Single cylinder horizontal with twin flywheels

[Sanjay F]

While waiting for some tooling to arrive by post (yawn!), I thought I'd take a look at this. Not sure if its a workshop engine or model, but size wise its somewhere in between?

It's in the usual state of rustiness and I've taken it apart and the bits are now soaking in rust remover. Its going to need some wooden lagging in places and a couple of drain cocks. I'm not sure how the governor was connected to the inlet, but I'll leave it as a decorative item as long as I can get it spinning. The piece of wood it's mounted on is beautiful, not sure what type it is?

One of the flywheels has a large chunk taken out of the central boss so I'm not going to try and remove it for fear of cracking it.

Here's a short video of the dismantled components..... 

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbBwqTukhKw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbBwqTukhKw</a>

I've never seen crude bolts like these, they must handmade, the valve nut looks like a miniature crucifix ......... have faith, I'll get it running! 

[uuu]

You seem to have a good supply of these interesting old engines.  So it's also good that you like restoring them.  I look forward to seeing this one ticking over.

Wilf

[Sanjay F]

Thanks Wilf, I buy them when I see them, if they are different from ones I have, and are reasonably priced. Some sellers have price expectations way above what I can afford or what I think their worth, but that's just life I guess 

When disassembling the cylinder, I noticed an interesting 'feature', no piston rings or packing; I've not seen that before, is that usual?

I made a couple of spacers/risers for the drain cocks to clear the lagging which is very thick

[Sanjay F]

Correction: - there is packing hidden under all the muck and take a look at the gaskets, they are made from lead, now that's definitely a new one on me.

Note to self: do not to lick the gaskets 

[Michael S.]

Hello Sanjay,

The wooden base looks fantastic.

Lead seals were quite common back then, and I've seen them on steam engines myself.

I'd love to see it brought back to life.

Michael

[Michael S.]

I don't see the connecting pipe on the valve body where the steam is connected. And the ball Regulator is on the other side.
Can you see how a lever could have been routed to the valve? Maybe it was never fully functional. I like the guide bushing for the valve rod.

Michael

[Sanjay F]

No I can't see any means by which the governor was connected to the valve either. There are no holes or clues as to how this would have worked. However it's a nice looking governor under all that rust and is now moving freely after a day in the bath of rust remover.

All the other parts aren't looking too bad now either, looks like one of the bearings has been reskimmed or had a new liner put in it at some point in its life.

I'm going to paint the metal base matt black and leave the other parts as they are.....

[Sanjay F]

I'm glad I decided to paint the base, I also applied matt black to the flywheels and lagging. I've replaced the missing lagging sections and added the 2 drain cocks and most importantly she's now runnning 

She's now called 'The Black Engine' ....

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq1apWT5DPo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq1apWT5DPo</a>

[crueby]

Running great! And a great look on the colors, gives it a nice old flavor to the style.

[Jasonb]

She's a real Black Beauty

[Michael S.]

Congratulations on this successful restoration! It still looks old, but it runs well 👍.

[Dave Otto]

Nicely done!!

Dave

[PaulR]

Very nice! A good runner and lots of character thanks to not being over zealous with the restoration