Seal Cylinder Liners - Session 1 09-01-2009

Well a start has been made at last on the pair of Seal Engines I started this time last year! There are 8 cylinder liners to be made and they are turned from cast iron. I was soon reminded on how dirty cast iron is to work. Fortunately I remembered enough to protect the lathe as much as possible from the swarf.

The first cylinder is 3 thou oversize so its piston will have to match, that is of course unless I remake it in the end. My excuse for the oversize is the new honing methodology I am trying. It comes expensively from industry but its performance is exceptional and quick!!!!

The allowance I made of 2 thou undersize first time before honing proved to be insufficient! The second one came in 1 thou over when honed which was within the tolerance I set myself. Now the lesson has been learnt the others should come out the same, but I suspect I will need to make more than the 8 (already one down out of two!!!).

Edgar T Westbury, the engines designer, recommends painting the cylinder liner with paint or varnish when pressing home and for the liner NOT to be a tight fit. I will wait until later before making up my mind what, if any, sealant I shall use.