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| Roly Williams |
Wells Stationary engineI've just received the Wells stationary engine I won on Ebay. It's in slightly worse condition than I expected but, hey, that just makes it a more interesting restoration
http://rolysphotos.fotopic.net/c1211185.html As I started unpacking it I could detect a decidedly musty smell, and it's obviously only recently been rescued from somebody's garden shed! The good thing is that it appears to be complete apart from the filler cap on the burner (if it ever had one). The flywheel turns but is a bit stiff. The cylinder probably just needs a good clean out. The safety valve seems to be siezed solid so I might have to give that the vinegar treatment. The boiler and burner both look in good condition apart from the dirt and tarnish. All the screws are rusted badly and will need replacement. The painted steel bits are showing slight rusting but should clean up ok. The chromed bits are in surprisingly good condition. I still think it was a good £32 worth. I shall keep yous posted on progress. |
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| SPOKESMAN |
That should brush up well Roly, looks mechanically sound. | ||||||||
| Lewis |
looks to be of a marine varity
anway nice looking engine  
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| Steve_S |
It looks like it'll clean up nicely Roly. It'll be interesting to see it going! | ||||||||
| Wallace |
Pic isn't working for me, but sounds a good project | ||||||||
| Roly Williams |
The link should take you to a FotoPic page with 5 thumbnails, each of which is a link to a picture. It's working fine for me so try again. The site does occasionally have problems, probably when it gets overloaded. |
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| Wallace |
Working now, cheers. That's a great engine, and great price too. Well done, and imagine it will clean up a treat! |
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| Roly Williams |
Well, everything came apart with a bit of WD40 and gentle persuasion. After dismantlement and washing in dirty IPA (which I keep for this purpose), brushing off some of the rust and most of the green stuff (I hope that was verdigrise); it doesn't look so bad.
A few things came to light: The reason it was stiff was that the crank pin was loose in the flywheel and was rubbing against the casting. The copper boiler was rather crudely soldered but it looks steamtight so I will just clean it up and see how it fairs on firing (from a distance!). Another "feature" of the boiler is the pair of straps soldered to it where it rests on the firebox. At first, I thought they were patches but I don't think so now. I think they are just padding. I suspect that the semi-holes in the firebox were cut the wrong size or the boiler is not the original. There are signs that it has been repainted at least once on top of the original so I shall have no compunction about stripping it to the metal and redoing it myself. The base, in particular, needs it. It was last done with non-heat resistant paint as can be seen in the photo. (It's interesting to see the "shadow" of the burner quite clearly.) The safety valve spring completely disintegrated in the cleaning. It was just a tube (not even a coil) of rust. The cylinder spring is intact but has seen beter days. I shall have to sabotage a couple of Biros I think! The screws, incidentally, are all 5BA - a slightly uncommon size. They are all steel and badly rusted so they'll have to go. Unfortunately, the tie-rods holding the firebox together are the same thread so I might have to salvage or buy some 5BA nuts at least. Also the screws holding the engine block to the casting are tapped directly into the casting so they'll have to remain 5BA. Again I'll have to buy or salvage those. There's an interesting repair to the boiler strap where it has been extended by an extra bit riveted on. I suspect that the end snapped off while bending. Ive added some more pictures to the Fotopic page: http://rolysphotos.fotopic.net/c1211185.html |
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| tmuir |
Bit of work in there but should all clean up nicely.
I see what you mean about the soldering but we must remember it was made by a high school student not a qualified metalworker. |
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| MooseMan |
Indian Pale Ale  
Have I missed something? |
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| tmuir |
Isopropyl Alcohol is my guess | ||||||||
| Mamodman123 |
I use warm water and detergent 
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| Roly Williams |
Isopropyl Alcohol. I've had no desire to try drinking either version
It's generally used as a solvent in the electronics industry and does it's job excelently, but it's too expensive to throw away just because it's dirty. I thought about burning it instead of meths but was advised against it by somebody. |
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| Mamodman123 |
So what does it do? cleans parts? frees them up? cleans paintwork?
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| Roly Williams |
So do I sometimes, but alcohol is better at desolving oil and grease, dries more quickly and doesn't cause rust on naked steel. |
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| Roly Williams |
Yes, yes and yes. It's a bit like meths but without the purple die. |
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| Mamodman123 |
A kind of spirit cleaner then Roly?
Always useful! especially when things are oiled up
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| Roly Williams |
Aye |
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| Steve_S |
IPA has a very nice smell too!
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| MooseMan |
Durrrrrr......sorry, I think I pickled my brain with meths fumes running the Bowman 300 last night 
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| Roly Williams |
As I said before, I have no guilty concience about completely stripping this engine down to the metal and repainting. I've decided not to change the character of the school project so I'm not correcting the rough soldering or removing the rough finish on the non-painted surfaces. (The maker didn't even file off the sharp edges after cutting out the parts! I think I'll probably remove those as a compromise.)
When I stripped off the old paint, it was clear that there was at least two layers; three in some places. The lowest layer appeared to be white and dark blue - a combination I'm not too keen on! Was there a traditional or recommended colour scheme for Wells engines? |
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| Manxman |
I don't think their could be a standard colour for these engines. The school text book is in black and white, so doesn't help. However the text book cover is in colour. So I guess this is as close as you could get to knowing what Kenneth Wells was planning with these engines.
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| Roly Williams |
Thanks Manxsman,
Black and yellow doesn't look as bad as it sounds. Shades of the Mamod TE kit. I'll probably go along with that. |
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| MooseMan |
I think I've just won a little Wells engine....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250088051080 Can anyone tell me more about this company?
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| Mamodman123 |
I think you definatly have Moosey
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| Roly Williams |
It certainly is a Wells. It's tha same as the one on the staionary but obviously adapted for marine use. The way I understand it is that Wells is not a company but is the name of the designer. The design was used in schools as metalwork projects so all the engines are "home made" by individuals. However, somebody must have supplied the castings, so there might have been a company to do that much at least. |
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| MooseMan |
Ah, I see.....well, I'm chuffed to have won it - look forward to seeing what it can do. | ||||||||
| Manxman |
Yep. It's just as Roly said. Kenneth Wells wrote three text books (all published 1972) titled Step by Step Metalwork. Volume 3 showed how to made a Stationary and a Traction Engine.
The back of volume 3, does have a list of companies that could help with surplying bits for schools. The castings were all done in school and I've got pics of pieces being set in sand boxes and molten metal being poured into moulds. My guess (and I don't have this) is that their may have also been a Teachers copy of the text books with more information, scale drawings, posters for classroom wall and stuff like that. I could post up a few pics if you want to see any of the pages. |
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| Roly Williams |
I didn't realise the castings were done in school as well. Did that include making the patterns? All the ones I've seen have been remarkably identical (especially the engine frames in the stationary). | ||||||||
| MooseMan |
Yes please Manx - you're the ultimate steam librarian! |
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| Manxman |
No problems. I'll do some pics later today. | ||||||||
| MTA |
There is a box filled with castings for Wells TE's at my school, I have some with me here! Plus there is a part complete Wells TE in the box, I haven't got round to asking my teacher for it yet 
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| Manxman |
You should just get bold and ask. I know I'd love a box of bits like that. Sounds like to have the start of an engine for little or no money. | ||||||||
| tmuir |
If you got a box of castings I would buy some at the right price. | ||||||||
| Manxman |
Ok, here are a few pages from the Wells text book. Hopefully they give an idea of what the book is like and help explain these engines.
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| Roly Williams |
Aha! That solves one little mystery. Somebody here (can't remember who) put up a pic of an engine that looked like my Wells but had a sheet metal engine frame instead of the cast one; and I thought it wasn't genuine Wells. It now appears that it was! It's a little surprising that the cast ones are by far the most popular, because the sheet metal ones must be easier to make. | ||||||||
| MTA |
It's not everything tmuir, just front wheels, rear wheels, some cylinder brackets with the port faces, and the smokebox and chimney assemblies
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| MTA |
If I don't have it by the end of the week, I'll give myself a stern repremand Everything is there except a burner, cylinder and a driveband...
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| tmuir |
Thats all I would need. I don't plan at any point in the future to set myself up to do casting but I do plan to have a good lathe within the year so armed with a set of Wells castings I could build a mobile. Would also speak very nicely to Manxman for a high res scan of his manual to build one.
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| Roly Williams |
Does anybody know if Kenneth Wells' book is available for sale anywhere? I've searched Amazon, Ebay and Google with no success. | ||||||||
| MTA |
I belive it is out of print now Roly, although Manx has the ISBN number so you can track down a copy from the local library
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| Roly Williams |
I was thinking more in terms of buying one second hand. I just thought it would be an interesting / usefull book to have sitting on the shelf. |
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| Manxman |
I've spent quite awhile trying to get the book. Having failed with all the normal routes, I tried a couple of Uni librarys (no luck), a school library (no luck) and a school inter library loan system (no luck) and finally the Public Library. The Public Library found a copy and for a small fee, I borrowed that (and copied it). I'm not sure if the fee was because I'm on the Isle of Man or if it is because it is a hard book to find. I'm still on the look out for an original copy but my photo copy will do for now. |
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| Roly Williams |
Tmuir and I have just bought the last two available on Amazon! (I don't know why my search failed but Tmuir found them.) Keep looking, Manxman - it seems there are a few out there. Amazon is the obvious place so keep searching there every few days. Tmuir said he found it by searching for "metalwork" rather than "Kenneth Wells". |
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| tmuir |
I found it by searching for Kenneth Wells and metalwork. There is still one more copy on Amazon but as that seller wants 68 pounds and we dont know what volume he has I didnt bother to mention it before. But if your feeling really rich here is the link. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-...oks&qid=1173016087&sr=1-1 |
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| Roly Williams |
The seller's name is "phatpocket_com". I'm not surprised if he's selling books at that price
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| SPOKESMAN |
Ludicrous. 
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| tmuir |
I just noticed that RRP for the book is 1.10 pound so he's only 68 times above RRP.
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| tmuir |
Here is another one (I think) on amazon Japan.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/Step-Metalwork-Kenneth-Wells/dp/0237281155 This website can translate it for you. http://dictionary.reference.com/translate/ |
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| tmuir |
Doh,
just got a message from the seller it was book two I bought. Hope you have more luck Roly. |
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| Roly Williams |
I've now completed the restoration of my Wells stationary engine.
http://rolysphotos.fotopic.net/c1226772.html As I said before, and as can be seen by these photos, I have retained the character of a school project by not "finishing" the metalwork. The rough edges (literally), poor soldering etc are as made (or at least as I received it). I completely stripped the paintwork and repainted it in the same colours as on the cover of Kenneth Wells' book. Incidentally, the yellow paint I bought was a bad choice. It's opacity has a lot to be desired. I had to apply 4 coats and there are still one or two places where it could do with another coat or two. Also, even after baking in my usual way, it is still as soft as something brown and smelly  I haven't fired it yet but I suspect the paint on the burner will not fair too well. I might have to strip it again and buy some other brand. For information - the brand is Plasti-kote Project Paint - fast dry enamel - Buttercup Yellow.
Other aspects of the restoration worthy of note: The boiler is copper and the ends are brazed, not soldered. They aren't coming off in a hurry! The safety valve bush and steam feed pipe are soldered in. The safety valve was an extremely tight fit and required considerable force to screw it in - even after cleaning up the threads. Reluctantly, I ran a 5/16" BSF tap down the bush and (worryingly) quite a bit of metal came away. The valve now fits perfectly. The original might possibly have been done with a taper tap. The valve spring was originally plain steel and was now just a ring of rust. There is now another springless biro in my rubish bin
The pipe on the burner was slightly loose - barely detectable by feel but it would probably have leaked meths. That was easily re-soldered. The filler has no cap. The example on the book cover looks like it has a screw cap but mine has no thread, so it probably never had one. I'll have to seek out a rubber plug for it. The crank pin was also loose in the flywheel and was rubbing on the casting. The end of the pin is hammered oval, presumably to make it a force fit on the hole. In fact, it was barely an interferance fit. The hole is visibly larger than the pin. I hammered the end of the pin a bit more so it now fits tight. To help stop it working loose with the vibration, I also applied a drop of superglue to fill in the gap. The rear end of the crank shaft just poked out of the back of the bearing with nothing to stop it riding forward. I don't know if the original design has anything there but I've fitted a Meccano bush on the end. Fortunately, it's standard Meccano diameter so I can fit a pulley or anything else there if desired at any time. The spring on the trunnion pin was intact but had seen better days, so that's yet another springless biro for the bin! I'll soon have to persuade my employers to send me on some more training couses to get the freebie pens (The freebie pens that come in junk mail are usually el-cheapo ones with no spring )
The chromed parts of the firebox are not too bad. Not perfect but the look ok from a distance. I treated the end plates in my usual manner with high temperature (600c) matt paint on the inside and heat resistant (200c) gloss on the outside. I also used the gloss on the base. I wanted to photograph the engine before I fired it up. I've just done that but I'll have to clear some space somewhere on my workbench or kitchen table (both overflowing at the moment) to run it and I can't be arsed just now. I'll do it tomorrow or over the weekend. |
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| Steve_S |
It looks good Roly, and it'll be interesting to see it running. It's strange about the paint... maybe a bad batch? Do you think its meant to have a chimney? The way that the exhaust pipe runs back toward the boiler then curls upwards almost looks like there could have been a chimney sitting on top of the safety valve... like on some Latimer L4s. | ||||||||
| SPOKESMAN |
Looking extremely good Roly - love that yellow!
Looking forward to seeeing it actually steam - the set up reminds me of a marine engine!
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| Manxman |
I really like that and it does look just like the one on the front of the book. I'd love to see it running again.
School project or not. Another engine to be proud of and a good addition to your wide and interesting collection. |
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| yosa |
A nice engine Roly, plenty of character, very unusual. Great addition to the collection mate. 
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| Sandman |
Great stuff Roly.
Congrats on a first class resto.
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| tmuir |
I bet it didn't look that good when it was first made.
Nicely done. |
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| Roly Williams |
Thanks Steve. I don't know about the paint. I won't be using it again anyway. I'll be steaming it this weekend so we'll see how it stands up then. I don't think it was supposed to have a chimney. There isn't one in the picture on the front of Wells' book. |
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| Roly Williams |
Yes, it does look a bit like a marine layout. However, it couldn't work as such because the engine is facing the wrong way! I suppose it could be remounted the other way with an extension of the feed pipe but that's not how it was intended. |
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| Roly Williams |
Thanks everyone, and I do intend steaming it this weekend. Seeing as everyone seems to want so see it running, I'll take a video if it works ok. | ||||||||
| MooseMan |
Inspirational stuff Roly!
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| SPOKESMAN |
One question - how/where is the PTO? | ||||||||
| Roly Williams |
Hmm. I took me a few minutes to work out what "PTO" meant. I eventually decided you mean "Power Take Off". The crank shaft sticks out behind the engine, between engine and boiler. As received there was nothing on the end and I don't know if there is anything in the original design. The picture on the book cover is inconclusive. I've fitted a Meccano plain bush there but it could be a pulley or sprocket. |
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| SPOKESMAN |
Thanks Roly!!!
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| Wallace |
Look forward to it Roly. Fantastic paint job with the yellow too. |
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| oldstuff |
It's amazing what you've done with it, Roly. Wonderful restore job, mate.
Interesting Wells design...I haven't seen others like it, wonder why? |
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| Manxman |
This is a guess Wells engines were made after 1972 and had (for the most part) stopped being made in schools by the mid 1980's. During this same period Mamod was the main maker of steam toys in England and their mobiles were much more popular than the stationary engines. More than half of Mamod's production in the mid 1970's was the Traction Engine and Steam Roller. The stationary range was getting old and was re-vamped in 1979 with some success. But even then some of the stationary models didn't sell that well and were withdrawn in 1984. Now, Kenneth Well had caught on to the idea of school kids making steam toys. If the most popular at the time were mobiles, then I'd guess more kids went for his Traction Engine rather than his Stationary Engine. That may explain why we seem to see more of the Traction Engines (I think). |
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| Roly Williams |
As promised, I've captured the engine's first runs on video.
The first video is dual purpose; it shows the Wells running but also demonstrates running a steam engine using a domestic high pressure steam cleaner as a steam generator. This is the first run of this engine and, as you can see, it was a bit reluctant to start at first. In fact, I was just about to give up and investigate what was wrong when it burst into life. There's a fair bit of steam leakage around the makeshift connection to the boiler so it doesn't run verry fast, but it proved that it worked.
Next I fired it up with meths, filling the boiler and burner to 3/4 full. The burner worked quite well and the boiler came up to pressure in about 3 minutes but, when I started the engine, it was priming like hell and at one point seemed to be spewing more water than steam out of the exhaust. It ran erraticaly for about 5 minutes then stopped quite suddenly, with the burner still going. I removed the burner after a few seconds and put it out. As suspected, the boiler was dry.
I then refilled the boiler with the same amount of water but with half as much meths in the burner and only lit two of the three wicks. The priming wasn't so bad, presumably because of the reduced flame. It ran a little erratically at first but then it settled down after a while. That was when I recorded the second video. This time, the boiler still ran dry but with only a few drops of meths left in the burner. I now know, in future, only to fill the burner about 1/4 full!
Here are the videos. I got a bit carried away and they are quite large - sorry if you are still on dial-up 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKT84fjFng0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icQYwFn4N7U |
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| Roly Williams |
BTW, I first tried to use the html supplied by YouTube directly in my post, but it didn't work. It just showed the html as plain text. I've now edited it to give the URLs, which seem to work ok. Does anybody know how to do it properly? | ||||||||
| SPOKESMAN |
Great to see!!!
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| Mamodman123 |
Great Job Roly! You have clearly spent a lot of time on this one
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