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Historical Model Live Steam Engine Kits |
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Sussex Steam Co. is based in a small village in
Sussex on the south coast of England and is a small
company specialising in the design of working
historical model steam engines. The company was
created in 2002 by John and Paula and now includes
amongst its customers enthusiasts from all over the
world as well as customers such as London's Science Museum and Kew Bridge Steam Museum. |
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The models that we have available are all designed by us and operate as 'live steam' models as well as making attractive display exhibits which can be brought to life by the use of motorisation units or compressed air.
They are all available in kit form - the guiding principle behind the make up of the kits being that
the models can be built without the use of a lathe or milling machine.
In response to many
requests we have had in the past, we are introducing for
the first time a kit which requires no metalworking.
This is the Beam Type A.
The parts for the Beam A are
ready made and, as such, no drilling, cutting, threading
or shaping is required.
You will need a screwdriver,
a pair of pliers, a small hand drill (or pin vice) for
drilling pilot holes in the wood plinth and some super glue to put the kit
together. To set up the engine and make it run smoothly,
you will probably need some emery cloth, a small
file to take off any rough edges and a couple of small drill
bits to clean up any holes that may need fettling.
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For kits other than the Beam Type A |
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Construction involves the making of small brass parts
using hand tools. |
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Tools
required are small hacksaw, drill and drill
bits, files, screwdrivers and vice, solder
torch etc. |
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2mm / 3mmTaps
and dies are used on all models with the
exception of the Trevithick models. |
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A bench
mounted drill although not completely
necessary, will make life easier. |
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Latest News
Kits
for the Beam Engine Type A and the Steam Plant are
now available
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Beam Engine
Type A - Kit
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Beam Type A and Steam Plant
Combination |
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This
model can be run with live steam using our new
optional Steam Plant or it will run off
compressed air at less than 2psi.
The Beam Type A in
combination with our new Steam Plant is the replacement for
our popular Beam Type S. Because of the new modular
arrangement, you will not only have the advantage of an easy
to build model but you will now have the option to purchase
the Engine and Steam Plant separately.
The parts for the Beam A are
ready made and, as such, no drilling, cutting, threading, shaping
or soldering is required.
You will need a screwdriver,
a pair of pliers, a small hand drill (or pin vice) for
drilling pilot holes in the wood plinth and some super glue
to put the kit together. To set up the engine and make it
run smoothly, you will probably need some fine emery cloth, a small
file to take off any rough edges and a couple of
small drill bits to clean up any holes that may need
fettling.
This kit is
now available |
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Steam Plant Kit |
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The Steam Plant kit is
designed as the steam generator for the Beam Type A and is
straightforward to build. The stand is laser cut from
stainless steel sheet which just requires folding. The basic
Steam Plant kit does require some drilling and soldering.
If you prefer, you
can choose the pre-soldered option which means that all that
you need to do to assemble the kit is to fold the base to
shape and screw everything together.
The Steam Plant can also be used to drive the Watt's Engine as
well as being a suitable general purpose steam
generator for use with any other small live steam models you
may have.
This kit is
now available
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Our model of Boulton and
Watt's 10 hp engine is now available in kit form only.
It can be made to run quite on compressed air at less than 3 psi and will
also run on live steam
The model represents James Watt's
'Standard 10hp" steam engine which was produced between
1787 and 1800 - the steam engine that would go on to
power the factories of the world and provide great
impetus to the industrial revolution.
It features the major steam engine improvements that James Watt introduced including condenser, parallel motion, rotating flywheel, double acting cylinder, sun and planet gear and governor.
The full sized Lap Engine on display at London's Science Museum is an original example of this type of steam engine.
>
Watts Engine Live Video
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Feedback from customers who have built this model
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A live steam model of Trevithick's Dredging Engine. In 1806 Trevithick built a steam dredger for use on the River Thames using his 'strong steam' engine. This model is similar to the original full size engine on display at
.London's Science Museum and is available in kit form.
> Dredger Engine Live Steam Video
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Richard Trevithick's 'Puffing Devil' was the world's first passenger carrying steam road locomotive. It was designed and first tested by Richard Trevithick and friends on Christmas Eve 1801 when they drove the vehicle up Camborne Hill in Cornwall.
The success of this first Camborne Hill run led to the testing of the world's first steam railway locomotive at Penydarren in 1804. Trevithick subsequently went on to build the 'Catch-Me-Who-Can' passenger train - the world's first fare-paying passenger railway near Gower St. in London in 1808.It was the first engine to use high pressure steam.
James Watt thought that such pressures were dangerous and is said to have remarked that Trevithick deserved hanging for bringing such a thing into the world!
There are no known surviving original drawings of the 'Puffing Devil' . This live steam model is loosely based partly on sketches and partly on the Dredging Engine in the Science Museum in Kensington which was manufactured only two years later.
> Puffing Devil Live Steam Video
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A kit enabling you to build a fully working Live Steam model of a Newcomen Atmospheric Steam Engine that was reputably installed at Dudley in 1712 to pump out water from a coal mine. It was working on a model Newcomen Steam Engine that led James Watt to revolutionise steam engine design.
This model was recently featured in part 2 of the Channel 4 programme 'Genius of Britain' ( the James Watt episode) with James Dyson operating the engine under live steam.
It has also been featured in the 2013 BBC2 series 'Genius of
Invention'.
The Engine works using the vacuum caused by the condensation of steam in the cylinder. It was the first commercial application of a Steam Engine and paved the way for the Industrial Revolution.
A battery driven Motorisation Kit is available as an option for convenient demonstration and display.
The metalwork of the model is mainly brass and the woodwork is supplied
pre-finished.
A fully built example of our Newcomen Engine is on display at
Kew Bridge Steam Museum, London
> Newcomen Live Steam Video < |
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Copyright Sussex Steam Co. 2012 all rights reserved |
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