Help ID this steam engine

[Paulsv]

OK, I've heard you guys like pictures, so I'm going to try to oblige. Also, there have been a lot of posts about boilers lately, and I thought you'd be interested in this one.

This steam engine belonged to my dad. My grandfather was an executive with the American Stove Company in Chicago. When my dad was born, in 1915, the guys in the machine shop made this for my dad, and presented it to my grandfather. (They must have liked my grandfather!) So it was built in about 1915 or 1916. I saw it run in about 1960, when my dad ran it for us kids. That is the last time it ran. At the time my dad died (about 15 years ago) he was in the process of restoring it, so it was in pieces. I have put it together, as best I can, for the purpose of taking these pictures.

Here is a basic shot of the engine and its boiler. They sat on an inch thick wood base, (which I believe I have somewhere in my shop) in the relative positions shown in the photo:

That is a 6 inch scale leaning against the boiler, so you can see it is a pretty large boiler: the copper boiler is about 6 inches in diameter, and the whole thing, with the chimney, is about 20 inches tall.

Here is a closeup of the boiler:

I am missing the glass tube for the site gauge on the boiler, and the copper line that connected the boiler to the steam engine. Also, there was a pressure relief valve on the top of the boiler, on the left side of the picture above. My recollection, from many years ago, is that there was some kind of needle valve in the line between the boiler and the engine, tho the engine had a wheel which allowed you to control the steam input into the engine. Notice the burner: It was made to be plumbed into the home natural gas supply. When dad ran it for us, he used a can of sterno. My recollection is that it really ran fast, when he opened up the valve all way.

Here are a few closeups of the engine itself:

I intend to restore this engine, and would like to find out if it is a one-off, or if it was built from a kit or plans that I can lay my hands on. There are no markings on any of the parts, including the casting for the engine base. So does it look familiar to anyone? Any suggestions on the process I should follow to restore it and get it running again? I don't think I want it to look like new, but I do want it to run reliably, and last forever.

 

[GWRdriver]

Paul,
Since I've never seen an engine like this it would be expedient to say this is a one-off and let it go at that, but between 1880 and 1920 there were many obscure kits of castings for model engines available and this could easily have been one of those; the cast engine bed suggests that. But which one exactly we will probably never know without a lot of time-consuming (and potentially futile) reserch. The thing that gave me a bit of start was the design of the flywheel which looks exactly like a Stuart Turner #10 flywheel. IF it is a Stuart flywheel, and it could certainly have been, it's an early version because later and current versions of the same flywheel have a much thinner rim.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

That is a great looking boiler and the engine is very nicely detailed with the governor and oil cups. This is a very worthwhile restoration. Good luck...hope to see lots of pics.

 

[steamboatmodel]

I did a quick search on American Stove Company;
http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/showtopic.php?tid/11494/
"In the 1850s, a German immigrant John Ringen began a tinshop in St. Louis, Missouri. His business prospered and in 1870, he took in a partner, George August Kahle, who had immigrated to America in 1867. The business sold housewares, washing machines, and cooking stoves they called "quick meals". In 1881, George Kahle persuaded his brothers-in-law, Charles and Louis Stockstrom to set up a shop to make stoves. These four principals then organized two corporations, the Ringen Stove Company and the Quick Meal Stove Company. Quick Meal manufactured the stoves with Ringen Stove handling the entire output of Quick Meal's production. The phenomenal growth of these two companies during the 1880s and 1890s led to the merger of eight other stove companies in St. Louis, Chicago and Cleveland in 1901 to form the American Stove Company. American Stove introduced the first oven temperature control device in 1914, and in 1929 brought out the first brand name Magic Chef. The Magic Chef name became so popular in the minds of cooks worldwide that American Stove Company changed its name to Magic Chef, Inc. in 1951. The company was well known for its gas stoves, but attempts to spread the brand to other household appliances were unsuccessful. In 1957, it was merged with the Food Giant Markets of California. In 1958, it was sold to Dixie Products, a small stove company of Cleveland, Tennessee. By 1986, the company had become the 249th largest industrial company in the nation and it was sold to the Maytag Corporation. Magic Chef also made home furnaces and that operation was sold to Lennox International. Whirlpool Corporation acquired Maytag Corporation in 2006."
They are still around as Magic Chef http://www.magicchef.com/
It is quite possible that they had an in house foundry and the Machine shop had the base cast. The Burner from what I can see in the photos looks like a gas stove part. It would be really nice to see the unit restored and running.
Regards,
Gerald.