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Thanks, Jason, for your suggestion regarding tube but I don't fancy making the spokes this time so would prefer a casting. Regarding Julius' drawings, I have already made a revolving cylinder steam engine to his design and had to make a couple of minor compromises but it ticks over (just) on compressed air and works quite well on steam.  I've also built his version of Stephenson's Rocket, but to nowhere near the level of detail set by Bob Wild on here. Jo, sending you a PM Regards, Steve
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« Last post by 2E26 on June 12, 2025, 09:05:59 AM »
I've actually started on the Progress. The castings machine very nicely and I'm a big fan of cast iron (that will stand until I crack a casting). This video covers the machining of the box bed and frame. I didn't cut the steam channels or ports yet. Next I'm going to tackle the cylinder and other top end components. I'm somewhat nervous about the cylinder but I've done six steam engines in the past (not counting the wooden ones). Nothing to it but to do it. Right? Jon
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« Last post by Jasonb on June 12, 2025, 07:28:37 AM »
RDG have done those flywheels on and off for years, originally as unmachined castings, I have used them on my Cameron pump and Tidman organ engine but much too heavy for lady steph. I'd be tempted to fabricate it, couple of close to size thickwall tubes available and a lot cheaper than many castings of the same sort of size, should cost less than £20 inc spoke and hub material I'd be very careful building from Julius' drawings it is not unknown for him to fudge the linkages so a beam will move in CAD  Best to draw it out yourself or get the original drawings and scale up. Just a quick glance shows his beam is not symmetrical but the original is so watch out
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« Last post by Jo on June 12, 2025, 06:23:56 AM »
The flywheel for the ME beam engine is 9 1/4", with the correct profile spokes. https://www.ajreeves.com/5904.htmlJames Booth Rectilinear flywheel is 9" diameter, 7/16" wide. Jo P.S. I have a spare damaged one that Reeves sent me  and replaced for free 
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« Last post by Krypto on June 11, 2025, 11:20:51 PM »
... So if I move forward I'd look into powder coating the aluminum plates with a metallic powder to emulate brass. I'd then use brass for the other parts where brass is called for.
Anodizing would be the perfect process for this, but you have to decide if you want to invest the time, money and the space for the setup. Preso is very good at finishes and he goes over his anodizing setup in this video. Skip to 27:08 for anodizing. My current project is using a decent amount of unfinished aluminum and it's frustrating how easy it is to mar the finish. Ended-up with a scrotch brite finish with grain sanding on the surface plate but still just handling will add tiny scratches. I believe anodizing aluminum increases the toughness.
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Thanks Jo, Jason, Sanjay and Graham for your replies so far. I've already emailed Engineers Emporium for a quote and waiting for a reply. I've also found the flywheel on RDG (where the heck did they get those, I wonder, not their usual merchandise) and I forgot about Graham and Alyn Foundry.
After three locos and a traction engine, I'm having a go at Julius' version of Lady Stephanie for a change. This specifies a 220mm diameter flywheel. After reading the various Lady S threads on here from previous builders, it appears that this version is much larger than the others. The base is 102mm x 320mm and I can't find any reference to metric equivalents of 14BA threads, thank heavens!
Regards, Steve
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« Last post by crueby on June 11, 2025, 10:07:43 PM »
The CAD drawing looks amazing, and thanks for the explanation; I never realised they had so much redundancy built into the systems, in case of damage - maked sense!!
From what I have seen, the Navy ships had the most backup systems, which makes sense to handle battle damage. Even today, there have been accidents with cargo ships where a backup could have helped, though accidents like the one that took down the bridge in Baltimore probably happened too fast.
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« Last post by crueby on June 11, 2025, 10:04:36 PM »
Thanks very much, Chris, for that very thorough answer. The take-away seems to be that everyone did it the way that best fit their vessel design which makes a lot of sense. Modern electronics have saved a lot on actuator weight and by running redundant paths provide much better reliability.
Exactly right Marv, every builder did things differently, even when buying an off the shelf steering engine. There were a lot of companies building the engines, lots of patents on different designs. Very interesting topic!
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« Last post by redhouseluv on June 11, 2025, 10:00:08 PM »
The CAD drawing looks amazing, and thanks for the explanation; I never realised they had so much redundancy built into the systems in case of damage - makes sense!!
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« Last post by mklotz on June 11, 2025, 09:34:07 PM »
Thanks very much, Chris, for that very thorough answer. The take-away seems to be that everyone did it the way that best fit their vessel design which makes a lot of sense. Modern electronics have saved a lot on actuator weight and by running redundant paths provide much better reliability.
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