Made Mr. Pete's Mayonnaise Jar Engine

twooldvolvos

twooldvolvos

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Thanks to Mr. Pete, I made his Mayonnaise Engine. This is the first moving project I have attempted. I have learned more about running my lathe from this project than from any other project I have attempted. There is nothing that will force you to learn your lathe more than attempting a project that challenges your skill level.

I learned simple things that I have wondered about for some time. Professionals take a lot of you knowledge for granted but some of us really have very little knowledge. For example, I didn't know what "one size under" meant. I learned how to center a 4 jaw chuck. I practiced my tool sharpening skills.

I also made a couple of improvements to my workspace. And I came up with some logical improvements for the future. For example, I will be moving my Jacobs chuck key storage to the right side of my lathe.

Since I do not have a mill, I learned how to better use my milling attachment too. It came in very handy for this engine build. Another area that I became better at was using my drill press and vice. And don't forget project layout. I found that magic markers and my trusty dial caliper does a fine job of simple scribing.

I learned how to drill and ream too. One nice tool that I picked up from this exercise was a set of reamers from 1/16 to 1/2. They came in very handy. I purchased a use set and replaced a few of the missing reamers with new ones. It was still not cheap but a good addition to my tools.

If you are thinking of making your first steam engine, I highly recommend this one. You can run it on compressed air as I did. There are no drawings so you will be forced to make your own drawings from listening to Mr. Pete who, by the way, is a gentleman and a scholar. And yes, it worked the first time. Ha. Ha.


View attachment IMG_5627.MOV
 
Very nice! You should link the relevant Mr. Pete article (or, I assume, video) for the lazy amongst us. So, why call it "Mayonnaise Jar"?

GsT
 
twooldvolvos said:
Thanks to Mr. Pete, I made his Mayonnaise Engine. This is the first moving project I have attempted. I have learned more about running my lathe from this project than from any other project I have attempted. There is nothing that will force you to learn your lathe more than attempting a project that challenges your skill level.

I learned simple things that I have wondered about for some time. Professionals take a lot of you knowledge for granted but some of us really have very little knowledge. For example, I didn't know what "one size under" meant. I learned how to center a 4 jaw chuck. I practiced my tool sharpening skills.

I also made a couple of improvements to my workspace. And I came up with some logical improvements for the future. For example, I will be moving my Jacobs chuck key storage to the right side of my lathe.

Since I do not have a mill, I learned how to better use my milling attachment too. It came in very handy for this engine build. Another area that I became better at was using my drill press and vice. And don't forget project layout. I found that magic markers and my trusty dial caliper does a fine job of simple scribing.

I learned how to drill and ream too. One nice tool that I picked up from this exercise was a set of reamers from 1/16 to 1/2. They came in very handy. I purchased a use set and replaced a few of the missing reamers with new ones. It was still not cheap but a good addition to my tools.

If you are thinking of making your first steam engine, I highly recommend this one. You can run it on compressed air as I did. There are no drawings so you will be forced to make your own drawings from listening to Mr. Pete who, by the way, is a gentleman and a scholar. And yes, it worked the first time. Ha. Ha.


View attachment 484742
Click to expand...
That is a nice little runner you have there. I made one of his engines several years ago and I couldn't agree more about learning from the process. Yours looks really nice. I didn't do anything to coat the brass on mine and of course it turned quicker than I thought. Maybe someone could give some tips to that effect. If you make another version be sure to post it.
 
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twooldvolvos said:
Thanks to Mr. Pete, I made his Mayonnaise Engine. This is the first moving project I have attempted. I have learned more about running my lathe from this project than from any other project I have attempted. There is nothing that will force you to learn your lathe more than attempting a project that challenges your skill level.

I learned simple things that I have wondered about for some time. Professionals take a lot of you knowledge for granted but some of us really have very little knowledge. For example, I didn't know what "one size under" meant. I learned how to center a 4 jaw chuck. I practiced my tool sharpening skills.

I also made a couple of improvements to my workspace. And I came up with some logical improvements for the future. For example, I will be moving my Jacobs chuck key storage to the right side of my lathe.

Since I do not have a mill, I learned how to better use my milling attachment too. It came in very handy for this engine build. Another area that I became better at was using my drill press and vice. And don't forget project layout. I found that magic markers and my trusty dial caliper does a fine job of simple scribing.

I learned how to drill and ream too. One nice tool that I picked up from this exercise was a set of reamers from 1/16 to 1/2. They came in very handy. I purchased a use set and replaced a few of the missing reamers with new ones. It was still not cheap but a good addition to my tools.

If you are thinking of making your first steam engine, I highly recommend this one. You can run it on compressed air as I did. There are no drawings so you will be forced to make your own drawings from listening to Mr. Pete who, by the way, is a gentleman and a scholar. And yes, it worked the first time. Ha. Ha.


View attachment 484742
Click to expand...
Nice job! It looks good & runs well. Is your base brass?
 
twooldvolvos said:
Since I do not have a mill, I learned how to better use my milling attachment too. It came in very handy for this engine build. Another area that I became better at was using my drill press and vice. And don't forget project layout. I found that magic markers and my trusty dial caliper does a fine job of simple scribing.

I learned how to drill and ream too. One nice tool that I picked up from this exercise was a set of reamers from 1/16 to 1/2. They came in very handy. I purchased a use set and replaced a few of the missing reamers with new ones. It was still not cheap but a good addition to my tools.

If you are thinking of making your first steam engine, I highly recommend this one. You can run it on compressed air as I did. There are no drawings so you will be forced to make your own drawings from listening to Mr. Pete who, by the way, is a gentleman and a scholar. And yes, it worked the first time. Ha. Ha.
Click to expand...
iu


Don't let the internet hear this.


Kidding, I do it too. during my apprenticeship calipers were spendy pieces of equipment that were viewed with a dim eye and doing so was heresy.

FF 35yrs and calipers are cheap enough to be considered disposable by many people.

Nice build, you should be proud of yourself.
 
RaisedByWolves said:
iu


Don't let the internet hear this.


Kidding, I do it too. during my apprenticeship calipers were spendy pieces of equipment that were viewed with a dim eye and doing so was heresy.

FF 35yrs and calipers are cheap enough to be considered disposable by many people.

Nice build, you should be proud of yourself.
Click to expand...

I would probably never have used my calipers as a scribe but I saw Mr. Pete do it and I just assumed it was OK. I would hate to damage them as they are one of my favorite tools (and most used). They are an old set of Mitutoyos that used to belong to my dad. Side note. I purchased a backup set of Starretts shortly after I got my lathe. I was excited to try them out. After scratching my head over how difficult they were to use, it dawned on me ... they were in sillymeters. I made the same mistake a few months later with a nice used set of 1 inch micrometers. Ha. Ha.
 
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