What to drive with my steam engines???

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Built it from scratch mate, after studying some of the old 'real' ones to be found here and there in this district. Also of great help was Ion Iddress' book 'Prospecting for Gold' - written in about the 1920's, he devotes a full chapter to the erecting of one.

 
Tel---I seen machinery that looked similar to that in the old gold mine museums in California a couple of years ago, around Downieville. The machines were ran by Pelton wheels fed by water from the lakes up in the mountains. The machines I seen were used for pulverizing ore. Is that what your machine is?----Brian
 
Yes Brian, they were used for crushing ore, very common on the goldfields.
 
tel said:
Yes Brian, they were used for crushing ore, very common on the goldfields.

Yup, they were used all over the mining industry. There's a few good examples of stamp mills around, especially in Colorado, California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. Stamp mills go back 100's of years too, old old old.
 
One of the ideas I have been toying with (But have never seen done) goes as follows: Build a vehicle of some kind---truck, tractor, anything that moves under its own power, driven by a small steam (in my case air) powered engine. Have a central stationary tower, with a pivotting arm that goes from the top of the tower out to the vehicle. This arm would be a hollow rigid tube, with a rotary union at the top of the tower. Air is pumped out to the vehicle thru the arm, and the vehicle drives around in a circle which is dictated by the length of the arm. Has anyone ever done that or seen it done?
 
Yup. They are or were called tether cars. Used model airplane engines for drive and were tethered to a pole via cable to run on a circle track.

Why don't you build a boiler and use R/C to drive your vehicle. Check out Crafu Steam. This guy powers a lot of things with steam.

http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/

Bernd
 
Bernd--I know about tether cars--I just never heard of the motive power being delivered thru the tether like I was proposing.---Brian
 
Gail---I made up sketches last night for the two moving platforms and the linkage to drive them. Since you currently have a slinky and I don't perhaps you could be kind enough to tell me what the required minimum height differential between the 2 platforms has to be to make the slinky "slink" Please---Brian
 
Brian,
Here are some dimensions to hopefully help you out.
There is no minimum differential as any movement will cause some action. There is a maximum of about 5/8 inch differential however. If you go beyond that the supply side of the Slinky will lift off the platform and that is under static conditions. With a 3/8 differential, there is about a 30:70 ratio of Slinky on the platforms. When we play with them, our hands hold the last few coils on each end and this prevents "lift off". Unless it is operated very slow, I suspect that some mean will be required to hold each end to the platform. A little glue or some mechanical means like a thin metal clip screwed to the platform maybe. There is a lot inertia in the Slinky coils. Maybe tilting the platforms slightly toward each other with a shallow pocket for the end coil would work.

For reference, my Slinky measures 2.688 OD and 2.490 ID. There is a little crimped on metal clip that secures the last turn and it is 0.160 wide by 0.160 long. Made out of 1/32 sheet stock. With out securing the ends, the best spacing seems to be about 3/8 to 1/2 inch between the OD's of the coils, IE about 3-1/16 to 3-1/8 inch center to center distance on the coils. I really think you will need to secure the ends of the coils to the platforms and in that case the distance between could be increased and I think that would look a little better.

Hope this helps.
Gail in NM,USA
 
Great stuff!!! Thanks Gail---Thats the slinkiest information I ever got. I think I'll try for 1.5" total differential and glue the slinky ends in place.--Brian
scan0001.jpg
 
Gooks good Brian.
I just played with my toy and 1-1/2 inch seems good. At about 1-1/4 inch differential and the coils spaced about 1 inch apart on the OD there is 100 percent transfer, so that would give you a little bit of delay on each end before the movement reverses. I Think that would look good. Those are eyeball dimensions of course.

I have now put my toy back in the box so I can get some work done. Too much fun to play with. I think I have more fun with the Slinky now than the first time I got one, and that was a LONG time ago.

Let me know if you need/want any more info.

Best wishes,
Gail in NM,USA
 
Another couple of thoughts. First, for insanely odd yet cool steam powered devices, be sure to check out Crabfu Steamworks:

http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/

There are a lot of fun ideas there to delight the young and the old.

Second, in terms of a quasi-practical demonstrator, how about a steam powered semi-automatic can crusher?

I think, BTW, there is no harm in driving more than one apparatus. The slinky gizmo can't consume too much of the power I wouldn't think. It would be fun to think of a way to set it up as a governor somehow.
 
Yeah, I gotta build a little Crabfu walker at some point. They're just too fun to ignore!
 
c/mon you blokes - a Slinky Operator would have to be the most useless device in the entire history of the known Universe - and now that the seed has been fired into what passes for my brain I just gotta build one ;D
 
tel said:
c/mon you blokes - a Slinky Operator would have to be the most useless device in the entire history of the known Universe - and now that the seed has been fired into what passes for my brain I just gotta build one ;D
After being in business for 7 years now, I have dealt with my share of "slinky operators"!!!!
 
Hmmm - wonder if I could build one that will stop and sell you a bridge 'arfway thru' the cycle?
 
tel said:
...the most useless device in the entire history of the known Universe...

And that is precisely why it MUST be built ;D
 

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