Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines
The Regular Stuff: Chat, Buy, Sell, Off Topic, etc. => General Discussion - Model & Toy Steam Engines – Stirling Cycle – Flame Lickers – Small Antique Originals => Topic started by: RedRyder on October 11, 2021, 08:07:36 pm
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A Stuart Turner Cygnet Finds a New Home at the Office of Steam!
These rarely come available and I am happy to have it here as part of my permanent collection.
Internally it is like new and the seller and I don't think it was ever run.
This one was factory built by Stuart Turner at Henley on Thames. Not sure of the precise age however I do have it's history for more than 50 years.
Here it is as shared by the seller:
Hi Gil, here’s the history of the Cygnet, Bill of Sale attached.
Purchased by Ralph C. Peabody (my maternal grandfather) in the early 1970’s from the UK, seller unknown.
Manchester, NH
WWII Navy Veteran - Radio Operator on the USS Duluth in the Pacific Theatre
Owner/founder of Ralph C. Peabody Commercial Plumbing in Manchester, NH
Given to Peter P. Parady in early 1980’s (his son in-law/my father)
Manchester, NH
Huntington Beach, CA
Danbury, NH
Asheboro, NC
The Cygnet spent most of the last 50 years on display in my grandfather’s and father’s living rooms. It was never run on air or steam that I am aware of at any point during that time. Both my grandfather and father were steam collectors, primarily small scale models. The Cygnet was the largest displacement model in either of their collections.
I hope you enjoy the Cygnet and in time pass it along to another person that will preserve the history of the engine.
Best regards,
Chris
I will add that it is so nice to be handed so much of the history along with the engine. I am honored to carry the torch for this family who cared for it for the last half century.
Below are a few pictures as arrived here and as the clean up begins. I have thoroughly enjoyed beginning to work on this piece as I haven't tackled a good project in some months due to preparing to move to a new home for the Office of Steam. While I am not certain of having enough time, I will do what I can when I can.
Enjoy,
Gil
As arrived and I will say how pleased I am the seller has relatives less than 20 minutes away and they brought it to my door on their way to visit his wife's family.
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As I begin the clean up...
The bore is perfect!
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The timing is a bit off.
As I feared, timing is locked because the eccentrics are keyed in place.
I may need to find someone to cut a new key slot inside the eccentrics bore.
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I can't say I've ever seen one of those before ,chunky little beast , very nice what is that mass beside the engine ?
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Hi Bruce, It is a Stuart 5A cylinder assembly on a dedicated marine platform.
That attached "mass" consists of a vacuum pump, feed water pump, steam cylinder oil pump driven by a ratchet drive and all are driven by by a reduction gear case with eccentrics and finally there is the Stuart Henley on Thames brass ID tag.
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Here is a short video of the beginning break in procedure.
I turned it over on the lathe for about an hour when my 15 plus years old chinese lathe gave out.
The motor failed and the shop smelled like... well... a freshly burned out electric motor.
Here is what this set up looked like:
https://youtu.be/LgMRlMmP6co
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Hi Bruce, It is a Stuart 5A cylinder assembly on a dedicated marine platform.
That attached "mass" consists of a vacuum pump, feed water pump, steam cylinder oil pump driven by a ratchet drive and all are driven by by a reduction gear case with eccentrics and finally there is the Stuart Henley on Thames brass ID tag.
Way cool , I can see your attraction to it ,gears ,pumps , ratcheting oil pump , what's not to love .
Steam therapy heals a lot of ills 😊
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You got that right, Bruce!
Now I need some rest.
Gil
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That poor little lathe didn't like running a load like that so slowly. No back gears!
That's an awesome find! Was that sold as a pleasure model or an engine made for work? I've seen the boat launch engines on U-Tube and they aren't much bigger...
All right, search to the rescue to answer my own question:
http://stuartturnersteam.com/Marine/Cygnet/Cygnet.html
Awesome!
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I see that website is sharing my video of my Swan. That works! I'll have to send them a link when I make a good running video of the Cygnet.
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Wow.
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I spotted this on ebay and was sure not to save it in my watchlist as I knew I would try and win it :D
Congrats Gil!! Can’t wait for more videos 8)
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No question - high quality steam hardware - what a find!
Congrats Gil
I only have a #1 on my shelf (2"x2" displacement)
and the Cygnet is on my wishlist since many years.
Arnold
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An awesome addition to your collection Gil.
I hope to see it live at Cabin Fever 2022.
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That looks like a whopper of an engine Gil
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An awesome addition to your collection Gil.
I hope to see it live at Cabin Fever 2022.
I will bring it!
Gil
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An awesome addition to your collection Gil.
I hope to see it live at Cabin Fever 2022.
I will bring it!
Gil
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=arZdeg_fL-I
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Here's a fresh video after first re-assembly.
I still need to take it apart again and do a better job with fitting.
Stuart neglected this one a bit at the factory so it never was quite right and no one knew until now as I am the first to run it.
As time allows I will make it right.
For now....
Enjoy!
Gil
https://youtu.be/-u6FQytLOh4
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Very nice Gil ,I like everything about that.
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Thanks, Bruce!
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That poor little lathe didn't like running a load like that so slowly. No back gears!
That's an awesome find! Was that sold as a pleasure model or an engine made for work? I've seen the boat launch engines on U-Tube and they aren't much bigger...
All right, search to the rescue to answer my own question:
http://stuartturnersteam.com/Marine/Cygnet/Cygnet.html
Awesome!
Thank you!
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That looks like a whopper of an engine Gil
Thanks, Jim!
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I spotted this on ebay and was sure not to save it in my watchlist as I knew I would try and win it :D
Congrats Gil!! Can’t wait for more videos 8)
Thanks, Nick!
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No question - high quality steam hardware - what a find!
Congrats Gil
I only have a #1 on my shelf (2"x2" displacement)
and the Cygnet is on my wishlist since many years.
Arnold
Thanks, Arnold!
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Here is video update Part 3 for the Stuart Turner Cygnet.
Enjoy!
Gil
https://youtu.be/Mz-XyYPnS_E
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Here is update part 4.
https://youtu.be/L_28ZrJINRM
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Love the deep throaty sound of that one Gil....very nice.
Rog
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Thanks, Rog!
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That is a great looking set up.
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Thanks, Jim!
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Amazing to see it running super-slow on low PSI, such quality!
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Hi Greg, I also like to run them real slow. This engine is still not timed properly to run super slow.
Could you have mistaken slow motion for super slow?
It will run real fast!
This one seems set up to run fast.
Soon I will make a short video of it running at 800 RPM plus.
Here is a Stuart 5A that is more properly set up and doesn't have the extra load and friction of all 3 pumps (it has one pump).
https://youtu.be/aEhJ78gXxag
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Much of my work and film focuses on engines capable of running quite slowly.
In this video, update part 5, I will make a high speed air test run on the Cygnet.
Enjoy!
Gil
https://youtu.be/HJelvfQqS5U
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Nice work on that Gil , it certainly paid off with a nice runner and stunning presentation.