The "ORIENTAL"

[maury]

Recently while poking around on the Smokstack, I ran across this
incredible gem.  After doing a little recon, I discovered the restoration
was done by Bill Prine, a restorer and collector of old engines. It is a
two cylinder vertical built by the "Oriental" Engine Co. in San Francisco
Cal.
Aparently the Oriental engine Co. was
a short lived engine company, and there are few remaining examples of
their work.  a video and brief history of this engine Are available at:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEJl4y4UPA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEJl4y4UPA</a>

The engine is on display Powerland Heritage Park museum in Brooks Oregon.
Don't know for sure, but my belief is that this is the only one in existence.

I want to thank Bill for his excellent work in restoring this engine, and
the generous help cooperation he has given me getting started with
modeling this engine.
I also want to give another big thanks to Roland Morrison who made
a series of sketches during the restoration. He has generously shared
these sketches with me.

Maury
Lone Star Engine Works Retired

[Jasonb]

A bit of a stretched bottle engine converted to gas!

Looks like face cam works the exhausts so assume atmospheric inlet. The other small crank operates the ignitor.

Looks like they have it plumbed up to bottled gas but would it have had some form of vapour tank/carb in the base?

[vtsteam]

Wow, a very interesting design in so many ways! Sort of a combination bottle engine and Westinghouse twin but gas powered, with two radial valves and a table cam.   

[Dave Otto]

This will be fun to watch, kind of like a double Pacific.

Attached are a couple better photos of Bill's engine at Antique Power Land. My understanding is this engine was installed in a paddle wheel work boat on American Falls reservoir in South Eastern Idaho. It was used for dredging if I'm not mistaken. At some point the boat sank and it along with the engine sat at the bottom of the reservoir for many years. At some point the reservoir was drained or substantially lowered which exposed the remains of the boat and engine. A local farmer was able to pull the engine out of the mud and he had it at his place out doors as a yard ornament. Bill told me that more damage was done to the engine sitting out in the weather than all the years under water in the lake. Bill was able to acquire the engine from the farmer and did an amazing job of restoring it to the state that it is in today. I think the sub base may not be original, in a marine application I would think that it would have just been mounted to the frames in the boat, just my guess.

According to Jack Alexander's book (The Reagan Vapor Engine) Oriental was in business from 1889 to 1902, there are about 6 pages in the book dedicated to the Oriental engine.

Dave

[maury]

Yeah, I don't believe they had bottled propane in 1893. I suspect there was some kind of vapor device
with the engine. Having been under water for 50 years, I imagine what ever it was is lost. Having
studied the French Forest engine designs, I ran across some of his vapor devices. At this time probably won't
do that.

Also, I don't see a water pump in the pictures or sketches. On an engine this size there must have been one.
Ill probably have to come up with a solution.

I have a Sanfrancisco Standard I'm currently working on. I see several similarities. Also, I'm noticing a general
regional design trend. West coast engine designs in general have flywheels which are a bit larger in diameter
wider rim, and thinner spokes, than the mid west designs with somewhat bulkier smaller diameter flywheels.

This is what I would call a larger engine. Certanly not a Fairbanks "R", but still big. It has 10.5" bore, 14" stroke.
Big enough for a river paddle wheel boat. I'm thinking a scale to about 2" bore would work well in my shop.
Can't do much larger, and my fingers no longer work well enough to make it much smaller.

Thanks for the photos Dave, they are more clear than the ones I have.

Y'all enjoy
maury

[maury]

Let the CAD begin. After reviewing the pictures and drawings I have, I decided ib  3/16 scale.
I'm starting with the cylinders, as they impact the crank case  & components, and the valve
cages. I believe the cylinders and crank case were all cast as one part on the original, but it's
more practical to build the model with them separated. There is a clean line between the two
parts, so there is minimum visibility with the separation line. The  model so far is incomplete
and will require some minor tweaks. The Bore is 2", and stroke 2 1/2". The cylinders are to be
cored out and a liner added. I'm still not sure about all the water passages, and only have the
pictures of the plumbing to go by. Also, I think there will be a need for a water pump.

Maury

[CI]

 

[maury]

After studying the information I have and spending a bunch of CAD time, I have a first pass on the design.
After I made the pics I'm posting, I realized the cylinders were a bit too high, so I've fixed that. Still a long
way to go and details to add.

Through this, I have found the crank case and the flywheel and some core boxes will be too large to print on my Bambu Lab A1.
So this is a problem I still need to solve. I would very much desire to avoid making the patterns in pieces and gluing them together.

[CI]

Nice looking 3D modeling work !
.

[maury]

Thanks CI.
Long way to go yet.
I was looking at the oilers today, going to be a real challenge to make them that small.

[Dave Otto]

Would they need to be smaller than the ones that I made for my Pacific, they were quite a project.

Dave

[GRAUBELE]

Hi Dave

I really like the design of your oilers.
Are there any drawings available for free use?
I'm always looking for suitable oilers in small and medium sizes for my various steam engines and stationary engines.

Regards, Dieter

[Dave Otto]

Thanks Dieter,

I never made any official drawings for the oilers, I just copied a full sized original one that a friend had. This is an example of a pre-1900 oiler that would be appropriate on a very early west coast engine like the Oriental. I try not to make a habit of mucking up other peoples builds with my work, but thought that it would be ok this time.

Dave

[GRAUBELE]

Hi Dave

I'm currently repairing the oiler on my original 1921 "Amanco Hired Man".
The oiler leaks oil even when the adjustment needle is closed.
The glass reservoir is also leaking.
I need to reseal the adjustment needle.
I've sealed the glass reservoir with sealant.

Regards, Dieter

[maury]

Nice Oilers, Dave. I remember your Pacific build log.
Looks like the base part was cast, or did you CNC it and blast it?
Where did you get the glass? I've been using acrylic but it's really hard
to polish to a really clear finish.

maury