Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Builds, Repairs, Show Your Machines! => Restorations => Topic started by: Maxwell on May 17, 2020, 11:29:36 am

Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Dan-c on July 02, 2020, 09:23:34 am
That’s nice mike :) nice to see what number your 677/8 is :) mine is no 11 :)
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Maxwell on July 01, 2020, 12:56:11 am
Hi Charlie, I just saw your post. Still working on the cleanup, things are better in Philly now. Thanks for asking. Unfortunately, this is not a Carette model 690. I have the smallest & largest sizes Carette 690 and the large one is 1/3 the size of this beast. I am sure Brent can chime in but he likes to keep his pre-1900 catalogs confidential :)
At least, I put the engine part back together for now.
[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: txlabman on June 11, 2020, 12:46:18 pm
Have things settled down for you in Philly Mike?

Hopefully, you will find some time to get the new Carette 690/? running?

Have you figured out which version of the 690 you have?
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: txlabman on June 05, 2020, 11:05:21 am
Both engines on the same page from the Carette 1911 Catalog!

[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: bigal on June 02, 2020, 07:40:30 pm
Wow

That engine is not a toy and the accessories are outstanding
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: txlabman on June 01, 2020, 10:09:57 pm
Great stuff Mike!

Thanks for posting the pictures.

That big Carette Vertical is very special.
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Nick on June 01, 2020, 08:49:19 pm
HOLY COW MIKE!! That is HUGE!! Are you sure that Stuart wasn't built by George Britnell??  :D

Please post more pictures when you have time  8)
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Maxwell on June 01, 2020, 08:40:03 pm

What a great setup.

Title mentions Carette but doesn't look a Carette but a much more sophisticated setup that a tin toy.

 I have gotten nickel with grudge cleaner by socking in acetone than blasted with a garden hose.   City supplied water is at least 80# of pressure, just need to cover painted areas and
of course need to liberally apply oil.

Bigal, I know that the majority of the collectors have never seen in the flesh what a real large Carette looks like; maybe that's why you did not realize that Carette is more than just a Tin toy company. I am posting some photos of few Cast Iron engine driven models Carette made as well as a photo of the largest Carette vertical they made next to a Stuart V10 for size comparison. I am still working on that restoration, but for now South Philadelphia neighborhood watch takes priority after work.

[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3][attachimg=4][attachimg=5][attachimg=6][attachimg=7]




Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: bigal on May 31, 2020, 10:44:33 am

What a great setup.

Title mentions Carette but doesn't look a Carette but a much more sophisticated setup that a tin toy.

 I have gotten nickel with grudge cleaner by socking in acetone than blasted with a garden hose.   City supplied water is at least 80# of pressure, just need to cover painted areas and
of course need to liberally apply oil.
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: txlabman on May 28, 2020, 02:04:34 pm
Very cool Mike.

This one is a real treasure.

What are the dimensions of the boiler and engine?
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Woe is me on May 27, 2020, 06:23:56 pm
Matching number's is a good way to show authenticity and pride in workmanship. Like a fine tuned hand made custom firearm.
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Nick on May 26, 2020, 08:02:47 pm
What a neat find!  :)
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Maxwell on May 26, 2020, 07:55:29 pm
I listened to the wise advice from everyone including my internal voice to leave the Nickel Plating as is. Thanks for helping me with the final decision. I noticed something interesting on this machine during the cleanup; every piece on the machine including the boiler door, crank shaft, eccentric, Cast Iron safety valve...etc have the number 11 embossed on the metal; which makes me believe that this is machine number 11 of this model. Below are some of these stamped numbers on the different parts; it's also a good indication that the boiler and engine belongs together having the same number. More to come
[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3][attachimg=4][attachimg=5][attachimg=6]
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: RedRyder on May 23, 2020, 06:16:53 pm
If you can get your nickel work to look old or a little dull, it would look nice. If your new plating will look too fresh and shiny, then might be best to just clean it really well.


Very nice piece!
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: St Paul Steam on May 23, 2020, 05:50:40 pm
Personally, I would leave it as is. If you redo the plating it might not look right with the patina of the rest of it. It looks great as is.
I think Tommy's nailed it , its kind of a all or nothing resto, the paint will be lost in the recess's of the piece.
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Woe is me on May 23, 2020, 07:11:00 am
Personally, I would leave it as is. If you redo the plating it might not look right with the patina of the rest of it. It looks great as is.
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Maxwell on May 23, 2020, 04:54:53 am
Thanks fellows. it has been a long working week, and now back to the restoration. Beforehand; I would like to wish all of you a great Memorial Day Weekend; and the highest tributes to our healthcare workers who are still working hard to save lives through this years' Memorial day.
Below is what I did so far just cleaning up a century of gunk gently; which revealed some amazing Nickel plating underneath the hardened steam oil. It was very time consuming, but rewarding. Now the question that arises; do I restore the Nickel Plating or not? more to come
[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3][attachimg=4][attachimg=5]
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Inge on May 19, 2020, 08:38:18 pm
Nice work. Good to see it left in a natural state, as opposed to being over restored. How was the Gruener (did you open it to celebrate?)
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: St Paul Steam on May 19, 2020, 08:07:33 pm
That's got some size to it, nice plant Mike & cleaned up well. I don't believe I've seen that 'tuning fork' style frame before.
Title: Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: oilfield_steam on May 19, 2020, 07:43:50 pm
Awesome acquisition Mike.
Title: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
Post by: Maxwell on May 17, 2020, 11:29:36 am
Hi Mates,
I took advantage of the weekend, and started a lengthy deep cleaning of my recent acquisition that I am still very excited about. Below are some of the photos of the engine before and during cleanup. Other posts will follow, and I hope that you enjoy them.

[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3][attachimg=4]