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

Thanks much for the kind comments.
I appreciate those.

When I first attempted to make a few engine parts back in I think 2009, I was hogging things out of blocks of gray cast iron, such as cylinders, flywheels, etc.
It was miserable going, and the parts I made were very poor quality.  I keep those parts as a reminder of how it was in the beginning.

I purchase a casting kit for a steam engine, but was not really pleased with the design of that, and the castings were in aluminum, which was somewhat gummy to machine.

The engines I really wanted to make were and are not available anywhere, and so as a last resort, I decided to build a foundry and make my own castings in iron.

I was trying to explain to my sister that it was much easier to build an engine from castings, since the only machining generally required was a light skimming of some of the surfaces.
My sister said "Yes, but you had to build a freaking foundry to do it !", and I said "Yes, but I still find it easier to make my own castings rather than try and hog out parts from solid blocks of metal".

The foundry stuff is tremendous fun, and I enjoy that as much or perhaps more than actually machining and assembling the engine.

I like engine design too, and use Solidworks to create a 3D model that will run in a virtual simulation, so that I can verify the design before I start casting parts.

Its a great hobby, and a great escape from the rigors of work and such, which is a large part of why I do it.
And lots of nice folks in this hobby too, and so much talented out there.  Just attend NAMES and you will see what I mean.

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