Stuart Beam Engine

[AlbertdeWitte]

Thanks Herbie. I got it loose and and removed the screw after a struggle, then re tapped it and added a nice grub screw and did the cutting on the pulley. Will post some pics later from the laptop.

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Here are some pics as said before

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Over the weekend I managed to do some work and started on the side valve. It came out just fine. I first took some bar stock and squared it up according to the required size. Then I milled out all to the final result.

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Pics would not upload on the post

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Guys

Last night I fitted the side valve and it seems Im good so far. I am now onto the horizontal bar that links to the side valve shaft. Should finish that tonight. I must say its not so cold lately so I can put in a couple of hours in the workshop.

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Hi Guys

Last night I made the cross link bar and connector to the side valve rod. I have also set the valve timing, looking good so far.

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Another missing part was the valve gland which I made last night.

I think that concludes making of missing parts. I must now assemble and test it.....CANT WAIT lol

 

[cwelkie]

Looking good Albert! You are well on the way to adding another fine engine to your growing collection.
Charlie

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Thanks Charlie!!

 

[Blogwitch]

Looks like it wasn't as bad as you thought Albert.

It is coming along just great.

Well done

John

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Hi All

Like I said before, just final assembly and a test run. Ive got a runner!

Now I am going to strip, fix this and that, polish and paint it, I have some left over of the Redwing, maybe to consider that.

 

[jayville]

Have been following with interest...well done...clem

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Have been following with interest...well done...clem

Thanks Clem

 

[ShopShoe]

That turned out well. I like your color choices.

Thank you for posting the log and the final photos.

--ShopShoe

 

[packrat]

Have been keeping up with all your posts on the beam engine rebuild, I built one also but took me almost 2 years to finish working part time on it...Working on Stuart 5A now, almost done, don't ask how long I have worked on it.

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

That turned out well. I like your color choices.

Thank you for posting the log and the final photos.

--ShopShoe

Thanks for following along ShopShoe, more final photos to come

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Have been keeping up with all your posts on the beam engine rebuild, I built one also but took me almost 2 years to finish working part time on it...Working on Stuart 5A now, almost done, don't ask how long I have worked on it.

Hi Packrat

Thanks for the message, I also work part time on the engines and maybe why I sometimes have a angry wife LOL. I like all the Stuart models specially the Victoria, maybe one day I will build that one too.

Currently I have no other projects in the pipeline so I am a bit into my other hobby of old clock restoration. I am sure there are also many engine builders on this group doing the same thing, always fascinated by clocks, engines and planes.

The time it takes to build an engine does not really matter, its the time that you put aside that brings joy to your heart.

 

[Cymro77]

Albert, I have enjoyed completing/repairing Stuart engines I have found online. It is a different engineering challenge. Sometimes I have purchased a set of plans, occasionally a casting. What is amazing to me is the fact that these Stuart's seem to run despite some incredibly poor efforts by home engineers. The work involved in bringing them back to life is frequently much more than would be needed to build from fresh castings since one frequently has to first repair the earlier construction errors.
Good luck with your project!

 

[AlbertdeWitte]

Albert, I have enjoyed completing/repairing Stuart engines I have found online. It is a different engineering challenge. Sometimes I have purchased a set of plans, occasionally a casting. What is amazing to me is the fact that these Stuart's seem to run despite some incredibly poor efforts by home engineers. The work involved in bringing them back to life is frequently much more than would be needed to build from fresh castings since one frequently has to first repair the earlier construction errors.
Good luck with your project!

Thanks you very much for the post. Yes you are correct. Its not easy to troubleshoot what the previous builder did and to fix mistakes.

I have not yet started to paint, too busy with clocks again. In the mean time my head is spinning in all sorts of directions trying to figure out which is my next project.

 

[Blogwitch]

A lot depends when the castings were actually made as to whether they can be rescued or not, as ST have been through a few sets of hands over the last few years, and I am positive that some of the intermediate owners were actually using castings for patterns rather than the standard oversized patterns that allows for metal shrinkage.
This started to show up about 5 years ago, people were finding that they couldn't fit the castings together as some were too small and the fixing holes actually came over the edges of the castings if drilled to the plans.
At the time, the only helpful saying that ST came up with was that these are made for model engineers to build, and their knowledge should be able to solve any problems that occur.

I am hoping now that ST is under better ownership and takes this problem by the scruff of the neck. Unfortunately, until that happens, there are hundreds, if not thousands of theses smaller castings out there.

That is one of the reasons I say a beginner to this hobby shouldn't start off with casting sets, especially ST ones, as they wouldn't be able to cope with the problems that arise, and I am sure that is one of the reasons so many of these part built kits ended up under a bench somewhere, and only surface again when all the problems have been forgotten about, and sold on places such as eBay to unsuspecting buyers.
You should be safe if you buy an obscure kit to build, as they would still have the original, many years old casting sets, or they still have unworn wooden patterns, but very popular ones might contain the smaller castings until this new owner sorts them out, if they have not done so already.


John