Just Between You, Me, and the Bingo Card: Life Lessons from the Assisted Living Facility

This showed up today. I have officially gone full tard on this hobby, two more are on the way. Have since cleared browser history so the ads stop popping up.

Scale.


How it ran right out of the box.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNf9-otbOyY
How it runs now after changing governor springs and adding a small amount of weight to the governor. I'm just trying to see how slow and consistent it will run with various adjustments before I set anything in stone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyVQB2bfq-c

Not sure if I'll make any kind of cart for it, it's pretty cool as it is. Pocket size.

 

No cart, but we can still make it do stuff.
Stainless steel bracket.

5v dynamo.

Some screws and a drivebelt.



This little fucker runs great for it's size. Would recommend for a first. The red HM-01 runs the best, but this is a real close second.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EDz0_rDb2U

 

Man, you build any more of these things and the EPA is gonna come knocking at your door

 

I need a pulley, 34mm dia roughly x 8mm bore exactly, and not more than 10mm thick. With a 3mm belt groove.
The 10mm part is what the problem is. Closest I can get is 15mm and that won't work. Reason is most have a 4-5mm belt groove and that takes up the needed space, plus the girth of the setscrew. I can file it narrower, but it would cut into the shoulder and the screw threads and look like shit.

 

I really like this little guy.
Took it apart to replace the silver screws with black. Had pretty fair luck between the RC car and helicopter spare parts and was able to replace all but the head bolts and two nuts for the cylinder.

Didn't get any tank off pics, the bolts go straight into it and it was seeping fuel through threads, so i added a drop of blue Loctite to them only. Hoping that doesn't bite me later.

And inverted the base screws so the nuts are on top as I think it just looks better.
Shitty pic though.


Legos have been relocated as this shelf was needed for the ICE collection.
That green one clears by a scant couple mm's.

 

Back to this pulley thing. Unhappy with what is available, I decided to try and make one.
I did not have any aluminum rod, and working with a square blank and no real lathe would be a bitch.
So I tried some Hickory, since the cart is Hickory and it's prolly the hardest stuff I have available that isn't aluminum.
Vertical lathe.


Groovy.

Sandwiched with two O rings to hold it for now. It's pretty tight.
Can't find my stash of set screws, we'll come back to that later. It just needs to be snug, not really applying huge rotational forces here. The O rings may be permanent.

Now to figure out the dynamo mount.

 

The M17B. Fresh out of the box. These are on sale right now.

Throttle controlled, no governor, intake and exhaust pushrods, evaporative cooled.

First model that has shown up with the fuel line disconnected and dry. A finger tight spark plug with a dry shiny electrode tells me this one was not run at the shop.

Camshaft.

The bottom, don't think I showed this on the M17A.


Checked the timing, it was off, lubed everything and filled the tank, primed the carb.
It started and ran like hell on the first try, after that it has been much trial and error trying to get a respectable idle. The carb needle is very finicky, and the engine is still going thru it's break in. I'll post a video once it calms down.

 

Took most of the evening and part of the morning to get it to run decent.
A few issues, the cylinder had a rough surface where it mates to the head, that was leaking droplets of water. That was removed this morning, CA'd the surface to seal the cylinder wall to the tank then sanded it down with 400 grit and that sealed it up. No pics of any of this.
The carb was not even close, that was a test of patience and much flipping of the wheel to start the little shit. When it did start, it hit Ninja quality rpm's, thought for sure it was gonna eject the connecting rod.
It's a two part process, the upper needle controls idle, the bottom needle controls mix. Gotta drop the idle enough, then set the mix and lean it to the point it will recover after being revved. The video doesn't show that as it works great when not vibrating all over the table, only had the one hand to work with.
After getting it close, i noticed the speed would vary all on it's own, and traced that to the top adjustment screw that runs thru the throttle lever, it had a shitty seal.
That was remedied with a coating of grease on the threads and a dab on top of the screw and that seemed to do the trick.
Curious to see how it revs/runs under load, it may be a candidate for a G scale rail powered thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtGDIqi8pIw

 

From the moment it was unboxed, this has bothered me. Right on top and in the front for the world to see.
Not to mention it doesn't match the rest of the thing. wtf?

Very carefully tied up and secured the things that can fuck up the timing and piss me off later. There are absolutely no timing marks on anything.

I bet those helical gears are a bitch + to get right.

Appears to be some blow by either at the plug or the exhaust valve

Yuck. It was time anyway.

Definitely burning like it would have 120 years ago.



Piston sleeve removed from the water jacket.
Uses two O rings on each end to seal it up.


Just needs taped off and coated. Paint is warming in a sink of hot water.\
Going with red. Struggled with this, I have green that is a closer match, but the can is close to empty. I have the same industrial paint in red and it's full.
Besides, if it looks too tacky, it was easy enough to remove and when it needs cleaned again, it can go green at that time. I want the interweb to know this one belongs to me when it shows up.

 

I like the red, it's sporty.


Cleaned up the mess, blow by was from the plug.
Nipped off the gasket and installed one from a nitro glow plug, thicker/fatter.

Filled the water jacket, ran it, no leaks so far, ran fine.

 

If you have time to kill, there are some really nice models in here.
Much inspiration from this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX9BxinYI1I

 

The M19 SAM hit and miss.
1.6cc, 13mm cylinder diameter, 12mm stroke.
Enclosed crank and main bearings, has an oil slinger to lube the internals.
Air cooled, atmospheric intake, single exhausted.
Flying ball governor.
Fuel capacity of 6cc's.



All I've done is replace the pivot pin with an allen bolt and nut to take out the slop in the arm.
Also added O rings to the rope pulley. Gives the fingers something to grip and covers the sharp edge for the rope catch. That already cut my finger once.

This thing is a tiny work of mechanical art.
It does seem to run smoother with the breather cap removed. No plans to drill it out or anything, I'll just remove it when it's running. I've got some fine mesh screen, maybe that'll make a nice free breathing filter and keep debris out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJO9HdRdAnI

 

The green hot bulb simulator has close to 1hp and more potential to power things, but not much to attach a drive pulley to. Was looking for a drum pulley setup.
This was my first thought, but the gears are a little close to things that can get wrapped up.

And the actual shaft is less than a 1/4" dia, so no bueno.

But the flywheel side has some meat to work with. 5/16 and threaded. There is an acorn nut that holds the works on.

After fucking around with various washers, stainless and aluminum tubing, and much head scratching, I came up with a simple solution.
1/2" Stanley deep socket with 1/4" drive was sacrificed.
I cut 22mm off the business end. That removed the part that said STANLEY, and allowed me to do a unique method or mounting it.
Vertical lathe.


Chucked a bolt with a 1/2" head and proceeded to smooth off/flatten the rough edges from the cut. Also hit it with some 400 grit to make it shiny.



Used another bolt with 1/2" head and a couple backup nuts to tighten it back down.
It can easily be put back to stock.

Spins as true as if it was machined by a professional. It's just slightly larger diameter than the other side.
The next idea is to mount a pulley system to the board to slightly reduce the speed but increase the torque, then drive accessories off of that to keep the abuse off of the crank.

The socket remains. Might stick this in my nephews toolbox for future laughs.

 

Had this transmission from a 1/8 scale rc buggy that has a reverse gear. That turned out to be useless as it created too much drag. So I gutted it and used what i needed.

ghetto mounted a plate under the fuel and coolant tank so as not to drill any holes in the board.

It works, it's quiet, not sure I like it.

 

Anybody even watching this? I talk to myself all day, then post to myself
The evolution of an idea.
Trimmed off the top of the pillow blocks.
Turned the shaft around, reversed the one way bearing on the pulley so it pulled correctly.
Threaded the entire inside of the shaft 1/4x20 so things can be screwed on.
Used the remaining section of 1/2" socket from earlier for another drum pulley.
The O rings provide much needed grip and help to keep the belt aligned.
Added dog bone sockets on each end.
The gear does absolutely nothing, it's part of the shaft.



Removed the dog bone on the cooling tower side and replaced it with a CV joint for better angle. Yes it does indeed spin free, as long as the angle pictured is not exceeded by much more.

The shaft can be pulled with a set screw and the CV joint clears enough to spin free if not in use.

Potential to power three implements at once as long as they have the resistance of butterfly wings or less. There will be parasitic power loss.


The main drive belt is rubber and has some stretch and a little slip. IF something downstream binds up, it just stretches, then will slip on the pulleys without dog bones banging the shit out of things. I tested this by hand as the concern was real.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJRBaFJpVSs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RAozpCeEK4

 

More changes as it evolves. The writing is on the wall here, it needs a bigger board.
Was hoping to make it modular and keep the original board unmolested.
I suppose it can still be done, basically/in theory, just needs a longer drive belt to set the pulley assembly further back. Then drill holes in the new board so the feet on the original sit inside and it "locks" in place. Then I'm free to move and mount until I find something that satisfies me.
Whatever. Realistically, it'd gonna power a dynamo or two, to run a light and maybe another motor with a fan. Water pump would be nice, maybe a farm implement of some kind.

tl;dr

Made the main pulley bigger, it's a tight slip fit over the socket I made and spins fairly true. Flat belt runs wonky and looks cool as shit. It doesn't slip off.
Needed moar speed.
Added a brass piece to the lower assembly, also for moar speed downstream. It was a simple as 3 wraps of hockey tape and it again twisted on nice and snug.
Removed the dog bone socket from that end as the fucker cut my finger more than once.
The universal joint shit, is really just fun to watch. Drilled out some scrap hickory and hammered in two bearings for a support block. It can be aimed anywhere in that 90 degree area. Wanted it on a swivel, but there isn't enough room for that to happen, more argument for a bigger board, better engineering.

 

Prototype refinements. Just cannot commit to a new board yet. Whatever finish is on this one is impervious to oil, gas, exhaust schmutz, etc. It all just wipes clean and doesn't stain.
And it's not like I need a lot of extra real estate for this just yet. Plus it fits the shelf.
CV shaft will sit like this. 90 degrees the other way puts it out of phase and it vibrates almost as bad as a lifted 2nd gen.

The little motor was a test, not the actual dynamo. It puts out .487 vdc, just enough to power another just like it with a small fan on it. Ironically, not enough for a small LED. No video of this, waiting for the real stuff. Just video of things spinning. Both sides are now sporting brass drums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjds8EnYfjM
I think maybe I can design a board so that it clips on from the end, and not have to undo the tanks to mount it.

 

I have a bunch of samples for door veneer/finishes. I cut one up and made a thing.



It just slips on, the belt puts enough tension on it to wedge it against the fuel tank and it stays put. Remove the belt and pull it off.


Prolly still gonna cut a new board. I have a chunk of Baltic birch furniture grade plywood that will work pretty well. But I can play with this for now and see how stuff mounts up, then transfer it over.
It's easy to absentmindedly try to pick up the damn thing from the slip on board and have it all hit the floor.

 

The Professor Proton Junior Science Kit showed up today.
An assortment of bullshit that was cheap and perfect for experimenting. This is not the final rendition.

The dynamo's are rated 3v@1500rpm, 4.5v@2500rpm and 12v@6000rpm
No clue on what kind of milliamps they are producing.
I somehow managed to get enough spin for the following.
The single puts out 2.7v at low idle and 4.8v at middle speed.
Perfect for a LED lamp.

This pair, wired in series, puts out 7.2v at idle and 10.5v at middle speed.
So alone, they are just slightly higher voltage than the single. Paired up, we can charge a cell phone overnight.
One is enough to power the fan, the two together really let it move some air.
Belt lengths are different because it looks cool. Pulley's are identical and each puts out the same voltage.

I have an idea for flexible stalks for the fan and the lamp so they can be aimed.
Really want a small water pump. Just to pump the coolant from the tank and back again and make the engine work a bit harder.

Edit: Wonder if it's possible for it to generate it's own power for the CDI box...
It runs on USB voltage, 4.5v up to 12vdc, so it doesn't take much. Might have to run two pair of dynamo's, twins wired in series, then parallel to double up the milliamps but maintain 7.2v to 10.5v. How much cranking by hand before it has enough to produce a single spark?