mills 1.3cc diesel crankcase model engineering mikes-models

16th January 2008 session 5

Started on the profiling of the 'scrap' blank to see how Ron's tips pans out. It is based on
turning the 4 jaw chuck by hand after the blank has been centred by using a wobbler (see
photo in session 4) and dial gauge. (as mentioned above. I will expand on not only Ron's tip,
but also how to get a 4 jaw chuck so it runs true, whatever the shape of object, in the tips
section quite soon).

Back to the blank. It is amazing how many times someone's advice proves correct, no matter
what short cuts you attempt to get away with! You MUST take small cuts. You cannot do
otherwise. I did get fairly proficient in the profiling to the point where I thought I could trust
myself with the (so far) good crankcase blank (see photo1 below).

So having trued up the good blank in the 4 jaw chuck, I set about profiling the base. I can see
that it will produce a good finish as Ron suggests, its just very slow! And therein lies one of my
negative personal traits. I am happiest when going full steam ahead and don't have that
wonderful (especially if you haven't got it!) ability to be a 'finisher'. I know it is a fault so I have
to 'engineer' a solution to overcome this limitation. When I become bored or feel that
concentration is about to slip, I go onto something else, returning afresh the next time. Hence
the reason I am now updating the website!

To be fair to myself, I have got on quite well, and feel sure I will get the crankcase blank at
least looking something like the intended Mills engine. Whether I ruin it at some future point
however, time will tell, but having my 'scrap' blank going first, is something of a success, so far!

Time spent today 2 hours. Total to date 10 hours.