Tharper

Hello Steve, Sorry to take so long to reply. I use Pine for the patterns. Its cheap and is easy to work with. Pine use to be very popular in the old pattern shops. You could also use Cherry or Mahogany but I find both too costly. I had one Mahogany pattern that was professionally made. Unfortunatly they did not fill the grain so when the pieces were cast using Petro-bond sand the castings picked-up the nicest wood grain! Yes, the blank is made up with three layers. The bottom and top layers each have 8 wedges (2 wedges per quarter). The middle layer is made from 12 wedges (3 per quarter) This provides overlaps of the glue joints and a bit of extra strength. I seal the patterns with a coat of shellac then prime and paint with automotive enamel from spray cans. Another trick is using pinned or removable pieces in your core boxes and patterns. Its a great way to deal with the odd item that projects from the piece and could make life dificult. Below is the pattern and core box I made for the oil pump drive housing - to the left are the remnants of the original. The orange disk visible on the inside of the core box is a for the rased boss that acts as the thrust bearing on the finished casting. Once the core box has been filled a pin is removed and the disk slides out with the core. Here is the core fresh out of the core box. You can see the disk still in place. It will be removed and the core baked. Here you can see the core in place and the impression left by the removable disk - this will form the rased boss for the thrust bearing. And.... the finished casting bolted-up for a trial fit. I hope this helps! Best regards, Terry

Hello Barry, I will be brief because I don't want to steal Steve's thread and...I want to see more of the work on the Thorney! Anyway... yes the foundry is a homemade backyard/partime commercial setup run by my friend Peter Grant of Odd Duck Foundry. He started it as a hobby but now cast parts for nuts like me that the big foundries wont take on. He can do alum. Brass, bronze and Iron. The furnace is powered by waste oil. Most of the pieces he has cast for me are bronze. Here is the result: This is the assembly for the upper water manifold. The pipe is 1-1/2 diameter". We have also cast the components for the bronze intake manifold which, as per the original, is a built-up component. I have yet to finish machining the castings. The only limit to what Peter can cast is his crucible size. In regards to the plates. I use spray can automotive enamel. Once cured I wet sand with fine wet/dry paper wrapped around a smooth piece of wood. Use no pressure...just let the paper do the work. I also add a bit of dish soap to the water. NOW BACK TO THE THRONEY! I NEED MY DAILY FIX!

Glad I could help Steve! Yes the core is formed in two pieces and glued together with PVA (Elmers Glue over here). Here are some cores assembled and ready to be placed. Note the vent hole in the end of the core on the far left. This is just a shallow groove running the length of the core. Another good trick is using a follower. This is nothing more than a block that holds the pattern in proper orientation so it can be pulled cleanly and avoid a lot of digging to get to the part line of an odd shaped piece. In this instance I had to use a four part pattern and a follower. Once the pattern and follower have been rammed-up the follower is removed and the other pieces to the pattern placed. Then the other half of the mold is rammed-up. After splitting the cope and drag the pieces can be removed - first the flange then the tee section. Any ridge left where the joint is can be dressed-down prior to casting. Again I think the work you are doing is wonderful! Just an FYI...if you need any etched plates for this project let me know. I have had to dabble in that a bit too!!

Hello Steve, Remember I have only been at this a short time and I am self taught so what I do my not be the easist or best but here it goes: To get the elbows I make a simple turning on the lathe - this is nothing more than an old (1942) 13" South Bend. Basicly all your doing is turning a ring that represents ...well... half of a bagle. I glue brown craft paper between the quarters (partlines) so they can easily be broken apart after turning. This is a neat trick that I use on all my patterns..It beats using screws etc. or having to saw them. Once the piece is glued-up I mount it on a face plate - I use a sacraficial piece of MDF bolted to the face plate. Screws from behind hold the piece to the MDF. Its important that the intersection of the partlines is centered and that the screws secure each quarter securely to the MDF. Nexts its time to rough out to the outside diameter and bore the center hole. Once this is done I cut 45 degree facets so in cross section it half an octagon. Next I take sand paper and round it all off. I use a template to ensure a round cross section. Once done remove from the face plate, split at the part lines (the paper laminated between makes it easy) - match two quarters together and there is your elbow! In regards to the cores: Once the core boxes are filled with the core sand mix they simply turn them out on a steel plate - the vent is cut and they are cured. Once cured they glue the halves together and insert into the core prints. In some cases Chapletts are need to keep the core from floating or shifting. I hope this helps!

Wonderful repair! I almost had to do a similar repair to the water pump on my Wisconsin. As with your Thorney the neck was broken-off. As luck would have it I found a complete original. In regards to your pattern: Top notch work! I cheat on the core boxes. I fabricate a male master and cast the core box itself out of plaster of paris. They are not as durable as a wood core box but if they get damaged its easy enough to cast a new one. The miss-alignment looks like an issue with the flasks not indexing correctly.

Hello Steve, Yes, the paper gaskets I found under the cylinder blocks were similar to brown wrapping paper. In regards to the shellac - the gasket is coated with it and installed wet. This seals the paper and makes the gasket quite tough. In fact in the old Dykes Automotive books they mention making a head gasket using layers of shellacked paper. The Wisconsin I have its the bigger sibling to yours. (6 cylinder, 5/3/4"x7") It came out of a 1925 Lombard tractor. There is a Great War connection albiet through Russia which bought a few Lombards in 1917. These were equiped with Wisconsin Model P engines. Here is a clipping concerning the sale to Russia [TABLE] [TR] [TD]The Wall Street Journal, Feb 17, 1917 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]"Gaston Williams & Wigmore have closed contracts with the Russian government for large shipments of Lombard "caterpillar" tractors delivery to begin in the spring. These machines are similar to those in use on the British front. The type of tractor ordered is a 100-HP gasolene machine with caterpillar treads. Russian officials had taken a few of the tractors for trial, and the present orders are placed after rigid tests in actual service."[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] As found - note the valve which were bent by scavangers trying to remove the lifter guides. Progress - sporting the new upper water manifold and valves. Here is a photo of a Lombard tractor captured by German forces. You can see the front of another Lombard visible to the right of the pole. Note the ski's on this machine while the one in the background is equiped with wheels. In 1919 Lombard recieved a letter from the Wisconsin Engine Manufacturing Company asking where a particular engine had been sold. It seems the Allies had recovered the engine in France and were quite concerned how it got there! Here is a link to my on-going restoration thread: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/big-big-wisconsin-t-head-engine-188057/ Currently I am working on the last of the pattern and core box work. Here is a video of what this beast will sound like - this one belongs to a good friend and is the only surviving Lombard operating with its original engine. These tractors were manufactured in Waterville, Maine, USA and were used to haul long sled trains of timber during the winter months. Lombard did try for war era government contracts but the only sales I know of were those to Russia. Best regards, Terry

Stunning work! I always am impatient for an update! In regards to a gasket under the cylinder blocks: On my big T-Head Wisconsin they were simply shellacked paper.