Things are progressing,
Currently working on getting the kinematics working smoothly - we've had to change the design in the connecting rod end to get a more direct action on the piston. Working much better now. Looking like the drive shaft is rocking during the rotation of the linkage, going to beef up the drive shaft to drive wheel fastener and see if that gets rid of the rocking.
Other notes: piston is in, with the rings, we may print out one more set of rings to see if we can get a tighter fit - can still see a bit of daylight through the piston to cylinder fit and like to get rid of that, but we are getting a pretty good fit with the set we have in there now. The process to cut the rings has worked very well, we are cutting them out of straight strips of a sheet of delrin, then just wrapping them into the piston ring groves, which dramatically reduces the cost vs. cutting them out as rings. Funny how a simple thing like that can reduce the cost of the rings from $50 (cutting one ring from each 12"x12" sheet) to less then $10 by cutting a strip out of the rectangular piece (almost no waste).
Flywheel is taking shape and should be completed this week. Once thats done, its on to finalizing the displacer - like to get a bit more weight out of it along with sealing it for final assembly and fitting.
Big news this week, Ziad Omar has joined the effort and will be working to help increase our production capability. Ziad is a Manufacturing Engineer currently working at Ford. Ziad has a strong background in the lean and flexible manufacturing field and is a welcome addition. He will be working part time - developing the models for casting and other various components so that we can ramp up our output. Drop him a note if you like - he can be reached at ziad.omar-AT-volodesigns.com.
One more item - we updated the production schedule. Keep in mind this is still solidifying, so don't schedule any power shut off's based on these dates !
More to follow -
Enjoy,
Tim
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| This is Ziad - Welcome Aboard ! |
Not a great shot, but you can see the new connecting rod ends at the bottom of the shot, along with the beginnings of the flywheel on the far output / input shaft.
I'm quite interested in this, especially at the focal point of a refurbished and mirrored parabolic dish (with a tracker) Infinia did this for their dish but as usual the powers that be won't sell it to us plebes. You guys, on the other hand, are on the verge of changing the game with your work. Please be careful!
ReplyDeleteI'll help you if I can.
Pete
Thanks Pete.
ReplyDelete