Stuart 10V – Advice for Novice.

[Alastair MakerParticipant @alastairmaker17902]

I have one of these ready to start working on but am a complete novice , i know you have all been where I am I have all the tools to do this project but nervous about starting any tips would be appreciated.

Regards Alastair

Edited By JasonB on 18/12/2016 07:32:44

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Welcome to the forum Alastair.

One place to start would be to sit down and have a read through Harold Hall's build series that was featured in Me but can also be found on his website here

Do come back with any queries, also an idea of what machines you have available would help other members give usable advice as it is not a lot of good suggesting how to make a part on a mill if you only have a lathe.

J

[Marcus BowmanParticipant @marcusbowman28936]

Harold Hall's articles provided good guidance on how to tackle the job, so they might be your first port of call. As I recall, there have been other similar series in ME over the years.

The book 'Building a vertical steam engine from castings' by Andrew Smith is still available, I think. That deals specifically with the Stuart 10V, and although it was written in 1977, it gives good advice.

I have built a 10V and the only real challenge was in converting the drawings to metric units.

The 10V is an ideal project and leads to a very satisfying model.

Marcus

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

and a youtube video series

[Stuart BridgerParticipant @stuartbridger82290]

Welcome,

My advice would be to take it steady and the old adage of "measure twice, cut once" applies. I cut my teeth on a 10V, made a few howlers, but spare parts are availble from Stuart Models… Biggest lesson I learned, don't tackle the cylinder casting until you have built your confidence. It is very tricky to set up. Harold Halls website was very useful as was the book already referenced.

Stuart

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I found the book and castings an excellent introduction, my first 'proper' steam engine

Neil

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Not my first Model but the first of the Stuart kits have, I concur with Stuart that the biggest problem was machining the cylinder as the set up is a bit tricky for drilling the ports, but if you follow instructions in the available books you won't go far wrong. I'm on to my second kit now, the progress 'Horizontal' engine & so far so good, I wasn't over impressed with the castings on this kit but I did get them 3 years ago, & only just got round to getting on with them.

​I have a video on my you tube channel on the finished engine if you want to look see & it can run on as low as 3-5 psi… so must have done something right, & there are pics in my album for viewing. Never the less the 10V is a good starting point, enjoy.

George.

[JAParticipant @ja]

I made a Stuart 7V using the book Marcus suggests as a guide. Although it took decades to finish (nothing to do with the model, just my life) I did not not encounter any real problems. My niece has started to make a 10V engine with metric dimensions again using the same book. I believe her biggest question/problem has been "what are number drills". A gift of a Zeus booklet was the answer.

If I was starting model engineering again I would do exactly the same with a 7V. It is larger than the 10V, a little less fiddly, but the castings cost more (swings and roundabouts).

[edit] 7V = 7A according to the present Stuart web site.

JA

Edited By JA on 19/12/2016 23:06:54

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