Cretors Jumbo Flywheel (Cretors Popcorn Engine)

Discussion in 'Sand Casting' started by PatJ, Aug 30, 2017.

  1. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    I think I may have posted this previously, but since I am really busy with work right now, I am having to recycle old material. I hope to be caught up and making some new castings later this year.

    Here is something I cast perhaps a year ago:

    I like to make workshop-sized engines, which generally have parts large enough that my fat fingers can grip, so that means about a 2" bore minimum.

    I always admired the Cretors popcorn engines, and wondered how someone made those patterns years ago.

    I got to visit Bob Parson's shop in Kansas a few years back (Bob is "the" Cretors guy), and Bob has many of the original Cretors patterns, which had been stored in storage lockers in a old building in Chicago (where the original Cretors factory was located) for who knows how many years, 100 maybe?

    Many of the patterns were in bronze, and were spectacularly crafted and flawlessly finished.
    The flywheel patterns were all one-piece, and every Cretors pattern I saw was one-piece.


    A one-piece pattern is much more durable and less likely to break.
    I broke my beautiful 3D printed green twin flywheel pattern half one day, and while I was gluing it back together I started thinking about using one-piece patterns, and so generally all the patterns I make now are one-piece.

    I am guessing that the initial Cretors patterns (which may no longer exist) were hand made from wood, with the production patterns that I saw being cast in bronze from the wood unit.

    So as I started on the design of an oversized Cretors No.06, I figured I had better try to make a flywheel before I got too far along, since the flywheel was potentially the most difficult part.

    Not really expecting success with a first attempt at a Cretors flywheel that has a lot of compound curves in it, I just decided to play around with a cutout piece of plywood, just to see if I could hand carve one spoke, and so I carved one using a dremel moto tool.

    The spoke turned out better than I expected, and so I decided to cast one in aluminum.
    I saw a little cook pot in a store that my wife dragged me into (she said "You won't find anything in this store that will interest you."), and it was heavy stainless and on sale really cheap, so I used that to melt a little bit of aluminum, made a SS mold, and poured a spoke.

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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
  2. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    "Well dang" I thought, that spoke looks pretty good, so I decided to just see where this experiment would lead.
    I assumed that the final casting would not turn out well, but just as an exercise, I continued.
    Generally nothing this experimental ever turns out usable on the first attempt for me.

    I made a flywheel rim and hub pattern on the lathe, and cast five more spokes.
    I fit the spokes to the rim and hub and made a complete flywheel pattern.


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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
    Mark's castings and Al2O3 like this.
  3. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    Still not expecting this to turn into anything usable, I didn't bother to make a follower, but rather just filled the cope about half way with SS sand, pressed the flywheel down into it, rammed in more sand to the parting line, and gassed it all with CO2.
    Then I rammed the drag, and pulled the pattern.

    I used an existing flask that I had, and used blue tape to hold the spacers, pour basin, runners, etc.
    All very temporary stuff.


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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
  4. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    I poured the flywheel, and dang if that didn't turn out pretty well too.
    I had a little shrinkage on one side of the rim, which I think can be machined out.
    A few risers located around the rim will solve the shrinkage problem if I ever cast another flywheel.

    So for something that started totally on a whim, I was really pleased with how this turned out.
    I had very little time invested in this.
    So all in all a good couple of days in the shop, and some exciting results (exciting for me anyway).

    The diameter turned out to be about 8.5", and I had some machining allowance in there.

    The Cretors flywheel that I modeled this one on was from a Cretors No.02 shown below, which was one of two distinct No.02 flywheel styles that were produced by Cretors.
    Don't ask me why there were two different styles of Cretors No.02 flywheel patterns, I can only guess that they misplaced the original and made another?
    The other Cretors No.02 pattern (not shown here) has spokes that are more straight, and I like this pattern better.

    But this flywheel is actually going to be used for a jumbo Cretors No.06, which is a vertical engine.




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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
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  5. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    This is what the engine will look like.
    The cylinder is offset in the photo due to the shaft that protrudes out one side, but it will be centered on the frame when assembled.


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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
  6. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    And this is what an original Cretors No.06 looks like.

    Edit:
    Hmmm, the photo below is automatically rotating when I upload it.
    Not sure why.



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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
  7. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    This engraving shows the Cretors No.01, 02 and 06 engines.



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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
  8. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Cretors engines certainly have the "look" were they of the Victorian era?? Nice job on the Flywheel Pat. Looking forward to seeing more of this engine as you complete it.
    You really need to learn to use that "insert as thumbnail" button though LOL
     
  9. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    I tried the "insert thumbnail" thing, but it wiped out my text.
    I will have to play around with that and see what I am doing wrong.

    Edit: I changed to full pictures. That is quite a bit more readable.



    The Cretors engines were first used at the Chicago worlds fair in 1893 on Cretors popcorn wagons to power the popcorn rotisserie and also rotate the drum on the peanut roaster.
    Since there was no electricity available for general use, the motive power was provided by a steam engine.
    The wagons had a small cylindrical copper boiler that ran at about 50 psi, and the boiler, the product warmer, and the illumination light were powered by white gas.
    There was a small vaporizer with a pilot flame that was used to create the gas that was piped to the individual burners and the light.

    The steam whistle doubled as an audible safety valve.

    Electricity quickly supplanted steam in the early 1900's, and I think most of the Cretors steam engine production had stopped by about 1905 (if I remember correctly).
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
  10. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Looks very Victorian. I Approve! Beautiful stuff. Victorian era was 1800-1900 ish.. Give or take 20 years I think.
     
  11. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Ive actually eaten popcorn popped on a cretors cart, It has a much better tast than conventional popped corn...Must be the steam oil...
     
  12. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    I think they used peanut oil (for the popcorn, not the engine).
     
  13. Jason

    Jason Gold

    The thing makes POPCORN??? Great, now I have to get one of these. Who's got the plans?
     
  14. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

  15. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    I bought an "Earnmore" a few years back, and it is pretty much complete, but unrestored.

    It h as a popcorn popper,and a peanut roaster on the upper back, with a chute down the back to deliver the peanuts to the lower storage area.

    Unfortunately my Earnmore is electric, and I think it is a 1907 model, but I was able to buy the new castings from original patterns for a No.06 steam engine, and have toyed with the idea of converting the Earnmore to a steam Earnmore, although it would not be an authentic steam Earnmore.

    Steam Earnmores are like 50 carat diamonds; there are not many of them around.




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  16. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    Here is a steam Earnmore that was at Bob Pearson's shop when I visited.
    You can see the combo steam whistle/safety valve-manual valve on the top of this unit.

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  17. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Very cool machine.... Probably best left as is.

    IIRC the cretors i ate off of had a gas? burner to pop the corn, but the steam engine was housed inside the glass cabinet with the popped corn and turned via belt a rod that stirred the kernels... Ill have to get another look at it sometime, been awhile since ive seen it..
     
  18. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    This appears to be the Earn-More model that I bought.


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  19. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    And here are a couple of steam-powered earlier models.


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  20. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    This is Bob Pearson's friend's very pristine popcorn wagon.
    It has a No.01 engine, and has a somewhat rare complete oiler to the right of it in the steam line.

    The wood knob in the center of the peanut roaster is a sampler, and it has an open metal scoop attached that protrudes into the rotating peanuts, and allows you to pull a sample to see if the roasting is complete.
    The scoop is turned down when roasting, and turned upwards to catch a sample.

    The little man rotating the mini-peanut drum (the "Roasty Toasty Man") is cast in iron, and I saw the original pattern for that at Bob's place.


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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2017
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