Here’s something you don’t see every day, a Steam powered land speed record motorcycle! I came across it at a Rail exhibition I attended through work, pictured here with designer and rider Graham Sykes. (Nickname: Syko!).

It was beautifully engineered and obviously a labour of love, so I sought out the designer for a chat. Graham was obviously passionate, answering all my questions even though it was the end of the day. It was great talking to a like mind and sharing ideas. Contact numbers swapped and ideas for the future.

(Although to be fair this project is much further on than mine!).

I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of this machine over the next couple of years, well I certainly hope so. Good luck with your endeavours Sir!

In anticipation of potentially getting some extra machines, I’ve been clearing out the garage. With an empty floor I thought I’d mark out the area required for the Bridgeport Mill, according to the manual. It’s huge!!

I think the floor space is worst case, taking account the full table movement and handles. It also allows for rear access which I probably won’t need. I hope so anyway, otherwise I’ll have no space for anything else.

I think I’ll just bring everything up and play precision machine Tetris when they arrive. First world problems eh??

While we’ve been working on many parts in parallel, such as the Conrod, Flywheels, Crank Pin, Crankshafts and Sleeve Drive Crank, no single part was actually finished. Until now!

Here’s the sleeve drive crank, completely finished. All diameters are to size (see previous post), oilways drilled and the sprocket holes drilled and tapped.

Bob has been in contact with a pattern maker so we’ll get some idea of prices soon. We’re still waiting to hear about some large machines, which will enable us to finish the larger components.

Progress!!

The sleeve drive crank is coming along nicely, sized to the inner race of the bearing. This is one of many critical sizeing operations and it’s quite stressful, knowing you can spoil the entire part if you’re out by even a thou!

After a trial fit and fine tune, we have a great push fit which feels really good. The photo shows the driving bar used to turn the piece between centres, which will house the drive pin once it’s bored to size. (Another critical dimension!).

Won’t be long before we have a component that’s completely finished!!

A bit chintzy maybe, but I had a set of rods from a Bristol Hercules looking for a home. Fed up with whacking my shins on them, I stuck them on the wall. The bearing journal in the centre was looking a little bare, so I popped a skeleton clock movement in it.

Huzzah! Now I can track all the time I waste in the garage. 🙂