Cyldon 13/1

John Chapman · Cyldon 13/1

Finished at last! I have had a Cyldon 13/1, which came to me as a pile of bits, in the shed for months. Over the last few days I have been able to work on it. It was in such poor condition that only a full restoration would bring it back to life. The wooden base has been sanded down and re-varnished. The fire box was cleaned de-rusted and sprayed with BBQ paint and then gently baked for an hour. I am not keen on the dead matt finish you get with black heat resistant paint, but I find that if it is baked in a low oven to fully harden it can be buffed up with a soft cloth to give it a slight sheen and that looks a lot better.

All the brass was soaked for 24 hours in vinegar to get rid of years of accumulated filth, after which it was carefully polished. The red paint on the flywheel is still in good condition so that was left. A number of the soft solder joints had to be remade and the engine was put back together, for probably the first time in many years. The reproduction safety valve and boiler level plug came from Ian (MF Steam).

She was steamed up yesterday and runs as sweet as a nut. Am I pleased, you bet Wink

newts

Great stuff as usual John Very Happy

Very under rated engines in my opinion.

Mamod Collector

Very nicely done John, it looks fabulous Smile

Spokesmann

One for my wish list. Very well turned out John!