Wednesday 8 May 2019

Painting the engine

Now that it all fits together, the engine can't be painted without taking it apart again!
It is now split up into sub-assemblies ready to be painted.
I shall use WaxOyl for hidden parts and mating parts where a layer of paint might otherwise upset the spacing achieved without a thick layer of paint.
Silver barbecue paint will be used for surfaces likely to get hot (e.g. cylinders and nearby structures).
I thought yellow would be good for moving parts - I have been aware that there are heavy fast moving parts which could damage the unwary: yellow is a suitable warning colour?  If I have some left over I can use it for lining on the outside panels to provide extra visibility.
The rest will be dark green as before.
Copper and brass may be left untreated and available for polishing.
Parts to be treated will have to be rubbed down and washed (I am reminded of a children's story in which dirty pigs did not want to be washed, and responded to the idea of soap with "Oofy, Poofy, nope")
While re-assembling, steam sealing will take place - valve chest, cylinder ends, inlet and outlet pipe fittings + piston rings, and piston and pump rod glands.  Any parts which might come loose will need to be thread locked or punched into place.
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Wed 22nd May
Work in progress.
One side of the engine is painted and re-assembled - this time with piston rings, gland stuffing and "Steam Seal".  I was forgetting how much assembly I had achieved, and now have to repeat! I am so pleased that I had bought a hub puller and other useful tools to help with assembly and dis-assembly.
I wish I had used gloves when handling the Steam Seal; it is designed to withstand hot pressurised steam, and easily resists any attempt to remove it from hands using domestic hot water and soap/ detergent - I suppose I should be pleased that it performs.
I have also filed small slots in the  cylinder end covers so that I can insert a screwdriver to lever off these bits for future maintenance activities.

Picture of completed and painted engine is awaited!

Thursday 2 May 2019

The engine is assembled

Now that I have made everything fit together to form an engine I now have to dis-assemble it for painting/ rustproofing/ sealing.  There are no parts left over. As promised in the assembly instructions, it took a while to get the valve rods lined up with the bearing; I ended up having to make the circular piston mounting holes into slots to enable some sideways movement.  One piston was shimmed out from the central column with washers so that the valve rods were the correct distance apart.  The eccentrics are not yet in place as they need a hub puller to dis-assemble them - I am treating that as a one-off exercise.




 The hot parts will be silver, as I have some high temperature paint that colour.  I was thinking of  painting moving parts a distinctive colour - yellow perhaps?
Everything that can leak steam will need to be sealed.  Inaccessible surfaces will be coated to resist rust.  Glands will be sealed, piston rings are to be fitted.

I have procured some batteries as recommended.  I note that the batteries need to be kept charged to preserve their condition.

If there is a battery, then electric lights are an option - will try to find (or make) some that look as if they come from the right era, but will use LEDs for efficiency and safety. In the short term, some bicycle accessories may be pressed into service.

I have got to have a steam whistle!  According to 19th century legislation, one is not allowed to use a steam whistle so as to frighten animals (e.g. the horses of the Lord of the Manor)

I note that the battery box is watertight, as it was directly under a hole in the tarpaulin when it rained.  A hole will be needed,

Next steps:  fit the disk brakes; fit the controls; wire up the batteries.  That should keep me out of mischief for a while!