Stuart steam hammer

Some time ago I was given a set of castings for the Stuart steam hammer, which I would quite like to make a start on. Unfortunately the drawings have suffered from damp and mice over the many years in storage before it got to me. Does anyone have the drawings or know where I could get them from? Thanks.

As Stuart still make the steam hammer, have you asked them?

**LINK**

I've found Stuart list drawings under 'spare parts' for many of their models so you should be fine. **LINK** (scroll to the bottom of the list). ME is running a series on building the hammer at the moment although I've only seen part 1 so far. I like the idea of building one myself one day.

Edited By Rob Murgatroyd 1 on 28/12/2017 22:47:48

I have a series of articles which describe the construction of this model, currently being published in Model Engineer. The series started in No. 4571, 13-26 0ctober 2017. It is an interesting project, and the finished model is a worthwhile addition to a collection of models. Copies of plans should be available from Stuart Models.

Thank you - I had no idea that Stuart would still be producing the castings for this model - my box of castings must be well over 30 years old! On seeing it would cost £11.40 for an A4 sheet I was encouraged to do a bit more searching, and found that I had made a scan of the drawings a couple of years ago which are just about readable. The ME article sounds promising though, and I will probably splash out on a couple of back issues in due course. Given the current price of the castings it will probably be worthwhile so I don’t make a mess of the machining!

I’ve made a start at long last, so far I’ve machined the base and the piston rod. At the moment I’m making a broach to cut the shaped holes in the cylinder base and the sealing gland necessary for the piston rod. The broach is from EN24T and I’m hoping that it will cut well enough in its as-bought machinable state without hardening - it obviously only has to cut two holes in gun-metal (comments welcome). One thing shown on the drawing is a groove in the piston, but no mention of a piston ring or seal of any sort. Is the groove intended for an O ring or a cast iron piston ring?

One nice thing about EN24 is that it doesn't distort or change size noticeably with hardening. You should be able to use EN24T for a couple of holes in gunmetal without issues.

If it does go badly, you can always clean up the cutting edges and get the broach up to the mid 50's HRC with an oil quench.

To be honest, the T condition EN24 machines much more nicely than the annealed condition. It's a bit grabby when annealed, but cuts cleanly (with straw or blue chips) in the T condition.

Hey Grandma! Do you know how to suck eggs?

Steve the current ones from Stuarts are supplied with a Vitron O Ring in the past They would have been iron of graphite yarn. It will work with any of those 3 and with a bit less force if you don't put anything in the groove. Lap the cylinder if useing an O ring or Yarn, hone if a CI ring

Edited By JasonB on 18/01/2018 07:28:13

Have any more of Mr Griffin's articles been published? (I've only seen the first one so far)

Part 4 was in 4577 so you must have missed some!

Hello Steve, did you make the Stuart steam hammer , how did you get on with it ?

I am about to start one,

Richard.