I see some Steam Enthusiasts on here!

bigwood said:
It was ordered on the Stuart’s web site via Brideport Foundry/ Plastows.
With the address on the plans being Gurnsey I feel sure it’s a genuine Stuart set of castings. This possibly means they are just old drawings. They are very British drawings in imperial and some odd sizes.
The crank is 9/32“not 1/4“ diameter. In a logical world it would make sense to use nominal sizes. Saying that most of the screws are 7BA.
The old British thread system must baffle. modern metric engineers. BSF, UNF, Cycle Threads, Whitworth, BSP and others that won’t come to mind.
When I came out of the army I had to learn using metric spanner’s. The AA took all the imperial spanners out of our tool boxes but my Sargent said they are being skipped so take what you need. I still think imperial as taught.
Click to expand...
This Beam Engine is made from stuff dimensioned in 64ths! It is a right PITA...
 
I have an old ruler that’s 1/8ths -16ths and 32 on one side. I don’t turn it over because I can’t see the lines on the other side they are likely to be 64ths.
The only good thing to come from metric are drill sizes. Between imperial, number drills and metric sets I have I can find something close to the fit I need.
 
I have found some 64th on this engine, the outer diameter of the main bearings. I will use my digital vernier to save my eye sight.
 
tacr2man said:
From one end of size to another
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Fascinating, and thanks for posting, but perhaps a little anachronostic as I could have sworn I saw a diesel powered bulldozer in there somewhere!

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I assume its from Russia. They must plant there seeds deep with that size plough.
 
The lathes from China seem to get bad press from die hard imperial made lathe owners but my poor old Warco Mini Lathe proved its self today.
I managed to part of a couple of cast discs for the cylinder covers on the Stuart 10H from 1 1/2" diameter cast iron bar. I will say in its favour the cast iron Stuarts put in there kits is good quality. The swarf is like a fine grey powder.
My old Myford ML2/4 clone struggled to part anything harder than brass even with a rear tool post and the saddle locked. I have been was tempted by a couple of Boxfords that were offered to me years ago. Power cross feed, screw cutting gearbox etc but I couldnt justify the costs. Also one of them was forty years old.
Had I not inherited this lathe I wouldnt have been convinced but the Warco Milling machine is another of there use from the box machines. If the extra money could be justified I might consider a bigger Warco lathe.
 
I've just spent the best part of a week making these three straps for the conrod. Those slots are only 5/64" wide and they go right through the thing...
Getting there. :love:

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Nice work John. Its surprising how long some jobs take but the satisfaction from it makes it worth while.
I got a bit more done this week but there’s a lot going on within the family mostly our daughter and boyfriend moving out.
Once the 10H is completed I will get some gas and start again on the Clayton. I have been making a list of things to do including some alterations. The first job after running the engine on steam will be to take the engine back out to sort out any oil leaks.
This reminds me of something that’s puzzling me. The Joy valve gear should have square die blocks. For some reason this engine has round die blocks fitted. Is there any reason why they have to be square.
 
bigwood said:
Nice work John. Its surprising how long some jobs take but the satisfaction from it makes it worth while.
I got a bit more done this week but there’s a lot going on within the family mostly our daughter and boyfriend moving out.
Once the 10H is completed I will get some gas and start again on the Clayton. I have been making a list of things to do including some alterations. The first job after running the engine on steam will be to take the engine back out to sort out any oil leaks.
This reminds me of something that’s puzzling me. The Joy valve gear should have square die blocks. For some reason this engine has round die blocks fitted. Is there any reason why they have to be square.
Click to expand...
Less wear on a square...

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As the valve gear is encased in the the crankcase and the oil level is up to the bottom of the slides I should think the crank and pump gears will throw oil all over the valve gear.
To get the slides out is a right pain meaning splitting the crank case so if it’s only a matter of surface area I will see how it wears.
 
Lovely workmanship John. The 10h is coming along slowly and the Clayton has ground to a halt due to other distractions with our daughter moving into her own place. My DIY skills have had to be re tuned.
I think the momentum will come back once we have had some time away on the 12th.
 
That statement could be so misread John. No matter, do scale governors work as they should because of scaling down the weights. Even so the ones I have seen finished off the engine.
I have had a couple of hours in the workshop and fitted the studs to the cylinder. I hate studs that are badly fitted with different lengths of thread protruding beyond the nuts. It shows how much the builder cares about the job. I think the next job will be the piston and it’s rod. After that it will be the valve rod, die block and valve to fit.
When the 10H is done I am going to focus on the Clayton. It should be warmer by then so I should be able to steam the boiler and run the engine on steam outside.

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bigwood said:
That statement could be so misread John. No matter, do scale governors work as they should because of scaling down the weights. Even so the ones I have seen finished off the engine.
I have had a couple of hours in the workshop and fitted the studs to the cylinder. I hate studs that are badly fitted with different lengths of thread protruding beyond the nuts. It shows how much the builder cares about the job. I think the next job will be the piston and it’s rod. After that it will be the valve rod, die block and valve to fit.
When the 10H is done I am going to focus on the Clayton. It should be warmer by then so I should be able to steam the boiler and run the engine on steam outside.
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Scale governors can work, but it's hardly worth it. I fit nuts onto studs with loctite and turn them into bolts with just one and a half threads showing.
I've installed the electric drive, so I now have to finish the bugger!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D697WGohAxs
 
Once we get back from our latest trip I will try my new found skill of postings photos. I will give the workshops a tidy up and show what I have been up to.
The idea of making studs into bolts is the way I did mine. Also I thinned the nuts down. The original thickness looks out of proportion and clumsy.
Another silly thing that spoils models are spring washers or lock washers in smaller BA sizes.
 
This is we’re me and Paddy go to hide. Typically he wandered off as I started taking the pictures.
It’s not the most pristine of workshops but having the shed back now I am going to have a major dig out and confine the workshop to just that not accumulating rubbish.
The engines on top of my great Uncles tool box are a Stuart 10H, a Stuart S50, a Stuart 10V, a Southworth pump, a Blackgates V twin and an ocilating engine built when I was at senior school. The Clayton Trailer is at the front with the Clayton hiding in the corner.
 

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Well done John. Some one has a very nice model of a classic locomotive.
I havnt done a lot in the workshop until today. I didn’t seem to have the inspiration but I have managed to get the 10H running on air. I managed to get the timing right to run on low air pressure first time. It’s a lovely little engine that looks like a winding engine from a pit or industrial power.
In the morning I am going to get the gas bottle from the workshop changed. Perhaps I will have a try at firing the Clayton boiler. Management is away for a couple of days next week so I won’t have any distractions.

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Eventually management went to her mates this morning so I put the Clayton on the workmate with the back cross member on a purpose built stand so the rear wheels were clear to turn.
I was caught a bit unaware when the safety valve lifted. The nozzle on the torch was a bit bigger than it needed to be. No matter there were no leaks from the boiler it’s self but a couple from fittings, the water pump ram and the feed water heater.
The engine tried to run in full forward gear but was a bit reluctant so I tried it in reverse. To my surprise it ran quite well backwards. It’s getting better in forwards but I didn’t try for too long. Trying to keep the water level up and check things at the same time I decided to sort out the leaks before another run.
The feed water heater base is silver soldered to the tube. It’s a fairly hefty casting so needing quite a bit of heat. Now I have the bigger nozzles I will try again.
 
I have spent the last two weeks working on the Britannia's tender. However, it's now too hot and humid to paint it, and we are preparing for Simon's wake this week, so back on the sideboard it goes!
Looks nicer now though, I might even finish it this winter...
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Lucky to have parents who have recently purchased an apartment in Poole. Tonight we went for dinner and watched this arrive. Steam boat as the typhoon flew over from the Bournemouth air show.
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John Barrett said:
I sold the Stirling Single last week for £7995 wbich is top money for the genre. Well chuffed as it paid for my changeover to a Skoda Kodiaq!
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Well good choice Skoda make good Locomotives too
 
I received a call from the son of the gentleman who purchased this from me earlier this year. Sadly, Geoff passed away on Saturday just four weeks after cancer diagnosis. Same age as me and in good health when we met. I don't think that he ever got around to running it on a track.
Make the most of the time you have left folks!
John

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