The Steamboating Forum

Hello Pete ,

It looks quite tall , How deep is the ashpan (wet I presume ?) and how far below the fire door are the bars ?

Regards Edward .

PS VERY sensible to mock-up everything in cardboard first. The old saying " Measure twice , cut once " is wrong ! Measure at least three times , then make a mock-up , check again , THEN cut .

Pete,

The second pic down looks absolutely stellar. I like what you've done with the deck, sheer and saloon. Wise use of the available space.

That is a mock up of a Lune Valley right?

Personally, I think it will look good in there, does look a bit tall.

-Ron

Edward wrote:
It looks quite tall , How deep is the ashpan (wet I presume ?) and how far below the fire door are the bars ?

Regards Edward .

PS VERY sensible to mock-up everything in cardboard first. The old saying " Measure twice , cut once " is wrong ! Measure at least three times , then make a mock-up , check again , THEN cut .

Dear Edward and steamboater friends

As drawn for the cardboard mock up, the height of the space below the bottom of the tubes and above the fire bars is 9.25" (235mm). The botom of the firedor hole is 3.9" (100mm) above the fire bars and the base of the ashpan and casing are 5.3" (135mm) below the fire bars. The latter are assumed to be 20mm deep.

I notice that the Steamboating Guide (2nd Edition) has a calculation for the amount of headrom above the fire bars, but I have not fully managed to follow how the figures work through. For a start, there is no published data on the heating surface for this version of the Lune Valley. The 9.25" for the fire is chosen because it feels about right. However, I am open to suggestions.

My thoughts on reducing the height are to cut the ashpan depth to 3.9" (100mm) or try to find a way to drop that betwen the engine bearers. The trouble is that with the engine in front of the boiler, the shaft needs to come through that space...

I have the back of the fag packet out again and am sketching the odd idea, most of which have turned out to be rubbish so far.

Regards

Pete

PS: Have graduated from Fag Packets to cardboard and oak beams...



I think I will try that as it sits a fair bit lower.

Pete

have not found length and beam of your boat in this posts - could you tell me please.

Dear Rainer

The boat is 20ft (6.096m) long and about 4ft 8" (1.42m) wide. The bearers are 4" X 2" (100 X 50mm) approximately in sawn oak. They are 8ft (2.44m) long and are 300mm apart. They run from the front of the cabin (a bulkhead point) forward until the boat starts to seriosly narrow. I may scarf on a little more so that they run up to the forward bulkhead (currently just an intention rather than an artifact at the moment).

The width spacing decision was based upon the minimum width that was possible for this boiler's ash box. That was worked out from the dimensions of the Lune Valley pressure vessel, minus the likely width of the ceramic fire bricks tha will surround the grate. It was all very iterative as the pressure vessel plans contain no details of how to do the casing. The bearers have limber holes every foot or so.

Regards


Pete

PS: The very first photo on page 1 is a scale drawing, albeit rather reduced!

Hi Fellow Steamboaters

I thought I had better post up something just to show that I am still working on this project, even is progress is snail like in speed.

The main bearers and their associated cross pieces (I'm sure they have a proper name...) are now secured. The route of the propellor lay shaft is sorted out but the bearing have not yet been attached. There is some excitement to be had there in aligning the bearings of an 8ft shaft when it is already fitted into its bearings. Unfortunetely it is too long to fix the beearings first and then insert it second.

The bilge keels have been made and test fitted and the bearers for the engine have been made and are ready to instal. I am still awaiting the boiler.

Bilge keel nearing completion


Bilge keel test fitted. I have also put the cradle on castors for easier movement. I should have done that right at the start as fitting it under the boat was rather less easy than a walk in the Park.


The bearers looking aft (Those bricks are back!)


The bearers looking forward. The trial fitting of the pillow blocks has been abandoned in favour of bulkhead mounting.


Regards

Pete

Looking good Pete! Doing a very nice job. You must be belting from the engine to the prop shaft?

-Ron

Thanks Ron

Yes, the engine is to go in front of the boiler. It will drive a lay shaft, through sprockets and chain, that runs aft under the floor. There is a further pair of sprockets at the rear to take the drive up again to the horizontal prop shaft.

I screwed up by choosing too large a prop (18" X 28", but it is very pretty! ) so the shaft sits high by about 3 inches. If it turns out to be too big I guess I could fit a smaller one on a lower prop shaft and run a level shaft all the way.

Of course, this back to front set up all depends upon how the final maths work out for the fore & aft trim. I have the weight of almost everything except the boiler. Some guestimates suggest that the boiler and engine are balanced by the weigth of the cabin that is pretty far aft. Of course in a boat this small, the passengers are a rather large variable in the equation. So, there may be some hasty last minute design changes!

I have extended the bearers now to include a platform for the engine. However, there is scope to move it and the boiler backwards or forwards if necesssary.



Best wishes

Pete

Hi Folks

It has been rather a long time since I posted any updates. So here is the result of today's work.

Regards

Pete

Beautiful boat! It's a good step in the process to see it on the trailer.

-Ron