I hope to post this build as it proceeds, warts and all over quite a few weeks - maybe of interest to some of you thinking of a new project or getting involved with steam for the first time?
I am by no means an experienced model engineer so please be kind if my attempts look a bit ragged compared to so many truly excellent finished works you always see on here.
The text may be a bit basic and simple, but I would hope doing this on a "how to" basis might be of use to newbies and tyros alike.
This is a straightforward horizontal steam "mill engine" kit "suitable for a beginner"!!, together with a vertical fire tube boiler of sufficient capacity to steam it or other similar sized engines.
The engine includes an eccentric driven feed water pump.
The kit(s) have been around for quite a long time, but I have not seen them posted as a build before.
BackgroundFor the last 6 months or more, I have been struggling to build a model "wall" engine - the kitted version of "Rachel" (a German original design) and distributed by GLR. I obtained the castings from Dave Clark (editor of ME) - who had decided not to proceed with it.
Rachel is a B***H - good looking but very fiddly and difficult to understand. (Strangely, it is no longer currently listed as a kit by GLR!!)
It has turned out to be an engine from hell - and I was getting so frustrated with it, that I felt a change of project was in order and to put this nightmare on the back burner for a while..
My dear wife gave me the green light to look for another long term project, so after due consideration, I decided on a more straightforward horizontal steam engine.
I liked the look of the Stuart Victoria, but for nearly the same price, GLR (I had better say here - usual disclaimer) offer both an engine AND kit of boiler parts/plans to make a vertical fire tube boiler all at a usefully discounted price. It is often advertised in the ME magazine, and was the subject of a lengthy build series (both engine and boiler) in the ME by Stan Bray back in 1996/7.
I placed the order with GLR by telephone, and was delighted to receive a telephone call from them the following day to say that the kit was being boxed up and would be sent by carrier that night - "Would I be in to sign for it on the following day?" - very good service.
There was a minor issue in that the boiler funnel tube and two small castings for the top slide bars were not included but would follow shortly. How very refreshing to get an honest deal!!
Sure enough, a large heavy box was delivered the following morning - this is what was inside :-


Note - I posed this picture after I had done some prelim. work on the bed casting - hence it is painted black (by me) and not in its original - as cast condition.
All of the castings for both the engine and boiler smoke box top are in gun metal and look to be excellent - very little flash/imperfections or unwanted "bits" sticking to them.
The engine bed plate is a substantial aluminium casting - virtually useable "as is".
There is also a handsome mahogany sub-base, ready with appropriate slots for the flywheel and crank disc milled out. This is an "extra", not included as standard - to indulge myself.
The engine has a bore/stroke of 1" by 1.5" and flywheel of 6" dia.
The boiler is approx 8" by 4" dia. (including smokebox and firebox spaces) with 25 fire tubes.
All extra materials, fixings and plans (including two bound handbooks of Stan Bray's engine and boiler build articles) are also included.
Boiler fittings are not included - although sufficient phos. bronze is supplied to make all of the boiler bushes and hex brass for steam/water valves etc.
I will have to turn up boiler flangeing plates from some suitable material. Copper sheet of the correct thickness for the flanges is provided.
The boiler design is based on that published in the ME back in the 1950's - including a weight balanced safety valve!
The boiler may be fired by propane gas or coal (fire bars for the grate are not included although stainless steel and copper for the firehole door and ring are provided).
So, to begin.
There is no particular order to follow in making the engine, but it seems logical to start with the bed.
As I said earlier, the bed casting as supplied appeared very very good - true on both sides after a quick check with a rule held across the faces whilst held up to the light, and no obvious signs of twisting. Virtually no flash or imperfections anywhere.
The supplied plans give dimensions for the drilling points on the various "pads", and the height of the pads above the bed proper, but no basic data as to their positioning nor the overall dimensions of the bed. One must assume that the casting is accurate on that score.
To properly check for accuracy, I used "engineer's blue" spread thinly on a granite surface plate.
Now that sounds very professional - but to disabuse those of you with an eagle eye - my granite surface plate came from Tesco (a food supermarket) - in their "kitchenware" department - sold as a "Trivet/Worktop Protector". Supposedly made from solid granite, ground and polished. Its 14" by 18", 1/2" thick. All for less than a tenner in cost - this seems a bargain! A large ceramic bathroom tile would do just as well.
Engineer's blue is amazing stuff. If you leave the lid off the tin overnight, the gooey blue jelly will be found up the wall and creeping onto the ceiling, never mind on your clothing and lounge furniture. Do take care - a little goes a long way, trust me on this.
The base was shown to be pretty good, but some of the top face pads would need attention - they were all above the required height above the main top surface.
Anyway, I gave the base of the casting a lick over with a two point tipped tool (in place of a flycutter). Very little needed taking off. The "wedge" block clamps I made earlier proved their worth in setting up on the table - dead simple and easy.

I now had a true surface to place on the milling table/wooden packing beneath and could deal with bringing the pads to the correct height and milling out the flywheel/crank disc slots more neatly.
The back edge of the base was a bit out of true, but the other edges were good to go.

Points to remember - using a "tipped" cutter - the aluminium material tends to "weld" itself to the cutting tips as the work proceeds - needs frequent cleaning off to maintain a good finish. You can see a few imperfections due to this. I suspect the same problem will occur with a flycutter?
I then gave the bed a quick spray over of black engine enamel (from an aerosol) ready for marking out the pads for drilling/tapping the mounting holes.
I mounted the bed on a pair of accurate angle blocks with engineer's clamps and set - to with my vernier height gauge so as to get all of the drilling positions as accurate as possible - I could have done it by coordinates on the mill table - but from some little experience, for me this is a recipe for disaster, what with backlash and no DRO's.
I wish I had a DRO height gauge - easy for re-setting to zero. With a vernier one, you must concentrate on what you are doing and "where you are" as you move up and down. A cheapo calculator is of great help.
Note - suitable background music may help here - I am getting very deaf now, so I have equalised all of the music to + 87db. on my mp3 player - played back via an old audio amp/speakers in the workshop. Who am I to deny the delightful sounds of Bob Marley and classic Stones to my neighbours and my household?

Before this, I had spent some time changing all of the given plan dimensions from imperial fractions (as supplied) to metric. Just my choice.
I also photocopied all of the many plan pages so as to keep the originals as pristine, and the copies for annotations/changes and comments plus oily finger prints on the bench.
More to follow.