have started to make the governor for my Stuart beam engine. I want to capture the look of an early Watt governor
Moving along. Got to make smaller balls as they look out of scale.
Those are definitely some big balls!
Looking good Brad , your Watts scale looks correct.
I fitted the finished parts to the engine. Closely matches those on small beam engines in the Henry Ford Museum. Don't pay attention to the Phillips head screws. They will be gone when my 0-80 hex-head bolts and nuts arrive.
Looking good Brad. What's wrong with big balls?
Use any size that looks good to you. I prefer to keep the aesthetics close to what is in my photos of the small beam engines at the Ford Museum. There is so much science to centrifugal motion. RPM, weight of governor balls, amount of work to be done. etc. Since a model engine governor usually does not actually govern unless the engine is run at warp speed, I choose to stick with what looks right. I run my engines at scale speed, which for a small beam engine like the Stuart, would be about 45 RPM. It is a model and I feel it should look prototypical.
Looks really good to me. I have always liked the Stuart Beam.
I always did too and it is a very nice runner. The simplistic design makes it robust. I am also working on an M E Beam engine and it is much more fickle. Beautiful engine, but not robust.
Good job on that Governor
I have the same Beam Engine and here a picture
of my governor, Have a nice day, Arnold
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Does the spring drive work well? I am planning to use an O-ring.
Use any size that looks good to you. I prefer to keep the aesthetics close to what is in my photos of the small beam engines at the Ford Museum. There is so much science to centrifugal motion. RPM, weight of governor balls, amount of work to be done. etc. Since a model engine governor usually does not actually govern unless the engine is run at warp speed, I choose to stick with what looks right. I run my engines at scale speed, which for a small beam engine like the Stuart, would be about 45 RPM. It is a model and I feel it should look prototypical.
Thoughtful and well said Brad!
Does the spring drive work well? I am planning to use an O-ring.
The problem is that the bronze balls are very heavy and without a
spring they have too much travel at low speed. With the spring it is really
a fully functional governor. Regards, Arnold