Mike Boucher Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 Hi folks, YEARS ago, I acquired a set of castings for a reasonably large horizontal stationary steam engine. 1.5 bore x 3.5" stroke cylinder. The flywheel is about 11" diameter. The base casting is almost 24" long. I had been working on it for a while, but then stopped. One of the problems is that the plans were rather poor. Badly photocopied copies of hand-drawn sketches with missing dimensions and a lot of "to be determined at assembly". A few years ago, I had some medical issues, and my immune system was seriously compromised. I wasn't allowed to do any modeling. Couldn't work in my shop (possible mold in basement). Couldn't use solvent glues or paints (fumes might cause respiratory issues). No woodworking (mold/spores in the wood, sawdust). It was seriously annoying. What I decided to do was some model engineering design work. I took the bad drawings, the castings, and measuring tools, and started working out what I needed to do. At the same time, I downloaded a free 2D software package, Draftsight, and started learning how to use it. Over the next year or so, I worked out a set of drawings that would allow me to complete the engine. For example, here's the cylinder... Once I recovered, I decided that I would focus on getting this engine "up and running". I made a "New Years Resolution" to get it running by my local model engineering club's annual show. Well, I missed last year, but the show this year is Feb 16th, and I should have it running, but not all the finish work done. I'm just about done, but I recently decided to start a thread on it. So, First a summary, then you'll see more of the "finishing" work. Once this is done, I'll continue the thread with my next project(s)... Here's what the set of castings looked like when I picked up work on it. Most of the castings to basic dimensions, but a long way to go! After machining the cylinder, here's the valve surface. The crosshead and steam chest was fun. In my basement shop, I have a 7" shaper. If I need a mill, I have to go to my father's shop. So, I made these parts using the shaper... Here's machining the crosshead... And the steam chest. The latest, and last major part I worked on was the connecting rod. I wanted to make "marine style" ends, but didn't really need to. So I semi-cheated and used a solid (not split) bearing, and then made the rest. The gib and key, and the slot for them, was definitely a lot of slow and careful work. So, now to start assembly. Like I said, I'll still need to do a lot of finish work, but I should be running soon. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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