Stuart ‘Victoria’ : a beginners tale..

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Ok, seems to be time to give up on this thread now, thanks to all those who contributed for your earlier help. I've taken a copy so please feel free to delete and free up some space..

Cheers for now – may be back to try again with my next project..

Regards.

Allan.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Pleas don't stop now, It would be great to see the assembled engien comming together and hopefully a video of it running, to stop now would be like ripping the last chapter out of a book.

I have never bothered to coat brightwork, just the thing film of oil you get after running and wiping down will be enough protection unless it is going to be stored in the damp.

J

PS Nice job on the display base too.

[MM57Participant @mm57]

Oh no – please don't stop

A few pictures and words about the assembly, plus the finished engine will be the icing on the cake for one of the best threads on here

(and please, no one delete the thread either – the space taken is a non-issue compared with the usefulness of all that Allan has carefully written and posted here)

[GaryMParticipant @garym]

Echoing Jason & Martin's pleas. You can't stop posting now Allan. We're all waiting to see it run. The thread has contributed so much useful info to beginners like myself it would be a shame to stop now.

Gary

Edited By GaryM on 13/02/2014 14:12:31

[Mike BondarczukParticipant @mikebondarczuk27171]

Allan, I have been following your series since you started and it has resulted in me ordering an S50 and 10V kit from Stuarts and move away from the wobblers I have been building. You really should follow through to the end and then share your joys with all on this site. Mike

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Hi Allan, My Victoria sits in my office, where it has been since I finished it in October 2010. There is no sign of corrosion anywhere. The problem is that it does collect dust, so I am planning to make a glass top to keep the dust off. One day.

You have to keep posting until you have a video clip of it running. It's the law!

Your base looks magnificent too! Loco builders can't do that sort of thing

Steve

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

hi Allan,

your thread is one of the few interesting things on this forum, and at my sort of level, rather than stuff about CAD, DRO, 3D printing, gear cutting etc.

i do hope you wont stop posting. there's quite a bit left such as all the valve setting and other niggles that will be of great interest to many.

i have greatly enjoyed your posts so hope you will continue.

i do love the base to your engine! lovely bit of woodwork!

so far as steel finish is concerned try and get some clockmaker's diamantine powder. mix it with a bit of oil and it imparts a very high finish. use 1200 or 1500 grade wet and dry paper first (dry). the famous model of COMO in Brighton Museum has all its steel work glistening and unblemished after 100/110 years. there are also special rust inhibiting oils. someone in your club might give you some shell ensis oil or industrial compressor oil.

having seen Papplewick, Kew etc pumping engines i think that a high shiny finish is entirely appropriate.

cheers,

julian

[paul raynerParticipant @paulrayner36054]

Hello Allan

I too am relatively new to model engineering

and I beg you not to stop. Ive picked up a multitude of hints and tips from you and others in your endeavours.

Im really pleased (and jealous) you have the time not only to go in your workshop but to write and photograph all of these postings. I also think that the view figures nearly 28 thousand speak for themselves.

regards

Paul

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Regarding corrosion of plain metal parts you could consider a wax. You need something with a fairly neutral pH like a good quality car wax maybe.

regards Martin

[Geoff~Participant @geoff46085]

Allan,

PLEASE continue to post on this great project. In a year that has seen more than its fair share of negativity, your thread has been one of the highlights and reminds us all of the true purpose of this forum.

There is an interesting thread on the HMEM site on the use of Lanolin for rust prevention.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f25/rust-prevention-lanolin-its-better-then-oil-21073/

Geoff~

Edited By Geoff~ on 14/02/2014 10:21:19

Edited By JasonB on 16/02/2014 16:02:57

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Please don't stop your write up, I have a Stuarts 10V, S50, & a 'progress' in my workshop waiting to be made & your write up has shown a lot of hints & get arounds with a multitude of helpful comments from other members which are excellent reference points for the rest of us, whether we be 'oldies' or newbies. Would love to see finished engine perhaps with a vid of it running.

George

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Dr. J. Bradbury Winter, who built Como, was featured in the first copy of "The Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician in 1898. His method of rust prevention is/was "interesting", he used little glass trays (feeding dishes for cage birds}3" long x 1 1/2" broad x 1 1/4" deep, in these he put about 1/8" depth of pure sulphuric acid, this absorbed the moisture in the air, and when the volume reached about 1", about 6 to 8 weeks, it was emptied. I some how think some other method is used today, but it solved the rusting problem at that time. Ian S C

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Oh great, just checked my emails and seen the recent posts, thanks very much for the interest, and some really interesting tips and info to go through as well – even better. Not having had much feedback / comments for ages I assumed it had just run its course, understandable as I started it way back in July I think it was last year…

Pleased its worthwhile now carrying on – so I'll post again soon…

Regards

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 14/02/2014 18:36:48

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well, I'm glad you lot have talked some sense into Allan!

Neil

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Thanks Neil.

Assembly 2.

While the weather is still a bit full on, a bit more time spent in the warm on the assembly..

All the required gaskets are supplied..

Fitting the Front Cylinder Gasket.

Fitting the Rear Cylinder Gasket – and cleaning out the debris, not sure how all that ended up in there..

Fitting the Gasket to the Valve Chest.

Installing the Graphite Yarn (supplied) around the Piston Rod (there is a 'shoulder' in there to stop it going right through into the Cylinder), then..

pushing the Graphite Yarn into the Cylinder Gland and tightening up.

the same for some Graphite Yarn for the Valve Chest (again a 'shoulder' inside the 'gland housing' to stop it going right through into the Valve Chest).

Assembly so far 1. ( Still some touching up needed here).

Assembly so far 2.

 

Regards.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 15/02/2014 11:55:20

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Allan, one thing worth doing with the Stuart cylinder castings is pushing a stiff wire into the ports and having a good poke about, you often find that some of the sand from the core is left behind and that could be where your debris is comming from.

J

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Thanks Jason, I'll definitely have to do that then, all I did was to blow down through them to check they were clear / open, which is clearly not enough it seems – and a must remember to do in future… but also thinking about it I only did that when first starting to work with it, feel sure I didn't think to do it again after all the machining….heck how silly does that sound, can't believe I did that – they must be full up!

Thanks again.

Cheers.

Allan.

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Assembly 3.

Just a couple more photos of the assembly progress…

After taking apart again and some poking around with wire and a bit of blowing down through the Cylinder ports I did have some more debris coming out – so well worth doing of course.. Bit of bad luck this morning, walking through the front room holding one of the tiny Guide Supports, stumbled over the dogs bone and it flew out of my hand, of all the places it could have gone it chose the coal scuttle, which was 3 parts full of house coal (not your clean barbecue stuff that most people are familiar with these days) – ended up 'chasing' it right to the bottom and having to empty the scuttle all over the hearth, then my wife arrives back in after walking the dog – oh dear, not good timing – wonderfully dirty stuff coal!

I had to file the lower guide bar supports down just slightly as the piston was a bit too tight to move I thought.. A tiny bit off made all the difference and it slides nicely now..

Assembly so far 1.

Assembly so far 2.

Regards.

Allan.

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

hi allan,

looks superb!

a real credit to you!

when fitting graphite packing i always soak it in steam cylinder oil first. a bit messy, but it compresses much better and forms a better longer lasting seal, plus has a 'head start' on being lubricated.

i look forward to the valve setting as that is the bit i enjoy the most!

lovely shade of green on the cylinder by the way. a lovely deep colour. no cylinder cleading on the design?

cheers,

julian

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Valve setting – what I found was that the timing kept slipping because the leavers that actuated the slide valve kept sliding on the shaft.

Steve

[GarryCParticipant @garryc]

Cheers Julian.

and thanks for the Steam Oil tip, something I will remember for the future. I'm afraid I don't know (but am interested in hearing about?) what "cylinder cleading" is? To be honest I had to look up to clarify what the Steam Oil was for, I had guessed right, but couldn't find any info about the other. There is a "displacement lubricator" available as an add on (for the steam oil I presume?) and I may look at that, also maybe some short pipework if its not too awkward to do..

The assembly notes that came with it are a bit vague about how to set the valve timing, for me reading anyway – although there is a further short reference in the little booklet "Building the Stuart Victoria" that I have which may help. I plan to assemble it all first (still have some more parts yet to make) then ask if anyone on here can explain a little more about how to go about it – but that's still a ways off yet….

I don't know if it will ever start and run when the time comes…!

Hi Steve

Thanks, I was thinking when assembling earlier that the grub screws in the Levers are very tiny…

Cheers.

Allan.

Edited By Allan. on 16/02/2014 22:04:57

[GaryMParticipant @garym]

Hi Allan,

It's coming together nicely now. The following link is part 9 of a series that Tubal Cain (Tom Walshaw) did in ME on the Stuart S50 that I'm following. The third page has a guide to setting the valve timing on the S50 that might be useful (or not) in the absence of anything else.

**LINK**

You can get to the other parts of the series by replacing the 9 in the address with a number from 1 to 10.

Gary

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

hi allan,

cylinder cleading is the plate that fits round the outside of the cylinder.

if you plan running it on air you need to use an oil that wont break down with condensate – i use singer sewing machine oil.

if you can post a pic of the valve showing the lap and eccentric throw then setting the valve is just a question of setting the correct angle of advance bearing in mind the lap, relative to the throw. there really isnt any excuse these days for designs not to show the correct angle of advance for the eccentrics.

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 17/02/2014 01:10:32

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Allan if you only intend to run on air then don't waste your money on the displacement lubricator as it needs the condensate from stem to displace the oil.

You can also clad the cylinder with wooded strips, this is more common on stationary engines than Locos. On the full size engines the space between the outer dia of the cylinder and the flange dia was filled with insulation and the cladding covered the insulation, how I did it here and finished

 

J

Edited By JasonB on 17/02/2014 07:44:46

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Steve I pinned mine more authentic and sure

Roy

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