A New Historical Steam Engine Forum

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Johnlanark
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A New Historical Steam Engine Forum

Post by Johnlanark » Fri Mar 04, 2011 5:13 pm

Pat Jorgensen emailed me to say..........


A couple of steam guys including myself in north America got together and created a new forum for steam engines yesterday.

We were looking for a forum that approached steam engines from a historical point of view, and included steam engines of all sizes, not just model steam engines.

Specifically, we want to include design information for real world and full size steam engines.

The site is mostly empty at the moment, but we all have information that we will be loading soon, and I think we can build a quality site for steam that we find has been lacking on some of the other forums.

We shall see where it goes.

Here is the link:
http://www.classicsteamengineering.com/index.php

I am an engineer by trade, so there will be a heavy emphasis on the engineering of steam engines.

Take care,

Pat Jorgensen
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PatJ
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Re: A New Historical Steam Engine Forum

Post by PatJ » Sat Apr 19, 2014 4:28 pm

I still have the site open, although I have converted it to more of a website for steam engine information.
It is not really a forum per se.
I tried to be all things to all people with the forum thing, and now I realize how impossible that task is.
I got discouraged and started to close the site, but I have never found anything like it anywhere else online, so I have kept the historical information on the site, with some new information on 3D modeling, steam engine design, etc.
So now I am focused exclusively on designing (in 3D modeling) and reproducing full-sized small authentic steam engines poured in gray cast iron.

My story is that I built a steam engine and boiler as a 12th grade science project (photos below), and got hooked on steam engines.
The engine below was built in 1975 with a great deal of help from my dad, and it is a single-action engine which uses a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower piston, an old pully, and the remaining parts scratch-built. The boiler I built was round, about 16" dia., about 48" tall, with welded steel fire tubes.
My science-project engine produced a fractional amount of horsepower, and was enough to get me a passing grade in science class, but since 1976, I have had the dream of building a functional and authentic double-acting steam engine.

In 2009 I got interested in my dad's hobby of building model steam engines, but I kept going back to the idea of building an authentic steam engine on a larger scale; not a model.

I bought some bar stock for a twin marine engine with a 3" bore, and started hacking on that.
Then I started looking at casting aluminum, then brass/bronze, and in 2011 I got the bug to pour a steam engine in gray cast iron.

I have completed two iron pours to date, both failures to some extent, but not failures from the standpoint of teaching me how to pour cast iron in the backyard. I am preparing for a third iron pour in the next few weeks, and hope to have the knowledge I need to sucessfully make that pour.

Here is a video of my iron pours No.1 and 2.
Edit: I have some recent iron pours in 2018, and so here is an updated link to all my iron pour videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9dVr4 ... EXw/videos

I will try to post a video of my third pour if all goes well.

If I succeed with the upcoming pour I will start working in earnest on the patterns for a full sized bottle engine similar in size to a Donegan & Swift, except without the outboard bearing (freestanding engine); 3" bore, cast iron with cast passages.

I run my own business, and work keeps getting in the way of my dreams. As my wife says "You can't eat dreams; food requires money"; harsh but a reflection of reality.
But perhaps this will be the year when I can realize my lifelong dreams about building authentic iron steam engines.

Pat J
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Last edited by PatJ on Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PatJ
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Re: A New Historical Steam Engine Forum

Post by PatJ » Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:55 pm

After battling with my website software for many years, I had reached the conclusion that it could not be fixed, and I would have to shut it down.

Luckily late in 2018 I ran across some new forum software called Xenforo, which I really like, and I also found a third-party software person to install the new software.
So I am pleased to say the the site has now been converted to Xenforo, and it appears to be working correctly for the first time in a long long time.

I still need to restore some posts that were lost due to the photobuckets debacle, but hopefully I can get that material put back up in the near future.
Luckily there were not many posts that used PB.

And even more exciting news, I build a new iron-melting furnace this year, and have mastered the art of melting and pouring gray iron.
This is the culmination of a 6 year effort, which included a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and some serious 3rd degree burns.
I am super excited about having the ability to predictably cast parts in iron. It has been a dream of mine for a very long time.
Some of my iron melting experiences with the new furnace have recently been published here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9dVr4 ... EXw/videos

I am glad this site is still around.
The new software here looks great.

My newly renovated/organized website is here:
http://www.classicsteamengineering.com/
Last edited by PatJ on Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
TriangleTom
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Re: A New Historical Steam Engine Forum

Post by TriangleTom » Sat Jan 12, 2019 6:32 am

Pat-

Thanks for posting this! This is the first I've heard of your forum, I'll be sure to join up.
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