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Author Topic: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup  (Read 1498 times)

Maxwell

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Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« 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.

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oilfield_steam

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2020, 07:43:50 pm »
Awesome acquisition Mike.
Scott

St Paul Steam

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #2 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.
Bruce, St. Paul Indiana, USA
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Inge

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #3 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?)

Maxwell

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #4 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
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Woe is me

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #5 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.
Tommy

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St Paul Steam

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #6 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.
Bruce, St. Paul Indiana, USA
"Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind."
  Nikola Tesla

RedRyder

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #7 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!

Maxwell

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #8 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
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Nick

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2020, 08:02:47 pm »
What a neat find!  :)
Nick

Woe is me

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #10 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.
Tommy

"Steam it, like you mean it."

txlabman

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #11 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?

bigal

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #12 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.

Maxwell

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #13 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.

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Nick

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Re: Pre 1900 Carette before and after Cleanup
« Reply #14 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)
Nick