The Steamboating Forum

I've been spending some time working on Rainbow, and needed to cover the insulation on some the steam piping. I read about Arabol and other casein-derived goo that could be used to protect pipe insulation. It occurred to me that a more modern wood glue might work as well, so I tried Tite-bond III with some reasonable success. I used some 4" wide cotton lagging tape as I had some I was given many years ago; the cloth is readily available but not in tape form anymore.

I had a receiver that needed some help as it tended to get dirty quickly. First, as it was when I bought Rainbow:
Second, after a coat of slightly water thinned Tite-bond III and some initial application of cloth:
And lastly, with more cloth and a coat of Rustoleum white gloss enamel.

Anyway, this works and the glue really prevents the rope from soaking up the paint.

- Bart

Hi Bart,

When I was working on one of the Stanleys for 'that collector' we did a smoke hood simply using 1/4" fiberfrax mat, fiberglass weave cloth, and latex paint to wet the cloth. The insulation was good enough to keep from affecting the paint, even with the hellacious heat the smoke hood saw.

One of the reasons I like the glue before the paint is that it forms a hard skin. Under the Stanley's hood you're unlikely to get much mechanical damage, but in Rainbow with the people sitting around the boiler and engine we're more likely to see the insulation disturbed. Also, we feed the boiler w/ wood, so getting stuff rugged seems like a good idea.

I'd not played w/ 1/4" fiberfrax before; I have the 1" stuff around Otter's watertube boiler and it works very well indeed. I'll try some - thanks.

- Bart

Great points about the necessary durability. That had certainly slipped my mind.

Another product is plaster-impregnated casting cloth for setting bone fractures. Messy stuff, and perhaps not the pinnacle if durability, but does the trick in many cases. Slathered with appropriate paint of course.

I do like the looks of rope lagging though. Ya did a swell job Bart. Is there a particular grade of Tite Bond you used?

That's Tite Bond III ( http://www.titebond.com/product/glues/e ... 3970f736af ).

It's nice to work with something that's water cleanup; I apply it (thinned perhaps 5-10% as I'm working in a cool basement) with a cheap brush. It dries overnight (or less in warmer conditions), forming a sturdy skin over the insulation covering. I like the look of fabric over rope; it leaves the rope pattern visible and leaves a very smooth surface for painting. This is one way of making more modern insulation like fiberglass (either mat or fabric) look more traditional. I've also found some high temperature aluminum tape handy for securing the underlying insulation; it's good for 150 psi steam temps.

After several coats of thinned glue, I paint the part with a couple coats of gloss white oil based Rustoleum because it's bright, shiny and easy to clean, and adds further waterproofing. Rainbow steams in the Salish Sea here in the Pacific Northwest, and sometimes spray comes aboard when we have a beam wind. The hot well has a cover for a reason! Rainbow also spends the season (May through September) on a mooring so exposure to salt spray is a fact of life.

- Bart

On IONA, I used a self-adhesive motorcycle header wrap. With steam going through around 350F it is just warm to the touch.
- Steve

Hi Steve,

a very reasonable solution. Where do you bought it?

---
Dietrich

Dietrich,

The brand name is Thermex (I think ...) https://www.mcmaster.com/products/insul ... nsulation/

All the best,

Steve

There are also various products available made from fiberglass sold as exhaust wrap. Keep in mind that unless covered with a water proof
coating, these wraps will soak up rain or spray making them less effective both as insulators and in preventing burns, and for those covering
covering steel rather than beautifully bent bronze piping, causing corrosion. Sodium silicate ("waterglass") may work well for sealing; steam
piping gets hot enough to drive off the water in sodium silicate so should bond the fiberglass together - I've not tried this though.

I don't know of any materials that both insulate well at steam temperatures and are waterproof.

- Bart