The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 15,
Customer Projects
Tiny Steam Engines/Jerry Kieffer and
Scotty Hewitt
This tiny steam engine by Jerry Kieffer is smaller than the one in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Jerry Kieffer of
DeForest, WI has long been noted for building some of the most detailed working
steam and gas engines. Working with a microscope on his Sherline lathe, some of
his parts push the limits of visibility, leaving people to wonder not only how
they are made, but how they are even handled and assembled! The steam engines
shown here are both smaller than the one in the Guinness Book of World
Records, but Jerry has never submitted his for a record. The oscillating
steam engine above is on display in the Craftsmanship museum in
Jerry’s smallest steam engine
will fit inside the ¼" flywheel of the first engine. It too comes in its
own finger jointed wooden box.
The smallest engine Jerry has built is a twin-flywheel model that weighs just 1/131 oz or 3.5 grains! It will actually fit inside the ¼" flywheel of the previous engine. It has a bore of .029" and stroke of .032". Air is fed into the .008" intake port with a hypodermic needle to get the motor to run. Jerry says he built this engine to test the limits of how small he could build something and still get it to run. He also made a small finger-jointed wood box for the engine with a sliding lid. When displayed, he has it sitting on top of the eraser of a regular #2 wooden pencil.
The small 4-cylinder marine
steam engine in the first photo won the Sherline Machinist Challenge contest in
1995. The others are examples of even smaller steam engines by Scotty Hewitt.
Scotty Hewitt of
See www.sherline.com/workshop.htm for many other projects by Sherline machinists.
Shop Tip of the month
Split
mill vise for long parts/Jerry Kieffer
Jerry Kieffer needed to hold a long part (a model railroad car) on the mill and wanted to grip it from the ends, but his mill vise wouldn't open far enough. His answer was to take an old Sherline mill vise and saw it in two in about the middle. The fixed jaw portion is then mounted to one end of the mill table using two or three angle clamps in the groove. The moveable jaw portion and the rest of the base is moved to the other end of the table and clamped with two or three more clamps and the jaw tightened. It's just like having a really long vise. Perhaps you can find an older vise on eBay that you wouldn't mind dedicating to this task rather than buying a new one, or maybe you'd like to buy yourself a new one now that you have a good use for your old, beat-up vise.
To view over 50 other handy tips for
Sherline owners, see the TIPS page at www.sherline.com/tips.htm.
New Product Spotlight
Sherline Inserted Tip Carbide Tool Holders
Photo 1: The P/N 2255 3/8" RH and LH 80° IC holder set. Photo 2: The P/N 2265 3/8" straight IC holder.
Introduced this month are two new 80° holders and a 55° holder for carbide inserts. The P/N 2255 set ($80.00) includes both right-hand and left-hand holders offset 35°. 80° inserts with their stronger, less pointed shape make good roughing cutters. The inserts we use have a .015" nose radius for a nice finish without over-stressing a small machine tool. Included with each insert is a Torx hold-down screw, and the set includes a Torx key. Each tool can be purchased individually for $50.00 each. The RH tool is P/N 2253 and the LH tool is P/N 2254. These 80° tools compliment the already available Sherline P/N 2256 and 2257 RH and LH 55° holders which can also be purchased as a set as P/N 2258 ($70.00). To compliment these 55° offset IC holders, the other new tool shown above is a general purpose 3/8" shank straight holder for 55° inserts, which is P/N 2262 ($50.00). It also comes with 55° insert, Torx screw and Torx key. These 3/8" shank tools can be held in the P/N 7600 3/8" tool post or the riser version, P/N 1289. Recently introduced for the P/N 2250 quick-change tool set is a 3/8" holder that will hold these tools. The holder is P/N 2282.
Did you know?
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Sherline hosts a miniature machining contest each year at the NAMES show in
• To find the part number of any accessory, use the Google search feature on Sherline’s home page. Just type the name of the part into the query box and look through the search results. Once you have the part number you can find out more about it by typing the following address into your browser address window: www.sherline.com/XXXXpg.htm where XXXX represents the 4-digit part number. To read the instructions for any know part number use www.sherline.com/XXXXinst.htm or www.sherline.com/XXXXinst.pdf.
• New products are often introduced through the monthly Internet Special. You can save 20% too. This month three new cutting tools are being offered at a 20% savings. To learn more, see www.sherline.com/special.htm.
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We don’t pay anybody or use tricks to get good placement for the Sherline site
on a Google search. It is big and useful enough that it commands a first page
position when you search for “lathe,” “milling machine,” “rotary table” or even
“machining.” The site was started in 1996 and is still growing.
Upcoming
Shows
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NAMES (North American Model
Engineering Society) Expo,
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WEME (Western Engine Model Exhibition),
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GEARS (Gas Engine Antique Reproduction Show), September 19-20,
Joe Martin Craftsmanship Foundation News
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• The newest addition to the on-line museum is Ron Guttu, builder of a ¼-scale Offenhauser powered dirt track racecar. The car was featured as a centerfold article in a recent addition of Model Engine Builder magazine. Ron is a retired auto mechanic, and this is his first major automotive model project, but he did a fine job of it. The car is modeled after a car his father raced back in the 1930’s. |
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• This year’s Young Artisan Scholarship Award is coming up soon. The foundation awards $5000 each year to help send a young person on to a skilled trade school or artisan program. The money is provided by an anonymous donor and administered by the foundation. The award is based on a project entered in the Sherline Machinist’s Challenge contest held at the NAMES show next month. To find out more, see our web page at www.craftsmanshipmusuem.com/youngartisanscholarship.htm.
• The museum was visited on Saturday, March 7th by two different clubs—The Poway Cruisers hotrod club and the Airheads BMW Club, a group riding vintage air-cooled BMW motorcycles as well as other touring brands. In addition to our normal Saturday walk-in traffic, these two clubs really boosted our attendance for that day. Thanks for coming, and tell your friends!
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Physical museum address: 3235 Executive Ridge,