Scale gear DP for a 1/12 scale beam engine

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Beam engines, because of their size, operated at slow speeds.

An example were the beam engines at Coleham Head in Shrewsbury, pumped sewage ar 114 gallons per stroke. They normally operated at about 10 -12 RPM.  At 16 rpm they apparently shook the whole building!

Some beam engines, pumping Cornish tin mines, had beams weighing upwards of thirty or forty tons, so would definitely have operated at low speeds

For many years, many beam engines were not rotative, because of James Watt’s strict enforcement of his patents. Miners moved to and from the working faces by steps on the pump rods, sometimes as an engine solely intended for that purpose (Man engines)i

Pumping engines did not rotate, they drove the pump, rams directly. Only winding engines were rotative. If they were, the drive would be taken off by flat belts, or multiple rope drives, rather than gears. The flywheel was intended to reduce the fluctuations in torque between steam admission to each end of the cylinder.

Dynamos were mostly driven by conventional reciprocating engines, rather that beam engines, which were capable of higher speeds, but often driving a dynamo or pump by belt.

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

Beam engines, because of their size, operated at slow speeds.

[…]

That’s why I was pleased when Duncan and I found two small ones, Howard

🙂

MichaelG.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Yes as I said in the first reply 50rpm would be quite likely for this engine.

So may people when you say beam engines think of big waterworks pumping engines but they do not consider the smaller ones used in workshops, breweries etc

Again one only needs look at some of George Watkins books where he gives sizes and speeds of the engines and you can find small beam engines doing 50 or more rpm and they are rotative driving the shafts via gears to work Liquor pumps (on the mezanine)

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