Elia

As promised the short video of the gearbox in action.
 
michael

Dan, thank you.
Mark yes the drawing shows the lever, as the lever moves forward it causes the casing to be clamped. When the casing is stopped from revolving the drive gear rotates the first pinion which is in constant engagement with the second pinion (they are set in such a way that each pinion engages with only one gear), the second pinion drives the prop gear then in the opposite direction. when lever moves back towards the stern the casing is released from the band clamp and revolves, the pinions do not revolve inside the casing basically causing the drive and prop gear to be locked.
 
I took a short video this evening and it will be ready to upload in the morning showing the basic process.
 
Steve the above explanation should clarify the way it works.
 
Thanks for all the likes.
 
Michael 

Thanks for the likes .
 
I did make the casing today and fitted the gears inside.
 
the gear for the prop through the end that will be shaped with the cone recess.
 

 
The casing with the pinions and the drive gear which will be pinned to the crankshaft.
 

 
The cone end with the pinions dropped in and the gears lined up for the casing to slip over.
 

 
All dry assembled I also spotted three holes for some 0x80 bolts to ensure the casing and cone stay together and do not move relative to each other.
 

 

 
I did check the reverse by rotating the prop to see that it actually worked to this stage. still a long way to go to get it all mounted and working in situ.
 
It did work though so I am pleased about that.
 
Michael

Hi Lawerence,

Thank you very much for the compliments. I look forward to seeing your Annie take shape. It looks like a beauty of a ship that will be quite attractive as a model. I thoroughly enjoyed building up the hull and planking my model. While there is a decent amount of spiling to the hull planks, these fishermen have such attractive hull shapes once planked. And there is actually quite a bit of variety inthe shapes - plumb stems, spoon bows, Fredonia hulls, sharpshooter and clipper bows, deep and shallow draft hulls, not to mention jib booms, pole bowsprits, semi-knockabouts, and knockabout rigs...

With the cold winter weather upon us my basement shop, my man cave, with the emphasis on "cave", is quite uncomfortable for modeling so right now I'm slowly puttering on the masts and spars. I built a dory I intend to use as a master and cast a bunch of them...but that is progressing slowly too.

Cheers

Elia

If you were me, Micheal, you would probably have thrown those gears away a month or two before you needed them.
 
Ed

Ed and Row thanks for your kind comments.
 
I had a bit of fun today I had some gear-heads from some pretty old servomotors full of very tiny gears and pinions all with micro ball races. I stripped these apart to see if there was anything that I could use to fabricate the revers mechanism with.

 
With a bit of careful re-machining a couple of pinions and one of the main drive gears I think I will be able to pull this off, the progress so far.
 

 
Cheating a bit I know bit machining gears this small is pushing my limits. I knew there was a reason for saving those gearheads these last 35 years.
 
michael

Thanks for all the likes and nice remarks.
 
I did finish up the head today.
 

 

 
It was starting to bug me. I used needle files then 400 wet and dry 600 wet and dry 1200 wet and dry then red rouge on some swede side of a leather polishing stick.
 
Michael

Steve the hole through the steel rotating part of the valve is .041 in diameter it is a number 59 drill the locating pin with the washer is also a taper pin and keeps the main part in place. they will work as real priming cups.
 
Dan , yes it is me, and thanks for the compliment
 
John, Thanks for the kind remark The handles on these valve are really no smaller than a large belay pin at .25" long they would be a foot at 1/48 scale and 18 inches at 1/64
 

 
I like the one on the right better than the one on the left so will replace the handle on the left one tomorrow.
 

 
Some of the metalwork that I see being done on many of the ship build logs is much smaller that this engine.
 
 
And thanks for the likes
Michael
 
 

Thank you Ed, Tom, Carl, Bob and Row for your kind comments and to all those who liked the last few entries.
 
I think I could make one of these small stop cocks now in my sleep. I have gone through a number of failures with silver soldering handles mainly because I was using the wrong approach to setting them up to solder.
 
The following sequence shows most of the steps and elements in the stop cocks.
`
First picture shows some 1 inch tapered clock pins cut to length prepared for soldering
 

 
This  one shows the box of tapered steel clock and watchmaking pins that that match the tapered broaches, I decided to use them instead of threading the rotating part and using springs and nuts. 
 

 
The hole through the centre was bored after the threading was done, with a number 59 drill, I used paint thinner as a lubricant, normally I do not use lubricant when machining brass but with these small diameters and threading it helps.
 

 
A finger tip as requested behind the main body of the valve
 

 
Drilling through the body for the steel tapered part. I found it helped to make up a couple of holding jigs with some hex brass rods.
 

 
Using a full pin to test the depth of cut with the taper broach of the valve body
 

 
In the palm of my hand for scale
 

 
The new stopcock on the left with the old one on the right. I Like the shape of the longer handle better and it is also easier to turn, as I am sure they are in full size as well
 

 
Another couple of overall comparison shots for scale
 

 

 
I have all the parts now to make a pair of stop cocks like the new one, plus all of the steps figured out for soldering and final assembly. I think it is also time to finish shaping the top part of the head.
 
Michael
 
 

Built another priming cup and stopcock, it is getting closer still needs some refining.
 

 

 
michael

Jack, Row, Mark, Steve, Matt, Denis and Carl, thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks to all for the likes.
 
I took a break from the drive train today and fabricated the Valve caps these are there to allow the valves to be removed from the head because on the full size engine the head was a single casting. because of the small size of my model I have built the head in two parts. I haven't fully resolved how I will join them yet.
 
The two outside caps which line up with the inlet ports are also set up as priming ports with a couple of little cups above the stop cocks that are threaded into them. like these on the top

 
So I had a bit of fun having a go at making a stop cock to fit into the top.
Looking down into the open valve.
 

 
Now closed
 

 
From the side
 

 

 
The valve cap is threaded 8x36 into the head these were made from some 3/16th rod from Home Depot (nice hard brass)
The valve body is machined up from some 1/8 hex stock, I have a fair bit of it left over from a commercial job 20 years ago (it was a special order locally and I had to buy 16 feet of it) it is also a nice free machining hard brass.
 
The steel insert is a mystery steel (salvaged rods from a library card catalogue system filing cabinet) it seem to machine freely and is 1/8th in diameter.
 
The threads on the valve body is 1x72 with a # 59 drill hole through the length. The cross hole was 1/16 then tapered with the largest clock making tapered broach. the steel was tapered to match on the lathe and threaded 0x80 for the retaining spring and nut. the handle end was shaped with needle files while still on the lathe then heated in a pin vice and bent with some flat pliers.
 
Once the steel was shaped I set it into the brass body put it back into the lathe and drilled through the steel with the handle in the open position using the same #59 drill from the opposite end. It looks a bit crude and now that I know I can make one this small I will set up and make a pair that are a bit closer looking to the ones on the 1:1 engines
 
Michael

Steve, Carl thanks for your thoughts , and thanks you to all who added a like.
 
Carl the real engine is actually quite a small one.
 
 
Steve, My plan is to have it as a slow running engine am thinking that I will weight the flywheel with some lead in the outer area to give it more mass.
 
My silver soldering was a great success..... not so with the clean up
 

 
look at the upper right hand con rod bearing!
 

 
Yup made the classic mistake of beginning to cut out the wrong piece
 
I went ahead and cleaned it up because after letting the universe know what a silly move it was with a little colourful language, I wanted to see how the shaft fit and can also use it as a placeholder to test fit the con-rods and pistons knowing that I do have to build a new one.
 

 
I was pleased that it did not warp and and my method of setting up the parts and pre-placing the solder by wrapping very fine strips around the shafts outside of the actual bearing surfaces worked very well. I turned up some sacrificial pins that were the same diameter as the spaces between the plates to hold things in line. after cleaning it up and placing it into the bearings the shaft spun nicely between my fingers.
 

 

 
Next on to the con rods and Pistons.
 
Michael
 
 

Row and Carl
This is a picture looking inside the crankcase of the 3hp buffalo just like the one in Skipjack
 

 
I have modeled my crankshaft after this one.
 
Michael

Thanks for all the likes today.
 
I reached a milestone today and got the main bearings roughed in.
 
First I machined up the keeper blocks. and some studs.
 

 

 
Assembled them in order to ream them for the 1/8th shaft.
 

 
I thought it best to use the hand reamer rather than setting it up in the mill for the machine reamer.
 

 
After thinning down the area on the upper crankcase it all went together quite nicely. and the shaft rotates easily.
 

 
I am still deciding whether to fabricate the crankshaft or machine it from solid bar, either way it will be tricky.
 
Michael
 
 

Thanks to all the builders who pushed the like button.
 
Denis, I am learning a lot about engines myself at the moment.
 
Steve yes I am going to make the reverse mechanism as well.
 
Today this morning I was drawing up the feed-water pump, I ended up finding a good internal design in one of my old Model Engineer mags page 1265 October 1981 for a 3 1`/2 inch gauge Stanier 8F. I will need to make it smaller but the design will fit into the pipes that are on the prototype buffalo which pumps off the camshaft like this one on the Old Marine engine site
 
I worked on the pan today and roughed out the half round bottoms for the crankshaft and drilled and tapped all the 0x80 holes for the studs.
 

 
I looked at all my stashes of steel wire and rods looking for some .060 to make the steel 0x80 studs from. I could not find any that was exactly .060"
I then came across a most unlikely source, the re-bar ties left over from building the house just happened to be .060 the stuff threaded up a treat. had to make a small open ended wrench to get to the valve side because of the overhang.
 

 
Did a test fit of the crankcase and pan and water-jacket, it all slipped together nicely. It has really helped with the accuracy of cutting and drilling to set up the dial calipers on the mill, and working from  a 0 centre 
 
Michael
 
 
 

I've spent the past few weeks preparing for, and painting, the rails and hull.  For the most part it was turned quite acceptable to me.  There is one glaring exception, and I'll focus on that later.
 
Once the Monkey Rails were completed I proceeded to apply a sealer/primer to the rails, perform a light sanding, and then apply two coats of my white mix.  The only masking done was to protect previously painted deck and bulwarks.
 
A while ago, when planking the hull, I built an inverted stand for Arethusa, one that located the hull by the two mast holes and a number of contact points on the deck.  The stand allowed the inverted hull to located such that the waterline as horizontal, parallel to the surface it was placed upon.  This stand, very crude compared to some of the tools and stand folks here build for their models, came in quite useful a number of times.
 
I used the stand to mark the waterline with a pencil, a light line, on the hull.  I then applied two coats of the anti-fouling red/brown lower hull paint.  I purposefully carried the red paint up above the waterline mark.
 
After painting all of the rails white and the hull red, and allowing a couple of days for full drying, I masked the edges of the rails where the hull black and rail white meet.  I also remarked the waterline with my handy dandy stand, and then masked the edge of the black paint at the waterline.
 
I had previously used a draw plate/template to form the very narrow cove along the edge of the waist plank.  In full scale the cove is something like 3/8” wide, so one can image how narrow it is for a 1/48 scale model.  I was able to carve a fairly narrow cove into the plank, but it wasn’t very even.  In the process of scraping it into the plank I felt it wander, almost catching on the wood grain as it went.  I’ve looked at this detail for quite some time and had mixed feelings about it.  I was proud of having made such a narrow cove, but unhappy that is wasn’t straight and perfectly parallel to the plank edge. Herein lies the problem I encountered.  I painted the yellow of the cove, two coats, extending the paint above and below the cove to ensure the cove was fully painted.  Once that paint had cured I applied masking tape to the cove.  I had found 1/64” wide masking tape from an on-line modeling supplier and purchased it.  This stuff is rather amazing in it’s narrowness.  When I tried to apply the tape to the cove I found it very difficult to get the tape to nest down into the cove - it wanted to wander about in the cove...reminiscent of when I scraped the cove some time ago.  
 
I applied tape edge sealing coats of each of the three paint colors - white along the edge of the rails, red/brown along waterline, and yellow at the cove.  This was done to seal the edge of the tape and not allow the over-coat color to bleed under the tape.
 
Once those had dried I was clear to apply the upper hull black paint.  Two coats were applied.  The white/black edge along the rails worked quite well, as did the red/black edge at the waterline.  There were one or two very minor bleed spots, but all in all I think a good success.
 
Now....back to that yellow cove.  Once the black paint had dried I peeled back that 1/64” tape...and....not good.  The thinness of the yellow was excellent.  But, the masked sections wandered along the wandering cove.  And there was appreciable black paint bleed beneath the tape.  I am very disappointed in this and am stewing over ways to correct it. 
 
Following are a few photos of the painted hull, without and with deck furniture.  The quarterdeck of these schooners had a unique deck planking run - the planks were set parallel to the cabin, as that was a large cutout in the deck (a strength issue), to provide as much continuous planking strength as possible.  Thus, there is some unique nibbing of the outboard planks along the margin plank/waterway.  
 
The fish pens and dory skids are shown also.  The bait gurry isn't located quite properly, either.
 

Cheers,

Shipwrights

 

I’ve been puttering along, stealing a minute here and there to do small modeling tasks.  I painted the deck the darker gray, per the color previous investigated, fabricated some fish pens and dory skids, to be located athwartship the fore hatch, have worked on the rails, and am now in the process of painting the hull.  

 

I used some plans and photos of Arethusa to arrive at the fish pen and dory skid details and geometry.  I don’t have any handy photos of these, but will include them in the near future, once I begin adding deck furniture to the model.

I started on the rails, or more precisely, near the rails at the transom.  The fashion pieces on Arethusa have a peculiar shape to them.  I resorted to gluing extra wood pieces on and sanding them to shape.  It took me a couple of tries before I found them acceptable.  They are small, subtle details and I wanted them to be reasonably representative of those on the real ship.  Not exact, but close enough...

 

The main rail is composed of three strips of basswood on each side.  I learned of doing this from Charlie Cook, the Blue Jacket Shipcrafter’s on-call modeler (for customers).  When building Smuggler years ago I had many questions on modeling and he was quite helpful.  The thin strips allow for a nice continuous curve of the rail.  One of the nice benefits of using the three strips to build up the main rail is that placement of the chainplate holes through the rail is fairly easy, and they can be aligned with the cant of the chainplates readily without having to resort to drilling through the rail after it was complete.  



The transom rail (or taftrail), and stem seat, was shaped from a single piece of 1/16” thick basswood sheet.  For both the stem and transom rail seats I transferred the uppermost bulwark or transom plank edge onto heavy paper stock, then offset the desired amount to provide a slight overhang of the main rail and seats over the waist planks of the bulwark.  I then transferred those templates onto the sheet stock and cut them out.  After gluing them to the bulwark stanchions and planks, and then installing the main rail stripwood, I sanded them all flush to each other and in smooth, continuous curves.  A single edge razor was ground with a Dremel tool into the profile for the main and monkey rail inboard and outboard edges and used to finish the main rail off.  I’ve mentioned this before - I just struggle with this, both the grinding of the profile and getting a good edge on the receiving wood strip.  I’m in awe of modelers here, too many to mention, who do this regularly and whose drawn planks look like they’ve been milled by some miniature woodshop.  At times mine look like an angry beaver has just used my strip stock as a toothpick.

 

I then moved on to the Monkey Rail and Monkey Board.  The Monkey board is the vertical plank or boards (still formed into compound curvature in a plan view)which sits atop the main rail along the quarterdeck.  The Monkey Board around the transom was a challenge.  Instead of piecing it together with  three or more pieces that run along the rail periphery, as was traditionally done in Essex, MA, I made a three layer lamination of 1/16” thick basswood sheet.  I did this so that I could then cut and sand it to a profile while retaining some strength of the piece during handling.  Once the wood lamination was glued and dry I transferred the outboard transom seat edge to it, the scroll saw cut it to it plan view profile, leaving a little extra all around.  I then sanded it to its final shape, checking it constantly to the installed transom seat outer edge.  When that looked satisfactory I offset inner monkey board thickness and repeated the scroll sawing, then sanding, and check-check-checking.  When the monkey board profile was complete I sanded the lower surface of it to the transom seat, which had a slight curvature to it, fore-aft, by putting sanding paper on the seat surface and gently sanding the monkey board to it.  This allowed for a reasonably tight fit, and when glued it didn’t require a great force or preload to get it to bond to the transom seat.



The monkey board forward ends were also challenging due to the way the main mast chainplates were installed through the monkey rail and board on Arethusa.  On other schooners the chain plates pass through the monkey rail, just outboard of the monkey board, and typically the main rail outer edge is cut away to allow the chain plate to pass it.  On Arethusa the chainplates pass through the monkey board, through the main rail, and then exit on the outboard side of the bulwarks.  Here is a picture of Arethusa where the sun reflection and angle of the boat in the photo clearly show the main mast chainplates and how they pass through the monkey board and rail.  Eric Ronnberg Jr.’s model built for Thomas Hoyne also exhibit this detail, as do other photos of the ship.



After a little thought and contemplation on this I decided I would try to install the main mast chainplates in the proper manner for Arethusa. For the monkey board I chose to fabricate it from two strips of wood.  The outer one is 1/16” thick, whereas the inner one is 1/32” thick.  The 1/32” thick stuff is swiss pear I had purchased from the Hobby Mill years ago.  It was perfect for the task - really beautiful wood.  I transferred the chainplate holes in the main rail to the 1/16” monkey rail piece and used a square cross section fine file to “cut” the hole depth.  By doing this I was able to follow the orientation of each of the chainplates (from the plans I used).  I then glued the 1/32” thick piece onto the 1/16” thick piece and voile’ - a monkey board with internal passages for the main mast chainplates.  This ended up thicker than scale Monkey Board, but I’m satisfied that the extra thickness isn’t obvious, and it allowed a sound method of creating the slots for the main mast chainplates.  I’m sure there are other ways to do this, maybe easier, too.  It ‘appears’ to have worked out fine (yeah for small victories).  Time will tell...with the rigging of those chainplates and main mast shrouds.  

 

Here is a photo of the outer of the Monkey Board planks being glued in place atop the main rail.  One can see the thinner, darker Swiss Pear strip on the forward inboard side of the Monkey Board adjacent to the main mast chainplate locations.  I had glued those in place, locally, prior to gluing the Monkey board onto the main rail.



At the forward end of the main rail I’ve added some buffalo chocks and rail fillers at the location of the anchors - additional wooden fillers which were used to strengthen and protect the buffalo chock and main rail, and the thinner waist planks, from the anchor when raised, lowered, and stowed for passage.



I’ve also added small amidship waist plank reinforcements.  These were placed along the thinner bulwark planks in the region where the dories were onloaded and offloaded from the schooner.



Similarly I added strips just below the main rail just aft of the main mast chainplates...I assume to protect the main rail from damage during hauling fish and equipment up from the dories.



Once all of the rails and things were shaped and installed I applied a white sealer/filler, sanded the roughness smooth, and applied the white rail finish paint.  As noted earlier I’m now painting the hull - bulwark white is complete, the anti-fouling red/brown is on, the thin yellow cove has been initially painted, and following some masking, the hull black goes on.  Then she’ll really resemble a proper Gloucester fishing schooner and I’ll post more photos.

 

[folks - this method of weaving in pictures is new to me...it doesn't look right in the editor/preview...so my fingers are crossed that it looks OK posted]...{I've tried Padeen's suggestion and it appears to have been just the ticket - thank you Padeen}

Cheers!

...more....

continued...first with a size comparison to Blue Jacket Shipcrafter's Smuggler....

continued....

The build log reconstruction begins...
 
It has been a long time since I’ve started a new sailing ship build, with my sailing ship model (Oneida) taking about 4 years to complete.  Ever since building Smuggler, an 1870’s mackerel seiner from Gloucester, I’ve been smitten by 19th and 20th century American fishing schooners.  There are a number builds, both in progress and completed, that have been inspiring to me – Bluenose builds, a couple of Ben Lathams, a scratch build of Columbia, and even a few of the “yachty” Americas.  Jim Lefever, who’s impressive Benjamin Latham build was a great inspiration for me, provided me with a list of great reading references on American fishing schooners.  After receiving a number of them as gifts, and reading through them, I knew my next build would have to be another fishing schooner.  I have to admit right up front that Arethusa, an early 1900s fishing schooner and the topic of this build, was never called the “Goddess of Gloucester”.  She was a goddess in Greek mythology.  The schooner was named after one of Thomas McManus's daughters.  I just thought that 'Goddess of Gloucester' fit to her will and made for a catchy name for this log.  Arethusa, the schooner, was big, beautiful, and had a colorful history – sounds interesting to me.  Enough about my motivations and ramblings….let’s get on with the ship.     Arethusa was designed by Thomas F. McManus in 1907 and built by James and Tarr in Essex, Massachusetts, in 1909.  She was what is termed a knockabout schooner.  Unlike traditional schooners, with bowsprits (and jibbooms, and flying jibbooms), knockabout schooners had an extended bow and no bowsprit.  The extended bow essentially placed the fore topmast stay at the same position as on a traditional schooner.  With that configuration of stay location the crew wouldn’t be required to climb out on the typically poorly maintained footropes aside the bowsprit in order to perform tasks involving the sails and rigging.  This was a Thomas McManus innovation, based on his observations and discussions with fisherman and owners, and was meant to reduce sailing crew injuries and deaths.   I am using Howard I. Chapelle’s lines drawing and sail plan of Arethusa from his “American Fishing Schooners”, plate 120 and figure 30.  “American Fishing Schooners” (AFS) has a great deal of detail in it’s appendix on most of the features of late 19th century and early 20th century schooners, and it is these I will use to build the details of the model.  If anyone knows of more details about Arethusa I would be most grateful to learn of them.  I have contacted Mystic Seaport Museum about their collection but found that while Arethusa is listed in their collection they don’t have any more information than that (little) which is shown in AFS.   Following are some excerpts from “Thomas F. McManus and the American Fishing Schooners”, by W.M.P. Dunne, on Arethusa: James and Tarr “...completed her on 25 September 1907.  Fifteen feet longer than the Pontiac, the Arethusa was, nevertheless, a deep, short ended knockabout, with the typically knuckled straight run of the keel (although with less drag), that Tom favored in this class, and more tumblehome.  Once again he experimented with the rig.  He stepped the foremast farther forward with the masts further apart.  Right from the start, the big fisherman earned a reputation as a speedster.  Captain Clayton Morrisey, the Arethusa’s first skipper waxed poetic: “She’s the slickest bit of wood that ever went down to Bay of Islands.  Nothing can touch her and an eight-year-old girl’s little finger is stout enough to spin the wheel no matter how fresh it breezes.”  “Can she sail?” exclaimed Captain Morrisey, opening his eyes as if he didn’t quite believe his ears.  “Why, when we were coming up from the herring grounds she cut out her 13 knots an hour for six consecutive hours.”     “We’d see a blotch of smoke away ahead on the horizon and in a little while would make out a tramp steamer bound our way.  Pretty soon the Arethusa was kiting alongside the tramp and then we’d lose sight of her astern.  She did that trick a number of times.”     In fact, with Clayt Morrissey at the helm in 1912, the Arethusa would easily outrun the Canadian Dominion fisheries’ patrol steamer Fiona, “whose commander opined the Arethusa was violating the three-mile limit.”           “At the beginning of 1921, soon after the new [prohibition] law was in place, Captain William F. “Bill” McCoy, a sometime Daytona Beach, Florida, boatbuilder, guided his fully-laden McManus schooner, the Henry L. Marshall, past the Tybee Lighthouse and up the river to Savannah, where, in the dark of the night, he discharged not fish, but 1,500 cases of illicit liquor.  With the proceeds, McCoy replaced himself with a new skipper on board the Marshall and went to Gloucester in search of the boat of his dreams, Tom’s speedy Arethusa.  Although McCoy had fished the Marshall legitimately until after the Eighteenth Amendment dried out the country, he had always thirsted for Arethusa.  With Gloucester feeling the effect of postwar economic contraction, the owners of the fourteen-year-old schooner…..sold her to McCoy in April 1921.  The Arethusa became a rum runner, a fast freighter of bootleg spirits.  McCoy renamed her Tomoka, added a bowsprit so she could carry two jibs, jumbo and jib topsail-and a lot of liquor (she had the capacity of 6,000 cases of illegal alcohol).     He brought the Tomoka to anchor just outside the then three mile limit of United States waters, but well within site of the beach.  He soon began a thriving business with New York and New Jersey bootleggers…. “  [this is where the term ‘the real McCoy’ came from]   Arethusa later returned to fishing, and was lost off Halifax in November 1929.  Her particulars are:   Designer                Thomas F. McManus Builder                    Tarr and James Launch date                25 September 1907 Gross tonnage                157 tons Molded length at caprail of        127’ – 3”     Molded beam                25’ – 0” Molded depth                13’ – 2” Registered dimensions        114.0’ x 25.6’ x 12.5’

Ed hopefully the next set of pictures will clarify my description. Mark well it is not a complete machine job there is some soldering however I did not want to anneal the brass that has the bearings braces so opted for soft solder which will be more than adequate for the oil pan.
 
The first picture shows the material being removes that will become the hollow areas'some parts were machined by the numbers and the bulk was just milled away by eyeballing it.
 

 
Next the 1/32 thick sheet was annealed and curved over a steel bar.
 

 
It took a while to get it fitted cleanly, the flat area on the middle bearing wall is to allow the oil to pass through to equalize both chambers.
 

 
The next picture shows the assembled parts cleaned up a bit getting ready to do the soldering.
 

 
Resting the upper part of the crankcase to see the overall scope of the whole engine.
 

 
In the next picture you can see the central cross member.
 

 

 
There is still a fair bit of cleaning up to do but I am generally pleased with the progress.
 
Again thanks to all who have looked in and pressed the like button.
 
Michael
 
 

Set up the table of offsets to machine the curved inner surface of the oil pan, and after two hours of cranking the block back and forth the shape slowly emerged. I lowered the cutter .010" for each pass.  Next I will cut away the negative areas where the cranks will rotate and either side of the bottom of the crankcase then flip it over to finish off the bearing recesses. then a brass shell will get soldered onto the cross members, creating the hollow shape.
 

 
I made it this way because I was stumped as to how to get the inside shapes of the oil pan, I suppose I could have set up a boring bar and scooped out the recesses the only issue with doing it that way was being able to have an opening underneath the central bearing beam to allow the oil to move about in the bottom and equalize rather than being isolated to each recess. the other advantage to making it this way is is that I will be confident that the wall thickness will be consistent.
 
Thanks for the likes.
 
Michael
 
 

Thank you all for the very encouraging comments they are really appreciated., I have been doing a lot of calculating this morning because it looks like the gears for the timing are 64 teeth and 32 teeth respectively. I do not have dividing plates for my rotary table and so it makes sense to use divisions of 360 for making the gears. all the standard gears that are in the ball park for the diameters that I am locked into are not the correct ratio of 2:1. 64DP comes the closest,.
 
I have decided to bite the bullet and make them to a DP of 75 which gives me 60 teeth and 30 teeth for the diameters that I need so now I also need to make the gear cutters for both sizes which means a number 3 cutter and a number 2 cutter. My 48 DP cutters which I made a few years ago are just too big.
 
There is a great article in the Model Engineer October 1 1971 issue by D J Unwin on how to make gear cutters with all the formulas for making them. 
each cutter require a separate tool to make the cutter, They are simple tools but it is an extra step in the chain.
 
Thanks also for all the likes 

Thanks for all the likes and encouraging comments.
 
I had to make another cutter to make the recesses in the main flanges
 

 
I have already drilled the holes to accept the camshaft bearings they are larger because I need to be able to clear the raised cams.
 

 
An overall shot of the progress to date.
 

 
A close up of the new cutter, I needed a long reach with a small diameter cutting edge to fit next to the body of the case. it is hardened drill rod the diameter at the cutting face is .086" The bolt holes are .060 and the case it tapped ready for the 0x80 bolts.
 

 
Michael