The Steamboating Forum

Bart, When you say 'starting at the boiler' I assume from the description that you mean your'e working upstream from the boiler inlet? Injector pipework should provide as linear a flow as possible and as little resistance as possible- do not introduce elbows or tees in the injector flow unless absol...

Gents,

Clyde Puffers were limited in length to fit in certain Scottish canal locks, however when the VIC boats were built they were scaled up in all directions and they were 85ft LOA. These were still called Puffers despite being totally different craft and most if not all were condensing.

Hi Ken, Bat is currently in storage off-site along with the majority of the rest of the collection. The model linesplan is ok, but not accurate enough or including enough detail to build a full size boat. There are numerous models built to the plans of varying quality- one of the best I've seen rece...

Pete, The flue should generally always be tapered; something that locomotive and traction engine manufacturers cottoned onto early on. With a relatively small throat at the smokebox end the gasses are accelerated and help draw the gasses- especially with a properly installed blower/blast pipe arrang...

It's a matter of what quality of water is used when steaming, whether the boiler is left with water in or emptied over winter and how many hours steaming the boiler does- it has nothing at all to do with personal opinion on whether it's a pain or not- having a blow-out on an inspection hatch can and...

Pete, I wouldn't bother with the reserve tank in FA as there isn't enough room to hold enough water to make it worth the effort- given where the locker location is I doubt even filling the reserve tank would be an easy exercise; in an ideal world a tank holding enough water to get you a couple of mi...

Mike, Yes, fit your coaming larger than required in depth, lay your deck and fair it if you haven't already, take the coaming top line off that. If your boat has plenty of freeboard then a coaming is purely for aesthetic reasons. Never ever put a cap on the coaming- the single best way to give you b...

Mike, Mahogany bends just fine given a bit of effort- get plenty of steam onto it- an hour of steam per every 1/2" thickness to make sure. To make sure it conforms to the mould, back it up with a piece of thin stainless steel on the outside of the bend- this creates a sandwich of equal pressure...

I looked around to find plans for that boat but with no success. I think a lot of his designs. Have you found a source for plans? Thanks Mike, I have plans, but I wish to know what people think of the finished hull design, proportions, sea-kindly or not etc. Yes, slightly serious about woodwork bei...

Dear All,

Has anyone here experience of building/sailing/viewing the 25ft fantail steam launch designed by Jay R. Benford in the late 70's?

Thanks in advance.

Greg