The Bucket Foundry

[Flettner]

Some action on the sleeve engine, gearbox in, crank in, clutch in, water pump finished and cases all sealed up
Still lots of detailed work but I'm at the sharp end now l think. Oops, not very sharp putting the photos upside down. These must be for the Northern hemisphere viewers. Thats better, hold the phone up the right way. Air box is going to be difficult.

[tjbw]

Brilliant job flettner!

Looking forward to the video

[WilDun]

Some action on the sleeve engine, gearbox in, crank in, clutch in, water pump finished and cases all sealed up. Air box is going to be difficult.

A long hard journey! but it must make you feel good to have achieved what you set out to do, (ie design and build an experimental engine from scratch) - totally new ground here, at least so far as bikes are concerned and without really knowing how it's going to all pan out.
So well done Neil, - also we must not forget all the other action guys in the experimental department of course!

[ken seeber]

Well, got a dyno, but it turns out to be a bit of a relic that did, in fact, fall off the back of a truck & looks like it. Have to think about this one.



In between times, been designing the exhaust(s). These and the various adapters will take a little time.

Happy Father’s Day to the Ozzies and Kiwis. For the latter group, don’t forget the benefits of your lush green pastures that run up to the edges of steep cliffs.
Does it go like this? :

[Flettner]

A long hard journey! but it must make you feel good to have achieved what you set out to do, (ie design and build an experimental engine from scratch) - totally new ground here, at least so far as bikes are concerned and without really knowing how it's going to all pan out.
So well done Neil, - also we must not forget all the other action guys in the experimental department of course!

I guess Wil I probably enjoy the building as much as the finished product, perhaps more so sometimes.

[F5 Dave]

yeah yeah the video. this is way cool. hmm wonder how the pipes are optomised. . .

[Flettner]

Ken, that's a nice little dyno, how much power will it soak up?

[ken seeber]

Ken, that's a nice little dyno, how much power will it soak up?

None. The rotor or shaft or both is seized within the housing !! Supposedly 50 hp. If it isn't a goer, then I reckon I'll just make one with a car auto torque converter. Get one for nothing from a wrecker.
BTW, your sleeve engine looks trick. As to the exhaust, I'm using Frit's empirical exhaust design concept. Fairly basic calcs only required

[Frits Overmars]

The rotor or shaft or both is seized within the housing !! Supposedly 50 hp. If it isn't a goer, then I reckon I'll just make one with a car auto torque converter. Get one for nothing from a wrecker.
BTW, your sleeve engine looks trick. As to the exhaust, I'm using Frit's empirical exhaust design concept. Fairly basic calcs only required

You could ask your friendly local wrecker if he hasn't got a hill retarder lying around; much better than a torque converter.
The other day I did some work on that exhaust concept of mine and changed a few percentages. Here is the latest version.


Ken, I kept thinking about your latest mail. You're aiming for an rpm of maximum power that is quite low even for the original kart engine that you are using as a basis.
I can understand that you want to be careful, but those six upward-angled transfers may create a central scavenging column that is moving too fast for that rpm,
so the initial result may not give a good indication of the engine's true potential.

[peewee]

Some action on the sleeve engine, gearbox in, crank in, clutch in, water pump finished and cases all sealed up
Still lots of detailed work but I'm at the sharp end now l think. Oops, not very sharp putting the photos upside down. These must be for the Northern hemisphere viewers. Thats better, hold the phone up the right way. Air box is going to be difficult.

that's cool man. not many people could accomplish something like that . I see theres no removable cover for the clutch plates. do they not need changing very often ?

[gamma500]

wow you guys are skilled and smart!

It will be really interesting to see how these engines will run.

Keep up the good work!

[Flettner]

PeeWee, I've got a Rekluse (spelling?) clutch for this sleeve engine bottom end only because I use one in my YZ 250 T and love it, along with a handlebar rear brake (like a mountain bike). I've had the clutch in my 250 for more than two years and have not had to touch it, not even adjust it. So I shouldn't need to go near it in the amount of running this engine will do
I will consider this engine a success if I can ride the bike round my back yard. Remember this cylinder is only the first to be tested on this same bottom end, when I say the same I do have two more bottom ends under the bench.
One of the other cylinders I've got to test will definitely be long term trail rideable.

[Frits Overmars]

I've got a Rekluse (spelling?) clutch for this sleeve engine bottom end.

Perfect, both the spelling and the functioning of that clutch. I love it.

[husaberg]

This fellas worth a watch even with is dubious aksunk.

[Michael Moore]

My first big CNC project came off the mill yesterday afternoon. This is the lower-surface pattern for the Webco Yamaha CT-1 175cc two-stroke cylinder head I plan to replicate.

I'm quite pleased with the surface finish. There are a couple of spots (like in that central V area) where a cutter went a couple thousandths too deep, and some of the fin/central boss areas have transitions that look the other way (a bit high).

I'll burnish it to get the little flakes of wax off, but I think that is about all I will do. There are some sharp edges that will need to be lightly rounded.

The long 2 degree taper ball-end EM was singing a bit. I tried turning the feed over-ride down but that didn't make any difference, so it may need a smaller depth of cut. There's signs of chatter on the sides of the fins, but I think most if not all minor flaws will disappear against the sand when the mold is made.

Less than 2 hours of machining seems much better than sanding/coating/repeat on wood. Of course, I've got a lot of time in the model and the CAM, but much of that was spent figuring out how to do things. I redid the model several days earlier because I found some small issues where surfaces looked good but were a thou or two off of matching.

Next up is to validate out the model for the upper side and start the CAM with the feeds/speeds/DOC/WOC proven on this part. Maybe I'll have the other half of the pattern later this week.

Software is Rhino v5 with RhinoCAM (Visual Mill) 2016, running on my Tree 425 (a rebadged TOS FV30).

I'll pull a silicone rubber mold from the wax and use it to cast a urethane foundry tool. The wax will eventually be melted and recycled for reuse.

cheers,
Michael