| Archive for The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum The Original Unofficial Toy Steam Forum Established 2006 The biggest, most popular global steam forum around! Accept NO imitations! We have a growing community of regular posting members who chat about all aspects of toy and model steam. |
| redbilly |
learning how to restore steam enginesI have been collecting new tractors and staionary engines and now am considering older models.Can anyone tell me what is required to repair these older engines;the tools needed and possibly books that might show me how to do this.I live in Prince Albert;Sskatchewan ;Canada.interest in steam engines does'nt seem to have caught on here. Anyone out there reading this from Saskatchewan? thanks jerry |
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| Roly Williams |
Sadly, there are not many books on the restoration of steam toys. There is a chapter on the subject in my own booklet "Live Steam Toys - a User's Guide" (see my web site for details). The best source of information is this forum!  There are also a few web sites by forum members with suitable information. See individual members' profiles for URLs. Many of these can be found on the web ring at http://www.ringsworld.com/tony_muir/
As for tools, it depends a lot on how far you want to go in repair and restoration. A few standard hand tools will cover most simple jobs. Most of these can be found in your average DIY toolkit, such as screwdrivers, spanners (wrenches), pliers, Mole Grips (aka Vice Grips), hand drill and small blow torch. The best bet is to buy what you need as you need it and build up a kit as you go along. One of the most useful is a small adjustable spanner (wrench) because there are a wide variety of different screw standards in use. A bench vice is very useful if you have somewhere to mount it. |
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| MooseMan |
Basically, I think the best thing you could do is to keep posting here. If you come up against a specific problem, just let us know, and somebody will point you in the right direction | ||
| WeedenSteam |
Re: learning how to restore steam engines
Hi Jerry, I was born and lived in Tisdale for 20 years before moving to B.C. I have Roly's book, it is a very good primer, and it only takes a few days for it to arrive in Canada. |
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| redbilly |
thank youthank you for your response and encouragementjerry |
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| Steve_S |
Hi Jerry. I think it's mostly a case of trial and error... the errors don't get reported often but the successes do! You can avoid many pitfalls by using the search feature of this forum (although it's not perfect), and ask lots of questions. Most things have been done before, and there's nothing we like better than to talk about it! |