| Gallery, Projects and General > Project Logs |
| flash steam - a long slog to a whizzy boat |
| << < (5/6) > >> |
| Simon0362:
Hello All, Excuse me for a delayed response to this posting but I have just bumped into this forum and I am now spending a quiet time at work looking through it... I am pleased to see that someone else is getting into flash steam - when I built my Stuart D10, the intention was to put it into a model boat (a steam Gunboat of the Grey Goose class) and power it all by flash steam. I took all of my lessons from Benson's Experimental Flash Steam whichj has recently been reprinted I think, along with KN Harris' model boilers and boilermaking. The intention (~25 years ago) was to do what FlashTwo has done - computer controlled using a gas powered burner. The reality was that I managed to get to an initial stage where the engine could be run using ~25 feet of 3/16 copper tube and a modified Camping Gaz blowlamp and supplied by an engine driven feedpump. Anyway, I built the entire system up on a piece of chipboard where it still resides...It ran, mostly in fits and starts primarily because I never managed to regulate the engine driven feedpump. I would start the burner and get everything nice and hot and pump the hand pump a few times at which point the engine would gush a bit of water and then take off at mach2 (well, probably around 1000rpm or so) followed by the feedpump supplying too much water which stopped the flash part which stopped the engine, which then waited until the water in the tube heated back up to wet steam followed by...... For input to others, my feedpumps (engine driven and hand for starting the system) were both simply piston types using PB balls for valves. My guess is that they won't exceed 100psi and they certainly managed to operate under all of the conditions for pumping. The burner came from a simple blowlamp that I converted by adding an extension to allow it to be used at floor level where it is directed into the double coiul of tubing. The engine feedpump was driven by a worm and wheel cut using a tap as the hob - this then drove an ecentric that drove the pump. All a little Heath-Robinson but I was really trying out techniques at the time and it really fitted with the Unimat3 that I was using. The Stuart D10 had no changes on the steam side - although since I had 3 months at a tech college when I was building it, the cast iron bits were all finished on a surface grinder! The crankshaft bent swiftly after I started to machine it so that was replaced by a fabricated and silver soldered one. The main bearings have a pressure oil feed using 1/16thOD tube feed and a pump driven from the engine with a bypass needle valve - 'probably' overkill... I have to say that I loved the use of flash steam, no hassle building boilers, just fun making pumps and valves and trying to make it all function together. If there is any positive feedback, I will find some of my photos. Regards, Simon Everything else was taken from the 2 books mentioned, adjusted to suit the situation. |
| Brass_Machine:
--- Quote from: Simon0362 on June 10, 2010, 09:20:07 AM ---... If there is any positive feedback, I will find some of my photos. Regards, Simon Everything else was taken from the 2 books mentioned, adjusted to suit the situation. --- End quote --- Photos?? yes please. Also, if you got a minute, stop by and post in the introduction section. Thanks Eric |
| sbwhart:
yes please some pics as :worthless: Thanks Stew |
| dsquire:
Simon We would love to see more information on your projects and pictures as well. Welcome to MadModders and we hope to see your post in the introduction section when you have a chance. :D :D Cheers :beer: Don |
| Simon0362:
OK Guys, here are some shots. Taken a long time ago and then scanned from the original slides so the quality is less than perfect. About to head off on vacation so I will try and do something else when I return. Regards, Simon |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |