Kit Differences Myers and PM research

[bobs7-62steamair]

First engine build kit I have purchased is by Clarence Myers of Ohio and I have concluded their may be other kits that supply more or less than Myers.
Other kits that I am looking at are from PM research out of New York.

My opinion is that the Myers kit blueprints are generally quite good but could use some additional dimensions in a few places and not all needed materials are supplied with the kit, basically castings & BP's.
Just curious as to what your opinion is comparing these two vendors in terms of what they supply for what you pay?
Any experience of buying and building engines from these two organizations you can share would be appreciated.
Thanks for any information provided.
Bob

 

[pickleford75]

I have built the PM Research #1 mill engine and found that the castings, prints and kit was of very good quality. The kit came with all necessary hardware, bar stock and gasket material to build the entire engine.

 

[vederstein]

I've made several engines from both PMR. For quality and completeness, PMR is the way to go. It is a matter of size though. For the dollar, Meyers has much larger engines and is more of value in those terms of engine size per unit of money. You will need to supply your own hardware and barstock. Meyers sends you a set of drawing and the castings.

I tend to consider Meyer's plans more of guidelines that explicit plans.

If you care to see one approach to a Meyer's kit: my build of Meyer's Creators Oscillating Engine: http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=25900

 

[RonGinger]

I just bought the Myers Cornwall Forge Engine at Cabin Fever last week. I have always wanted that engine. When I first started to get interested in modeling I met and old fellow that had been the master model maker for a big company. He gave me a lot of help and at that time he was building the Cornwall engine.

I have visited the Forge and have a lot of detail photos of the engine that will help. This model is actually one originally done by Paul Breisch. Myers simply bought the patterns and drawings after Paul died.

I also had a lot of fun joking with Clarence Myers, as people tended to confuse us- we are both old men with white beards and a bit on the large size. At every NAMES show someone would approach one of us looking for the other. Clarence is now not well and no longer able to attend the shows, his son is carrying on the business.

Their castings are a bit rough, a good deal of flash that must be removed. The plans show only the part details, there is no assembly drawing, but it is mostly fairly obvious. I think PMR casings are higher quality. The PMR #1 was the first model I made from castings, after making a few Ray Hasbrouch bar stock engines.

 

[Gordon]

As you get involved in this hobby receiving all of the hardware and small bar stock items becomes less important because you already have these items in stock. I have built engines which had all of the hardware included and never even used all of the items. Not only that but if you drop something like a 2-56 screw you may be in trouble if you do not have a supply of them. I know that dropping a small screw on the floor in my shop, finding it can be a long process.