Pistons and Rods Part 1

In this video I manufacture the main pistons for my 5" gauge steam locomotive.

[@barneyleadhead2596]

Enjoying working my way through your videos Mr C. Love the old skool vibe with the hand drawn diagrams and I'm strangely enjoying the calculations too 🙂

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Thanks!

[@yagwaw]

I really like your reasoning about why you do things as you do them, very helpful. The humor’s great too, of course.

[@EverettsWorkshop]

For what it's worth, I very much appreciate your presentation style. And your sense of humor, I will never look at my HSS parting tool the same, lol!

[@theonlybuzz1969]

Thank you Mr Crispin for another wonderful video on your machining exercise for your project, locomotive engine . Again you gave us super detailed information and then corrected drawings that would eliminate some potentially problems in the future. Thank you and hope that you and your family are safe during these times of isolation. Phil 👍

[@mr.jimmyjohnsr.ohyeah7835]

GREAT JOB MrCrispin !! ENJOYED IT !

[@andyZ3500s]

You are a natural teacher MrCrispin. To many channels just go through the motions without explaining the how and why.

[@paulbuckberry7683]

I always enjoy your videos Mr Crispin.......just spent the night out in my own shop and what better way to finish the evening than catching up on your latest offering. Thank you very much!!

[@truethought369]

Great stuff, Vernier-gauge could have battery problem! Batteries normally last up to five years, but before they pack up, they do upset things sometimes. Hope this sorts it out. Thanks for your knowledge.

[@Rudykanal]

I like the way you presented the making of pistons that will be perfectly in line and concentric with the piston rod. Too many are missing the point of this.

[@retromechanicalengineer]

Mr Crispin on a Sunday night, bonus! Thanks for another great video. Dean in Oxfordshire.

[@richardluce775]

Always a treat. Great to see you back on loco. Been there from the start. On my “inexpensive” caliper when it gets possessed I carefully clean with contact cleaner and put in a fresh set of batteries. Still kicking after 20 years. Keep the vids coming.

[@howder1951]

Excellent video, I know I can always count on you to show me the proper way to do some tricky setups, cheers and thanks!

[@derekferguson385]

Brilliant video! You make it look so easy. I’m an electrician and pretty clueless when it comes to lathe work but I can appreciate your improvements to the original drawing.

[@Rubbernecker]

Your videos are brilliant! I only wish they were 3 hours long. I'm so glad you're back!!

[@chucksterock]

Thanks for sharing and making the effort! I really enjoy watching you work and learning more about machining.

[@roncartwright4092]

Good morning Crispin. Great work as usual ! & your reasoning for your decisions will help many new builders to get it right first time. Best Regards, Ron.

[@machineshopatthebottomofth3213]

I am enjoying the very 70’s turn and look into the camera At the start of all the videos 😊

[@nixie2462]

Indeed!

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

I wouldn't know what people did in the 70's!

[@derekblake9385]

MrCrispin Now that’s just made me feel very old at just 42 😉excellent work as usual, piston idea exactly the same as the Allchin traction engine piston I just attempted, great idea 👌

[@brucewilliams6292]

Great work! I really enjoy your explanation of your machining process. It helps beginners like myself. All the Best

[@matthewreynolds6562]

That method of removing chatter by turning the lathe by hand is brilliant. I never thought of that. I miss working on a lathe.

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

I love the precise way you explain everything!

[@lauriefielder8762]

Just found your site a Real pleasure being a ME of long standing good to see updated techniques Thanks

[@adamr613]

Mr Crispin , what a lovely surprise you are. I really like the way you sort lock nut problem. well done good job

[@bcbloc02]

I think in normal application those pistons would have been thru bored then retained with something like a castle nut. Thermal expansion and contraction of the piston can put a lot of stress in the threads and cause fatique or fretting. I think your modification was a good upgrade for sure. Looks like they turned out nice!

[@captcarlos]

Thank you for lifting our spirits during lock down. Please stay safe, too many of your countrymen have succumbed. Let's keep the interesting ones, ko? Ain't it grand that we have brilliant games rooms to play in and keep ourselves out of trouble.

[@gareththomson4080]

Thanks for another great video, looking forward to the next instalment.

[@rogerlishman2532]

Interesting to see the workpiece become magnetic after it was machined. I guess that cast iron, being soft is easily magnetised, and loses it quickly as well.

[@garrattfan]

Handfeeding to remove the chatter....brilliant, thank you

[@jrkorman]

A wealth of good information and very well presented! Looking forward to the next part!

[@martinhughes8500]

With your design change for the piston/rod attachment I couldn't agree more. Stuart Turner specify that poor technique too so I did similar to you. It applies to the crosshead end as well.

[@MachineDRO]

Another great video :) with your Mitutoyo caliper, remove the battery, wipe down the scale (with IPA or similar) leave for 30+ mins and replace battery (ideally with a new one) - if that doesn't fix it please let us know

[@juanrivero8]

Good advice. In my limited experience, digital caliper problems are almost always due to bad batteries. Sometimes the electronics go wrong and that is not fixable, but not on a Mitutoyo, which are really good quality.

[@smiffy1947]

IPA -assume you mean isopropyl alcohol rather than India Pale Ale! Just joking - a useful tip which I shall remember!

[@MachineDRO]

@@juanrivero8 Always use SR44 (Silver oxide) instead of LR44 (Alkaline), a common mistake, often feed by new calipers coming with LR44 batteries and it is assumed that is the correct one. The fitted battery is purely for production testing, that's why the cheaper LR44 is often selected in production.

[@MachineDRO]

@@smiffy1947 no harm in also having a bottle of India Pale Ale to hand ;)

[@juanrivero8]

A very god tip, which I did not know, thanks!

[@ROBRENZ]

Enjoyed! ATB, Robin

[@britishreaction54]

That was superb. Your style of presentation is excellent. I've subscribed.

[@daveticehurst4191]

Well done. Glad to see your Brothers toothbrush has made a comeback. Nice too to see both your Special Micrometers making their first KZbin appearance.

[@josephmagedanz4070]

Thank you for the good video and the good tips. Looking forward to the next episode.

[@joshua43214]

I sure am glad you are back :)

[@clivelee4279]

Enjoyed the video, I like I like the modification to the piston design. I personally fit the piston to the rod with a taper and nut, and and like you finish to size between centres. The taper method, allows removal and refitting of the. Piston without loss of concentricity. Both methods are better than the original.

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

I like the taper idea.

[@phooesnax]

Really great work and camera work not to mention explanations Jim

[@KevinWoodsWorkshop]

Satellite dish and bananas! Excellent. My very near calliper displayed funny numbers once, it’s because I got coolant on it by mistake. I took the battery out and put it under a lamp for a while to dry out and eventually it started working again. If yours never did get wet then it probably needs replacing unfortunately.

[@nikond90ful1]

Thanks for the video. Keep safe and stay well.

[@ianbertenshaw4350]

LMAO at the Satellite reference 😂 There really are some horrible parting blade holders out there and i think i own most of them ! Thanks for the video Crispin ! Very enjoyable and informative ! I have a set of digital callipers that do that sometimes and i found if i take the battery out and short the battery terminals together then refit the battery it fixes it . The only other thing you could do is take the back off and give it all a clean out , sometimes some fine particles or oil can get in there and stop the read head from working -either way they are only useful as a back scratcher like that so you have nothing to lose !

[@mk1cortinatony395]

Youre a great lecturer Mr C. Only found you today so catching up . I have a super 7 to play with too :)

[@davedigs]

nice work mr Crispin at 8:07 was nice to see an appearance of your brothers toothbrush

[@deathblowhere]

I bet he didnt mind :D

[@davidmathews2219]

im getting hooked,going to part two NOW

[@drubradley8821]

Dang it.... I had plans for the day to do nothing but be a potato on my couch... Now having watched your video of the "steam engine building" .... I now have to get off my booty, and head out to my shop and play with my toys.... Translation... Thank you for the inspiration, Mr. Crispin... to not be so dang lazy...

[@pickerjim9246]

Thank you for your videos.

[@bulletproofpepper2]

Thanks for sharing!!! Great video

[@mechanicalmeddling8336]

To fix your calipers you need too replace the solder mask on the circuit board, thin Varnish may work but I found nail polish worked for me.

[@mike_jay]

Now I’m itching to see next couple

[@ninalli]

Nice! Great work.

[@nixie2462]

8:05 my brain was expecting Crispin to say "I will clean the grooving shavings with Speedcar's brother toothbrush".

[@paulfisher1160]

Hi Mr Crispin. Glad to see you back in the workshop after quite some time. Still ahead of me on a loco aspect as im still perfecting the workshop. Was great watching this video and like the improvements. Just a thought. why not have a smooth section in the middle of the valve bobbin and rod for stability and thread ends for adjustment. Looking forward to the next and the answer to my question i suspect. Keep well and safe during this time and keep it up Paul Fisher South Africa

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Yep I will be answering thoes points. Cheers.

[@geoffrooke4282]

My "overseas" callipers also went haywire in certain circumstances and I found it to be heavy electrical interference from the equipment, e.g. high output lighting, TIG etc.

[@stephendeakin2714]

What I do when using the leadscrew dial is to set the dial to zero, then using the topslide pick up the front face of the job, at least that way one can return fairly accurately to your starting position if the calculations get mucked up. Also, I would have considered making up a dummy piston rod, held it in a collet and taken a clean up face cut on locking nut interface.

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Good idea

[@johncarey9400]

Excellent work Mr Crispin. What model of locomotive are you building?

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Thanks. It's s 5" Springbok

[@johnmcdyer7297]

As usual a brilliant film mr crispin By the way my my mitutoyo calliper also went west can’t do nothing with it same as yours good tip that about chatter when parting off thanks

[@ChrisB257]

Piston/rod mods very logical indeed... almost surprised the original drawing had its rather poor approach. Your chatter on the groove cutting using the hand turning approach I have often resorted to - as well as even turning more using my spindle handle. More nice work :)

[@TheAyrCaveShop]

Good Stuff....Enjoyed !

[@slidebed]

Hello Mr Crispin great videos and I love your style, just a comment on your lathe where I notice the motor body joggles back and forth slightly when switched on and also this movement occurs during interupted cuts, now I've never observed this behaviour on any other lathe and can't help thinking that it would be conducive to chatter during heavier cuts, what are your thoughts and is this feature normal for a Myford, strange though it seems to me at any rate. Keep up the good work and stay safe during these trying times.

[@JK-hw1bb]

Great to watch. Very informative an entertaining. Re calipers....i have had the same situation. I just replaced the battery, which solved the issue? Strange but true.! What camera system do you use? Thanks. Jason.

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Just a 6 year old Panasonic video camera . I'm not very up on camera technology

[@billshiff2060]

Question at 5:50 , that hand wheel , is it an accessory of that brand of machine or did you create it? I see no feed rod so I assume the feed is delivered by either a keyway on the lead screw (but I dont see a key slot on the screw) or uses the lead screw itself to feed as old atlas lathes do(or maybe a worm gear running off the lead screw?). Is that hand wheel always engaged or can it be pulled away from a dog clutch and free wheel?

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

It's a Myford accessory that fits directly on the end of the lead screw. It is permanently attached.

[@billshiff2060]

@@MrCrispinEnterprises Thanks, it's an interesting accessory I have not seen before. I have considered putting an electric milling machine feed motor there so I can have on-the-fly feed speed changes so that device peaked my interest.

[@Cookerab]

One plus re the Corona, Mr. Crispin vids.

[@MrShobar]

I have a pair of those Mitutoyo calipers. Same problem. Tried everthing to fix them. No success. I bought a new pair of those Shars Aventor calipers and never looked back.

[@johnfox4691]

Thank you.

[@eddjordan2399]

lovely

[@rickhaass1133]

Is this for Keith's stoker engine? Couldn't tell who or whats it's for... Well done regardless.

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

It's for my 5" gauge steam locomotive. Cheers

[@ElTelBaby]

If the link does not work... Search for Kennedy Digital Caliper Manual pdf manualzz.com/doc/4164715/kennedy-digital-electronic-calipers-operating-instruction... Follow the procedure for changing the Battery;... Then resetting the Origin Good Luck... It worked for my Calipers...

[@rubenprovencio-b1u]

Tienes planos del pistón modificado

[@glennmoreland6457]

Good...🇬🇧👍

[@kigtod]

Excellent video as always. Re the Mitutoyo calliper assuming it is not fake (Google fake Mitutoyo callipers for clues) and assuming you’ve changed the battery, what are the other symptoms? It looked like the display was frozen rather than random? What happens when you change modes - inch/mm , abs/rel, zero? Getting some more information like that might help narrow down what might be wrong.

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Yes I geuss I was a bit veauge, the problem started by the numbers becoming random. For example you close the caliper and it would read Zero and then you open it 10mm and it would read 230,00 or something silly like that. The mode buttons habe no effect, for instance of you press zero nothing happens. The batteries I have have been lying around for years so perhaps I'll order some new batteries and clean it.

[@lwilton]

@@MrCrispinEnterprises Generally there are only three problems with these sort of thing: a) The microprocessor has turned to toast and there is nothing that can be done to fix it b) The uP is confused. Pull the battery, short the battery contacts for 30 seconds to a minute, check the battery voltage (if you have a meter) and either reinstall or install a new battery depending on the battery voltage c) The read head or scale has gotten dirty. Clean the read head and the scale. This generally requires disassembling the unit to get to the read head. From your description it sounds like one of the first two cases are most likely, but a hair-fine metal chip in the wrong place could cause all manner of problems. Since you already tried pulling the battery I think I'd start with attempting a cleaning, looking also for any metal chips that may have leaked into places they shouldn't be. Since you will have the battery out doing this, spend the extra 30 seconds to short the terminals before reinstalling it, and hope for the best.

[@kigtod]

Yes I would try fitting a good quality battery first. However it does look like you have a Chinese copy there. Two clues are the shape of the locking screw and I don’t see ‘Absolute’ moulded into the battery cover.

[@dablakh0l193]

I just came across your channel and have subscribed. I saw the problem you are having with your calipers and thought I might pass this link along to you and anyone else who might have similar issues. There is a good instructable concerning digital caliper cleaning and repair : www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Fix-Digital-Calipers-With-Bad-Display/ Your problem looks almost identical to one I had several years ago. Mine happened because there were tiny conductive particles that had gotten into the housing, and they got wedged between the pcb and the wiper. Sometimes you can use dry compressed air to blow them out, but yours looks like they're stuck, like mine were. The problem could also be a weak battery. Swap out the battery first, since it is the easiest fix, but if it doesn't help then you will need to disassemble the caliper and thoroughly clean and reassemble it as in the link above. Best of luck.

[@petefletcher]

Mmmm, Ebay buy? Sure they ARE Mitutoyo?

[@andyZ3500s]

The other day there was a brand new Mitutoyo dail indicator for sale for around $25 US. On the indicator the name was Mituyoyo

[@andyZ3500s]

@glyn hodges they actually have have people trying to deal with the problem. The whole thing is crazy. I just looked at the indicator out of interest, I knew that I wasn't going to get a new mitutoyo for 80 % off. Over twenty years ago I knew a older gentleman that had a small sprinkler co. With maybe 25 employees. Before you now it copys of his products started to show up in California USA, the parts where evan interchangeable.

[@andreout6920]

hello good videos your caliper problem is the battery replaced greeting from lelystad Holland

[@K-Effect]

Try putting a new battery in your calipers

[@scottholt2]

I’m in the market for some small taps & dies. Any brands recommended or I should stay away from?

[@MrCrispinEnterprises]

Most of my taps and dies are old ones mostly made by Dormer. Dormer is still in operation but I believe everything is made over seas now. If your in the UK then Tracy Tools is my go to place for anything new.

[@scottholt2]

Thanks. I’ll see what I can find, the Chinese taps are certainly cost effective but I doubt they’re quality is good and I’d hate to have to try and extract a tiny broken tap.

[@burntorangeak]

Correct use of sister's toothbrush.

[@Blue_4-2]

🔧😊👍❤️️

[@dav1dsm1th]

:-)

[@billshiff2060]

Beware of fake Mitutoyo tools coming from you know where. Be suspicious.