# Graham engines project...



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I and my son Ben have purchased and built several Graham engine kits. they go together very nicely and made very nice little engines. they are quite basic as you would expect from their price tag. So the next question was what to do with them. 

As the kits do not include boilers, that was the first order of business. the type of boiler is dictated by how the engine would be used. as we have three different engines, three different projects await our attention. 

I built a two cylinder engine first with plans for a tugboat. It got a gas fired horizontal boiler.

Ben and I each built single cilinder engines. We decided they would make serviceable logging engines and should have vertical boilers spirit fired.










We plan to make little "shop built" logging engines. they will be quirky by design. Ben wants "Monkey Motion" or connection rods. His larger single cilinder engine and bigger boiler hint at 7/8" scale so we have thought to make big wheels possibly with curved spokes just for fun!


What have you guys done? I would like to see some other Graham engine Projects.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

I've been interested in the 2 cylinder Graham for a long time. It would be cool on a Type A Climax. Or part out for a Shay. Did you build the kit or get RTR? If built, was it difficult in any way?


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

We built them from kits. Even if you go no farther, the process of building the kit is very fun and satisfying!

Here is a shot taken during the assembly. it is pretty straight forward screwdriver work. (they even supply the screw driver!) The instructions are pretty clear and have quite a few photos. the only metal shaping required seemed to be polishing the surfaces were parts of the cylinders meet.










Here is my son ben working on his engine. He did all the work on his engine and when done it ran well on air. I had to go over it with the screw driver to make sure the screws were properly tightened. on a previous project we broke some screws which is a pain but not on this project. We should have used a little locktight on some of the screws for better results but did well enough without.










I think these engines would make a great geared loco...class A climax or shay or Cricket type.


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

I refitted my Geoffbuilt Shay with a Graham Shay engine. I didn't build it, but I did re-time it, which was a simple procedure, per the manual.


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's a 4-2-0 that I built several years ago. Had to work out several firing/steaming problems but runs like a watch now. Dead leg lubricator mounted on engine frame. Fuel is alcohol. Chain drive reduction ratio is about 5:1. Drivers about 1.25" diameter, turned from Walsall castings. If you want to see closeups I'll have to dig for photos on another computer.

Steve


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Found another photo. The journals for the sprocket shaft are soldered up from K&S brass tubing and strip. The shaft was turned from the unthreaded part of a machine screw (if I remember right). The hubs on the flywheel and the 10-tooth sprocket behind it needed to be turned shorter to fit both on the crank shaft.

Steve


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

that is a cool engine..Kinda what whe had in mind too. did you make the boiler for yours?


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Eric, 
Thanks. The boiler started as a Midwest kit. I used the boiler top and bottom from the kit and substituted a longer piece of 2" copper pipe and a longer copper pipe center flue. I added a homemade regulator valve and a safety valve. Initial tests showed it to be shy of steam, so I added 5 long quills through the bottom of the boiler. The steam line goes from the regulator down through the boiler steam/water space, out the bottom of the boiler, takes a turn around the firebox, and then exits to the engine. This allows the steam line to serve as an additional quill as well as giving the steam a little bit of "superheat". There's also a baffle that covers the bottom of the firebox to keep cold air from being drawn up into the single vertical flue. The burner assembly has two wicks, each about 3/8 dia, that are supplied via a chicken feed system. No blast pipe is fitted as it was found to offer no benefit. There seems to be ample natural draft up the single flue. The boiler cleading is cut from galvanized stove pipe. 

Hauling power is limited by the adhesion of the two driving wheels, so generally it will pull 2 or 3 cars reliably, depending on track conditions and ambient temperature. It marches along at essentially one sedate speed. 

Steve


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

I need to take the plunge on the 2 cylinder version. It's on the life time "to do" list.


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## Cap'nBill (Dec 27, 2008)

I really am happy with the Graham engines, too! I recall when I received the kit, there was a part missing. He sent a replacement immediately...no questions asked! I replaced the standard screws with the Micro Fasteners 2-56 brass hex bolts. I thought they looked a little more 'scale'. Great way to learn about steam engines without high cost....that's my opinion anyway. Bill
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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I like those hex head bolts...might just have to do that too!

Here are the wheels ben and I are making for his little beast.

We started with disks cut from a big rod of brass I got at a scrap yard. Next we machined them on the lathe to clean them up and make a little hub for the back side. Then we put them on the CNC mill and cut the spokes. then back onto the lathe to clean them up. 










here is a short video showing the CNC mill in operation


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Those look neat. Where do you guys get them from?


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

The engines are from Graham industries http://www.grahamind.com/ they have 4 models. they also have some fun videos of making some of the parts in their machine shop.

For less than the cost of one of the big Accucraft engines you can have a CNC milling machine which can let you build your own http://www.sherline.com/8540pg.htm


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I wanted to give some interest to the gears I will use to reduce the speed for the loco. as my son says "more monkey motion" I used my CNC mill to cut out a disk gear to make a spoked gear. just for fun I again made curved spokes, Just cause I can with the CNC.

Someone wanted to see how the spokes were cut. I have film for cutting only the first cutout...the rest are cut the same way. I had to spend some time with a needle file to remove the burrs after the milling machine finished its work.


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

I was looking at these engines with the thought of combining 2 of the single cylinder models to create a Heisler engine. Once I considered the amount of other parts I would still have to fabricate, I figured that I would want to have a good lathe for the project, and I could just make the whole thing. I think they would be great for a 2 cyl. shay or the marine model for an A class shay. 

As for the CNC mill part, I lucked out and found a 1980's 2hp Bridgeport Rigid Ram on Feebay for $850. I never saw it run as the motor and drive pulley head was taken off when it was originally moved. I have all the parts ready to go on when I get some time. I'm pretty excited to see what I can do once it's running.


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

The Hadden Heisler is made with two Graham engines.


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Posted By Dan Pantages on 10 Nov 2011 08:00 PM 
The Hadden Heisler is made with two Graham engines. 

Wow, I'd love to see it. Anyone have any pictures of one?


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Got a little work done on the Graham Logger project. I programmed my CNC mill to cut out cranks and bearings (pillow blocks) for the engine. I plan outside frame drive wheels driven by rods from a jackshaft with a large gear and a pinion on the steamengine.

I showed work on the gear last time. here are some photos of the bits I did today.









A freind got some 1/4" brass bar which is prefect for such projects. it seemed to cut easily and cleanly. I could have been more efficient with the stock.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

OK Eric, it's been four days! Any updates? (Really, I'm just kidding, but please keep updating the thread. I'm very interested on how you make out.)


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I am actually doing two...well I am doing one and my son is doing one. he has many things going all the time so progress can be a bit slow. I cut those cranks and bearings the other day. yesterday I turned my smaller wheels to profile. they are out in the shop and I am in here without photos...sorry, perhaps tomorrow I'll get some work done and some photos taken.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I had a little time this afternoon so I drew up my plan to scale. it will let me make the engine frame, side rods and a way to mount the boiler and engine.

The drawing is pretty basic but it gives the idea. I am using the small Graham mill engine for this beast... this one


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Lets see your plan please.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Gee-- I thought it posted...I tried a couple of times.

I think that link messed up the works!


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Love it. I just got a heritage steam engine for christmas. My plan is to build the Tom Thumb engine with it. I figure it will teach me a little more about steam and then move up from there.


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Very good Eric. What do you plan on firering it with?


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I'll make a little Spirit burner for it. I have in the past made a little copper tray with some ceramic fiber fluff in it, a little tube leading to it from valve and a tank. it works fine but can be hard to get the valve setting right. I made my first when I was in High school as an improvement on a Mamond burner in a little tugboat.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

It has been a WHILE since I have worked on this project, but I am back at it with my son Ben building a pair of "logging" engines. We will see how they get used when we finish em









Ben and I assembled the kits in 2011 but we took em apart again and put some locktite onto the screws. can't have em coming apart now can we!









Here are some photos of building the boiler:









these are the basic parts, starting with a 2-1/2" pipe and 3/8" tubes










here is Ben silver soldering the guts of the boiler










bushings for the boiler...the angled one at right holds the safety valve and a bush for the throttle valve.










Here are the two boilers. fittings installed and hydro statically tested.










Ben is using my CNC mill to machine spoked wheels from brass plate.










here is one wheel fresh from the mill.










Ben's engine boiler and 3 of his wheels at left mine at right.










here is what we had at the end of the day today. the side frames are cut from aluminum with spacers to connect them. brass bushing were inserted for the main journal bearings. the boiler sits down into the frame so that the chimney will fit though my covered bridges. we will install the cranks outside the frame tomorrow. 









Father and son after a days work. we are working fast this is in conjunction with a two week school project...we hope to have it running by next Friday!


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow they look great so far. I really need to learn to build my own boilers etc.......


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

today's progress was slower but we did manage to make the engine deck and cranks for the side rods. also I found my stash of sprockets so we can do a double reduction for slower operation and more torque.

As you might of guessed this engine will be 7/8" scale.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I really like that.


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## StevenJ (Apr 24, 2009)

Oh I thought the boiler was going to sit much higher! That is very good looking Eric! i don't think it will tip over on curves with the way it is centered! Nice work.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Ben and I spent a little time out in the shop this afternoon. We set the CNC mill to work making brackets to hold the idler shaft for the chain drive.



















While the mill was working, we assembled some loops of chain to a suitable length and made up the idler shaft with its two sprockets. with the brackets complete we test fitted stuff. it seems we needed a little spacer between the bracket and the deck to get reasonable tension on the chain leaving room for the engine and boiler.


















tomorrow we will work on side rods and plumbing. at least that is the plan!


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

We got the side rods on and working freely and can now run the engines on air. they seem to run quite freely and at a pretty reasonable speed and with reasonable torque...we hope to have them running on steam by Wednesday!


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

We finished plumbing between the boiler and the engine today. We also made and installed a dead leg lubricator.










I spent a little time on the computer drawing a "finished" drawing of the beastie:


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## CN7470 (Jan 9, 2013)

Those engines are turning out great Eric, I bet you cant wait to run them!


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Wow Eric, you guys are moving at an astonishing pace. I really like them. Can't wait to see the video of them steaming. I sure hope my kid wants to do a project like this some day, but for now we are working on talking and walking. Very cool that you guys can share this.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Well we got to the point we could steam test them yesterday.

we built, burner and alcohol tanks, mounted them and lit a fire...










The burner is a donut shaped pot which will hold stainless steel mesh wick. you can see the sum at left and the feed tube. the two concentric pipes will house the wicks. the little tubes inside are air holes. the surrounding section is the wind screen or "ash pan" which fits up inside the boiler firebox.









the fuel tank is silver soldered copper with a valve for metering the alcohol and a vent tube for limiting the amount of fuel in the sump.









here is Ben soldering his tank:









WE managed to get them running on steam by dinner time. there are certainly some issues we will need to work on but I think we did OK for basically two weeks work!


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks good Eric. What sort of issues are you experiencing? Have you though about putting a thin sheet of copper wrapped around the boiler, leaving a small gap between the wrap and boiler. I did that with mine and it helps funnel the heat around the boiler rather then just heating the bottom. It def increased the power and helped keep pressure. Thats using the sterno not sure if it would help with the alcohol burner?


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Shawn--


i added a blast pipe which I hadn't thought I would need on a vertical boiler. it increases the draft of the fire and creates much more heat. I had thought the vertical boiler would have enough "natural" draft that it wouldn't be necessary...Perhaps the wind shield restricts the airflow enough that it IS needed. but any how it works very well now. Starting the fire using a fan seems to help raise steam a lot quicker too. 

By the way, this boiler has fire tubes, the fire does not go out around the outside rather up through it and up the stack. It could be insulated though.











We also had some of the crank pins come loose but that has also been remedied by using a center punch to flair the inside end of the pin where it passes through the crack. 

Ben and I worked on a little video he can show his classmates and teachers, but you guys will probably get more out of it!


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I took my engine out for a spin today. We dropped Ben at the bus back to school this morning, when we returned I cleared the track again and fired up the new beast:


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## RickWeber (Mar 7, 2011)

Very nice work on those logging locos! Clever use of the Graham vertical engine.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

That runs gret Eric. Looks nice on your line. Cant wait till its finished. Nothing beats these little steamers.


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## StevenJ (Apr 24, 2009)

Yeah, that doesn't seem that hard at all with the right tools and drawings. Very nice Eric, great job!


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## kno3 (Aug 25, 2008)

A very nice project, congratulations! I'd like to see more of the acohol burner, if possible. Precisely how the sump works etc.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Kno3 I like the tugboat you use as an avatar! Ive done live steam tugs since well before trains.


I didnt have any good photos of the burner so I removed it from the engine this morning and snapped a couple (poor ones)








the sun is streaming in my office this morning...I am holding the wind screen which protects the burner. the burner is two very short sections of pipe...a 1 1/4" and a 1 " diameter. which leaves a gap between for the wick. the wick is a strip of stainless steel mesh. I snipped about 1/8" deep 1/8" apart along one edge to "tuft" it I bent some of the tufts out some in to spread the wick to make more flame surface. the tube running from the right feeds alcohol to the bottom of the wicks (i drilled a little hole in the top of the tube). the wicks sit in a little pool of alcohol. the depth of this pool is controlled in the sump to the right.








this is the bottom of the fuel tank (under the deck of the loco). the tube sticking out of the hex fitting is where the alcohol drips into the sump. the other tube with the angled bottom is the vent or breather. when the fuel tank is filled and the cap secured, the vent controlls the amount of fuel which is in the sump. the alcohol drips from the tank ONLY when air can flow into the vent...that is when it is above the surface of the fuel in the sump. Thus the fuel can only fill in the sump up to the opening at the bottom of the breather vent. as fuel is used, the vent is exposed and more fuel flows. in theory, the fuel never over fills the sump or the burner but is always in sufficient supply to keep the burner going. 

basically what controls the burn is how much air is drawn up past the fire... the stronger the draft the stronger the fire.


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

I guess I must have missed this thread last winter. That's a nice running engine there! I enjoyed the video that you made of it running in the snow. It gives me ideas for what to do with that boiler I built a couple of years ago.


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## dcrtrains (Aug 7, 2013)

What is the diameter of the driving wheels?


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