What do you guys recommand

[Patrik]

Hi everyone.

You gys told me that i should start with a stationary engine before I started on a loco,,,or?
I'm thinking about building a Stuarts Engine 10V vertical 3/4 x 3/4, 6" tall, but wich boiler do you recommand? I prefarbly want it coal fired.

Thanks

[Allen_from_CHT]

The PM #1 or #2 could be coal fired, but you would have to build grates, and a blower (or other form of forced draft) to keep it going.

Small coal fires are pretty finicky. It can be done, It has been done. But thats still the reason why so many people eventually decide to go the "easy route" and fire with gas.

I vaguely remember seeing pictures of a 3-1/2" gauge geared loco built with the 10V and Stuart vertical 3 (gas fired) boiler. - not sure how much it could pull though.

[Patrik]

Where to build the fan then? Firedoor?

[Allen_from_CHT]

3 real choices; suction fan on the top of the stack (start up fan only - heat and corrosive stuff in the gases are hard on components) or blower fan (under the grates - like a forge) or steam jet UP the stack.

You can actually get quite a bit of natural draft if you make the chimney about 18" tall

[UnkaJesse]

Patrik, The 10 V is a great little engine and not too hard to build--good choice as a first project. Small boilers just don't fire good with coal as has been mentioned. I tried coal in the boiler of my Skidder/loader (picture posted on here somewhere), but I could never get it hot enough with the short smoke stack. The 18 inch stack would make it draw well enough I expect, but I am going to put in a gas burner.

Unka Jesse

[Dick_Morris]

My first engine was a 10V. Back in 1973 it only set me back about $15.00. They are more pricey today. They are nice little engine.

If I were on a limited budget I would consider fabricating an engine and put my savings into reference materials. A four-column launch engine would look good and shouldn't be any tougher to build than the Stuart, and might be easier. I found the bored crosshed guide to be a challange on the Stuart. It's also somewhat easier to hold and mark out pieces of dimensional stock for machining than to work with rough castings.

K.N. Harris wrote a good book on model engines. My copy is misplaced at the moment so I don't have the correct title. If you do a web search on the name, you can probably get the title. It's been reprinted several times but I'm not sure if it's in print these days.

K.N. Harris also wrote a book on miniature boilers (also misplaced). A small copper boiler wouldn't be too hard to make from the info in the book and with a little advice from the members of this group.

[Tel]

Be interesting to know just how many people built the Stuart 10V as a first engine, I did and I know of quite a few others who did likewise. It's a nice & easy project - reasonably short term so you get a result quicker. Think from memory (hey - it's 25 years ago) that it took around 22 hours.

As far as a boiler goes, I wouldn't recommend coal firing. I've built a couple of coal burning plants & they work OK, but there is just too much fiddling about to keep it all together - especially if you are working a display somewhere. I switched to gas firing years ago - so much easier, especially when you are running five or six engines off the plant.

A good steam plant is the one described by E.L.Yallop for the Monarch (a Reeves design similar to the 10V) in Engineering in Miniature about 20 years back. I've built two of these plants - pretty easy to built and trouble free. Still have the articles here somewhere, so I guess if you can't find back issues we could work something out

[SID]

Patrik- I too built the 10V as my first successful engine. When I was younger I tried to build other ones but didn't understand what was needed. The book that is available about building the 10V was a good thing to invest in. I have some plans for engines that I've designed that would be easy to build. One in particular is pritty straight forward. You are welcome to the plans if you'd like.

Sid

[sncf141r]

I don't know - I started building a Stuart Turner kit (horizontal,
1" bore x 1" stroke) that my father picked up from the factory.

I did a bit of work on it, then realized that it was just a stumbling
block on my way to build a live steam locomotive, so I just went ahead
and built the locomotive.

I was 12ish when I started, with no workshop. The locomotive has been
finished, and runs like a charm.

I'm really glad that I did not finish the Stuart kit - it would have
been a waste of time.

[FLtenwheeler]

The first project that I started was my Allen Ten-Wheeler. I am still working on it after almost 20 years. It likes to be loved.

There are a lot of small parts that need to be built for a locomotive. I would suggest that you decide on a locomotive and then you can start making the small parts for it.

And there is nothing wrong with having more than one project going at the same time.


Tim

P.S. I built a Stuart 10V in the middle of the Ten-Wheeler project and enjoyed it a lot.

[Patrik]

But i don think that i should start with a loco. I think Í'm capable but... i never built some thing else in livesteam. And I'm going to school and our workshop is not in the same village, so i could just work on the summer, weekends and the winter.

[Patrik]

There are more parts on a Tenweeler than a Raritan, but it is the same work! That was a great tip. One question for the guys who had build a 10V, is a milling machine required? or is enough with a Lathe and pilerbore?. If i have too, my dad have to buy a mill.

Thanks