The Sherline Miniature Machinist's Newsletter
Number 28,
Sherline Workshop Project of
the Month
Final update on
the ½ scale Briggs & Stratton engine/George Biasz
George has been working on this engine for some time, and we covered some of the preliminary steps in a previous newsletter. Now that the engine is completed, we thought you might like to see the final results.
The first photo shows the nearly completed engine from the side. The
second photo shows another angle plus the primed metal shroud in place.
The finished, painted and decaled engine sits on its oak stand. The
final photo shows the ½ scale engine next to the full-size prototype.
George purchased a rusty, old Briggs & Stratton engine for two dollars at a swap meet. It wasn't worth restoring, but it was complete and gave him the parts he needed to measure and duplicate at 1/2 size to make the model. The Briggs & Stratton "Y" engine was built in the 1930's and was used to power wash machines, water pumps and later on many found their way into kids' go karts. George beefed up the kick starter a little so it would stand up to being used at 1/2 size, because he likes to run the engine often at shows. George has built hit-n-miss, steam and other types of engines as well.
This coming weekend, April 24th and 25th George and the engine will be at the North American Model Engineering Society Expo at the Southgate Civic Center in Southgate, MI if you want to see and hear the recently finished engine run.
Shop
Tip of the month
Centering a part in a 4-jaw chuck on the
lathe/Edward Ewell
A 1” dial indicator is held in the round hole of a P/N 7600 tool post.
"Here is a nice tip. If you have the 3/8" insert tool holder (P/N 7600), the 3/8" hole in this holder will hold the one-inch travel dial indicator nicely. I use this to center my work in the 4-jaw chuck. After centering, I remove the dial indicator, install the cutting tool and position the holder for the cutting process. I make camera repair parts and the accuracy I need is only obtained with the 4-jaw chuck. I also modified the normal 1/4" tool holder by drilling a 3/8" hole in it as well." —Edward C. Ewell, Klamath Falls, OR
This and more than 50 other helpful tips for Sherline machinists can be found at www.sherline.com/tips.htm. CNC tips can be found at www.sherline.com/CNCproj.htm.
Product
Spotlight
P/N 7560 ($5.00)—A new cutting tool lubricant is
available from Sherline
For those who prefer the convenience of a stick type lubricant, you can now order Nixx-Stikx Metal Cutting Compound in a 2.2 oz stick from Sherline. Price for the easy-to-use stick is only $5.00. Apply it to drills, end mills, etc. for smoother cuts and longer tool life. We are using it in the Sherline shop too.
P/N 1164 WW ($105.00)
and P/N 1165 8 mm ($115.00) collet holders for the Rotary Table
The WW Collet
fixture is mounted to the T-slots in the face of the rotary table. A small
bushing helps align the fixture in the center of the table. The illustration
shows how it attaches to the rotary table.
Although they have been available for years, many people still do not know that you can hold parts on center in the P/N 3700 Rotary table with WW type collets. The 1164 (WW) and 1165 (8 mm) fixtures register with the center hole of the rotary table. Collets are closed by turning knurled ring at the bottom of the fixture that pulls the collets into the taper from the back as would normally be done with a drawbar.
Did you know?
• Sherline is now on Facebook. CLICK HERE to go to Sherline’s Facebook page and become a friend. Kat Powell set up the page for us and maintains the content. It is just getting going, but it is a good place to get to know other Sherline friends.
• You can find most things you need on our site at www.sherline.com by using the black navigation bar right at the top of the page. Even so, we recommend you scroll down to the main menu and look at all the topics. You will find there is a lot to look at on the site and a lot of useful information about machining.
Upcoming Shows
•
The North American Model Engineering Society (NAMES) will host its next major
exposition in
•
The next show Sherline will be attending is the Western Engine Model Exhibition in
Joe Martin Craftsmanship Foundation News
•
Young C. Park’s cutaway Corsair is now on display at the
• Just a little too late for our last newsletter, the Howell V4 shop project built by Tom Boyer finally came to life March 16th. It is now available for visitors to the museum to see and hear it run along with our first engine project, the Seal in-line 4. If you can’t come by, see the YouTube video of its first sounds when you CLICK HERE. You can also find a link to the video on the Howell V4 build page. Congratulations Tom!
•
Another big event taking place only a day before was the first running of Louis
Chenot’s straight-8 Duesenberg engine. At only 1/6 scale, this 4-valve per
cylinder scale vehicle is a true masterpiece. See his first pop video on
YouTube when you CLICK
HERE or go to his page in the museum site for a link. This engine and
complete vehicle are one of the major accomplishments in model engineering in
recent years. The model will be on display at the NAMES show in the
•
The museum was open Saturday, March for the North Coast Vettes club and April
10rd for a group of car nuts from “Dave’s Garage.” We also had a
visit on March 26th from well-known race car driver Scooter Patrick
and some friends. Scooter was at nearby
•
On March 25th, the Russian edition of Popular Mechanics magazine featured a full page color article on