Scratch building the Hicks Oscillator

[deeferdog]

I had been looking at various steam engine plans for some time, I wanted to build a smallish engine that could form the basis of a plant comprising the engine, boiler, water tank and so on. I was torn between building from a casting kit or doing it from scratch using material at hand or what I was able to purchase. I have never built from a kit, generally being either too poor or too tight to spend the money and this was again the case when I saw the Hicks Oscillator steam engine. The kit is available from Hemmingway in the UK, (Hemingway Kits Catalogue Download) but at over $250AUD plus freight plus the wait it was beyond me. Fate intervened in the person of Mr Julius De Waal of New Zealand. He saw a picture of the engine on the internet and decided to do a set of drawings based on the flywheel size of six and a half inches, this equates to a scale of roughly one inch to the foot. The plans are freely available, as are all the drawings by Julius, and I would like to thank him for the time and effort he has so generously given.
This engine was on display at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Reputedly, it was actually operating on steam and was well received by the patrons. The manufacturer was Hick, Hargreave & Co and they specialized in stationary engines, mainly for marine and industrial applications. The challenge, as always with scratch building, is to make the finished model look as if it was accomplished using castings, I have tried hard to achieve this, and I hope the ensuing posts reflect that effort.
I have posted a picture, and a pdf for download, of the facing sheet of J DE WAAL’s plans to show what the finished product will look like.
Cheers, Peter.

 

[deeferdog]

Scratch building the Hicks Oscillator

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The Base

A quick look at the plans and I decide to start with the base, doesnt look too difficult except for the mounting lugs which protrude out from the sides. I try to imagine how I will duplicate the radius, the only method that I can think of is to rotate each lug around it’s centre against a milling cutter. I have done this before, it can be dangerous if the cutter grabs, I try to be very careful.
This time, however, I decide to cheat a little and add the lugs after machining the frame of the base, doing it in this manner should produce clean profiles that will look like castings...I hope!
I made the base from aluminium because it is a lot easier to obtain the necessary size than steel, also much easier to machine. The setup on the mill was straightforward and the machining went well. The lugs were cut from 25mm round and fitted using epoxy glue, however this didn’t hold so they were attached through the sides using 4mm set screws.
After clean up, the base was sandblasted lightly with crushed glass and then the edges were radiused with a standard wood router bit in a small router. Further clean up with needle files and sandpaper and the job was done. Very happy with the result and in my opinion doesn’t look too different to a cleaned up casting. The pictures tell the tale. Cheers, Peter.

 

[deeferdog]

Sadly, it would appear that there is not a lot of interest in model steam engine building, as a consequence it would be a waste of my time to continue with this thread so this will be the last post on this subject. Thanks bmac2 for your support. I did finish the engine and I thought it was an interesting build, it taught me a lot. Here are a few pics of the completed engine, it is quite a little runner. Cheers, Peter

 

[Cogsy]

That is a beautiful engine. Nice job. Do you have a video of it running by any chance?

 

[stanstocker]

Myers in the US sells a casting set for a "Murdoch" engine of a similar style. The double cylinder casting set was purchased at Cabin Fever this year, but with all the work putting our retirement place in shape hasn't been touched other than to look over the castings and put the box on a shelf... Any pics you post, particularly of any machining steps that took some odd setup will be of interest.

Your use of glass blasting to make the machines slab base look more like a casting worked very nicely.

Not sure why you think there is no interest, it often takes a few days for folks to come across a thread of interest. Once done playing with scaffold and walls my goal is to spend all not lovely days playing in the shop!

Thanks, Stan

 

[Steamchick]

Looks good! I am sure you will have taken as much care in machining and assembly. While simple, I have seen many oscillators that won't run successfully as they leak at the face between the cylinder and valve plate. But I'm sure you won't have that issue.
We are interested, so keep posting your stuff. I read dozens of threads but only comment on a few. Likewise many others? So keep on enjoying your hobby and keep on telling us about it.
I wish my models looked that good!
K

 

[Steamchick]

Did you know there used to be hundreds of full sized paddle boats with oscillating engines? Same configuration as yours - but with a paddle wheel where you have a flywheel.
K

 

[a41capt]

I second Steamchick’s opinion as I just found your post. That’s beautiful work, and that fly ball governor is fantastic and the attention spent on the linkages is exceptional!

let’s see it run!

John W

 

[deeferdog]

I now feel a bit silly for thinking there was little interest in model steam engines, so due to overwhelming demand I will continue in the next few days, thanks to all. In the meantime, and a nod to Cogsy, here is the link to the first run prior to painting. When I get home (in Dalby, Qld at the moment and its bloody cold!) I will make a better video, this one was shot by my wife whilst I held the air hose. Air pressure is 25 psi. Cheers, Peter

 

[a41capt]

That looks and sounds just like a well running steam engine should! Here’s a question for you, as these engines were not only used to power industrial machinery, but also paddle wheelers, could a reversing valve be incorporated into the intake/exhaust to accomplish that task?

BTW, where did you find the plans?

John W

 

[BaronJ]

A very nice model, sounds good too !

A quick note on your comment about lack of interest ! Many, myself included lurk, look and learn without commenting, so you never know how many are admiring your build.

 

[vederstein]

I understand the lack in interest.

I've wrote about this before, but it bears repeating.

A forum like this runs on feedback. People at heart are narcissistic, they just don't want to admit it. (When people when look at a photo, the first thing they look for is themselves.) Therefore regular and visible feedback is necessary for the creator to know that their efforts are indeed worthwhile. (To my knowledge, concept was first documented in the book The Cathredral and the Bazzaar.)

Having fully documented several steam engine builds myself, I get that without feedback, the ego isn't boosted and the result is thinking "what's the point?". At one point I was criticized by a prominent member that my documentation wasn't sufficient or up to his expectations.

To do a full build log isn't a trivial task. It takes substantial time and effort. We don't get paid to document these engine builds so feedback and a sense of community is the only reason to do it. Otherwise we'd take photos of our setups and keep then to ourselves.

For myself, I've stopped documenting my builds because it has come to the point of "It's not worth it."

Ok, now let the flame war begin...

...Ved.

 

[Neil Bowden]

Hi Peter, I second comments about watching and learning. I've looked at most of your builds and learn something everytime. When I stop making "tools for tools" as my wife says I may even copy some of them. This is my first post by the way.
Cheers Neil

 

[deeferdog]

Thanks everyone. I agree absolutely with Ved. If there are no posts, there is no forum. I quite like writing about my projects but I need people to comment, however trivial, to make it feel worthwhile. I don't post to educate or entertain but to engage with other people who have similar interests and I accept criticism as well as commendation as long as both are fair and reasonable. I believe that if you are following a build it behoves you to add some comment, this ensures that posters of the calibre of Vederstein will continue to add to our knowledge and enjoyment. The fact that in the past we haven't and as a consequence he has decided to cease documenting his builds, has left the forum, and us, much the poorer.

I have posted the plans here as pdf's as they are not easily found on the net. As you can see, they are for personal use only and I think we would all respect that. Those of us who have seen and used Julius De Waal's plans would, I think, be unanimous in our praise of his ability and generosity in making them freely available for all.

Cheers, Peter

 

[lathe nut]

Deerferdog, I am guilty of not commenting, I do not have a lot of time to be on the computer but I look at this page everyday, I am amazed at you guys skill and knowledge to do what you do so well, I am not a narcissistic just busy and hope someday to get to try what you fellows do, I have made a few but nothing that would be posted, its more like a village hack, that cost money and many hours of work to do what you have done, so please accept my apology for my short coming I will do my best to respond, thanks for sharing even if you don't get the praise you deserve there is the self sanctification that you did, Joe

 

[lathe nut]

Thank so so muck for your kindness I have artical and the photo's saved to file, Joe

 

[JohnBDownunder]

Hi Peter,
I too have just found your post and these steam / air engines are fun to watch. Build logs are great but I get too involved in the actual build (usually fixing my oops results) to actually document any. I'm a novice and learn lots from this forum, toss in my "hopefully helpful" two cents worth occasionally.

BTW, I live in Cats territory and can only visit on line due to covid-19 restrictions. My model engineering club meets weekly so at least we get to know what others are working on.

Oh! I have downloaded the plans so there is yet another "Build one day" on my list.
Regards and thanks for posting,
John B

 

[Steamchick]

As a newish reader and contributor, this still has novelty value to me, but I have learned a lot in the couple of months I have been following your sound advice, so will continue to gossip with you. Thanks ALL for the companionship these threads afford. And I reiterate: The model is superb, deeferdog.
K

 

[Richard Hed]

Thanks everyone. I agree absolutely with Ved. If there are no posts, there is no forum. I quite like writing about my projects but I need people to comment, however trivial, to make it feel worthwhile. I don't post to educate or entertain but to engage with other people who have similar interests and I accept criticism as well as commendation as long as both are fair and reasonable. I believe that if you are following a build it behoves you to add some comment, this ensures that posters of the calibre of Vederstein will continue to add to our knowledge and enjoyment. The fact that in the past we haven't and as a consequence he has decided to cease documenting his builds, has left the forum, and us, much the poorer.

I have posted the plans here as pdf's as they are not easily found on the net. As you can see, they are for personal use only and I think we would all respect that. Those of us who have seen and used Julius De Waal's plans would, I think, be unanimous in our praise of his ability and generosity in making them freely available for all.

Cheers, Peter

OK, just for that, I'm going to comment: Quit whining in your coffee (Americans) or your tea (everyone else). It is as everyone has said elsewhere, we don't always see the post immediately, some weeks it takes me days before I see a post as I don't always have time to view, and often, I admire but do not comment. As a matter of fact, I rather smirk at all they guys commenting like "Cool", "Beautiful", "does you have the plans?" It's not that I thimk they are silly, it's rather that it is so obviously a wonderful build that it seems to me that it does not need to be commented on. But maybe some of you have no ego and so you need to have yours blown up like a balloon from the outside. In my opinion, one should be self-satisfied with your own work--that's why I do it--for myself, not for other's. It is a side benefit for others to admire--and truthfully, yes, I do like the admiration just as others do too. BTW, almost everyone here does much better work than myself, it's not a biggy, as I enjoy LEARNING. But as far as praise goes, it should not be what governs a persons life. since I get very little anyway, I thimk I will simply build a little hat for my coffee cup to keep out the tears. I really hate salty coffee!

 

[daChurchPcGuy]

Documentation of the hobby is important, especially for unique engines. I've only been a member of this forum for a few days, researching.

Really nice build.