M E Beam engine governor gears

[Stuart RogersParticipant @stuartrogers]

Reeves governor gears are £52 for the pair.

I only need the lower one so would appreciate knowing if anybody could recommend where I could get one machined please?

Thanks.

Stuart

[Stuart RogersParticipant @stuartrogers]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

If you know the spec have a look at HPC gear or Muffett Gears, an off the shelf one would be cheaper than having one cut though as its only a governor you could do it yourself with the parallel depth method.

J

[Stuart RogersParticipant @stuartrogers]

Thanks for reply.

I have to say that I do not have the means / experience to make, hence the request.

If the considered opinion was pay the money and buy from Reeves then I would happily do so.

Perhaps a wanted ad on here might be worth trying.

Stuart

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Can you post what the gear spec is eg No of teeth, DP, etc

Individuals from HPC start at about £20 but would need to know size

 

J

Edited By JasonB on 26/02/2015 13:42:30

[Stuart RogersParticipant @stuartrogers]

From the model engineer article i need the smaller of the two, the pinion gear that goes on the bottom of the governor shaft.

Hopefully this will help — 18t, 32dp. and 9/16 pitch diameter. It specifies brass in the article, but the bevel gear already fitted is steel. The lady at reeves said they supplied steel ones.

I will see if I can attach a picture

Stuart

[Stuart RogersParticipant @stuartrogers]

The drawing of the gears is shown on page 643 in the 25th may 1960 model engineer book.

I think this may be volume 122, issue 3072

Edited By Stuart Rogers on 26/02/2015 14:16:56

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Beat me to it Ady

Its a bit of an odd ratio so unlikely to be found off the self after all but you may be able to get away with a 2:1 set.

[Stuart RogersParticipant @stuartrogers]

Thank you both very much indeed – appreciated.

So now wondering if best to pay the Reeves price, and it may be just as expensive to get the small one cut ?

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

Anyone know which issue of model engineer vol121 the construction series started?

Just got the castings and would like to have the artical.

[cParticipant @c]

3038

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

Thanks verymuch, appreciated

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

It's quite normal to use two different metals for gears (and bearings), as most like metals do not run well together, about the only exception to this is cast iron.

Ian S C

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The exact ratio is unimportant, as long as it steps up the governor speed by about 1 1/2 times.

Slightly off-topic, but Tubal Cain specifies bevels for Lady Stephanie, hidden away under the entablature. The drive to these is a belt. You can easily avoid the need for the gears just by adding a couple of loose pullies to turn the belt 90 degrees, all hidden and (1) a 'real' beam engine would have had the governor drive more accessible and (2) the gears are hopelessly over-scale anyway.

I suspect he had the gears and was determined to find a use for them!

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 31/07/2015 12:59:08:

(1) a 'real' beam engine would have had the governor drive more accessible

Neil

The tank base beam engines did quite often have the gears in the base

And an early engraving or two

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Thanks Jason, I stand corrected (I note those are about 1/5 of the size of TC's gears!)

Neil

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

I have just started the build of the ME Beam Engine and have managed to get most of the mags covering the build, but am short of mags in vol 121, nos. 3040, 3041, 3042, 3044 & 3046.

Has anyone got these mags that they would be willing to part with or copy the relevant articals for me?

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Ian,

Sent you a PM.

Thor

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

Hi Thor

What a great guy! copy received by return, there are still people around who restore your faith in the world.

Ian

[Maurice Cox 1Participant @mauricecox1]

Just spotted this thread. While you are talking of gears for your engine, I built an M.E. Beam engine many years ago. If you intend to fit the lay shaft and pulley as shown in the design, you may find,as I did, that the shaft fouls the cotter in the big end. I increased the number of teeth on each gear by five teeth. Problem solved.

Regards. Maurice.

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

Hi maurice, thanks for that, one point to look out for, seems that there are a few more inacuracies to look out for as well.

Need to check before commiting to the measurements on the plan.

[Maurice Cox 1Participant @mauricecox1]

Hi Ian, glad to help. As I recall, after over forty five years, there were only two other problems. One was an inaccuracy in the beam casting. The middle boss for the parallel motion was out of place. It was supplied by the "old" A J Reeves. I did tell them, and it may well have been corrected. The second problem was a "negative clearance" between the ends of the crosshead and the pivot pins for the radius arms. I had to do some careful thinning down the get it to work.

The only other thing that occurs to me was that the connecting rod casting is a bit tricky to machine, and I made my connecting rod from two pieces of mild steel; one for the fork and one for the fluted rod. The flutes were painted and the lands polished; it looked great! I sold the engine many years ago. I wish that I hadn't!

Regards Maurice.

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

Just found another apparent error in the plans, the connecting links for the valve gear are shown as 2 -15/64ths on the plan whilst the original ME article shows 2-7/8ths which seems to be the correct measurment from the center of the bearings to the valve crosshead.

[Ian HewsonParticipant @ianhewson99641]

Just found another misprint on the plans, the bevel gears for the govenor shows a 1/4 inch neck on the pinion gear which should be around 1/16 inch and no method of fixing to the driven shaft is given.

[Author]

Posts