Good morning Paul
 I am sending you the propeller shaft design and i would like to know if
 Jeff can machine this shaft and how much.
 I specified sae 4130 but you can recommend a better choice for shafting
 and treatment.
 I modified my housing design for a larger surface bearing at prop side
 and also a better ring gear attachment with back plate and rivets plus
 bolts.
 The ring gear back plate is already machined .
 With Alibre i can not convert for Rhino files but dwg can be open with
 Solid Works eDrawing

 Jean Prudhomme

 Looks good Jean. Is it an exact copy of a Lycoming or Continental
 shaft?

 If so that is good. Do you mean planet carrier back plate? If you
 want a 2.85:1 gear box you will need to drive the planet carrier
 and hold the ring gear stationary.

 You will have to contact Jeff directly and see if he will do it.
 If you are only making one or two you don't need an NC lathe.

 jeff doddridge <4starr@cox.net <mailto:4starr@cox.net
 <mailto:4starr@cox.net <mailto:4starr@cox.net
 <mailto:4starr@cox.net <mailto:4starr@cox.net
 <mailto:4starr@cox.net <mailto:4starr@cox.net

 Paul Lamar

 Yes Paul this is the exact Lycoming 10-540 big journal from the seal to
 the flange included, i did turn around 180 degree the planet outer ring
 and machined the back plate and fix with rivets a larger plate in
 dia so
 i can bolt it to the housing and the fact the planet stay forward i
 will need a thin oil impregnated flat washer between the outer ring and
 the back plate and panet housing.

 I did drive out the small gears shaft from the planet and i will make 6
 longer shaft for the small gears to been driven by the propshaft and
 the planet embossed reset shaft will be press fit into the
 propeller shaft.
 I intend to built one unit for testing and built a second one may be
 more.
 I will request also a quote from a drive shaft manufacturer if they
 have
 the material available

 Jean Prudhomme



 Jean,IMHO the rear flange that the planetary attaches to needs a
 large radius fillet where it meets the shaft OD for the same reasons as
 the flange on the other end. Also the internal bulkhead might be easier
 to fabricate if the center had a conical 120 degree depression the same
 shape as the largest drill bit you will use before changing to the
 boring bar A boring bar small enough to machine the center flat would
 be seriously overhung at that depth. The shallow end could be cut to
 constant thickness by setting the compound to 30 degrees.You might
 save on machining costs if you cut the billet down to .100 from all the
 surfaces and have the fine finish cuts done by someone like Jeff. The
 bearing journals will likely be done by a crankshaft repair shop who
 could chrome the journals as well.

 george grimes


 Good points George. The aft steel bulkhead could be replaced by an
 aluminum
 plug pressed in. That would make it much cheaper to build as a
 large drill can
 do most of the work. See the attached jpg.

 Paul Lamar

 Paul, As I understand it Jean has a support bearing for the input shaft
 located at the planetary end of the prop shaft and that is the
 reason the
 rear bulkhead is not flush. Also the whole purpose of this PSRU is to
 have a hydraulically controlled constant speed prop.
 I am a little leary about a pressed in welch plug holding the 120 PSI
 prop oil pressure.If I had to change the bulkhead I would bore it
 with a step as shown in your JPEG above and fit a disk with an "O" ring
 in the rim and retain that with a snap ring. The bulkhead as
 designed is
 light and leak proof, just ugly to fabricate.

 george grimes

 The alloy plug would be ideal for that. The alloy plug could be two
 inches
 long. Hardly a welch plug. You could also add a set screw or two. I
 would
 still press it in as the alloy expands faster than the steel. A couple
 of tons will do the press job.

 The only think that holds the prop on in Tracy's box is a pressed
 on steel collar.

 A small hole drilled in the bulkhead could feed it with oil. Since
 the sun gear
 rotates in the same direction as the output shaft the speed
 difference would
 only be about 5K RPM.

 Making it easier to fab would also lower the cost.


 Paul Lamar


 Hi George
 When you talking on the planet rear flange and mention larger fillet are
 you talking as bigger end small gears shafts (6) i did make a sketch
 before to you and i see a real problem to machined the counterbore with
 a end mill the fact the space between the rear flange and the reverse
 trust holding flange is near by and it will be much costly to produce
 but as per Paul he mention on the past those 6 small shaft gears are
 strong enought to transfer load from the planet to the propshaft..

 Your idea with an aluminum plug with an oring and a snap ring retainer
 can be enough to hold the governor pressure???May be we need also a
 reverse oil seal to hold the pressure.

 All your recommendations are helpfull.

 The real estate slow down now so i will put more time in the project.
 Is easy to removed those little shaft from the planet just tap on it
 with same size punch and hammer and the rizpin cut very easy and for
 the remaining part on the planet just trace a line where the pin are
 located and a small corner grinding to reach the other end of the hole
 which is very near and punch it out.

 I was looking to buy 2 block of 4' by 8' by 12.5" aluminum at $155.00
 each and it will be more economic if i built a wood casting form and get
 it done by a foundry ,if one of you now a good and cheap place to get
 done let me know


 Jean Prudhomme


 Jean, The attachment "proip-shaft-drive jpg" above has a radius
 between the bearing journal and the planetary flange. I was just
 concerned that the one posted yesterday had a square shoulder which
 would cause a stress point. As far as snap rings holding in a plug,
 you have to shear the entire ring in two to fail it. This arrangement
 is used on the clutch pistons in automatic transmissions with 3 times
 the pressure and 5 times the area. The machined bulkhead is a good
 idea. The problem is that to cut to the center of the bulkhead the
 distance from the cutting tip on the boring bar to the opposite side of
 the boring bar would be limited to less than 1/2 the diameter of the
 reduced bore through the prop flange. I have boring bars that can reach
 that depth but the bar is 1-1/2" diameter for just the bar. That is why
 I suggested leaving the center the shape of the largest frill bit so
 that it doesn't have to be further machined.

 I am currently e-mailing foundrys trying to find someone
 casting 398 alloy. Currently waiting for a responce from Leitelt
 Brothers INC (info@LBfoundry.com <mailto:info@LBfoundry.com) located
 in Chicago. My gantry router is running and I pick up some 1" MDF
 tomorrow to cut patterns for the side housings. Apparently 1.3% oversize
 patterns are required for aluminum alloys or if your are using a
 pattern makers scale it is 7/32" per foot oversize. If you happen on a
 foundry using either 390 or 398 let me know on the yahoo e-mail since it
 seems a little off topic for the rotary engine newsletter.

 george grimes

Yes Geaorge i will take in consideration the 1.3% oversize for the
pattern,if i do bore at the larger size dia all the way i will need to
built a press fit bushing over the planet end shaft but i dont see any
problem both will be press fit anyway to the propshaft


Jean Prudhomme