Jensen Model 60 Steam Engine
This is a Jensen Model 60 oscillating engine. A friend gave me this engine in 2017. He had found it at an estate sale for a few dollars.
--EXTERNAL LINK-- Click image to see a brief YouTube video of the engine under steam.
The model doesn't look particularly worn, but it may not have been well cared for. There was lots of crud and rust. The piston was frozen in gunk. The boiler looks to have been run on hard water. Most of the fittings were loose with fragile-looking or missing gaskets. And the smoke stack and burner tray were missing. It also turns out that the whistle is too beat-up to work. Unfortunately my new parts order arrived before I realized that.
At first I though the ID plate was missing, but I believe this model was built during the decal era. The rivet holes look virgin and there's some residue which may have been decal adhesive. Perhaps the ID plate/decal evolution is a good way to date the engine, but I don't know enough about it. I also noticed that the flywheel has no belt groove whereas most Model 60 pictures I've seen show a groove.
Engine as acquired.
Engine as acquired.
I disassembled anything that didn't need to be pried apart. I cleaned mostly with Mean Green and alcohol. I used a bit of vinegar to get rid of some scale. I did a little polishing, but didn't worry too much about all the surface corrosion. Mainly I wanted the engine to run. All the cosmetic imperfections I'll just chalk up to "character". The old gaskets were tossed.
Engine disassembled and cleaned.
New parts!