Engines > From Kits/Castings

It's Stuart Hammer time......

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Sanjay F:
I bought a set of 'partially started' old Stuart Steam castings over a year ago; that phrase is always a bit tenuous and I really ought to have opened the box when I got it!  ::)

You can see from the photos what I got; there are a couple of concern straight off the bat:

- The column has a hole in the front face which looks like a casting deformity - bit of JB Weld should sort that out
- The mouthpiece is a write off the mounting holes are randomly placed and an attempt at the tricky shaped hole has failed
- There is a second valve chest which leads me to believe the first may have failed, but yet to be determined

From what I have read the mouthpiece and gland are the bits which are the most 'interesting' and there are several approaches to be had. I'll get myself a new casting and then tackle that in time. I have builds in Model Engineer from 2017 and 2018 and also an older build from 2000 which includes the rather nice lubricator.

I have seen the superb completed one by Dave (chipswitheverything) which is clearly the standard by which all other version should and will be judged ..........  :D

EDIT: Maybe the casting hole in the column is okay as a slot has to be machined at that point for the mechanism?

Jasonb:
As the top of the iron mouthpiece casting has no doubt been used to spot through the holes into the cylinder if you start correcting those you may well need to redo the holes in the cylinder by plugging or a new cylinder. An insert JBWelded into an enlarged hole would take care of the shaped piston hole

The bottom 4 holes that hold the gland don't really have to be in that position so you could move them all round by 45deg and just tap new holes into the iron casting. Or as they are under less load plug and redrill/tap

That leaves the gland which could be cut from a slice of bronze bar for half the cost.

Might just be some casting flash filling the slot in the column.

Sanjay F:
The gland is cut from stock bronze/brass so I'll throw the existing piece in the bin and start that again

The mouthpiece is the 'usual' pretty penny from our friends at Stuarts so I'll try and correct the one I have; what's the worst that can happen, I'll mess it up further and have to get another one!

The mouthpiece came 'fitted/bolted' onto the cylinder so the holes on that side and are pretty good, it's just the gland end which needs attention, but I'm going to make that from stock and can rotate it as you have said  :ThumbsUp:

The cylinder cover has been made but is not sitting flush so may just need a small undercut on the boss.

The anvil is a peculiar casting, it shows the outline of what the finished items should look like but has them cast together so the top part will need chopping off???

Jasonb:
Cast as a dummy, would look nicer as a separate part dovetailed into place. You should have time to do it before Xmas nut cracking season starts. :LittleDevil:

You may just need a small chamfer to the cylinder bore so the cover sits flat.

Sanjay F:

--- Quote from: Jasonb on August 03, 2026, 01:04:30 pm ---Cast as a dummy, would look nicer as a separate part dovetailed into place. You should have time to do it before Xmas nut cracking season starts. :LittleDevil:

You may just need a small chamfer to the cylinder bore so the cover sits flat.

--- End quote ---

100% - definitely better dovetailed; I have seen dovetail cutters before in fact used a miniature one when building the Hicks oscillator recently.

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