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Hand start


Man 'o Kent

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3 hours ago, Man 'o Kent said:

He had a pretty good idea how long a set of shoes would last and it was always a wonder to me to watch him prepare a set. From memory of his regulars he could  cut a length of bar, shape it, punch the nail holes in etc. and that shoe would need only the most minor of adjustment when the client came in.

In my teens we lived next door to a farrier. He would occasionally shoe horses in the driveway we shared, and it was just as you describe. But mostly he travelled around to the various stables locally. His kit was all carried in a basic open trailer towed behind his rusting Morris Maxi, the small brazier alight throughout. I remember it had a crude fan driven through noisy cast iron gears, when you turned the handle on the side.  I can't imagine his successors today can get away with such a crude setup.

Edited by David Mack
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  • 2 weeks later...

I will take pics today / tomorrow as I clean bits up but it's very simple system as my previous image shows. It's got a simple chain down to a gear with 2 cut notches in the back, behind that sits a plate with 2 sprung loaded arms around inch long, as the handle is turned the to sprung loaded arms lock into the gear. Once the engine is turning these sprung arms just run round the gear and the speed forced these arms to not engage, as the speed slows or gets too slow the speed is no longer fast enough to hold the arms out and it starts to bounce off the handle gear giving a click noise.

 

It's a very easy and good way of setting your idle speed as too slow it clicks so you just adjust till it just stops clicking. I have mine set so it just stops clicking in gear this way you avoid any unnecessary wear.

 

Modern rn engines tend to have very slow and low idle but this is due to alot not having hand start. I have seen some that run so slow that any slower they would stop.

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Is it possible that the pawls are stuck in the running position ,so disengaged? I have seen this on other makes of engines, though with the hand starting gear outside of the engine.

Cleaning and re-oiling makes them work again.

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51 minutes ago, billh said:

Is it possible that the pawls are stuck in the running position ,so disengaged? I have seen this on other makes of engines, though with the hand starting gear outside of the engine.

Cleaning and re-oiling makes them work again.

The toolmaker in me sometimes had cause to think that draftsmen/designers were the Spawn of the Devil!

In this case I am inclined to think you may be right about the pawls being stuck in the run position as things in there do have, (being kind), a patina of surface rust and general grubbiness.

 
The Devil's Spawn reference applies here because the cover plates, (pt.31 on billybobbooth's drawing), are instead of being placed facing aft where they could be accessed and removed are tucked away facing for'ard and inaccessible short of gearbox removal and complete stripping of the starter assembly. The only possibility for the present is a bit of judicious "old skool" application of the Manchester screwdriver to free things up.
 
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12 minutes ago, Man 'o Kent said:
The toolmaker in me sometimes had cause to think that draftsmen/designers were the Spawn of the Devil!

Here's a useless fact: My sister's business is on the ground floor of what was  once the drawing office of the National Gas & Oil Engine Co in Ashton. Another useless bit: she uses part of an unfinished National piston as a door stop in the office?

The Barlow 's boat Daphne with D2 engine is moored in Ashton Under Lyne, less than a mile from where the engine was built and as far as is known is the only National in working order in that town. i think there's a National on display  in the shopping precinct. The history of the "Nash"  in Ashton can be traced back to Boulton & Watt of early steam engine fame and much to be discovered in the book "Chronicles of Boulton's siding"

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Never had a sister, Hitler saw to that, but blokes I know that do seem to regard them as scary creatures so yours should be well placed to keep the ghosts of them designers in their place!

Matthew Boulton: Was it not he that in a letter extolled the virtues of a certain Mr Stephenson who "could finish his engine cylinders to the thickness of a thin shilling."?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/01/2021 at 20:52, Man 'o Kent said:

Russell Newbery  DM2, year of manufacture unknown, Engine No. 22B (or E) 1392.


This engine would at first sight seem to be equipped with a hand start mechanism right down to and including the starting handle. However there is no connection to the engine and the decompressors seem to have been disabled. The latter would imply that this is how the engine was built rather than a component failure.


The engine is fitted with a Lucas starter motor and has been an entirely reliable starter in all conditions.


My question are (1) Has anyone come across an engine set up thus?

                           (2) Has anyone reinstated the hand start?

                           (3) How much grief is involved in getting at the mechanism?


I would add that I have the experience to address the problem and a machine shop to back it up but forewarned is forearmed.

 

 

 

22 E was built in March 1985. 

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