Steam Engine build from bits and pieces.

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

Today except for the making and fitting of a condensation valve the port block was finished.

First the steam ports were spotted using a jig.



The steam ports were then drilled after which the steam passageways were also drilled. Some of the holes were threaded and plugs soldered in them. Then the steam/exhaust pipes were soldered into the port block. The inked lines show the position of the passageways.



The steam/exhaust pipes are arranged so they go through the port block pedestal's base and then on through the base plate.



A bearing pivot was fitted to the cylinder.



A spring and lock nuts were fitted to hold the cylinder to its port block.



This is how the model looked at the end of the day; not a lot different to when it started the day.



Make and fit a condensation valve next I think.

Regards Tony.

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

The condensation valve has been made. This valve is used when starting from cold it allows steam to go from which ever is the steam passageway directly to the exhaust passageway so bye-passing the cylinders. This steam travelling through the port block heats it up and removes any condensation and steam oil left in them from a previous run, it also reduces the engines tendency to hydraulic when starting from cold. While visiting a model shop which also was a craft shop I saw and bought these. They are metal but I do not know what they were intended for.



One of them provided a handle for the condensation valve.



The incomplete engine was connected to a compressor to check that the valve worked and the steam passageways were clear. On the base plate is the piece of square brass off-cut that was to become the big end.



The square section brass that was to become the big end was drilled for the crank pin and drilled and tapped for the piston rod and oil pot. it was then mounted on a mandrel being secured with shellac for turning.





A oil pot was made and fitted along with a temporary piston rod.




We are away for a day or so but with a bit of luck the engine will be running sometime next week.

Regards Tony.

 

[Cymro77]

Tony on your steam set up for the two cylinder engine are you using silicone tubing?

 

[Cymro77]

Great work on both engines, thanks for sharing! Will be watching the rest of the build. David

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi David,

Tony on your steam set up for the two cylinder engine are you using silicone tubing?

Yes, it is silicon tubing, I use it quite a lot when testing engines' it is quick to set up, obviously flexible and doesn't loose as much heat as a copper pipe does. When used with steam it can often be difficult to remove from the copper pipe the heat must effect it somehow? I have also used it as a permanent joint between copper pipes on some of my models. I know of at least one steam model manufacturer that uses it on his models. It works very well for joints as to remove it it is just cut off and a new piece is used when assembling.

Regards Tony.

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

I did enough work on the engine today to get it running on air!

First some PTFE was turned to make some packing for the piston rod and a gland nut was turned.



The gland nut and gland assembled on the piston rod.




Some cylinder cover gaskets were made.



The piston was roughed out.



The slot for the '0' was finished by hand.



With an '0' ring fitted the cylinder was assembled.



The engine was then assembled completely and looked like this.





I will post I hope video of it working in the next post.

Regards Tony.

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

A video link which I hope someone will improve for me

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZBchRVo1fk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Regards Tony.

 

[Swifty]

I just copied and pasted this part of it to get it to work. https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZBchRVo1fk

Paul.

 

[Cogsy]

This should show it inside the post - Swifty, the 'embed' bit is causing the problem, you need the address with 'watch' in it to work inside a post.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZBchRVo1fk[/ame]

 

[Swifty]

Thanks Cogsy, I recalled that someone else once mentioned how to do it, but of course, I took no notice at the time.

Paul.

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi Paul & Al,

Many thanks.

Regards Tony.

 

[Cymro77]

Tony, Once again you have made an incredible engine. I love the slowness and motions observed. Reminds me very much of a Mill or drilling engine. Thanks for the inspiration and milling instruction. DW

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

I never think you have a model steam engine until it is proved to run on steam. So I thought I would give it a go and run the model on steam. With my fairly small vertical test boiler I was hoping to get a minute or so's run after the engine had warmed up. Amazingly after the boiler's safety valve was blowing off at around 40 psi with the condensation valve open the regulator was opened and after about 10 seconds the condensation valve was closed the engine started itself! With the regulator closed down so the engine was going slowly it continued to do so until the boiler was nearly empty which took 15/20 minutes. When running the engine on compressed air using a pressure regulator the it is quite happy to tick over on 3 to 5 psi. This boiler usually manages to continuously power a Stuart 10H or S50 at a reasonable speed. I'm sure that if I was better at sums I could work out the different cylinder volumes against speed to prove the boiler would power such a large engine. I am very pleased with the results.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-JhjPvtWuAk

https://www.youtube.com/watch/-JhjPvtWuAk


Regards Tony.

 

[Cogsy]

Engine runs great, noce job!

Your youtube link is almost right but not quite. If you go to a youtube 'watch' page and just copy the address in the top bar, then paste it into a post it will work. The proper address for this one (with the htt.. bit removed so it will show up) is /www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhjPvtWuAk

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhjPvtWuAk[/ame]

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi Al,

Thank you again,

Regards Tony.

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

I thought to draw out a boiler for the engine and mentioned such to SWMBO who said won't one of the boilers that you have already made and haven't used do? I thought it very unlikely that any of the unused boilers I have would produce enough steam to power the engine for more than a couple of minutes. The largest boiler that is in stock is a simple plain pot boiler about 2" diameter and 6" long which was designed to be heated either by gas using a ceramic burner or Sterno in a tray. A ceramic burner hadn't been made but a tray had! So it was given a go! The boiler was connected to the engine using silicon tubes via a regulator and lubricator. The Sterno was lit and the boiler supplied enough steam to run the engine for nearly 20 minutes! The engine can run very slowly and obviously consumes as much steam or less than a lot smaller engines with a lot higher RPM.

The set up.



Some Sterno in the tray.



The boiler fired up.



The inevitable video.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/iwxd0nfFlDM


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwxd0nfFlDM[/ame]



So no need to make a dedicated boiler just tidy up what I already have.

Regards Tony

 

[Tony Bird]

Hello again,

Came across a photograph of the beam engine that my original cast iron flywheel was fitted to.

Regards Tony.

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

As a result of purchases at a model exhibition I have started to make some additions to the engine. I thought that the right hand side of the engine opposite the cylinder looked a little bare so decided to fit a boiler feed pump there.

Two of my purchases at the show were some gunmetal castings from the same guy that sold me the cylinder for the engine last year. One of the casting was of a pump body the other right angle and 'T' pipe connectors. After some thought it was decided to use the pipe connector casting as a basis of the pump.




The cut out 'T' was machined.



And attached to some 'T' sectioned brass that had been used for other parts of the engine.



An eccentric was rough out and cut before machining.



I couldn't find a casting for the eccentric strap so had to machine one from the solid.



This is how the engine looks today.





I have also made and fitted a steam regulator valve.



I might get a bit more done tomorrow SWMBO permitting.

Regards Tony.

 

[Cymro77]

Tony,
again you hit it out of the park. Great work, I love how the engine is developing what's next? A speed control?
Cymro77

 

[Tony Bird]

Hi David,

I love how the engine is developing what's next? A speed control?

Maybe if I come across something to make a governor from. There are still a few things that I have to finish first; a lubricator and a bye-pass valve for the feed pump to start with.

Yesterday I managed to do a little more to the feed pump. The pump bracket was attached to the base plate and the valves and some pipe work made.



Regards Tony.