A couple of months back I
made contact with a bloke who had made a model steam engine and had offered it
for sale. Normally I would not buy such an item but it had a huge flywheel and
I cannot machine anything that size.
The engine design owes a lot
to Stan Brays "Opus Proximum" but my engine is different enough for
me to rename it "Opus Machina" (because it took me a long time to
remake it!)
To cut a long story short, I
paid the man for his engine but made a big mistake by not taking my reading
specs with me. It was only later that day I was able to closely examine the
engine with my proper specs on that I realised what a hopeless mess I had
bought. It looked like it had been made by a blind chimpanzee. Some of the best
finishes had been achieved with a hacksaw or a blunt parting of tool - yes, it was that bad! The sharp edges on the flywheel would have sliced bacon.
So, over the last few months
I have ripped it apart and re-machined parts that could be machined and made
new parts that could not be re-machined.
The only thing I have not
touched is the cylinder assembly - I hardly dare imagine what it looks like
inside. Just to give you an idea though, the valve chest is secured with 4BA
screws. Trouble is - he'd stripped the threads on one of the holes - his
solution? He super glued a 6BA screw in its place.
I have heard some horror
stories about chaps buying others "works of art" but I never thought
I would end up being a sucker as well.
Never mind though, it's kept
me occupied over the last few months and doesn't look half bad now sitting on
my desk.
This is a good example of the
original finish before I started work.
This is my refurbed job.
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