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

That's going to be the best running Carette ever.

I like all the over built machining and oil light bearing  choice, this is going to be way more precise than what came out of the factory. Superb work again Paula, and Charlie really chose the exact right machinist to donate this plant too.

And I have another one when Paula finishes this one!

And I have another one when Paula finishes this one!

@RichSteamTx has gifted me an Empire B43 to be next in line, but bring 'em on, I say! All donations welcome and much appreciated.

This could turn into a full-time occupation... [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Paula

It's finished!

As mentioned earlier, I was on the fence on what to do about the smokestack. Although I received the engine with a smokestack, it's not an original one. Even though it fits the boiler, it's taller, and larger in diameter than the original. One thing it does have going for it is that it more-or-less matches the patina of the engine, and on that basis, I decided to make it work. If I were to make a smokestack to somewhat match the original, it would be difficult, if not impossible to make it look 120 years old.

So, I figured out how tall the smokestack would have to be, given that the overall height of the engine and stack is supposed to be 36 centimeters. With that information, I calculated how much to cut from the longer stack to make it work out to the correct overall height. Here's how it looks after cutting:

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To give the smokestack some added stability, I made a brass bushing to fit over the boiler fitting:

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Now the engine has a somewhat original-looking stack, of the correct height, and only a bit larger diameter. Mission accomplished!

The last step was to replace the wicks in the spirit burner with some proper 1/4" dia. wicks. The ones it came with looked like some kind of weird yarn.

I have some finished images attached at the end of this post, and a short video of the engine running on steam below:




Hope you enjoyed that. A big thanks to Charlie for donating this fine little engine. It was great fun to work on!

Paula

Didn't mean to give that impression, only that it was not going to be like new. The only visible effect is that it throws a shower of water droplets on itself due to the loose rod guide. And you would probably notice a difference if you were driving a load. But otherwise, it goes to town!

Thanks for the compliment, Richard!

Paula

A little frothed up steam oil with saturated steam does wonders at "sealing" the piston/cylinder gap that simple air pressure certainly cannot!

A little frothed up steam oil with saturated steam does wonders at "sealing" the piston/cylinder gap that simple air pressure certainly cannot!

Good point. Before steaming this engine, I pulled back the spring-loaded valve from the port face, and infused some steam oil. I also squirted some steam oil in the exhaust pipe and rotated the flywheel in reverse, sucking the oil up into the engine's innards. This was in addition to applying steam oil to the piston rod where it emerges from the cylinder. And you're right, it seemed to help a lot.

Paula