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The crankshaft is turning out very well. The 1144 alloy steel cuts and polishes great. So, a test fit in the bearings and it turns smooth. There are two methods to lubricate the crank pin. One method involves drilling the connecting rod all the way thru lengthwise and draw oil from the...

Stuart no longer offers cast or forged crankshaft blanks with their kits. They now specify that the builder fabricates the crankshaft by either the Loctite with pins method or by silver soldering. The #4 engine plan calls for Loctite and pins. That method works perfectly. The #1 plan says either...

Our cat will get all 4 feet in the litter box, but his butt is out over the edge.

Today we’ll finish the main bearing caps and the main bearings as well. The bearings caps are inline bored first before the main bearings are made. To start, mount the sole plate on an angle plate and adjust to plumb. Insert a 1-1/8” parallel into the bearing cap keeper slots. Use a dial...

Today starts the bearing caps for the crankshaft. The bearing caps are very rough castings. After cleaning up with the belt sander, clamp in the mill vise with some plywood jaws and mill off one side. Clamp the bearing cap directly to the milling table to mill the other side to final...

Yeah, I think it's a broken off piece of the mold. It was an easy fortunately. There are a couple surface holes on the standard but won't affect anything. Stuart castings are great to machine.

Hi Pat. Thanks. It's coming along very. The big parts are much easier to handle. Just have to figure out what to do with it. Maybe a go-kart. Take care, Bob

Back on the sole plate today. The plans call for a small pin at the bottom, center of the bearing pockets. This isa to prevent the main bearings from accidentally spinning in the sole plate. The plans don’t call for a specific size, so 1/8” diameter seems about right. Drill 5/16” deep...

Next up is the sole plate. Mill to clean up the bottom edge of the casting. Then, using a 5/8” or ½” pin probe all the corners and hold down bolt pads. Center up the casting as best as possible. Once centered, zero out the DRO or dials on the mill. Run around the inside of the sole plate...

This project is the Stuart Turner #5a stationary steam engine from a casting kit. The 5a is the largest single cylinder kit in the Stuart line (Stuart Models | Steam Engines | Model Engineering | Executive Toys). It has a 2.25” bore, 2” stroke and 7.5” diameter flywheel. Here is a fine example...

I am building a #4 right now and have noticed a similar problem with the porting cores on the cylinder. They are too close together so the exhaust port will be way too narrow. I like your fix. I'll do that. I also saw in an old catalog that the #4 had a 4-1/2" flywheel. This kit came with...