# Stuart Turner Launch engine con rod.



## KBC

Hi, 
This is my first posting on this forum although I have had many tips from reading members postings.
I am in need of a Stuart Turner Launch engine con rod casting does anybody have a spare that I could purchase.
As I was machining into the neck of the rod the tool dug into the cast gunmetal casting and it has ruined the casting.

I am about 75% completed and Stuart doesn't have any spares ( whats new ?? )
Any help would be appreciated.
Geo.


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## JorgensenSteam

Welcome Geo-

I started looking at all the various Stuart engine types the other day, trying to figure out how many different models were made.
The more I looked, the more types I found (some apparently discontinued).

Here is my list (this list may or may not be accurate).

So what type of Launch engine do you have?
Bore, stroke, compound, or simple?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vertical A-Frame style Engines
(all with cylindrical crosshead and Stephenson's reverse gear or reverse gear option)

Cygnet
Vertical A-Frame Single
bore: 2.25", stroke: 2"
(Discontinued?)

Swan
Vertical A-frame Twin (looks like two Cygnets)
bore: 2.25", stroke: 2"
(Discontinued?)

No. 5A
Vertical A-Frame Single (looks like a Cygnet, but without the accessories)
bore: 2.25", stroke: 2"
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJXxFX9GLyg[/ame]
(Discontinued?)

No. 4
Vertical A-Frame Single
bore: 1.5", stroke: 1.25", flywheel: 5"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/65

No. 7A
Vertical A-Frame Single
bore: 1", stroke: 1", flywheel: 3.5"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/50

No. 10V
Vertical A-Frame Single
bore; 0.75", stroke: 0.75", flywheel: 3"
(Discontinued?)

No. D10
Vertical A-Frame Twin Engine (Looks like a slightly smaller twin version of the 7A)
bore: 0.75", stroke: 0.75", flywheel: 1.625"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/machined/mod_id/27

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horizontal Engines

Mill Engine (Horizontal Single)
Loco crosshead, valve on side of cylinder, long stroke.
bore: 0.625", stroke: 1.25"
(Discontinued?)

Victoria (Horizontal Single)
Loco crosshead, valve on top of cyinder, long stroke.
bore: 1", stroke: 2"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/46

Victorian Twin (Horizontal Twin)
Loco crosshead, valve on top of cyinder, long stroke.
bore: 2x1", stroke: 2"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/47

No. 9 (Horizontal Single)
Slipper-type crosshead, valve on top of cylinder, short stroke.
bore: 1.5", stroke: 1.5", flywheel: 5.125"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/49

No. 8 (Horizontal Single)
Cylindrical crosshead, valve on side of cylinder, short stroke.
bore: 1", stroke: 1"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/66

No. 10H (Horizontal Single)
Cylindrical crosshead, valve on side of cylinder, short stroke.
bore: 0.75", stroke: 0.75", flywheel: 3"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/machined/mod_id/28

Score (Horizontal Twin)
Looks like two No.10H's.
Cylindrical crosshead, valve on side of cylinder, short stroke.
bore: 2x0.75", stroke: 0.75", flywheel: 3"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/42

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open Column Marine Engines (all with Stephenson's reverse gear or option)

Twin Launch (Open Column Twin Launch - Single Expansion)
bore: 2x1", stroke: 1", flywheel: ?
(Discontinued?)

Twin Launch Compound (Open Column Twin Launch - Double Expansion)
bore: 0.75" and 1.25", stroke: 1", flywheel ?
(Discontinued?)

No. 3 (Open Column Twin Launch - Single Expansion)
http://www.stationroadsteam.co.uk/Stuart/No.3.htm
bore: 2x2.5" (single expansion configuration) 
stroke: 1.5"
(Discontinued?)

No. 3 (Open Column Twin Launch - Double Expansion)
http://www.stationroadsteam.co.uk/Stuart/No.3.htm
bore: 1.5" and 2.25" (compound configuration) 
stroke: 1.5"
(Discontinued?)

Triple-Expansion (Open Column Triple Launch - Triple Expansion)
Vertical Marine-Style Open-Column Engine
bores: 0.75", 1.25" and 1.75", stroke: 1", flywheel: 2.25"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/70

Double-Expansion (Open Column Twin Launch - Double Expansion)
While it does not appear on the regular Stuart website, a google search reveals a
No. 6A compound twin marine engine, bores 2.5" and 4", stroke 3".
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/57
I don't know if this engine is still available or not.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beam Engines

Beam Engine
bore: 1", stroke: 2"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/43

Half-Beam Engine
bore: 1", stroke: 2"
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/45

Major Beam Engine
bore: 1.75", stroke: 3.75"
(This was the best looking of the beam engines.)
(Discontinued?)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oscillator Type Engines
Stuart has a variety of small oscillators (not listed here).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Type Engines

No.1
A vertical, single-cylinder, open-column engine.
In my opinion, this was the best looking Stuart ever made.
(Discontinued?)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD4ci-GHrPo[/ame]

Sirius (Vertical Twin, Single-Acting, Enclosed)
bore: 1", stroke: 1"
This is a slick little Westinghouse-style engine, used to power a small genset during the war.
http://www.stationroadsteam.co.uk/Stuart/sirius.htm

Sun (Vertical Twin, Single-Acting, Enclosed)
bore: 0.75", stroke: 0.75"

James Coombes (Table Engine)
http://www.stuartmodels.com/inprod_det.cfm/section/casting/mod_id/48

800 Gas Engine
Real (Inverted Engine) (Inverted is my term)
4-leg open column engine, top mounted flywheel
bore: 1", stroke: 2"

Williams (Inverted Engine) (Inverted is my term)
Single column engine, top mounted flywheel
bore: 0.625", stroke: 1.125"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## HS93

welcome George nice to see you posting on hear, 

Peter


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## KBC

UNIcastings,
The engine is the Twin Launch engine of 1'Bore x 7/8" stroke which has the same con rods as the Compound engine I chose the Non condensing engine as it's self starting as the Compound isn't,
so a con rod from either would do.
I may have to fabricate one if non are available.
I have refrained from posting the engine progress as there has been postings before, however here are some pics of the modifications that I have made.
The bed plate on the engine is used as the bottom half of the 3- main bearings which I don't like so I used the top half of the bearing and made the bottom half from a piece of Cast Gunmetal, this means that the 5- columns have to be lengthened.

The eccentric sheaves are different as I have left flanges to give the eccentrics a bigger bearing surface.

The main shaft webs have been made like the balanced type webs.

To you and Peter thanks for the welcome.
A little about myself, retired design engineer , trained as a Millwright , never worked as a Journey man, straight into D.O. spent 20 years on design of textile machinery, 20 years on office and building refurb.
Never had the chance to do much machining but since retiral I have made all of the Stuart 10 engines and pumps and have experimented with Flash Steam in a model R.C. boat 42" long and have achieved 40 m.p.h with it, at present it's on the shelf as it's becoming too dangerous.
Limited machinery, lathe and mill drill.

Geo.


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## rhankey

I don't know how badly you mangled the conrod, but you might try bending it back into shape and repairing it. I had an eccentric strap to the Stuart triple I'm currently making get torn free from the clamping fixture as I was performing final profiling, and I thought the part was beyond hope. I was able to bend it back into shape and complete the profiling. the finished part came out as perfectly as the others. Gunmetal bends very easily. If too much material got removed, you could silver solder a patch in place which when machined will probably become invisible.

I just checked Stuart's website. Though they have a number of spare parts for the two twin marine engines (which share most parts), they don't appear to have any spare conrods. Be aware that even if they did have spare parts, depending on the vintage of your casting kit, it is possible current spares may not fit your engine anyway. I recently acquired a 1960's twin launch casting kit, and there are a number of parts that are quite different to that of the twin launches sold up to about 6 months ago. Most of Stuarts engines have changed (including dimensions) over the years.

If your conrod castings are the same as those that came with my twin kit, I can certainly understand how you damaged one, as they sure didnt provide much in the way of holding spots to what is already a rather dainty casting that needs a lot of different machining. Having made the equally dainty conrods for my triple out of SS, I was very thankful to have started from bar stock which allowed me to machine from one end to the other in one clamping operation to virtually eliminate the risk of bending and so I didnt lose any alignment or precision. Im going to have to devise another method when it comes to the twins conrods.

Robin


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## Jasonb

You should be able to make one from steel with bronze big end if you don't have any luck sourcing a casting, this will give you an idea of how to go about it.

http://modelengines.info/goldeng/const/rod.html

And this is a good guide to doing the cast one

http://compound.modelengines.info/rods.html

J


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## KBC

Many thanks for your replies,
 At last I have found a site where machinist can pass on their experiences to other members benefit.
I had already started thinking about a steel rod with bronze bearings which is now the road that I will go.
Some years ago I built a Reeves Borderer from scratch using bar stock , a lump of square cast iron window sash weight from a scrap yard( not to be recommended as they are very poor material ) and in this engine I made steel rods with bronze bearings.

So now armed with pics of "HOW TO" I shall keep you posted on my progress.

Pics of Reeeves Borderer.

Geo.


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## KBC

Robin,
The castings for this engine are very poor with quite a few blow holes in the castings.
As you can see from the pic of the reversing eccentric there is a small hole but not enough to worry about.
They could have left spigots on the castings as they do with the D10 & 10V and let you get a grip of them in the chuck.
The damage to the conrod was when I was coming back down to the bearing end and the tool dug in and the lot came out of the chuck.

However with the help of Jason's pics I have started the first new one in B.M.S.( swarf every where ) I'm good at making swarf. and the bearing will be in Phos Bronze.

George.


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## shearwater

Hi George,
Nice to see you on here, this forum is streets ahead of the one we use to
belong to, with very knowledgeable and helpful engineers.

With regard to your eccentrics I had a similar problem on my launch engine so I machined mine from steel.

Mick


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## KBC

Jasonb  said:
			
		

> You should be able to make one from steel with bronze big end if you don't have any luck sourcing a casting, this will give you an idea of how to go about it.
> 
> http://modelengines.info/goldeng/const/rod.html
> 
> And this is a good guide to doing the cast one
> 
> http://compound.modelengines.info/rods.html
> 
> J



Hi Guys,
Thanks for the input from Jason and others on holding and machining the con-rod from steel, here are pics of the nearly finished rod, just need to machine the bearing down to size.

Jason your pics of making your rods were very helpful on how to hold and machine .
Here is a pic of the first con-rod with gun metal bearing block which I was pleased with the result.
However I don't know whether I should post this here or in the BLUNDER SECTION 

Does anybody see the Boo-Boo I must say that I feel a right EEJIT the cross head yoke is 90deg out from the rotation of the bearing.

Never mind I at least now know how to make them and hold them, back to the work shop.

George.


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## Charles Lamont

> Never mind I at least now know how to make them and hold them, back to the work shop.



Oops. Easy done.
May I venture to suggest the shape at the little end could be a bit better too. It looks as if it is a bit thin where it forks.
In turning I think the tapered shank should run into a taper or a hemisphere and then a short cylindrical bit, so that when you put flats on the sides the little end looks a bit like a U bent up from flat bar, avoiding steps in the section. Difficult to describe, but a look at some 12"/foot engines such as at http://www.prestonservices.co.uk/marine.htm will show you the idea.


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## KBC

Charles.
 Thanks for your input, there is however plenty of metal at the yoke as it more or less to size from Stuarts drawing and remember the original was cast gunmetal where this one is in steel, I agree with you that the bottom of the eye could be a bit thicker for appearance so I will check it out against the cross head slide.
I think I know what you are getting at regarding the bottom end of the rod but as the bearing is 3/8" thk thro' and the main body of the bearing finishes at 1/4 " as does the bottom dia of the rod flats can't be shown unless the bottom of the rod was left at 5/16" then flats would be shown.
I think that's what you are getting at.
Nearly completed the 2- new rods.
George.


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## Charles Lamont

I am not sure we are on the same hymn-sheet. I am only talking about the shape of the little end yoke.


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## KBC

Charles,
It,s made to the drawing.
George.


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## Jasonb

I think what makes it look a bit wrong is the cylindrical part at the end of the tapered shaft. This should really transition with a concave part then a convex outer edge. This is best done with a ball turning attachment a bit like this one that is part way through being roughed out.






You then mill flats on either side so that when the fork is milled out the outer profile follows that of the curved bottom of the fork. A bit of rounding around the bosses helps as well and then you end up with something like this.






Jason

PS Those photos in the earlier links are not my work.


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## KBC

Yes Guys,
I'm with you now, but don't forget the rod wasn't completed, it was after I noticed that the eye was 90 deg out that I abandoned completion so I will have a good look at what you are saying when I make the 2- new ones.
At present the rods are in the same condition as Jason's pic with the job in the lathe and the tool at the thick end.
Thanks for your interest.
George.


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## KBC

At Last I am able to thank all of you guys for the info on machining the con rods from steel with gun metal bearings.
I was side tracked in completing a D10 engine to install in my steam tug CERVIA which is now running so I was  able to get back to the launch engine which is now about 90% completed with the pipe work still to do.

I have made one or two mods to the engine which I think are for the better so here are some pics.

Pic No --1 
Making the eccentric sheaves without the central raised guide to give a better bearing surface.

No2--
Bearing blocks from Gunmetal instead of the method of machining a groove to act as the bottom half of the bearing.

No--3
New Con rods and eccentrics fitted.

No--4
Weigh shaft, eccentrics and reverse lever fitted.

No--5.
O/all view of engine with pipe work still to be made and fitted.

So thanks again your help has been very much appreciated and when I have it up and steaming I will let you know.

George.


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## vcutajar

Nice finish George.  Looking forward to see it run.

Vince


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## rhitee93

Looking good, but you can't say things like finishing the D10 for my steam tug without sharing photos of that as well!


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## KBC

rhitee93 said:


> Looking good, but you can't say things like finishing the D10 for my steam tug without sharing photos of that as well!



Hi Brian,
As requested here are some pics of the D10, I won't bore you with all off the machining process as it has been done on this forum before.
My steam tug is CERVIA at 3/8" to 1ft .
42" long x 10" beam x all up weight of 35 lbs.
It's 40 years old and originally powered by electric motor, lay up in my loft for 25 years and brought down when I retired 13 years ago and converted to steam.
Original engine was a !0 v but being single cylinder double acting wasn't self starting or reversible, after many years of Heath Robinson ideas using slip eccentric I decided on the D10.

I haven't quite figure out how to print in between pics so I am afraid you will have to figure them out.
The Flywheel has a taper sleeve on it as I have found by experience that a 5 BA grub screw as per the drawing is hopeless so it now locks on by the brass nut on the split collet sleeve., the large black rubber spacer is from the rubber heel of an old shoe.
The pump is made from the scrap box and is driven by a Scotch crank with holes at different pitches to allow adjustment.
The weigh shaft has a lever with holes for a servo to operate, I had to upgrade the servo to 14 kg pull to effectively operate the reversing gear.

Lastly the D10 next to the Launch engine.

I have built several D10's and10V's, several  Stuart steam boiler feed pumps but my real passion is Flash Steam which I have a boat that will do 40 M.P.H. and is self built based on R.Kirtley's current Hydro world record boat.
My Steamer being radio controlled is a bit dangerous as it gets faster so it's in dry dock at present until I figure what I am going to do with it.

I hope that this is of interest to you.

George.


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## rhitee93

Thanks for posting the pics.  That is some nice work you have done


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## KBC

After finishing the cylinder lagging and all the pipe work it was time  to time the engine to fire it up on air I discovered that it was  impossible to time the engine, so in speaking to a friend who had built a  launch engine he suggested that I check the cylinder ports and to my  horror they are way out.
Of all the Stuart engines and pumps that I have made, this being the  first launch engine, I have always found the castings to be very good  and accurate but the casting of the ports on this one is poor.

To over come this I am making plates from 1/16" thk gauge plate with  accurate ports and will plant it between the cylinder face and the steam  chest with a chemical filler paste to prevent  leakage between the  inlet and the exhaust.

Here is a pic of the cast ports which now that I have found out that they are wrong look enormous.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

George.


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## KBC

Engine now completed with the Gauge plate inserted between the steam chest and the cylinder casting.
The Stevenson gear now worked , although not very well in reverse and on further investigation it was found that one of  the casting for the eccentric sheave was incorrectly cast so a new one was made from a piece of cast iron that I had in the scrap box so all is now well and it's a great running engine.
I must say that it's a sorry tale of very poor castings from Stuart and they would have been returned if I had bought them from Stuart but as they were bought on e-bay the mods had to be made, however it was a learning curve and a warning to check everything against the drawing.
This forum has been an inspiration to me as I am not a machinist and the quality of the work on view has been a great help in trying to emulate the workmanship on view.

I now only have to make an engine driven pump to finish the engine off.

George.


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## vcutajar

Well done George.

Vince


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## Hilmar

Georg,
   on the launch engine, I wonder if the castings where original from Stuart Turner.
  On the print from Stuart the valve cover shows only four screws for hold down ,also the cover
  has no " S "cast into it. On my castings;" I bought from some one on the web not E Bay" they also lousy castings 
  and the dimensions are odd and the same just as yours and no 'S' also. They look like a copy.
  What do You think.
  Hilmar


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## rhankey

Hilmar said:


> Georg,
> on the launch engine, I wonder if the castings where original from Stuart Turner.
> On the print from Stuart the valve cover shows only four screws for hold down ,also the cover
> has no " S "cast into it. On my castings;" I bought from some one on the web not E Bay" they also lousy castings
> and the dimensions are odd and the same just as yours and no 'S' also. They look like a copy.
> What do You think.
> Hilmar


 
Hilmar, I have a twin compound casting kit that I hope to start in the next few months that was cast around 1960, and it also lacks the &#8216;S&#8217; in the valve covers.  My old drawings show 4-corner bolts as you describe, but no 'S'.  I wonder if/when Stuart ever did include the &#8216;S&#8217; in the launch/compound engines?

George, I certainly can empathise with the challenges you had with building your twin launch.  I&#8217;m about 75% along with a triple, being built from modern Stuart castings, and I am also dealing with the same very crude, sand encrusted blobs of metal as you had to.  The cast iron has numerous cold spots, and the gunmetal is usually undersize in at least one dimension and I have uncovered a number of hidden holes.  The cylinder heads which I&#8217;m working on currently, are giving me some challenges.  With such poor quality castings I wish Stuart didn&#8217;t even bother including the valve ports in the castings, as I&#8217;m going tohave to spend much more effort trying to salvage their misaligned and sand filled ports rather than simply drilling/milling my own very precise ports.

I am not sure when Stuart started producing much poorer quality castings, but the difference between their current castings and their older castings is night and day.  The castings to my old twin compound kit are gorgeous, crisp, smooth, highly detailed and accurate castings, none of which require any clean-up before they are machined.  The same is the case with a Stuart/H.A.Taylor Undertype casting kit from around 1970 that I will be starting after the twin launch.

Robin


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## jrogertaylor

I just finished a beam engine from castings I bought from ST about 30 years ago when they were still in England. They were excellent.  But they have moved at least twice and been sold since then.


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## KBC

Hi Vince,
Thanks for that.

Hilmar,

I think that one of the problems with Stuart is that they don't do their own castings but farm them out and over the years have tried a few foundries, some successful others not and this is why there can be a difference in cast iron quality.
On the Launch engine drawing it shows a 4- bolt fixing on the steam chest cover but on the drawing for machining the Stevenson reverse gear it show an 8- bolt fixing, this is why mine has the 8- bolt fixing.
The figure 'S' on the cover is only on the 10V, 10H, D10 and Score engines, whereas the Launch engine, Compound engine and the Triple Expansion has a plain cover, I think some of the bigger engines may have the 'S' cast in.

Robin,

I have over the years built many D10's, 10V's and steam pumps with no great complaint on the casting quality but this lot are quite frankly a disgrace and one can only hope that the new owners can get their act together and produce some better castings.

As an Ex design draughtsman/ engineer I can also comment on their drawings which are quite pathetic and in particular how you are supposed to machine the double  eccentric sheaves for the reverse gear to the drawing beats me and for other machining there is not one Datum line to work from which I must add is common on all of their drawing for other models.
The drawing for the engine without reverse gear is dated 1972 and the one for the reverse gear is dated 1955 and they have the nerve to charge £20 for them.
Like you I wished that they had not cast in the ports which would allow you to mill them out correctly.

All in all it has been a challenge but I was determined not to be beaten and made a few mods along the way, i.e. the bearing blocks, steel con rods and the drag links for the reverse gear, did away with the grooves to hold the eccentric sheaves in place by making then plain with a flanged end and the main thing being the gauge plate with new ports, now just a boiler feed pump, will post some pics when completed.

Thanks to all who helped in my early en devours.
George.


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## Hilmar

George,
  You said that you made a cover over the valve ports, did you glued it 
in or just let it be loose and how thick did you made it?
Hilmar


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## KBC

Hilmar said:


> George,
> You said that you made a cover over the valve ports, did you glued it
> in or just let it be loose and how thick did you made it?
> Hilmar



Hilmar,

I used a piece of gauge plate 1/16" thk but didn't harden it, just polished it with very fine emery paper.
I smeared the back of the plate with Hermetite green  gasket sealer,  which goes hard when cured, put the plate onto the old face with the out  of line ports and bolted it up with the steam chest casting without the  cover on and with the point of my scriber cleaned out the excess  sealant, repeat to other end and leave for 24 hrs.
When I undid the nuts and removed the steam chest casting the plate was very  firmly stuck on, to date there has been no leakage between the steam  inlets and the exhaust out let.

The green Hermetite sealant is very high temp, I use it on my Flash  Steam engines to great effect, it can be purchased from some Auto shops  or Engineering supply companies.

George.
Pic of the sealant.


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## KBC

After all of the trials and tribulations on the Launch engine its almost there.

I have made a boiler feed pump from the scrap box and mounted it on the side of the base plate but I am not too happy with it as its difficult to get a good screw fixing and the long reach of the pump ram from the Scotch crank isn't too good so I am about to change the drive system to a cam on an eccentric with a stronger bracket fixed to the Ali base for stability, I will post pics when the big FINAL  day arrives.
The engine now runs very well on forward and reverse, still a bit stiff to turn over by hand but runs well on 20 p.s.i of air.
Next thing is to make a new boiler as at present I don't have a test boiler but can run a feed from my steam tug boiler for a trial.

George.


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## vcutajar

Wow George that looks awesome.  Hang in there.

Vince


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## compspecial

Its great to have you with us George! and may I say you have had such an interesting life, I am fascinated by the millwright part, does that mean wind and water mills? 
Stew.


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## KBC

compspecial said:


> Its great to have you with us George! and may I say you have had such an interesting life, I am fascinated by the millwright part, does that mean wind and water mills?
> Stew.


Hi Stew,
Thanks for the welcome,  Millwrights were the guys who maintained flour mills where all the local crop growers brought there grain to be milled and they had to be Jack of all trades as they were the only maintenance men employed.
I served my time in the largest Flour and Provender mill in Scotland at the time which was situated on the Clyde near the city center, just as I had started Clydeside dictated " one man for one job " so the mill employed joiners and electricians as well as us maintenance fitters but the original Millwrights did the joinery, electrical and engineering  work.
I was trained in the maintenance of flour milling machines and cattle food machines, it was a dirty oily flour covered business and in those days there were no showers so at the end of the day it was a quick wash at the cold tap, a change into my cycling gear and a 30 mile training ride back home ( we were bred tough in those days )
As far as I am aware today Millwrights are employed in the large machine shops to strip down and repair any type of manufacturing machinery, Lathes, Mills e.t.c. not sure about the car industry with all of the Robotics.

I hope this fills you in a little bit on Millwrights. 

George.


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## KBC

I think that I started this engine some time late Jan this year and has it been a trial !!
However at last I can say FINISHED and I am pleased with it's running performance.
I have changed the boiler feed pump arrangement from Scotch crank to eccentric drive as I wasn't quite happy with the drive, now it works to my satisfaction.
Pump is 1/4" dia ram x 1/2" stroke to 5/8" stroke adjustable via the pitched holes on the drive disc.

I will now need to think about my next project which certainly will not be another Stuart Launch engine.

Thank you for all of your help and comments along the way.

George.


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## Alec Ryals

Hello,
 Beautiful work. im building one also but my drawing of the reverse fwd brass bracket for the cross head slider got destroyed and was wondering if you could post a photo of it 
Thank You
Alec Ryals


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## KBC

Hi Alex,
If you would send me your mail address I can take pics of what you require, I am afraid that the drawing is of such poor quality and being so large I can't scan it but I can take pics for you, please don't post your e-mail address on the open forum.
I see that you are also enquiring on R/Cgroup forum and you mention eccentrics I will do them for you as well,
Regards 
George.


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## David Shealey

This is a pretty old thread, but glad it is here.  I am picking up with one my Dad started decades ago, but he never got past the base and main bearing caps.  He machined the bores larger and put Babbitt in for the bearing surfaces.  He did not get the bores centered well, and the babbitt is off center. The crank bores are centered though.  It is only a cosmetic issue. I was toying with machine it out even larger, but centered and re-casting the babbitt, but the bearing surfaces are good, so I will probably just leave it that way.  I do like your flanged eccentrics better than the Stuart design, so am doing that.  Using 303 stainless for them.  The casting kit my Dad had did not include the Reversing assembly, so I am doing all those parts from bar stock.


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