The Steamboating Forum

The construction of the whistle is pretty clearly shown in the patent drawings. After reading the patent application and how the inventor referred to his design as a "signal gong" I realized that it refers to what would later be manufactured by the Worcester (Massachusetts) Water Meter Com...

Add on to my comments above: With regard to tube sheet thickness, on booth the Bensom Mountain and the Boschan Boiler Works boilers, the tube sheets are SA 516-70 steel 1/2" thick. I never thought this thickness was anything unusual. On the Benson I cut the tube holes with a trepanning head in ...

<t>Hello, <br/> This is a very interesting discussion on tubes and rolling them. I would add the following thoughts:<br/> <br/> I seem to remember advice from the Original Book of Steam of my youth, the Audel's Marine Engineers Guide, where the author, Frank Graham, goes through the design of the st...

cyberbadger, My bad. I did not notice the part about the broken flange. Not sure if heat will work since the bushing is split and may not open when heated. With everything at ambient temperature try to heat the stainless sprocket as quickly as possible with oxygen-acetylene and rap the sprocket with...

cyber, I have used these bushings for years with no problems. I can't tell from your description whether you used the tapped jacking holes in the bushing to remove it. Use the holding screws, just take them out of their threaded holes in the pulley and thread them into the threaded holes in the flan...

Cyberbadger, It may be too late for this siren, however you might consider the following. I built several sirens with little success. They would not spool up, would seize on the spindle or any of a fairly long list of problems. I then bought a Jerry Blain/Whistle Works siren. It really only hurt whe...

I am puzzled by the amount of leakage you describe after inserting the covers and tightening them.If you have water leakage that will not allow raising the level to the upper handholes something is definitely wrong. It sounds like what I get when the cover is crossed even a little bit. If the inner ...

If the gaskets you are using have raised lettering on them you have the right ones. Be sure the covers are properly seated with as even a margin of black gasket showing as possible. Put a couple of drops of valve oil on the threads of the cover, makes tightening and later looseniing much easier. Nex...

Wanted: Semple Compound. Please state price and location. Thanks, Steamboat Mike, Sweetwater, New Jersey, 08037.

Cyber Badger, a few thoughts on props and shafts...... Left hand threads on shafts intended for right hand propellers is recommended by prop manufacturers. I first saw it in a Columbia Propeller catalogue. While it may seem like belt and suspenders, the theory behind it is that a left hand thread ha...