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| Stuart Working Beam Steam
Engine |
United Kingdom - Manufacture date:
unknown
Bore = 1", Stroke 2", Flywheel diameter
= 7"
Style: Double Acting, Working Beam
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Dimensions: 18" length x 13" width
x 13" height
(includes base) |
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The Stuart Beam Engine |
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This engine was hand built by a talented, but sadly unknown,
craftsman in England. It was sitting in an antique shop and had been neglected
for quite some time. Mounted on a piece of ugly white Formica, the Stuart
was covered in many years worth of dirt and oils. It really looked bad.
I acquired it and had it shipped here with less than stellar hopes of it
being a running engine. However, to my surprise, after disassembly and major
cleaning, it began to look much better. While the engine was apart,
I checked the tolerances of things only to find the engine had been machined
to within 1/2 a thousandth of an inch to factory specifications. When
reassembled, it ran too smooth to be believed. |
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The cylinder was originally lagged in brass sheeting
which had seen better days long before I found the engine. Rough handling
had left its mark on the sheeting and the slide valve linkage, requiring
some repair during reassembly. Luckily, I was able to salvage the original
linkage, and amazingly, the original blue paint was in excellent condition
and is shown in these photos.
The cylinder is now lagged with hand rubbed mahogany veneer and strapped
in place using brass strips secured by small scale turnbuckles. The new display
base was added, complete with nailed flooring, to simulate a pre 1900's factory
floor. The end results were pretty amazing, making this one a most prized
piece in the collection. |
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Cylinder Section Details |
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View of the Stuart Boiler |
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The boiler was also disassembled and cleaned. Other
than one small dent in the pressure vessel, the boiler and fire box liner
were in good condition. A bit of work with copper cleaner and a soft cloth
soon had it looking like new.
This is the smaller version of the Stuart boiler, burner fired, by paraffin
or alcohol. It has boiler tubes extending from the vessel into the fire box
for flash heating. This really cuts the time required to build a head of
steam and get the engine running.
The manual feed water pump completes the set up and makes maintaining water
levels much easier and safer than top loading with a funnel. |
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