Member postings for Grindstone Cowboy

My cousin used to have the Corgi model, about ten inches or a foot long, with rotating number plates (worked by moving the aerial up and down), working ejector seat and IIRC, the pop-up bullet-proof shield behind the rear window. Always wonder what happened to it.

Rob

Not since he died, no. It seems plausible to me that if oil is going to get involved in the combustion process, either past the rings, down the valve guides or through whatever exhaust gas recirculation process your engine employs, that clean oil would be better than oil full of carbon and particulates, no? Anyway, as they say in the Bronx: "It couldn't hoit!"

Rob

I do an oil and filter change once a year, just before the MOT - this is usually about 8 to 10 thousand miles for me. A mechanic friend told me it helps lower the emissions for the test

Rob

I wonder if one of these may help? Although probably a bit pricey...

Links to https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/new-farming-robot-uses-ai-to-kill-100000-weeds-per-hour

Rob

Wynn's is pretty much just paraffin, with maybe some secret ingredients, so it would probably work fine.

Using Wynn's on two different cars (Escort and Imp) caused the oil-pressure warning light switch to fail shortly afterwards for me, so bear that in mind.

Rob

I cringe whenever I see those.

Rob

Might be worth contacting HCP in Mansfield - they mainly do motorbike forks, but I'm sure they will advise. No connection, just a happy customer.

Links to https://www.hardchromeplating.co.uk/

Rob

Hi Nick

The magic phone app was straight in there with Eyed Hawkmoth. Just realised I could have passed myself off as some sort of expert if I hadn't mentioned the app

Rob

Edit - V8Eng's picture IS a Scarlet Tiger, and Bernard's is an Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar. Move over David Attenborough!

Edited By Grindstone Cowboy on 13/07/2023 09:05:55

To be fair, Diogenes got there before me, and without technological assistance - I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise.

Rob

I'm reliably informed by an app on my phone that it is Sphinx Ligustri or privet hawk moth.

Rob

Thanks Duncan, wasn't sure about the kettle descaler's effect on what may, or may not, be copper. Although I guess they have copper kettles. Probably plated these days, though.

Rob

Apologies for the extremely long post which has got bigger as I think of other things to ask. Also, I'll try and take some photos to add here next time I get a chance.

A friend was recently given a very nice Stuart 10V engine mounted on a baseboard, complete with a gas-fired boiler, displacement oiler and gear-driven feed-pump. Almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about, doesn't it? He apparently thinks I do as I've been asked to get it working...

It has apparently been stored in an attic under a cloth for at least twenty years, but the donor did recall it running under steam, although it was not made by him. Not sure where he got it from.

After some cleaning and oiling, I got it running on compressed air fed directly into the intake (boiler disconnected), which it does nicely, down to very low revs. We then hooked up some tubing to the feed pump and established that that worked, and that it would also, with the correct adjustment of valves, fill the boiler. A few leaks needed fixing by gently tightening unions, but generally, all good.

To cut a long story (slightly) shorter, there are a lot of white deposits in the lower part of the boiler. What would be the best way to clean these out? I've set him off filling it with white vinegar and leaving it to stand, but I suspect this may be a long process. Is it likely to damage the boiler?

More info on the boiler - horizontal, no lagging, with four integral legs. It looks very well made, possibly professionally made but with no apparent markings. It's not brass (I know that's a no-no for boilers from what I've picked up here) but does not appear to be what I would immediately recognise as copper although it may be. It's more of a grey-brown colour. Gun-metal or bronze maybe? It's what I would imagine bronze to look like, but I've not heard of bronze boilers - however, I have little experience with steam engines of any sort other than very small Mamod ones.

Oddly, the end plate where the sight glass, pressure gauge and pipe from the feed pump are mounted looks to be steel, but no evidence of rust, nor can I see how it's been fixed to the rest of the boiler. It may just be a cover plate, but not convinced as the fittings screw directly into it as far as I can tell.

Filling (other than by the pump) is via a screw-in safety valve at the top - this leaks under the slightest pressure at the moment. It's a bit like a Mamod, but much sturdier - searching shows similar valves being sold by Polly Engineering and others, it may end up just being replaced if I can't get it apart to clean it, or if ultrasonic cleaning doesn't help.

The only way of draining it down is via a valve at the lower end of the sight glass, which is how we found the white deposits - nothing was coming up the sight glass, only down from the top, so I removed the valve stem and poked through with a bit of wire. I would have thought a proper drain plug fittred low down to be essential. Virtually impossible to see inside the boiler due to this omission.

The burner looks a bit like a blowlamp, and is inserted into a large-bore tube which is about a third of the way up the boiler, two fire-tubes (if that's the correct term) then run back and exhaust out of the chimney. There appears to be a rudimentary superheater formed by running the steam pipe from the top of the boiler (firedome?) into the burner tube and back out again. Pressure gauge reads 0 to 100 psi, but I've not seen it move yet due to the safety valve leaking under rudimentary hydraulic testing using the feed pump to pressurise the (full) boiler.

I'm not even going to start looking at the firing of it until we are satisfied everything else is working as it should.

Supplementary question for those who have stuck with it so far... once we do get it sorted and in a position to do a proper hydraulic test, what would be a suitable maximum working or running pressure for a Stuart 10V? I'm guessing 30 to 50 psi?

Thanks for any advice, either answering my specific questions re cleaning or just generally about running small stationary engines.

Rob

Edited By Grindstone Cowboy on 12/07/2023 16:09:45

Thanks Duncan, didn't realise that

Rob

Herringbone gears are also used on the Anderton boat lift in Cheshire, you can see them (just) here.

Links to http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/05/00/89/5008920_d21b9ad9.jpg

Rob

I find having the shank of the Diamond tool set exactly perpendicular to the lathe axis gives the correct clearances for both longitudinal and facing cuts. And it does look like you need to sharpen it.

Rob

Not sure if it may help in this case, but I've had digital calipers in the past where the old battery had to be removed for about 24 hours before putting in a fresh one, otherwise readings and display were all over the place. Presumably some tiny residual charge was enough to retain garbled info.

Rob

I'm seeing that as 2026?

Rob

Close enough to suffer from hot chips in an outtake I saw the other day

Rob

The UK equivalent of Kurtis would be the chap at Snowball Engineering - just been watching a video of him making a line-borer for repairing some agricultural equipment.

Rob

IF you are happy with phone apps, there are a few which will identify plants using the phone camera. I use Seek by iNaturalist, in partnership with National Geographic. It's free, and does quite a good job.

Rob

Edit - some Pathclear-type weedkiller sprayed over the fence in the dead of night might help - "They just mysteriously died during the drought, Guv!"

Edited By Grindstone Cowboy on 27/06/2023 12:08:51