02/11/05
Here in these (3) photos you can see work starting on the 300 HP Miller piston. The piston needs to be
reworked to be used in a new sleeve that will be going into the engine at the
Coolspring Power Museum. Photo #1 shows my son Chris
helping to get the piston in the lathe for cleaning, measuring, and removal of the worn out rings.
Photo #2 shows the center drills cleaned out on both ends of the connecting rod. Photo #3 shows the piston
in the lathe mounted between centers...
02/12/05 - 02/13/05
Photo #1 shows one of the piston rings after removal. This ring must have been really hammering away to
ware the sides like this. Photo #2 shows and old trick for putting more tension in a worn out ring to get
some more life out of it. Photo #3 shows the (4) ring grooves all worn out with a lot of carbon build up.
Photo #4 shows pins in (3) of the ring grooves and how nice the piston looks in the area which might
have been towards the bottom of the bore...
In photo #1 there are some brackets being drilled for mounting a winch in the back of a pickup. Two of
these brackets were made. Photo #2 & #3 show some work being done on the thread holes in this vertical
model with new hardware being added...
02/15/05 - 02/16/05
Here in these (2) photos I am getting ready to do the last operation on the 8 HP Associated piston. The
(2) bosses on the inside of the piston need to be machined. These are the (2) bosses the wrist pin bushing
fits between. Photo #1 shows rotating the piston around 90 deg. on the Lucas HBM from the last setup. Photo
#2 shows indicating the end of the piston to square things up...
This photo shows getting a couple of pistons ready for metal spraying. On the large piston which is for
a 20 HP Evans, the keeper pins that keep the piston ring from rotating had to be ground down so the ring
grooves can be re-cut after spraying...
In these next (3) photos, some more work is done on the 300 HP Miller piston. Photo #1 shows things
starting to get cleaned up so dimensions can be taken and the piston evaluated. Also in photo #1 you can
see that the keeper pins are ground down. Photo #2 shows another view of the piston cleaning up. Photo
#3 is of the micrometer I am using to measure the piston. Is that a set of mics?
02/17/05
Here in photo #1 I am using a height gage and an indicator to get the wrist pin hole parallel to the
Lucas HBM table. After getting things tightened down, a second check is done to make sure the piston
is still parallel to the machine spindle. This can be seen in the second photo...
Photo #1 shows starting to machine the first wrist pin boss. Things are pretty tight in this area. Photo
#2 shows machining the other wrist pin boss. Photo #3 shows the (2) bosses machined...
Now to put the finishing touches on the 8 HP Associated piston. Photo #1 shows drilling the oil that
will get oil to the wrist pin and bushing. Photo #2 shows counter sinking the hole. Photo #3 shows
turning (3) oil ring grooves in the piston OD. These grooves will help carry oil in the cylinder bore.
Photo #4 shows the piston all completed...
02/19/05 - 02/20/05
The last part of the 8 HP Associated job is to make (4) wrist pin bushings. Photo #1 shows cutting some
bronze bearing material on the power hacksaw to length so it can fit in the lathe. Photo #2 shows the
bearing material in the lathe and the end being faced off. Photo #3 shows the OD being turned down to
size...
Here in photo #1 the ID is being finished with a boring bar. Photo #2 shows the finshed bore with photo
#3 showing the bushing being cut to length with the parting tool...
The next project to be put up on the Lucas HBM is a Bessemer cylinder. Photo #1 shows the mounting surfaces
on the bottom of the cylinder, (intake valve and exhaust flange mounting), all cleaned up as they will
be used for setting up / shimming the cylinder into location. Photo #2 shows getting the Bessy cylinder
up on the machine table. Photo #3 shows the cylinder resting on a couple of parallels on the machine
table...
Photo #1 shows Doug Allen running the vertical mill, milling a slot in a shaft for a cam roller. Photo
#2 shows the .750 wide slot starting to take shape. Photo #3 shows the cam roller Doug made and also
the pivot pin for the cam roller...
In photo #1 you can really see the slot taking shape. Photo #2 shows the slot completed and the shaft
rotated 90 deg. with a hole being center drilled. Photo #3 shows the final hole size being drilled...
Photo #1 shows one side of the shaft being threaded for the pivot pin. Photo #2 shows the shaft, cam roller,
and pivot pin completed. Nice job Doug...
Ron Polle is currently working on restoring a Bessemer compressor engine. These engines made the starting
air for the larger oil field engines. On Ron's engine the govenor bearing froze from lack of oil and
took all the gear teeth out on the counter shaft which drives the governor and water pump. In Photo #1
you can see the counter shaft set up in the lathe. Notice all the missing gear teeth. Photo #2 & #3
show Ron turning off the old gear teeth and preparing the shaft to except a new gear. Photo #4 shows
the shaft all turned down and ready for the new gear...
02/26/05 - 02/27/05
Well it's taken a while to machine up (4) of the wrist pin bushings for the 8 HP Associated project. Photo #1
shows parting the 4th bushing. Photo #2 shows all (4) bushings with a completed OD, ID, and cut to
length. Photo #3 shows putting the bushing in a collet and cutting the chamfers on both ends. Photo #4
shows the (4) bushings on the wrist pins...
The next step on the bushings was to drill an oil hole. Photo #1 shows laying out where the oil hole will
be located on the bushings. Photo #2 shows drilling the oil hole in the vertical mill. Photo #3 shows
the completed oil hole...
Notice the "V" shaped oil groove in the original bushing. Photo #1 shows this. Photo #2 shows the setup
I used to put the "V" shaped oil groove in the new bushings. It's a boring bar in the vertical mill with a
"V" shaped tool bit in the bar. I then stroked the spindle quill up and down. Photo #3 shows the "V" groove cut
in the new bushing. Photo #4 shows the (4) bushings completed and on wrist pins...
Ron Polle purchased a gear for his Bessemer compressor restoration project and these next few photos show
putting it onto the counter shaft. Photo #1 shows boring the hole to size in the new gear being held in the
collet. A .0025 interference fit was made between the new gear ID and the shaft OD. Photo #2 shows the
completed bore. Photo #3 shows heating the gear up with the torch. Photo #4 shows the gear in place cooling
down. The shaft was put in the freezer for a while to get it cold before putting the red hot gear on
the shaft...
The first photo here shows facing the gear to the proper width. Photo #2 shows the completed counter
shaft ready for installation...