Building the Stuart boiler feed pump part 6

Much to my surprise the steam end of the pump burst into life as soon as I connected a compressed air supply. It was reluctant to run slowly but it was very tight even though I had left the piston gland loose and applied a copious amount of oil. After a bit of fiddling with the valve timing I was able to get tit to run smoothly all be it with quite a short stroke- the length of stroke can be adjusted by positioning the valve collars.

Flushed with success I now turned my attention to the water pump. There are a couple of bronze castings supplied for this.

The pump body is supplied with chucking piece which makes getting hold of it simple. The first operation was to machine the mounting surface and then use this as a reference.

I made a fixture to turn the body spigot.

After the turning operations it was over to the milling machine to drill the water passages.

There is a surprising amount of work in this component, none of it particularly difficult but care needed making sure that the holes line up.