Stuart Beam - PS8 Steam

A new aquisition: A built Stuart Beam Engine - with issues!

It runs (on compressed air at this stage) at quite a low speed.  Pronounced knocking which will need to be looked at.

The first video below is the last gasp of this engine before too much came loose, and the pictures to the left show some of the detail. Much work to be done!

Worries:

1. Very dubious looking washers beneath the beam plummer blocks.

2. Knocking sound.

Horrid engineering:

1. Not triming the gaskets on either the cylinder or steam chest.

2. Not rounding the tops of the connecting rod.

3. Screw sizes not consistent.

4. Would have been nice to mill the edges of the entablature to add a little detail.

5. Castings not cleaned up.

6. The beam wobbles from side to side.

7. The shaft through the beam stays stationary while the beam moves.

8. The base board is past its best, but includes an 1/8" thick steel plate which I will keep.

To Do:

1. Order drawings from Stuart.

2. Track down a copy of Andrew Smith's book 'Building the Stuart Beam Engine'.

3. Strip it down.

4. Discard wooded base and linoleum sheet.

Well it's all taken apart - and I have a huge new collection of shim washers and other odd sims and lock washers!  The steel sheet built into the base is just 1/16" thick and not flat - something else for the bin.  Piston is missing its o-ring, valve chest full of gasket junk and no nut or screw more than finger tight.  Slotted grub screws are intact, but I will replace with hex head ones.

Next task is the measure the items I have and compare them with the Stuart drawings.