Building a portable steam engine by Webster.

[justinParticipant @justin]

Would appreciate advice if suitable for a newcomer's first build before I buy the book.

Thank you

Stuart

[justinParticipant @justin]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Save your money, even for me it was hard to follow whats in the book and there are several mistakes. Poor drawings and not all the parts are shown.

J

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

I gave up publishing the articles in Model Engineer. Too many errors and total crap.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

David, its a different engine to the one in ME but the rest of what you say is about right which is a pitty as a portable would make a nice project.

 

Stuart you could look at teh Marshall portable, castings available from Reeves and a detailked build in ME 142-145. Another option would be to take Anthony Mount's recently published Garret and stick on on a full boiler and add some wheels.

J

 

Edited By JasonB on 22/08/2015 18:33:17

[clivelParticipant @clivel]

Posted by David Clark 1 on 22/08/2015 18:25:28:

I gave up publishing the articles in Model Engineer. Too many errors and total crap.

Around the time when the series was first published in ME I was very much a beginner (not much has changed). Having just completed a very basic oscillating engines and a few simple tools I was looking for a suitable next project.
After reading Webster's introduction to the series, where he described it as "written for the complete newcomer to model engineering with a detailed description of the construction of each part", and upon completion the novice builder will have completed the equivalent of an "engineering apprenticeship", I thought that it would be ideal next step. Unfortunately though, David's assessment is correct, "total crap".

I had always hoped that either David or Diane would eventually get Webster to knuckle down and correct the errors and complete the series. So when the book came out, with a foreword by D.A.G. Brown, I immediately rushed out and bought it, having mistakenly assumed that it was an updated and corrected version of the series of articles in ME. It turns out that it is for a different engine, but the quality of the book is no better, and if anything actually worse than the ME series.
Jason is correct, poor drawings, missing bits, and most disconcerting for someone not terribly experienced, there are no assembly drawings not of the complete engine nor of any of the sub-assemblies, only isolated bits and pieces. I spent a good while trying to visualise how some of the pieces go together, but with little success.

On the plus side, the book contains a few nice photos, but other than that, it is a complete waste of money.

Clive

 

Edited By clivel on 22/08/2015 20:24:49

[justinParticipant @justin]

A sincere thank you to all who replied.

I am well pleased I asked – I think it best to take Jason's advice and go for the marshall.

[Author]

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