Small steam tug

[PeteThePen1]

Well done Rolph

That looks like some excllent work. I also like to see that you are applying 3D CAD to our hobby. I bet our Edwardian forebears would have loved to have a tool like that.

I wondered what material you are using for the core piece of your propeller. From the photo it looks like plastic but I would wonder if plastic would be strong enough for the job. Presumably it is painted metal.

Good luck with the next stages and do tell us what happens.

Regards

Pete

[rolphill]

It's starting to look more like a boat. And the propeller is starting to look more like a proper propeller, or propereller.

IMG_1520.jpg (186.68 KiB) Viewed 1081 times

Yeah, the hub is currently PLA, as I haven't had a chance to machine one out of aluminum yet. It's a pain to drill and tap those angled holes so far deep past the rest of the part, I really only use stub drills and I don't have any extended length taps. On the 2 blade hub I actually drilled and tapped those holes from underneath. However the PLA should hold up to the low forces (<50lbf 300rpm) anyways, especially since the forces work to push the blade mounting points into the hub. If it was machined plastic I would trust it 100% after all at these forces.

[rolphill]

I hated that propeller hub so I made a smaller one. Also I have everything together now, except for a longer stainless steel shaft which should be arriving today. Other than that it's time to get all the stainless steel bolts and such for putting the seats and such on the boat.

Unlike those fancy folks on youtube who have racks of filament colors and change rolls every print to make every part a different color, I buy a spool, print the spool, then buy another spool. It's halloween season, so today's color is orange.

I was going over my steam engine spreadsheet and I added a section to calculate fuel usage. Looks like I should use a little under 9 pounds of wood pellets per hour. That seems about right?

[fredrosse]

I made a 15 ft plastic canoe into a little steamer about 20 years ago. Some of the ideas for that boat (Z Drive, Cartop Travel, Removable Steam Plant, etc.) may be of interest to you. Have a look at Radow's website

https://steamboating.de/steamboat/steam ... propulsion