Stuart 10V Steam Engine page

Shown here is a Stuart 10V model steam engine, one of six machined from rough castings from Stuart Models. Work was shared with a friend- he built the cylinder, piston, valve chest and frame, I built the crankshaft, bearings, con-rod, valve rod & eccentric, base and flywheel for each engine. Materials are cast iron, brass and silver steel. Crankshaft
is made from separate hand-made parts Loctited together, clamped in the lathe chucks to align things. Piston has graphite impregnated string in a groove for sealing. Cylinder is double-acting, and both the piston rod and the valve rod have adjustable glands.

Stuart make a range of engine castings kits- the 10V is about 6” high. We made these engines available with this flywheel, or a smaller, solid marine-type flywheel.
Making 6 meant it was worth making some jigs to aid construction, which we did.

Shown here is a Stuart 10V model steam engine, one of six machined from rough castings from Stuart Models. Work was shared with a friend- he built the cylinder, piston, valve chest and frame, I built the crankshaft, bearings, con-rod, valve rod & eccentric, base and flywheel for each engine. Materials are cast iron, brass and silver steel. Crankshaft is made from separate hand-made parts Loctited together, clamped in the lathe chucks to align things. Piston has graphite impregnated string in a groove for sealing. Cylinder is double-acting, and both the piston rod and the valve rod have adjustable glands. Stuart make a range of engine castings kits- the 10V is about 6” high. We made these engines available with this flywheel, or a smaller, solid marine-type flywheel. Making 6 meant it was worth making some jigs to aid construction, which we did.
Four of the six engines sold in web auctions, and we were surprised by the interest. We kept an engine each because after the hours of construction, it was hard to let them all go... One engine is running on compressed air here- and all 6 would run happily down to 120 rpm on <5psi at no load. Getting them to run this freely involved some fettling/adjustment of the solid brass crankshaft bearings mainly.
The 6 sets of upper engine parts ready for assembly. They have been machined and painted- quite some hours in the workshop, inspite of the economies of scale given by making 6 at once. Photo courtesy of Steve.