Piston Ring Supplier

[ron]

Hi Everybody
I'm looking to buy 4 piston rings for my Simplex [1.5" X 1/8"], Reeves are somewhat expensive at over £11 a ring anyone know of a cheaper supplier.
Blackgates are a good bit cheaper, but my last order from them took 6 months to get delivered

On the same subject, a question I asked a while back without joy, maybe some of the newer members know, the Simplex drawings show [as do most others] the rings in separate grooves whereas the ST No9 with the same bore has them both in the one groove, now this is easier to machine so why does nobody else use it? or is there a drawback?
Ron

[02jcole]

Ron, What are your cylinders made of?? Mine are gunmetal and I machined my own rings from PTFE.

James.

[spurley]

Hi Ron

I would hazard a guess that the separate ring grooves were a form of 'failure isolation'; should one ring break or suffer a problem of some sort the other ring oughtn't be affected. It is mimicking full size practice on most piston applications' whether steam or I/C. But having said that, there's bound to be an application that disproves this statement!

Cheers

Brian

[ron]

James, the cylinders and pistons are both cast iron, couldn't afford gunmetal!
Brian, that's not a bad theory, the ST No9 is the only time I've ever come across the two in the one groove design.
Ron

[alanstepney]

Rings are not difficult to make. A bit fiddly, but not £11 fiddly!!!

Whilst at it, make LOTS more than you need. For a start you need two sets, because there will come a time when they want replacing, and you will have them in stock, but mainly, in the process you are sure to break some and need to have enough to complete the job.

Cutting the gap used to be the time when they often broke, but a diamond saw in a Dremel (or similar) makes short work of that job with little risk or breakage.

Having cut the gap, the ring wont be circular, so will need subequent machining in a jig.
Not a long job but worth bearing in mind.

[Peter W.]

Ron,
"Mr Clupet" (A.D.Smith) also makes plain rings. I bought 4 plain
rings at the end of 2005 -- £4.95 each.
He makes Clupet rings to standard sizes, but plain rings to any
size. My bores were slightly different sizes, so he supplied two rings 0.001" larger !
Clupet rings are about double the price of plain rings.

Details are --

Clupet Piston Ring & Gauge Company
Factory B,
Solway Industrial Estate,
Maryport,
Cumbria CA15 8NF

Tel [phone]

If you have any questions just phone, he's very helpful.

[ewal]

I always use car or motor byke rings. I ask for the nearest to the size required & bore the cylinders to match the rings. Both rings in the same groove gives the best seal, that is what I was told by the mate who introduced me to steam engine building.

E.W.

[ausdan]

My 7.25 Phamton project, that I'm tooling up to start soon, has piston rings of the same standard size as Victa lawn mower spare part....Easy step for me when I get to that stage

[Steve M. W]

Ron

I got mine from Poly engineering just under £5.00.

Steve

[ron]

Thanks for the replies, I'll try Polly first, that seems a bit more reasonable price, I think I'll also try two rings in the one groove and see how it goes.

Peter W, what are Clupet rings? how do they differ from plain ones? I looked up Google but it only gives the address of the company in Maryport.
Ron

[lancelot]

Hello Ron,
found this on net...



In 1903 the Standard piston ring and engineering company,of sheffield made a spiral split ring in the ''Clupert'' style.
The rings were made from solid ring castings.
Refer to ...

shopswarf.orcon.net.nz/clupet.html

All the best for now,
John.

[Peter W.]

Keith Wilson made brief mention of Clupet rings in ME No 4195 page 566 (16 May 2003), and there's a good picture of one.
As he says, a bit like a key ring.

[steamjohn248]

We've been using Clupet piston rings for the last 15 years both for full size, (Steam Roller/ Traction Engine), and various locos we have built. Good service, quick delivery and reasonable price. Usual disclaimer. I would'nt even dream of trying to make them for the money.

John.

[stevep]

I endorse EWAL's recommendation.

Piston rings from infernal combustion engines will last for ever in a steam engine - provided the cylinders are cast iron. The only problem I have found when buying them is that you normally have to buy a set. If you're lucky, you'll get a compression ring, a scraper, and an oil control ring (which is useless). So you can use 2 rings from each set, but will have to buy a couple of sets to get enough straight rings.

For gunmetal cylinders, I always use PTFE, and cut the ring through at a shallow angle (scarf joint) to allow it to move when it expands. I read only recently that the coefficient of expansion for PTFE is far greater than gunmetal. So it the ring is tight when cold, it will get toghter and may even seize when hot.

Steve

[Alan]

I decided to fit a set of clupex rings to my 'Jill' locomotive.(Don Young design).Great fun and easy to build.

The service that i received from the Clupex company was excellent. the quality of the clupex rings and standard rings that i have had from from them are also exellent. i have no reason to change to any other means of ringing a piston with this type of service.

I too an just another satisfied customer

[ron]

Hi Everybody
I've bought the rings from Polly, just over £6 each, a LOT cheaper than Reeves, thanks for the replies.
Ron