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Post by simplyloco on Dec 28, 2020 17:48:56 GMT
I like the black, it will look good with red pinstriping Yes, I was thinking same! I've had a lot of practice recently...
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Post by simplyloco on Dec 28, 2020 18:40:22 GMT
Painting the Baseplate This baseplate looked like it had never been fettled before painting. I spent the afternoon improving the baseplate, hopefully as the following pictures will prove! I'll put on the topcoat tomorrow and then I can get on with the fun bits! Restored all round and all over with a bastard file and the delta power worker. Cleaned up with wire brush, gunwash and a dry rag! Crisp edges and flat surfaces. Well pleased! I missed the LHS of the crank well aperture!
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Post by Jim on Dec 29, 2020 6:21:20 GMT
I'm drooling over the finish on the column and cylinder top cover. I see you have a bronze bearing in yours that's not mentioned in my drawings. I must add that.
Jim
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Post by simplyloco on Dec 29, 2020 9:36:42 GMT
I'm drooling over the finish on the column and cylinder top cover. I see you have a bronze bearing in yours that's not mentioned in my drawings. I must add that.
Jim
I didn't think it was included in my drawings, but I spotted a tiny sleeve depicted some 2" to the left of the gland details. My bearing is bigger because the builder had mistakenly machined out most of the inside, so mine packs the graphite string as well as supports the piston rod. If that makes sense...! This pile of bits clearly illustrates the folly of taking on a project that is not supported my one's capabilities! John
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JonL
Elder Statesman
WWSME (Wiltshire)
Posts: 2,906
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Post by JonL on Dec 29, 2020 20:18:54 GMT
We have to learn somewhere, my apprenticeship didn't help me with making steam engines!
Those flat edges lining up makes the world of difference to the finish. Time well spent.
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Post by terrier060 on Dec 30, 2020 0:57:47 GMT
John I nearly cried when I saw your post. You take me back about 30 years when two wooden boxes came from Stuart Turners. I could hardly lift them. The cast iron was soft and superb to machine except it left a black oily residue over everything in the workshop, including me. But it was so nice to follow someone elses drawings rather than having to do all the design oneself, and like you, building the Major was a nice break. And for a large beam engine it runs so silently on a few pounds. I suspect even better on steam as mine has only run on compressed air. I made all the steel work in stainless, and don't regret it. The only bit I could not machine on the ML7 was the flywheel.
Mine will be painted as I did not have the patience to go for the fine finish you have made of yours. I suppose you would call mine a bit 'agricultural'! I look forward to seeing yours finished. I have a spare set of balls for the governer if you would like them. I sent to a firm in the US for them and they very generously sent me too many. I don't remember them charging me either.
I think there are some pictures of mine running on p24 of my thread.
Ed
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Post by ettingtonliam on Dec 30, 2020 2:47:23 GMT
One thing has long puzzled me about this beam engine. I'd place the original it is based on as being first half of the 19th century, but by then it was well known that lagging the cylinder was of great benefit - James Watt had demonstrated this in the late 18th century. Having the cylinder bare with the ribs showing doesn't seem quite right to me somehow. Anyway, its a lovely engine, I've often wanted to do one, but put off by the cost, and my inability to turn the flywheel.
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Post by simplyloco on Dec 30, 2020 9:15:02 GMT
One thing has long puzzled me about this beam engine. I'd place the original it is based on as being first half of the 19th century, but by then it was well known that lagging the cylinder was of great benefit - James Watt had demonstrated this in the late 18th century. Having the cylinder bare with the ribs showing doesn't seem quite right to me somehow. Anyway, its a lovely engine, I've often wanted to do one, but put off by the cost, and my inability to turn the flywheel. I quite agree with you, and will be looking at doing just that. After all, there are no prototypical rules for this one! I might have to remove the ribs to get a better fit although I suppose I could notch the planks. Regarding the cost, I was put off too, as a casting set + drawings is nearly £1400, but I offered £300, the price of a standard beam set, which was accepted, and I departed a very happy man. John
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Post by simplyloco on Dec 30, 2020 9:28:23 GMT
SNIP I have a spare set of balls for the governer if you would like them. I sent to a firm in the US for them and they very generously sent me too many. I don't remember them charging me either. I think there are some pictures of mine running on p24 of my thread. Ed Hi Ed. PM sent with grateful thanks. I can't find your Beam thread: do you have a link please? Regards John EDIT. I found it in your main build thread and very nice it is too.
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Post by ettingtonliam on Dec 30, 2020 14:30:54 GMT
You did very well to get it for £300, even allowing for the problems you have encountered with it. Lagging could be anything at this period - blue 'Russian Iron' is a bit unlikely for the period, polished wood strips and brass bands would be typical, so would asbestos covered in canvas and painted---. Problem with the wood strips is having to take more off the cylinder flanges to get the strips flush with the edge of the cover. Those wooden stirrers you used to get at take-away coffee machines were ideal. They took stain nicely, were thin and flexible, and above all, were free if you grabbed a handful each time you visited!
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Post by simplyloco on Dec 30, 2020 16:10:13 GMT
You did very well to get it for £300, even allowing for the problems you have encountered with it. Lagging could be anything at this period - blue 'Russian Iron' is a bit unlikely for the period, polished wood strips and brass bands would be typical, so would asbestos covered in canvas and painted---. Problem with the wood strips is having to take more off the cylinder flanges to get the strips flush with the edge of the cover. Those wooden stirrers you used to get at take-away coffee machines were ideal. They took stain nicely, were thin and flexible, and above all, were free if you grabbed a handful each time you visited! You mean like this? They are maple, 1/8" thick, bevelled to 10.5 0 each side so that you can't see the join (honest!), and held on with doublesided tape just as a tryout. I think that some of the curvy magic would be lost, but polished/oiled maple with stainless bands to match the other brightwork might just work! Or I could paint the planks black and keep the stainless bands... BTW I have a Proxxon FET saw, so making the planks today was a doddle. In fact it was a pleasure! Bevelling the strips. Cut to length using the stop. Sanded the faces on the linisher using the fixture.
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Post by Jim on Dec 30, 2020 16:44:14 GMT
I have a soft spot timber lagging on engines of this period especially when secured with brass bands. I love brass bands played Repiano Cornet in one for years.
You're doing a superb job (as always) and seeing your fantastic finish on the column has started my fingers itching to get back to my part built beam engine, but I must finish the Rail Motor first or end up with pile of unfinished projects.
Jim
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Post by jon38r80 on Jan 1, 2021 13:25:33 GMT
Wood cladding always looks smart oiled with shiny brass or shiny steel bands, you lose the opportunity for pinstriping though. Perhaps the bands on the pillar should be painted black to allow your pinstriping prowess to shine or perhaps the other way round , paint the column and leave the bands on it bright. The paintwork on the old beam engine pumps at Kew that I remember(perhaps it was somewhere else though) added a real touch of class rather than just monochromatic in red, green or black.
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Post by simplyloco on Jan 1, 2021 15:51:32 GMT
I took the plunge!Balsa is the model engineer's friend. Superglued in two layers to bring it up level with the ribs. As you can see, it made a very nice base for the hardwood planks. A big, new LARGE file brought everything level pretty quickly! Some sanding time later... A tryout with stainless bands. The virgin Maple is a bit too bright methinks. Mahogany stain is better, but I'm still undecided about the colour. I tried a Dark Oak first of all, but it looked terrible! I'm tempted to paint it black and keep the bright bands!
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Midland
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,870
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Post by Midland on Jan 1, 2021 16:15:18 GMT
Dear Simpleloco You do magnificent work but these go nowhere things do leave me cold. I do admire your fortitude!!! Happy New Year. D PS Put the frostbuster on in the workshop, might get in there tomorrow!!
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Post by terrier060 on Jan 1, 2021 18:59:18 GMT
SNIP I have a spare set of balls for the governer if you would like them. I sent to a firm in the US for them and they very generously sent me too many. I don't remember them charging me either. I think there are some pictures of mine running on p24 of my thread. Ed Hi Ed. PM sent with grateful thanks. I can't find your Beam thread: do you have a link please? Regards John EDIT. I found it in your main build thread and very nice it is too. It actually runs much more slowly that it shows on my video, as long a the beams are well balanced. The flywheel is heavy enough to do the rest even though mine is hardly what you would call 'run-in'! I suspect it would run even better on steam. One little thing I like is that if you put a little oil in the depression on the top of the cylinder gland, on the up stroke it carries the oil up from the cup with the piston rod, and then on the down stroke it deposits it back in the cup! It is quite mesmerizing. I will try and put a video on YouTube. As I have said in the PM, the governor is very overscale, and I presume it is actually a working one, hence the large balls! Here is the new video on Youtube: youtu.be/PU-xhFLgswU
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Post by simplyloco on Jan 3, 2021 18:03:19 GMT
It looks like a tea caddy!I'll paint the bands black: that'll fix it! One of my nuts is now two sizes smaller and it looks much better! However, I'm going to have to mount that front cover in the 4 jaw and skim it off as it looks terrible!
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Post by keith1500 on Jan 3, 2021 23:01:32 GMT
I wouldn’t rush in to painting those bands. I think they look alright. Leave them a while the finish might grow on you.
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Post by steamer5 on Jan 4, 2021 8:34:33 GMT
Best looking tea caddy I’ve seen in a long time!
Cheers Kerrin
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Post by simplyloco on Jan 4, 2021 19:17:05 GMT
More Legacy Issues!The valve chest cover and the flange on the cylinder looked a bit bulky, even though they had been machined. On checking the drawing the cover needed 2 mm taken off, and the cylinder flange still needs 3.5 mm removed! The castings' dimensions are not up to normal Stuart standards so who knows where they came from... The bronze boss was left on for a reason: grip it in the tailstock chuck and tighten the chuck jaws around it! It was only 0.5mm out but I had to clock it otherwise Roger would have noticed... There was 0.75mm variation in the thickness! Turned around and gripped on the boss. Took off nearly 2mm! Cover and chest now to size but you can see the fatness of the cylinder flange. I'll machine it off tomorrow.
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