1870 Stationary Steam Engine

[Tennessee Whiskey]

J, a dear friend , many, many,  many,  years my senior once told me "God gave you your family, but,  you can damn well pick your friends " I'm quite accustomed to the weirdos,  kooks,  freaks,  and pigeons  . Maybe that's what attracted me to the pics so much,  it felt like home. Working with 15-17 of the opposite sex daily keeps me in the coming or going stage most of the time.  Sometimes I just have to trust my nose as to which is which  . So are you or perhaps someone else intending for the engine to be used for it's intended purpose on a model ? . If you need any help with some boring tools,  give me a shout;  I think I may be able to hook you up with someone  .

Cletus

[Jasonb]

Last I heard that person was being talked into buying a honing machine, should come in handy to staighten out any crooked bores.

No I won't be going the whole hog and making the rest of the centre engine and ride to go with this but don't let me stop you having a go yourself.

J

[Dave Otto]

You guys are having too much fun.

I have spent enough time running a honing machine to know they are perfectly capable at making barrel shaped and/or tapered holes. Rather than screw it up myself, I will leave 2 or 3 thou and give it to someone with many more years experience than I.  Yes he is perfectly happy to let me have try, (which I have) but no more than I need to hone a bore; it is much less stressful to just have it done right the first time.

Dave

[oehrick]

A pretty clear contemporary pic showing the organ engine in fair detail, including governor

Cheers

Rick

[davidsuffolk]

Here is a close up of the governor. (hope it attaches OK as being a first post I'm not used to this forum's ways yet!)

[DavidL]

I've learned a lot from your posts.  Given my limited skills, I've decided not to attempt a replication of the R&W design.  Instead I'll be happy for my project to be a "look like" but not a scale replica.  Apart from making a more decorative vertical shaft closure, the govenor is now completed.   
The crank shaft is still not coming out to my satisfaction - still too much visible wobble.  In order to get more accurate machining, I have built myself a fixed steady to use on the Seig mini lathe.  The next attempt at a shaft should be satisfactory - always hopeful.  That's the fun of this hobby!

[Jasonb]

Progressing well, I've soldered up the crank for my Tidman rather than cut from solid.

J

[DavidL]

I think I'll go down that path as well.  After all the engine is not going to have to deliver lots of torque!

[DavidL]

I've been silent for a while - other things have got in the way of the hobby.  I've just seen Jason's finished article - what a beauty.
I've had several attempts to make a suitable crankshaft.  All failed to satisfy me - they all had a slight wobble.  I decided to leave that task for a while and carry on fabricating the flywheel.  I started with a piece of plate and the result is very pleasing - not perfect but better than anything I've previously achieved.  The diameter of the wheel being 125mm set a few challenges for my machine capacity.  Here are a couple of pics showing the build.
Now to tackle the crankshaft again!

[zeeprogrammer]

I started with a piece of plate and the result is very pleasing - not perfect

Very pleasing indeed. Looks perfect to me. 

[bruedney]

Not a criticism but just wondering - will there be enough mass in an Aluminium flywheel? Nice look though

[10KPete]

What? That flywheel looks great! Very interesting little engine.

Pete

[Jasonb]

Looks good but like Bruce I'm a bit worried about weight. You can compensate a bit by making the drive pully a bit larger and from iron or steel.

[DavidL]

Thanks for your responses.  I agree the aluminium wheel might be a bit light.  If needs be, now that I have established techniques for fabricating on my machines, I can make another using steel plate.  I also came across an example where an aluminium flywheel was beefed up by inserting steel cyclinders around the rim.  After painting one could not see where the cylinders were located.  Might be worth a try.

Regarding the position of the exhaust.  I've made my supports from solid plate, so I'll leave the final location to what will look most pleasing.  As I mentioned in a earlier post, this engine will have to be classed at best as a "look-a-like." 

The house manger require some shelves to be varnished.  So for the next few days the workshop is given over to that task.  Then its on to tackle the crank!

[Jasonb]

If you did want to add a steel rim then a slice of 5mm wall 125mm ERW tube could be used if you turned the flywheel down to fit.