Antique Steam Engine from Doorknob

Hello,

My first post to this forum so go easy please!

I own a model engine which was made, using hand tools as far as I'm aware, by my great grandfather's great uncle.

I have a newspaper article from the 1930s which mentions it as part of the collection of oddities in my great grandfathers house, it mentioned the date in that but I don't have it to hand, it would be mid Victorian I think.

Some photos follow, hopefully:

My late Dad had seen it running once,he mentioned it needed a leak fixing I think. I have never seen it turn but it does turn by hand. I'm really interested to know if this rings a bell with anyone,if they've seen it before or know of it being a 'done thing' by hobbyists back then.

It's always fascinated me and the more I can learn about it the better. Any ideas on how to start it or go about checking if it's safe to try and run would also be welcome. Anything you can tell me, basically!

There is an inscription, on the base (written on paper that is now burnt!) that it was in the order of 1700 hrs work!

Edited By JasonB on 15/05/2019 19:29:02

What a brilliant contraption

MichaelG.

Great grimsby! That is amazing, deserves a place in the national collection! It is or must be unique.

Green with envy my friend.

Mick

Hello Michael,

That really is unusual - more photos!

Neil

Coolest steam engine ever! Yes more photos please.

If it needs fixing, and you don't feel that you can, someone on here would be proud to fix it for you.

Wow - I’m touched by the responses above, didn’t lose Dad long ago and he’d also be chuffed to hear it spoken of so highly.

Ill pop some more photos on in a bit when I’m at a computer-photobucket isn’t playing too nice on my phone.

I found the article I mentioned. It says my great grandfather estimated it to have been completed in 1826, and that it won special merit in “a” Crystal Palace exhibition around that date.

That confuses me, since “the” Crystal Palace wasn’t built until 1856 if I’m not mistaken. I can’t see any mention of the builder in the great exhibition catalogue either (his name was Richard Westerman). So perhaps the build date is off too. The hours worked on it were a mere 1280, not 1700, I stand corrected!

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I'm pretty sure that Crystal Palace was built for the 1851 Great Exhibition

MichaelG.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2004/07/27/history_feature.shtml

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/05/2019 07:30:43

Oops you’re right 1851 and moved to Penge common in 1854

Not unusual for stories passed down a few generations to blur around a kernel of truth! You have to allow for misunderstandings and faulty memory. In this case, 5 and 2 are often confused (admittedly not as often as 7 and 1) and although the Crystal Palace was famously built for the Great Exhibition, it was thereafter used for many, many other exhibitions until it burnt down in 1936.

Graces Guide reveals a few mid-Victorian engineering Westerman's but no Richard. (Not done a proper search: Grace's seem to have started charging...)

More photos please! I'm wondering what it is. Could be a proof of concept for a real product like an oil lamp pump. (The Victorians tried to steam power everything!) The base looks as it would take a glass dome, suggesting it's for admiring not running. Novelty or prototype? It's a mystery...

Dave

Edit: trouble with the link.

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 16/05/2019 09:24:37

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it has always been under a glass dome, the newspaper article mentions it as well.

Right lets see if this works:

Edited By Michael Hudson 6 on 16/05/2019 10:08:34

... it does indeed

Edited above to put the photos in directly rather than link to the album

I think that Dave [s.o.d] is on the right track.

The clock-wheel gearing suggests that it might be an 'adjuster' of some sort ... maybe for fuel supply, or the wick, of an oil lamp [?]

Intriguing !!

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/05/2019 10:25:58

It is definitely a steam engine. It has run and is not purely decorative. Apologies if I misinterpret the questioning of it being decorative vs functioning/functional!

We've alwyas understood it was an exercise in craftsmanship rather than some professional undertaking. I need to find out more about great-great uncle Westerman!

Edited By Michael Hudson 6 on 16/05/2019 10:26:59

Edited By Michael Hudson 6 on 16/05/2019 10:28:07

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I wasn't suggesting otherwise ... simply that [like Dave] I think it's a steam engine with a purpose.

MichaelG.

Sorry, misunderstood you there, see my preemptive edit, or so I thought..

crossed in the æther