Valvegear
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NEW 13/08/02
Having intially bored the eccentric straps the outside could now be profiled. Having completed the external shape the bolting holes were drilled.
Having drilled and reamed the holes to accept fitted bolts the straps were then cut in half.
The straps were then bolted back together, using the fitted bolts which were produced in the meantime, and setup in the 4-jaw chuck to allow them to be bored to final size.
The final job was to drill the straps and thread them to accept my modified eccentric rods. I also added an oil hole for lubrication.
The new eccentric rods were made in three evenings. The first evening was spent cutting, threading and bending the rods to size. The other two evenings were spent making the forked ends. Here's a picture of the 8 eccentric straps complete except for making the fork ends more aesthetically pleasing! The piece of 1/4" square is to ensure that the rods will be in the correct alignment when the expansion links are fitted (made from 1/4" gauge plate).
I also decided to manufacture the feedpump rod in the same way - that way it will all look neat and uniform !
NEW 29/06/03
I haven't mentioned the valvegear for a while - that's because I've been waiting for the opportunity to make the expansion links. The first thing I did was develop a software package to run a CNC milling machine - now your puzzled - time to explain. As part of my university course I did a project to re-commission a CNC milling machine that hadn't been used for a few years. I then wrote a software package to allow the user to drop a 2 dimensional drawing into the software which then created the code to drive the machine with very little user interaction. Well how better to test the software than to make a few expansion links !
