My newest Jensen arrival

igy569 · My newest Jensen arrival

The cast flywheel Jensen I bought on ebay recently has arrived. Here are a few pictures. Also, short video of it running on air.

This is the one that the sight glass has been replaced with a bit of silicon tubing. The threads for the lower screw are fine, the upper one is a bit loose. I will see how it pans out as soon as I can buy a new sight glass from Jensen.

It appear to be otherwise completely original. Still smells badly of the basement it clearly has been stored in for a looooong time. Not sure what to do with the base, it is so warped, that it is raised almost a 1/4 of an inch in the middle!!

The short video..... the heavy flywheel makes it a real smooth runner.

Now I have to decide how I want to go about fixing it up....

27ace27

Deja Vu?

johnreid

This should be in Collections and Pics
I wonder if you couldnt relieve the base underneath by doing a saw cut that doesnt go all the way through and doesnt go through the edges. then either mortise and place a strip of metal or wood that would be glued and screwed to hold it back into the flat condition. Sounds hard, but really isnt that bad, I used to have to occasionally do that to some warped pieces in my old work days,

What of the sightglass holes? are they still the right threads or has the boiler been ruined?

redryder

I would give it a very thorough cleaning and polish first.
You may find that is enough. If it isn't, then redo the black paint and leave the blue alone and see if you don't like it that way.

For cleaning I would use 0000 steel wool and original GO-JO hand cleaner (non-abrasive). It will work great on the wood and the blue paint and the black paint. After use, let it set up a couple days which will allow the paint and wood finish to harden up as it will soften a bit from the GO JO cleaner. Be sure to wipe it all off right after you finish cleaning.

Remember you can always add a restoration step (like repainting the black) but you can never correctly reverse such a step.

Gil

igy569

johnreid

As long as the threads hold you have it made, or the Roger Brass plate trick would fix it, see the not so nice boiler I sent you.
Just PM a Mod and they will move this

IndianaRog

Owen,

Even if the boiler face holes have been ruined, I have found a good fix. Cut brass plate rectangles the same size as the sight glass blocks and solder them onto the boiler face over the original holes. To make the brass less obvious, first tin the edges with solder, they will almost disappear when blocks are screwed down snug.

Tricky part is to use the sight glass blocks as a template, trace their outline on the brass plate and drill the plate BEFORE cutting out the blocks. Once drilled, you tap for the proper screw size...lastly with a Dremel cutting wheel, cut out the rectangles of brass for tinning and soldering to the boiler.

Drill and tap sizes are:
#13 drill to start the hole and a 12-32 tap for making the new threads that match Jensen hollow steam screws.

I tried drilling previously cut out rectangles and the metal is hard to hold in proper position, much easier to drill and tap before the rectangle is cut.

Be sure if you do this to use brass thick enough for the threads to get a good "bite".

Now...fix that dang thing...it's just not natural!!!!

Rog

igy569

I have already removed and thrown out that abomination.... *laughing*

Thanks for all the info Rog. I am going to see how well I can get the screw to fit, but I will likely have to use your fix. I have the drill bits, but not the taps.... I will have to see if I can buy just the one, cause I am on a super tight budget. I was hoping to have this one and the cast flywheel 35 ready for STWWW, but I guess it was not meant to be. *sigh*

I have to see what I can do to flatten the base back out. Its REALLY warped. its almost 1/4 of an inch up in the middle!!

It does look like the nickel will polish out pretty well.

johnreid

My tip works for straightening out a warped board, it can be done with a saw, but a router makes it much easier. I miss doing woodworking

IndianaRog

Owen, it might be considered a "hack" by some, but a belt sander applied to the outer portions of the bottom taking off 1/8 inch or so on each side should drop the middle down to either flat or something you can live with.

John's approach is definitely more professional, but mine works and doesn't look bad if done gradually, taking off only as much as you need to get things more balanced looking and sitting properly.

BTW, I ordered my ONE and only tap (that 12-32) from ACE hardware...it took a few days to get in because it is an older type, but cost me less than $5.

Rog

igy569

Thanks Rog... good to know. I will see if my local purveyor of hardware can get me one....

Its funny, I was thinking of the sander as well... but I may just put rubber feet on it and leave it alone.

BTW... any tips for unclogging the whistle? Vinegar does not seem to be working, and I do not want to leave it in any longer and risk damaging the nickel....

IndianaRog

Jensen whistles often fall prey to either calcium buildup from hard water use in the boiler, or folks shaking boiler upside down to drain it and a bit of crud clogs the whistle. I suction mine now after buggering up a perfectly good whistle for good having shaken something into it.

I have had a few that were cured with vinegar (meaning it was calcium) and others that were not so fortunate. I guess if a speck of solder gets into the small passageway within the whistle, you are hosed. New whistles are $13 from Jensen as a last resort!

If you will otherwise have a non functioning whistle, you could try passing thin, stiff wire thru it to dislodge whatever is clogging it.

Rog

27ace27

why not just steam the wood till It's soggy enough to flatten? Like they do with wooden skis, or lacrosse sticks?

igy569

27ace27

johnreid

IT would snap in too.

Nick

Someone on the forum once mentioned laying the wood bases on the grass in the morning. As the day goes on the dew and heat from the sun will straighten it back out. I've never tried it, but they said it worked for them.

mogogear

Or take to some one who has a planer..and plane it back to level off the bottom....?????

johnreid

1/4 of an inch is a lot to take off though, if it doesnt affect the operation of the engine, it might be wise to leave be.

redryder

Nick

redryder

I have not tried this but an old time collector once mentioned that if you place a warped solid wood board on the early morning dew on your lawn and leave it there for the entire morning it will at least partly straighten out. I have not tried this but it does make some sense as you are adding water to the lower surface which needs to expand a bit to straighten out your warp. You could try that and maybe put some weight on it.

Gil

Griffin

Can't keep up with all these #5's flying around. Look forward to the end results on this one.

igy569

There has been a lot of 5's showing up on Ebay recently. So I have gone through a few. I only sacrificed one for parts though. This one is going to be a keeper.

Its like when there aere a fair number of cast 25's showing up for a while, now there are none. Seems to come in waves. Who knows why.

Les

That is a nice runner, I hope you get it sorted soon.

igy569

The board is currently sitiing on my bench on a wet towel, with a heavy chunk of metal on it. It does appear to be starting to flatten out! I expect I will need to leave it for several days with the weight on it, and let it dry out. Hopefully it will not re-warp.

I will try to post more pictures tonight. I think this beastie spent a long time in a basement somewhere.... VERY dirty!!

igy569

I DID IT! I got the warped base to flatten out! Check out the thread i started in the restorations section.

Les