Stuart 10V Vertical Steam Engine

[dr_gn]

After many years of wanting a steam engine kit, I finally got one of these for my birthday:



It comes as a set of unmachined castings, some bar stock and a few nuts and bolts:



And the most important bit, the drawings:



After many hours of machining, it should look like this:

[dr_gn]

threespires said:

I look forward to this

Same here. I’m in the process of cleaning up my workshop a bit, servicing the lathe and getting a mini mill.

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CanAm said:

dr_gn said:

I think we all know it will probably end up looking better than this!
Can't wait to see the build thread.

I won’t look better than that - this is my first attempt at ‘proper’ machining as opposed to messing about making random things which can pretty much fit where they touch.

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Yertis said:

I built that very kit about 30 years ago. Having checked the valve timing with compressed air I've found it makes an excellent paperweight.

Yep, I doubt it’ll ever run with steam, although I did wonder if I could use my Wilesco boiler to try it for a laugh.

To be honest, the main reason I’m building it is just for the pleasure of building something that’s nice to look at (much like plastic models).

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Matt Cup said:

Have you got a link to where I can get one of these?

https://www.stuartmodels.com/item/39/stuart-10v-unmachined

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DAVEVO9 said:

Cool project.

Any more info on that ship in the background please?

Yes, one is here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

The other is here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

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Matt Cup said:

dr_gn said:

Matt Cup said:

Have you got a link to where I can get one of these?

https://www.stuartmodels.com/item/39/stuart-10v-unmachined

Cheers buddy, potential Xmas present for my dad!.

If he's got a lathe at home, chances are he'll like it!

[dr_gn]

Matt Cup said:

dr_gn said:

Matt Cup said:

dr_gn said:

Matt Cup said:

Have you got a link to where I can get one of these?

https://www.stuartmodels.com/item/39/stuart-10v-unmachined

Cheers buddy, potential Xmas present for my dad!.

If he's got a lathe at home, chances are he'll like it!

He certainly has, and it will give him an excuse to get out of my mums hair.

There's also an inexpensive book "Building a Vertical Steam Engine" that features this engine. It's not a step-by-step guide, but useful to have for a beginner. You can get it from Stuart models, or online, but be aware I think there's an updated version as well as an older one.

There is an almost overwhelming amount of stuff on the internet about building this engine too.

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BadBob said:

Very much looking forward to this thread as I'm about half way through building one of these myself.I feel sure I'll learn a lot about how I should have done it!

I’ll only be copying what’s in books or online - there will definitely be mistakes!

There’s a YouTube channel called Learning Turning - he is a beginner, and builds one of these ( and makes a great job of it).

For me I think it’ll be a case of taking the easiest bits of the overwhelming amount of advice out there, make a start, make mistakes, learn a lot and eventually get it finished!

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Some Guy said:

Excellent, always wanted a steam engine too. Only problem is I dont have a lathe and even if I did, with my skill level, I would probably end up with 200 quids worth of swarf.

I might end up with the same! I got a very basic lathe qualification at university, and apart from that, and messing about with mine at home, that's it. Even so, I think using a lathe for a hobby is different from if you're doing it in industry, so I think a slow but sure approach should be OK. It's still a skill I'm really looking forward to learning (to some degree).

[dr_gn]

Bit of progress - I built a bench for the Mini Mill I’ll hopefully be getting next month. I was going to get a Machine Mart metal bench (about £300), but my pal gave me some plywood, so I built this from old fence posts and MDF off-cuts. Only took 4 hours and the price of a box of screws and some floor varnish:

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anonymous said:

[redacted]

The biggest, most expensive kit I’ve ever built - ‘64 E-Type Coupe. 8 years to piece it together.

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Turn7 said:

dr_gn said:

The biggest, most expensive kit I’ve ever built - ‘64 E-Type Coupe. 8 years to piece it together.

I can only begin to imagine just how nice THAT must be......

It’s OK





Considering what I started with:





As I said... 8 long years

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Matt Cup said:

dr_gn said:

Bit of progress - I built a bench for the Mini Mill I’ll hopefully be getting next month. I was going to get a Machine Mart metal bench (about £300), but my pal gave me some plywood, so I built this from old fence posts and MDF off-cuts. Only took 4 hours and the price of a box of screws and some floor varnish:

Is that just a lathe or a milling machine too? I’ve been looking more into the kits but am a bit apprehensive in getting my dad one as he only has a lathe and wasn’t sure how necessary a milling machine is.

It’s just a lathe. It does have a vertical slide for limited milling, but that’s why I’m getting a mini mill.

I’m pretty sure it’s possible to build the 10V with only a lathe, but obviously it involves more manual work. I’ll try to find a reference.

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Matt Cup said:

Cheers.

Have you got a link to the mini mill too?

There you go:

https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-...

I’d normally go far a ‘name’ brand second hand, but having read a few reviews, it should be ok for me. I’ll probably upgrade it with DRO’s and a gas strut conversion at some point. Maybe even CNC one day, just for the sake of it.

[dr_gn]

Here’s a “lathe only” step-by-step:

http://homews.co.uk/page42.html

[dr_gn]

So the milling machine arrived this week:



Much nicer than expected - I think things must have moved on a bit in terms of fit and finish since last time I looked at Chinese machine tools 10 or so years ago. I believe that the place I got it from had some input into the design, based on earlier versions.

Now to get the gas strut and DROs fitted, and check it’s all set up properly.

[dr_gn]

Thanks guys.

I’ve been watching a few YouTube channels on building the 10v - Andrew Whales “learning turning” is pretty good because he approaches it as a beginner. He had the same mill as me, and has been helpful with questions I had.

Yes, first thing is to make some fixtures - as you say, good practice. However I’m putting DROs on the mill, and a gas strut first.

[dr_gn]

Rotated around to this again. Lockdown is at least motivating me to progress my projects. My goal was to make a start on the engine within a year of getting it. That anniversary is next weekend...

So, setting up and improving the milling machine. At the end of the day it’s a cheap machine, and by no means perfect. I want to get a few improvements done that will hopefully make working on it a bit easier. I fitted a gas strut to the z-axis to to make head movement smoother. First use of the machine was to drill and counterbore the steel mount bar:



Then the DRO scales. The backlash in the slides makes these pretty invaluable. Lots of drilling and tapping and making brackets, but nothing too difficult:



X:



Y:



Z:



And some aluminium covers and 3D printed end caps:





Readouts were mounted to some MDF, and I used an ancient Eastman Kodak camera ball and socket mount so I can position them for best viewing angle. Glad I kept that mount...





The cables need tidying, but that’s that done.

Also made a tool holder for the bench - first bit of milling was the spanner grooves. Shouldn’t really mill wood on it but who cares?



Next job is adjusting the gibs and tramming. Then it’s done for now. I have got some bits together to power the X-axis, but that can wait.

[dr_gn]

Cable spiral wrap arrived today, put the excess wires in a tub:





So that’s that. Now on to tramming - the table level is about 0.08 mm low at the back, a bit less left to right, so a bit of shim steel should sort it. I’ve already tweaked the gibs, but I find it a tricky job. Still, I think I’ve found a good setting.



At this rate I might just achieve my goal of cutting some metal on the 10V before Sunday.