Show all posts by user
Steam related discussions.
Re: Parts list for a 1920 735 touring car. - 6 days ago
I believe that the parts list is now part of "The Stanley Bundle" sold through the SACA Storeroom. We were selling a large number of Stanley publications and it was difficult to keep track of all the items. Purchased separately, they were also prohibitively expensive. I decided to combine all these items into one bundle and sell them that way. It is more expensive than one item, butby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Gentleman Speedy Roadster Build - 12 days ago
I find it neat that it's a genuine Boston gear. Some of the auto magazines from around the year 1900 had Boston gear advertisements for differential gear sets that they were selling to manufacturers and home builders. Neat to see the company still contributing to the field way over a century later!by frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Roger Ulsky - 13 days ago
Oh geeze, I am so sorry to hear this. Always enjoyed talking with Roger, a really great guy. Kenby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Anyone recognize? - 4 weeks ago
Hi Rick, I was a CC on the photos and didn't expressly have permission to include Jay's likeness, so I just showed the engine. One guess seems to be that these came from a Delling, since the configuration appears a bit closer to what we know of that car, but there's not enough out there to be definitive. The photos were recently taken by Tom Kimmel, I was mostly trying to get photos of thby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Anyone recognize? - 7 weeks ago
Hi Rolly, Looks good! I always liked compound recips with more than one LP piston -- it keeps the mismatch in reciprocating forces under much better control. I also like that it makes the proportions a bit more regular, which simplifies installation. Regards, Kenby frustrated - SteamStuff
Anyone recognize? - 7 weeks ago
Interesting engine, anyone know what it is?by frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
Hi Rick Bob's goal is to hit 200 mph. A C-7 ZR-1 Corvette could just nudge past 200 using a 638 HP LS9 engine. The Mazda is a little smaller, but not drastically -- and heaven only knows about the drag coefficient. Let's assume he needs 500 HP. The Doble was really powerful in its day, but would be extremely unremarkable today. The estimated horsepower numbers jiggle all over the place buby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
Hi Rolly, You said: "Deny stainless oxygen and it will corrode." That's exactly why I never saw stainless in Navy steam systems! I'm sure the follwing is old news to you, but I might as well toss it out for anyone else who is interested. The ships I worked with contained DFTs (Deaerating Feed Tanks) whose mission was primarily to remove air from the feed water with a secondaryby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
Hi Rick, I don't have that many particulars on hand for Chuk's (well Art Gardiner's and Jim Tangeman's) engine. I don't recall that information being in the article I wrote on the LSR car, but that was something like 7 years ago and my memory is a bit foggy given everything written since. The PSL engine is a 3 cylinder, single-acting, counterflow unit with poppet valves. It was derived from aby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
Hi Rick, It certainly is. Bob called one night and I tried to explain how the Reliable steam engine can never drive a Mazda to 200 mph -- it couldn't even provide the power to drive Chuk's streamliner, which is far smaller and more aerodynamic. This is no knock on the Reliable engine -- it seems to do exactly what it was intended to do -- and it was never intended to do anything even vaguelyby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
Hi Rolly, I probably didn't make the first message too clear. If you go back to the top, you will find that you can click on the hyperlink and go to the website of this LSR team. Regards, Kenby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
Hi Rolly, You are sure getting mellow! I was looking forward to reading your comments on their Reliable steam engine, plus that boiler design! Regards, Kenby frustrated - SteamStuff
Presented Without Comment - 2 months ago
CLICK THIS HYPERLINK TO AN LSR PAGEby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Modern Steam - Formula S Racecar - 3 months ago
I'll agree that a steam engine needs higher rpm to be competitive -- despite assertions to the contrary, steam engines are not THAT different than internal combustion. Both engines obey the same basic mechanical rules and horsepower is going to be a product of torque and rpm. Torque is always going to be limited if reasonable efficiency is desired due to the need to reduce MEP. All this said, trby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Modern Steam - Formula S Racecar - 3 months ago
Hi Novice, There's another real problem. Modern racing series typically require the use some means to regulate maximum potential horsepower, so as to keep races from turning into bloodbaths. One approach is the restrictor plate, which is simply a plate, with a hole in it, inserted at the front of the air induction system. Since atmospheric pressure limits the velocity at which air can passby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Modern Steam - Formula S Racecar - 3 months ago
Having worked out the most basic concepts for the Detroit Diesel conversion engine, I can probably compare it to the PSL engine in terms other than number of cylinders and sheer mass. Before going any further, I have to state the basic configuration is mine but all the design work belongs to Tim Nye. Honestly, it turns out that Tim had a pretty similar design in mind except that I had stumbled uby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Perkins steam gun - 3 months ago
Hi Rolly, Perkin's use of those pressures was pretty widely reported back in the day ... unfortunately, we can't seem to find out how he did it. Of course, he invented his own alloy for use in the engine, so we can assume that he wasn't adverse to avoiding off-the-shelf materials when necessary. For all we know, he was producing blister or crucible steels, which would have the potential to beby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Pelland Engineering Ltd. - 3 months ago
Hi Rick, Interesting that you ask that question. The 353 Detroit Diesel slated for the Canadian LSR machine will put out about 200 HP with the configurations that both Tim Nye and I calculated....well, the design goal was 200 but the addition of an aux exhaust valve raised that to about 225 and reduced steam consumption in the process. The streamliner Tim is looking at should be good for 200 mby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Pelland Engineering Ltd. - 3 months ago
To the best of my knowledge, finned tube in steam cars goes back to De Moe engineering back in the 20s or 30s, though the fins were cast and certainly not as effective. Abner Doble mentions Wolverine Finned Tube in regards to the Ultimax powerplant built for McCullouch back in the 50s. Peter Barrett was using finned tube back in the 70s, his series on building the Project 77 car shows just how tby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Pelland Engineering Ltd. - 3 months ago
Hmmmm....I'd certainly like to know more about the powerplant. They say that it is an LSR machine, so that tells us a little bit about the design goals. The current LSR team is looking at a speed of about 200 mph from a 200 HP 353 Detroit diesel conversion ... this in a streamliner so as to absolutely minimize the necessary power. A ZR-1, C7 Corvette could top out at about 205 mph -- itsby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Perkins steam gun - 3 months ago
Hi Bill, Perkins was firing some heavy balls and was punching through multiple oak planks, the drawings show some nicely flattened balls. Of course, something like a Minie ball would have been nicer, especially with a rifled barrel. This would have required a more sophisticated loading system. With a reciprocating bolt, you could probably do even better and push a smaller diameter boat-taileby frustrated - SteamStuff
Steam Bike - 3 months ago
I know people are interested in steam bikes and I think I may have come up with a bit of a shortcut. There are small bike engine kits on the market, some are 2 and others are 4 stroke. A 2 stroke would allow you to convert to a bash valve. I also found a company that builds a special motorized bike frame. It has an integral fuel tank, a motor mount, and built in cable runs to make mattersby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Perkins steam gun - 3 months ago
Hi Bill, The first Perkins gun was dreadfully simple, no convergent/divergent nozzle, simple gravity feed. That's part of the reason for the sealed ammo tube, with the pressure on the ammunition being equalized, gravity is all that's left...it had to be a real steam hog since steam was shooting out the barrel in between rounds being loaded. The later gun, invented by his son and/or grandsby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: Perkins steam gun - 3 months ago
Hi Rick, There were a few different Perkins guns, built over a period of years by a few different generations of Perkins. The fact that the patriarch of the family, Jacob Perkins, was able to generate pressures of up to about 2,000 psi in the 1820s is remarkable. Even more remarkable, he invented the uniflow steam engine. The first gun is extremely simple and you would have to load the ammunby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: General Electric steamers - 3 months ago
Hi Rick, It isn't even necessarily all about turbulent air flow. In the last month, I have seen photos of TWO home-built boilers where the tube arrangement was such that you could look clear through the boiler from top to bottom. In both of these cases, turbulent flow hardly matters because the flow will follow the path of least resistance -- which means it will mostly avoid the tubes. It's kby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: General Electric steamers - 3 months ago
Hi Rolly, The concept is actually pretty simple, it's just that the patent confuses things. In principle, this thing is basically just a finned monotube steam generator. The inner and outer cylinders fit tightly together, causing the helical groove to act just like a tube. The projections on the inside and outside are just fins that promote turbulent combustion gas flow and act as heat exchaby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: General Electric steamers - 3 months ago
Now, I gotta ask, was this a weird boiler, or what?by frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: General Electric steamers - 3 months ago
Hi Rick, Those are good sources. The flash and semi-flash boilers are essentially the same in that they are both once-through designs -- pump water into one end and steam comes out the other. The flash boiler is kept red hot and water "flashes" into steam on contact -- which is easier said than done due to the Leidenfrost effect -- which is what lets a drop of water dance on top ofby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: General Electric steamers - 3 months ago
Hi Rick, I'm still working on the article and haven't even gotten to the control systems -- yet -- they patented a plethora of the things. All that said, they tried to steal the Newcomb flowmotor, just like Rollin White did, later. I have no idea why people couldn't just pay royalties to Edward C. Newcomb. GE also patented a few different monotube boilers and also that weird cast metal finneby frustrated - SteamStuff
Re: General Electric steamers - 3 months ago
Hi Rick, I read about that engine a couple of days ago, I get some SAE online magazines. The interesting thing is that much of the efficiency seems to come from flow dynamic computational models -- which are pretty much independent of the opposed piston configuration. This would imply that the Jimmy two stroke diesel configuration would similarly benefit. The basic Jimmy is pretty simple, jusby frustrated - SteamStuff