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[Propslip]

Just picked up a part machined Stuart Triple Expansion. The crankshaft, cylinder & pistons have been machined. There is a large amount of castings both iron & gun metal. I have identified all the major components but I am not sure about the bits of mild steel in various shapes & sizes. I would like to be sure if it is complete & then decide (as I dont have a lathe) wether to get someone to complete the machining of pass it on. Any thoughts anyone?
                                   Propslip

[Bunkerbarge]

It would be interesting to see some pictures of what you have.

As for completing the machining it is definately up to you as to whether you feel capable of it yourself.  If you do there are a couple of possibilities, one is buy yourself a small model making lathe, ones suitable for your work can be bought new for a couple of hundred quid or have a look into what is available at your local schools and colleges as some have night classes in machining and you can take your own bits to work on.  The final option is to ask a competent machinist to finish it for you.

I would definately finish it somehow because of the satisfaction in owning such a wonderfull machine plus the fact that a nice condition one of these is worth somewhere in the region of £1500.00-£1700.00, so quite a potential investment.

Here are a couple of shots of nice ones that were at Harrogate.

[bogstandard]

Propslip,

I think you have just taken on one of the most difficult of engines to make. If you are correct in your description and only the parts you mentioned are machined, that is about 5% of the work done. This is definitely a long term project, and a highly skilled machine and build exercise. That is why they come up for sale as part machined kits, people don't realise the amount that has to be done to get to a fully operational engine, get so far and give up.

If you put the remaining work out to tender to get it finished off, you are most probably talking a few thousand pounds for machining. Unless you can find someone who is willing to give up a lot of their time for nothing, and get nothing back at the end of it.

A lot of people think they can be used for display engines and try to run them on air, it doesn't work. To run correctly it has to be driven by live steam.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I think you are well out of your league on this one, and needed to be told the real world statistics.

I would suggest you try to sell it to someone who has the means and time to complete it, and try to get back the money that you paid for it.

Sorry

John

[Propslip]

Thanks for that boys. Having no Lathe or workshop equipement means I have no chance of building this myself. At only £50 it was a bargain, when I bought it I did not know how much work had been done or even if it was complete. Apart from the part machined crankshaft there is another untouched. There are also some Simec books dealing with the build & a casual glance gives an insight into the work involved. I think I will pop along to my local steam enthusiasts club & have a chat.
                              Propslip

[SteamboatPhil]

Hi Propslip
You got your self a set of castings and bits at one hell of bargin price, if you do sell you should be asking way more than double what you paid

[Propslip]

I will probably sell it on but would like to make sure its all there before I do. May even sell it on this forum if I do. I certainly can't make it so unless I can find a man who can, looks like someone else will get the pleasure. Having said that I would love to see it completed & sitting on my desk for a year or two!! I have downloaded a parts list from Stuart & been able to identify the castings as present but I am not so sure about the sundry mild steel stock. The columns for instance, I only see 4 & there should be 8 but I guess this sort of material is the easiest to replace as long as the all important castings are all there.
                               Propslip

[nhp651]

I can concurr with what has been said about the stuart tripple with regards machining.
i also bought one about 8 years ago and sat on it for a while. I then got in touch with S.T who told me that they could sell me a machined tripple for £3564.60p plus VAT complete ( which is very reasonable considering that it takes many hours to build) or I could have a chap machine it who did their machining. I contacted him after they ( S.T.) gave me his address and phone no. and he quoted me about £2500 to produce one from my castings in fully working condition( can't find his address at present).
However a very finely looking engine ( not too dissimilar to the last one posted tonight ) sold on ebay last week for just over £1600.00p so there was no return there for the money and time invested. New castings alone for the tripple from Stuart are now over £900.00p
You make up your own mind from that.
cheers,neil.

[hanna]

full set of castings from Stuart turner are now at £550 plus vat, the fastest I have ever done one was three months start to finish saying that it use to take me 3 weeks to machine a Sirius from them. goes to show how complex the triple is.

[sandy1000]

In the mid eighties there was a shop in London called "Steam Age", run by  a lady. I bought a Stuart Turner Compound Twin launch engine and was too shortsighted not to have bought a Triple instead, there being an example, brand new, also for sale for only about an extra one hundred pounds or so over the twin. One of the great "if only" of my life!

Does any one else remember this  shop?