4 day steam engine

[anth]

Hi All ,
           Having a conversation with sean a few weeks back he stated steam was too expensive,to time consuming ect.....(my real paddler)it got me thinking so here it is a little steam engine made over a cpl of weeks averaging to four soild days worth of work with a bore of 2.5" and a 2" stroke will be around 1-1.5 hp depending on the boiler pressure .
It was made with no casting all scrap and use modern technique to speed up the maching process.
so from this i say to budding live steamers think out side the square!
we dont always have to go with tradtional looks and methods to have cheap fun
                 cheers Anthony

[thewharfonline]

How long does it take to steam up?

[anth]

A boiler for this size engine wouldn't take long,I have a 70ltr water tube boiler which will power my paddle steamer and that only takes 30 mins to get up 100 psi pressure a well designed copper boiler would take no more than 15 mins to have pressure up  100 psi ( water tube style)being the max allowed for a copper boiler....this engine was built to prove a point to my self and may end up in a friends boat...

cheers Anthony

[thewharfonline]

So did you build the engine yourself?

Hey you're from my area, maybe one day when my boat is finished you could come check her out. Is it just a model engine or is it truly a full size engine....that's really weird, I'm probably about ten minutes away from each other, we're about 3 hrs from the Murray and we're both building Paddlers....freaky really...how's progress going, I just checked over your posts. How are you building her? Are you a professional shipwright or engineer or is it more of a hobby? I would love to check the boat out...or what you have of it so far...engine etc, maybe if you'd be willing to teach I could give you a hand...it would be much easier to go to Frankston than Echuca! Wow I can't believe it so close....I thought I was the only one in these parts that was interested in these kind of boats....my gosh...wow as you can tell it's only just clicked and I'm gobsmacked. Hey you said you had a model of the boat...can you post a picture of the model so I can check it out?

the Billy Tea operates on a 'home made' engine and boiler...I wish I could learn those skills so I could do that too.

If you know how to make steam engines maybe steaming the Grebe isn't too out of the question!

I came back and edited this post after I realised how exciting this is wow...someone like minded i  my area...that is so fantastic!

[anth]

sean,
         the engine was designed by myself with no plans,if you look at the picture you will see a ruler there for scale....just like you i have an intrest in live steam,the paddle steamer well, we have been delayed and only just finished with the planning stage.
I have a few projects that must be finished before i start this one but we are  hoping june next year for the Rally!
you could easily construct and engine like billy tea's single cylinder with a water tube boiler just on a smaller scale!

[thewharfonline]

I want to be ready for the rally next year too! I have no experience in machining anything though...that's my problem. My Grandpa might be able to do it...he has a lathe. However I don't know how we'd do it. Steam and boats are kind of new to us.

Do you have 'instructions' on how to make your engine. Is it a good engine? Have you tested it? Does it work? I really like the look of it...I want a steam engine!!!!! I wish I had the time and money to build a forty foot boat too!

For the moment though I have Grebe...when your boat starts to be constructed would I be able to check it out? Or do you have plans/ the pictures of the model that you made so that I could check out it's looks...alternatively is it designed on a similar boat, if so which one so I can get some ideas!

[anth]

The orginal model has been scrapped...as we have changed the design completely we want something that can be used on the murry as well as the bay (when it's calm) so we are heading along the lines of something similar to "monarch"  except around 27 feet with an 8 foot beam
If we were able to leave the boat up at echuca then we would make it longer an more along the lines of an authentic fishing boat similar to ranger and the others but as it must remain towed and the weight we have settled for 27 ft
yes the little engine does work it was running on display last wednesday night at frankston tafe in front of some of the student's in the engineering department.
I don't have instructions but i am more than happy to help show you and your grandpa design a new engine to suit your own need's!

[thewharfonline]

You'll have to come down and check out the boat one day so that you can help us with 1) How big the engine and the boiler would need to be 2) actually see the boat so you'd know whether we could do it and 3) Show us how.

Gee the thought of steam though powering my boat is fantastic....

We have however discovered a lot more rot....that's bad news....we should never have placed her under tarps...my poor Grebe!

[anth]

No prob's
              I have an idea from the pictures,but we will have to organise a time for you both to come up here and discuss your plans....speak of you need to draw scaled plan of your boat how it going to look and the size of the paddles...this all determine size of engine and rpm....

[thewharfonline]

Yeh....I have no idea how though...drawing scale plans isn't really my thing and she's a real odd shaped hull. Square in the stern and then bulging out...I'll try and figure something out in those regards.

Next question is it very expensive to do this? How much would you say your small engine cost?

[anth]

the price will depend upon the size of engine needed and boiler.....for that we need to draw up some plans.
we would do this the same way we build a model boat from full size drawings except we are scaling down.
In your case draw a center line on a piece of paper,decide on the scale 12mm on paper equals 1 foot on your boat hull you should be able to draw the length and every foot measure the beam and scale it down on your plan,it wont be exact but should be close once done.
draw two lines coming down,one from the start of your centre line the other from the end.
draw a new centre line which will become center line of your side profile.
what you draw on one profile can be drawn straight across to other.
we do this because seats paddle shafts ect need be seen on paper to work out how much space we have.....this will determine the size of the boiler and how to fabricate it to fit which then in tern gives us a guide on cost!
The shape of hull doesn't matter you are designing the boat to suit you and your budget

[thewharfonline]

Ok...I'll have to get onto drawing the plans.

Now that you given me a verbal guide to how to draw them is there a quick 'mock' visual guide I can see so that I can get out there and do it.

One of the seats we are going to move further forwards...but I don't know how far forward yet.

Thanks for all your help so far Anthony it's been great. And suddenly steam is sounding really good again!