Bling Materials?

[Kludge]

I have some questions regarding the concept of bling.

As we all know, I’m not your typical … ummm … hobbyist. In part, I’m looking at re-using things like watch innards and ammo brasses assembled in unorthodox ways, first for electric engines and later for compressed gas engines. I like the odd and unusual but that’s either the meds or the reasons for them.

Anyway, I have some grey smoked Plexiglas disks and a bunch of different kinds of wood, the former likely to become flywheels and the latter structural members and possibly parts of the mechanisms. The Plexiglas is easy since it’s already all prettified and just needs to be drilled & reamed to size as required. The wood, on the other hand, needs to be blingified in the process of construction. I think. In this case, structural work not only includes matching different varieties but also providing a contrast against the brass, steel and nickel-silver (African Blackwood & Ebony would be nice for that.) as well as any wood that may wind up in the mechanism. Bamboo is one likely source of the wood used in the mechanisms but not the only one.

One of the other things I have to play with is leather of a variety of weights, finishes and shades. One of the things I will be using it for is wipers between cross slide carriages and lathe beds. But I’m sure that something unique can be done with it to make the various engines more prettier. I also have a bunch of white rabbit fur but I’m not all too sure that is applicable. On the other hand … hmmm …

Okay, so that’s what I have. Am I wrong in thinking it’s all good to make pretty as I go? How much trouble can I get into by using atypical materials? What should go between (brass) steam engine cylinders and wooden wrappers? Does anyone know of anyone who has tried wrapping a steam cylinder with leather? (Compressed air isn’t a problem in either case – wood or leather.) More questions to follow. I think.

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[Circlip]

Mornin' big K, you've answered your own question with regards to cylinder lagging as your engines are unlikely to see steam, so you could cover them in rabbit fur, seen someone selling horse hair (from the mane or tail) on a muddle boat forum for rigging lines. (Not cheap either) The world's your oyster, Oh, now there's a thing, Mother of Pearl, - Sorry Marv, a slip of the keyboard.
Regards Ian.

 

[steamer]

"What should go between (brass) steam engine cylinders and wooden wrappers?"

Wood! ;D

Full size practice utilized wood as an insulator. My compound uses brass sheet with high temp insulation underneath, but it could just as well been regular fiberglass insulation.

Dave

 

[Kludge]

Mornin' big K, you've answered your own question with regards to cylinder lagging as your engines are unlikely to see steam,

Only the ones not intended to see steam. ;D

Electrics are both Noelle and "bragging". Compressed air is for Noelle for safety reasons. Steam is for me. Noelle is my top priority but that doesn't mean I can't have fun for myself as well.

so you could cover them in rabbit fur,

Thus having an engine that has the warm fuzzies.

seen someone selling horse hair (from the mane or tail) on a muddle boat forum for rigging lines.

It and sinew are commonly used for sewing leather as well as basket weaving and other applications ... and are things I should have thought of. The long ones are from the tail, the shorter ones from the mane. Natural sinew's hard to find now but there's an artificial replacement that's supposed to be just as good. "supposed to be" ... key element there.

Oh, now there's a thing, Mother of Pearl,

Hmmm ... this is an island ...

BEst regards,

Kludge

 

[Kludge]

"What should go between (brass) steam engine cylinders and wooden wrappers?"

Wood! ;D

Oh. So the wood's not used to hold anything in place, it's the actual insulation. Cool.

My compound uses brass sheet with high temp insulation underneath, but it could just as well been regular fiberglass insulation.

Aren't some boilers made that way too?

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[steamer]

I don't know about the brass on a boiler casing, but Kaowool is what I insulated my boiler with.

I used stainless steel for the liner ( inner wall) and sheet steel painted for the outer casing.

Dave

 

[steamer]

Usual disclaimer...

use a little sense here...if your running 200F superheat on your 150 psi steam, you may not want to subject wood to 577F... ;D
If your running 80 psig wet steam, that's another story...

Dave

 

[Kludge]

Usual disclaimer...

Someday when people are least expecting it, I'll put my "usual disclaimer" up. ;D

use a little sense here...if your running 200F superheat on your 150 psi steam, you may not want to subject wood to 577F... ;D

Nowhere near. 15-20 PSI & really, really wet. Actually, if one of the planned engines needs more than 10 PSI to run, it's too tight. This is for both the steam and compressed air engines. CO2 ... I don't think it would be practical to even try to drop the pressure down that far but I could easily be wrong. I'm well experienced at being wrong.

As to using a little sense ... well, I don't have a lot to use so that's pretty easy.

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[steamboatmodel]

I have some questions regarding the concept of bling.

As we all know, I’m not your typical … ummm … hobbyist. In part, I’m looking at re-using things like watch innards and ammo brasses assembled in unorthodox ways, first for electric engines and later for compressed gas engines. I like the odd and unusual but that’s either the meds or the reasons for them.

Anyway, I have some grey smoked Plexiglas disks .............. I also have a bunch of white rabbit fur but I’m not all too sure that is applicable. On the other hand … hmmm …
Kludge

Hi Kludge,
Have you thought about making a static electricity generator? If I remmember right (no guarantee) if you rub the Rabbit fur against the Plexiglas it will generate static electricity.
Regards,
Gerald

 

[Kludge]

Have you thought about making a static electricity generator?

Gerald, that is utterly cool!

Creating a rabbit fur belt wouldn't be any real problem and I think I can puzzle out a way to safely discharge the Plexiglas so I can send it to Noelle knowing Yogi will be safe. (Yogi: 6.5 pounds of Yorkie-Bichon curiosity, playfulness and mischief.) One of the neat parts is that the plexiglas will provide a way to highlight the charging sparkles as well as the discharges.

hmmm ...

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[Stan]

I am having trouble visualizing a model steam engine with ermine (rabbit) trim. ;D

 

[Dhow Nunda wallah]

unusual, hmmm
dammit Kludge! you've done it again

I'm off down the workshop to make a jarrah piston for this brass cylinder
all I need now is the oakum and tallow for the piston packing and stuffing boxes, then.......

hmmm, if I want to make a wooden cylinder, I'll have to mug a pensioner for his/her bowls
lignum vitae is pretty hard to come by these days

mumble..bugger..even pensioners these days are using henselite bowls

back to the drawing board <sigh>

 

[Kludge]

I am having trouble visualizing a model steam engine with ermine (rabbit) trim. ;D

I don't know. I'd think it rather fetching, in a backwoodsie sort of way.

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[Dhow Nunda wallah]

got a coupla memory cells still working
took me all day to find the reference though ;D
wooden boilers huh?

J.E. Gordon "The New Science of Strong Materials"

 

[Bogstandard]

DNW,

Just go to this site and buy the plans

http://www.billreichart.com/engines.shtml#woody

Go green, buy plans and save brainpower.

Bogs

 

[Kludge]

dammit Kludge! you've done it again

There are many "it"s I'm good at. Which one was it this time?

I'm off down the workshop to make a jarrah piston for this brass cylinder
all I need now is the oakum and tallow for the piston packing and stuffing boxes, then.......

Well seasoned, I presume. As far as oakum goes, why not use some fibers from the jarre bark instead? Unless you're using reclaimed wood from old buildings - very ecologically minded. Either way, the chips can make wonderful charcoal.

hmmm, if I want to make a wooden cylinder, I'll have to mug a pensioner for his/her bowls. lignum vitae is pretty hard to come by these days

Or get two of them fighting. While they're settling whatever disagreement there may be, you can nick bowls as needed. As to the lignum vitae, the closest we have is ironwood as what got imported from Australia in the late 19th century. It's probably closer to the jarrah, though.

mumble..bugger..even pensioners these days are using henselite bowls

THis pensioner uses paper plates more often than not, but I hate washing dishes and it's an easy way around that odious task.

back to the drawing board <sigh>

Change the Bill of Material, call it Version 2 and everyone's happy again.

Best regards,

Kludge

 

[Kludge]

got a coupla memory cells still working
took me all day to find the reference though ;D
wooden boilers huh?

J.E. Gordon "The New Science of Strong Materials"

Wooden boilers. I like it! Now, who here's going to go first?

BEst regards,

Kludge

 

[Dhow Nunda wallah]

"Wooden boilers. I like it! Now, who here's going to go first? "

Doubt it will be AMBSC
looks like I'll go with industrial standards

 

[Kludge]

"Wooden boilers. I like it! Now, who here's going to go first? "

Doubt it will be AMBSC
looks like I'll go with industrial standards

Well, where's the fun in that?

In tossing it about mentally for a while, I'd think the design wouldn't be unlike the one for the quickie boiler made from cast iron pipe fittings that gave us so much fun in conversation and exchange a while back. It would probably require two or three layers of wood planked kind of like a wooden barrel, each layer made with the joints not overlapping one layer to the next. The old wooden water tanks and tank cars were made pretty much the same way I think but memory rust is taking hold on that. Anyway, this wouldn't be good for the kinds of pressures the later metal boilers could and can handle but it would be enough at least for demonstration purposes.

Safety issues? Oh, yeah. Plenty. Able to meet AMBSC standards? Not bloody likely. Something to try for the historic value? Only by someone who understands the hazards and can handle the type of work involved with creating a water tight wooden structure that can handle the heat and pressure, and I would doubt many of them are still around for full sized work.

BEst regards,

Kludge