Machining the Crankshaft

Up at 04.00hrs today and straight to the workshop with a large mug of tea to start machining the crank. These aircraft engine crankshafts have a long nose to hold the propellor and we are turning it around to attach the flywheel. Luckily our lathe is just big enough to fit the 1100mm long shaft with a steady giving intermediate support. Firstly machined the original slow taper down to a parallel shaft of 1.5" diameter and then cut off 100mm. Cutting a 12 tpi thead will fit a standard unf nut. (the Curtiss being American uses unf theads throughout and so we keep all theads true to type). Used the original propellor boss to which I had already machined up an adaptor to fit the flywheel. We intend to have the luxury of a starter motor on this car having pushed or towed the big Austin EBIV to start for several years and finding the practice tiresome.

Off to work at o8.00 to earn some money to pay for all this.

Back home from work at 17.30 and now have to fit the whole asembly back into the crankcase. Don't relish the 20 splitpinned main bearing nuts and the 16 big end nuts all which will have to be torqued up and faced back in the small lathe to line up the castellations. Noted the big Fimap lathe is roasting hot from Paul Mayhead working on it all day machining various differential components! I dread to think of the electricity bill...