5dc8-42ef-9d3d-3d35e9f91860)
base tidied up
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201227_142659.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/ca619303-f453-4bb6-9091-368feca0134d)
a Wilesco valve (from a converted whistle) installed in the steam line & a pivot pin (functioning) oiler installed in the steam chest
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201227_164754.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/38f62faa-cfe7-495a-bdf6-77d728367db8)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201229_080322.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/85858a24-6c94-404d-9d05-f28edc174489)
A brass end cap fabricated with set screw to ensure straight running of the axle/flywheel (to keep them distanced properly)There is a lot of lateral movement (slop) built into this inexpensive plant which allows the axle to wonder ,its important for the axle to be stable in its location to keep the piston connecting rod centered as much as possible for smooth operation.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201229_201506.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/f7b22b7e-6a5d-4337-bec0-f0b2fddf8e83)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201229_201606.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/fd69eb9e-358f-4e97-be28-c3b498f69403)
running it in now...went from 6psi stall to 2.5 psi stall speed , probably as good as I'm going to get for a single oscillator. I'm waiting on one more item to come through the mail (might be awhile) the way USPS is functioning these days.
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Can you provide the specs for the heater? I don't know much about them.
8mm od x 30mm long 200-300W. can be seen on Amazon.
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Can you provide the specs for the heater? I don't know much about them.
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Hi folks
I haven't done a build thread in quite awhile & thought I would document this little Wilesco D3 & many of the modifications I intend to do to it. Every now & then I like to take one of the simplest & least expensive steam engine plants & pack it with as many modifications as I reasonably can.
this is what I started with, a used but very good condition D3 that had very low usage...as I imagine is common with these engines because of the very low usable boiler capacity & all the work associated with an Esbit fired steam engine for a 7-8 minute run.
The Donor...
https://youtu.be/owOqRM1NhSI
It has earned a bad reputation because out of the box its a poor runner with a near non existent boiler capacity, many components are mis-aligned straight from the factory. I have 12 things written down on my to-do list, we'll see where we end up (hopefully not in the trash)
taken down to key components.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201224_131752.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/cd491b72-3f0d-4b64-8f68-e5cb732a0c26)
the boiler really doesn't have much capacity
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201224_131802.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/c31e2b87-024f-49af-83aa-b48b3843a3ae)
The Center flue is now removed & the boiler bottom removed as well
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201224_140218.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/7d8e97b1-3b87-4158-a383-81ef1f3d5d42)
Boiler bottom end cap now repositioned at the bottom of the boiler.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201224_140143.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/93dfff92-4a72-4c60-89e4-f050b07729bf)
A bottom boiler plug was turned out of Brass on the lathe with an 8mm x 30mm sleeve for a 250W heater (I know its way to much, but it was best suited size wise for this application) a small brass lug with a #2 screw installed to keep the immersion rod from slipping out of the vertical application.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201226_174253.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/068303d0-783b-4dad-afcc-aaeacff0ada5)
Now to work on the top of the boiler, a 6mm x .075 bushing was made (for a pressure gauge) , I was planning on installing a whistle on the rear but scrapped that plan.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201226_145706.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/3451d490-c71b-4b70-af52-d823ba59966f)
Made a brass plug for the center top hole of the boiler with dedicated pin holes to receive the cap
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201226_145147.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/b4c689a2-4f51-4d95-9ad5-e6c9af387927)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201226_145233.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/f69a9a95-0992-4990-b333-552df0a0b6da)
Pressure gauge & stand support fabricated
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/z440/bruceang1/20201227_093713.jpg?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/bruceang1/p/2889c416-00d9-4fd6-aa82-8a849b9a2ebd)
Coming soon , the electronics installed in the base & ball bearings in the axle...