Up to Upshur? Sure

[Troutsqueezer]

I bought Hamilton Upshur’s plans some time ago for his Hit-n-Miss Farm engine. At the time I was too new to the hobby as my machining skills were non-existent and my tooling inventory was slim, so the plan was to build a couple of smaller steam engines beforehand. Having done that, both my skills and tooling have progressed and my mill and lathe have been optimized for performance so now seems like a good time to get started. This will be my first IC engine and it should be fun as there is new territory for me to explore, like making my first gears. Those recent threads on gear cutting by Jerry and Brian will be coming in handy. I also get to make a spark plug, now that’s something I never thought I would do. And some springs….and a carburetor.

Oddly, there have been build threads for Upshurs started before on HMEM but they seem to have petered out after only a page or two. I do need to search more thoroughly as I might have missed something. If I Google Upshur there are a number of private sites documenting various incarnations of the same general design so those might be some help.

This first post is serving as a placeholder, as the actual build will get going a little later. Now I’m in the material/information gathering stages and I need to finish my current Elmer’s engine (another two or three weeks for that – video and final pics coming shortly). No doubt I’ll be fishing this thread out from deep in the archives as I go. I estimate at the rate I work this might take me six months to complete. But that is six months closer to retirement. Yes, I’m counting…

I was leaning towards the version with the water tank over the cylinder but now more towards the air-cooled version with the neat-looking cooling fins. Those look like fun to machine.

I would like to buy the flywheels cast but so far haven’t found a source for that size which is 3.5” diameter and slightly over ½” wide. Bronze or CI doesn’t matter. Anyone know of a source? Tried PM, they have one a little smaller.

If you haven’t seen this engine here it is, built out to different variations.

-Trout

 

[Jasonb]

Stuarts do a 3 9/16 one that could have a bit more taken off it should be able to get it through a Stuarts dealer in the US.

http://www.stuartmodels.com/accessories.cfm/mainaccess_type/5/the_type/Flywheels

Martin Model & Pattern do a good range but not 3 1/2"

http://martinmodel.com/MMPflywheelslist.html

Jason

 

[rudydubya]

Looking forward to your build, Trout. As for the cast flywheels, did you try Cole's Power Models? http://www.colespowermodels.com/index.html. The Upshur plans cites them as a source.

Rudy

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Thanks guys.

I tried Coles but apparently I have to order the catalog to see their selection of stuff and I would certainly do that if they didn't charge 8 bucks for it. Now there's a bad marketing decision. ??? Why don't they put it into a pdf and make it available for download for free? Seems like a lot of business will just go somewhere else like I'm about to.

The Stuart flywheel looks like it would work fine. I just need to find someone over here who stocks it. First attempts by Googling didn't pan out but will keep trying.

-Trout

 

[ianjkirby]

Hi Trout,
Have a look in your nearest scrap metal yard for old iron/bronze gate valves. These usually have handwheels on them that could be turned into flywheels. No guarantees that you will find the exact size you need, but still worth a look imo.
Regards, Ian.

 

[kuhncw]

You might see what Gary Martin can supply for flywheels as he has quite a selection and he is a good fellow to deal with.

http://www.martinmodel.com/MMPflywheelslist.html

Also, it won't hurt to go a little oversize on flywheel diameter. You can adjust the engine base to compensate and the extra inertia will help the engine idle better.

Regards,

Chuck

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Ian, that's a good idea. I think I'll head over there at lunch today, you never know.

Chuck, it occurred to me that I could go a little larger. Wasn't sure what all the ramifications would be. Sounds like it would work though. That may be the way to go if the scrap yard turns out unsuccessful.

-Trout

 

[ART]

Hello Trout,
Looking forward to your progress with the Upshur engine. I found that the weight of the flywheel (s) made a noticeable difference in the engines speed. The heaveyer the flywheel the slower the rpms. I have used Aluminum solid machined to the specs and the engine ran too fast for me. I made them again from solid brass to the same specs and the engine ran much slower and better. I use a governor, and the engine coasts about 8 revs between firings with the brass flywheels. Cast iron would be about as heavy, but I didn't have any. Also, I kept a journal of my first build using a Sherline lathe and mill, and it took me 96 hours to build, and another 15 to get it dialed in to run smooth. Good Luck. They are a great engine to hone your machining skills with.
Art

 

[bearcar1]

Heya Trout, You might give my friend John at call and see if he can hook you up with some Stuart flywheels, he may have to order them though. Great service and a good fellow to deal with.

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Steam-Chest


BC1
Jim

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Thanks Jim, I just got thru making a screen capture of that very site. I'll give it a shot.

-T

 

[Jasonb]

His W6 flywheels look just the job, curved spokes as well though they are not actual Stuart flywheels.

Jason