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Brian Generally a tandem steam engine is designed as a compound. The steam from cylinder 1 is exhausted to the inlet port of cylinder two to be reused. Twice the bang for the buck. The project I began a while back is a tandem compound design that I hope to get back to work on soon. Do a YouTube...

Basic rule of thumb.... steam engines area timed at 90°. For instance with the piston at full extension (3:00), the eccentric is set at 90° or 12:00 / 6:00 depending on the direction you want it to turn. Same with a twin cylinder but mirrored so that a power stroke will always be available. This...

Chuck.... Sorry.... This particular Dallas is in NC.....LOL. Steve

Bill... At the moment, Simpsonville SC, Dallas, Denver and Arden, NC are on the schedule. I'll have to check the calendar and see what it looks like. Arden is still a maybe at the moment. I'd love to join the fun if possible. The little Victorian is gaining quite a fan club all its own....LOL...

Thank you Ben. I've been tweaking the little fellow pretty hard, for a couple of weeks now, in preparation to show it. It was time to chase a few small annoying "bugs" out of the system. I just finished reworking the exhaust delay arm and it made a world of difference in how it runs. It now...

Brian.... We're both slogging through the same adjustment, it seems. My little engine is also in "rapid cycle" mode but is definitely doing the hit and miss thing. After playing with various settings, I've come to the conclusion that I need to "soften" the spring a bit to allow the balls to...

I run the full range from 20's jazz, 30's and 40's big bands, 50's rock plus old and new country. I'm good for rock and pop all the way into the early 90's but you lose me at heavy metal and rap. I'd rather hear a cat screeching in a food blender than listen to most heavy metal. As for Rap.... I...

Thanks for the concern guys, but the little engine wasn't hurt.... if you don't count the complete melt down of the governor. Seat of the pants engineering bit me on that one. Today saw the completion and installation of a heavier duty version (more steel and stronger brass parts) and the engine...

Christopher Welcome to HMEM!!. We can always use another old hand to contribute to the mayhem. Steve

I've been working toward getting the little Victorian engine ready for an upcoming show. While I am working on it, I decided to do some upgrading to the engine such as a new fuel system and the 3 ball governor I shared in another thread. I also modified the linkage that locks out the push rod...

Having owned and used both machines from Micromark, I would not foresee any real problems building the Stuart 10. The machines offer plenty of working room for a small build of that size. As mentioned above, it's as much about the builder's capabilities as it is the machine used. Steve

The 4 inch is as large as I'd want on the X3 mill here. Best advice is to go with a Kurt style clone since its jaw blocks can be arranged to hold much much larger then 4 inches. I've had 8 inch metal clamped flat in mine with no problems. I had a screwless machinist vise and the Kurt design is...

Jonsie I've seen Propane used on these small engines without need of much more than a demand valve. Model engine carbs tend to be sensitive and small adjustments can make large changes. Chances are you'd not need to change the carb, but a demand valve is requireded. One local guy runs gasoline...

Jerry We're about 5 hours north of Savannah, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains of north western SC. We're showing over Labor Day in a small rural area known as Dacusville and its pretty much a "more the merrier" sort of gathering. We'll be in a small town called Simpsonville a week or...

Dennis The secret is making one part at a time. Thinking of it as an entire project would have been overwhelming here too. The plans for the basic engine (and several others) are available in a book titled "Two Shop Masters" by Frank McLean and Philip Duclos available from Village Press, the...

I'm not so innocent of going off topic either, so no problem here...LOL

try here.... http://cgi.ebay.com/3-axis-DRO-Axis-Linear-Scale-Kits-Mill-Seig-X3-/270586896852?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 I own it and wouldn't part with it for love nor money. Fits perfectly on the X3 and SX3. No affiliation, but one very satisfied customer, as are the others on the board who use...

Brian I note you've added the spring. Suggest you consider a collar so you can adjust the tension in order to give you some control over the opening of the fly balls. Much easier to adjust than trimming the spring. If the balls open too easily the cutoff could prevent the engine from even...

Bogs... Truthfully I've been feeling like hell up until about 2 weeks back. Finally told the sawbones he could prescribe whatever he wanted, but he wasn't going to be there to make me take it.....LOL. Once I shook off all the cobwebs, I couldn't wait to get back into the shop. Unfortunately the...

Pat Coming from your family background, the compliment means a lot, here. There isn't any plating on the engine. The body and base are aluminum and the rest is brass and copper. The aluminum was hand polished to the finish you see. It's confused quite a few people who've asked "what metal" I...