The Steamboating Forum

Dear Steam Engines and Steam Boats Enthusiasts. Thank you for having the opportunity to communicate with the forum participants, which, I hope, will be interesting and instructive for me, and perhaps interesting for overseas like-minded people. I live in the North Caucasus, on the territory of the Russian Federation, in a mountainous area, there are no rivers and lakes suitable for the navigation of steam boats. But 700-800 kilometers from my town in the east is the Caspian Sea, in the west is the Black Sea. From the youth I lived with the hope of building a steam boat. Seven years ago I started building a compound steam engine. The diameter of the 1st high pressure cylinder is 100 mm. The diameter of the 2nd low pressure cylinder is 170 mm. The piston stroke is 132.5 mm. The height of the whole machine is 1050 mm. Length-765 mm. Width - 590 mm. The weight is currently about 280 kg. Everything is made of steel and bronze. The crankshaft is composite.I would like to ask a few questions and hope to get answers. I will send some photographs, they will give an idea of ​​what has already been done. Thank you for attention.

Hi! Welcome to the Forum.

I hope you will enjoy conversations, discussions and bouncing ideas with this band of Steam Experts and Steam Boneheads (me). Clearly you are not going to be allowed to join the latter sub-group as the work you have done on the engine looks superb.

From a Bonehead perspective it looks as if you will be needing a big boat for that engine, but then the Caspian or Black Sea probably require something substantial. Have you started casting about to find one?

I look forward to seeing you project progress.

Regards

Pete

Welcome!

Wow, that looks like some great work! It looks like you have machined many of your parts from billet (solid) steel or cast iron. That is impressive. I would love to see more.

Welcome! Magnificent work on the engine, it looks like it will outlast all of us.

Beginning.

Beginning.

I would like to address the readers of the forum with a few questions. I really hope to receive answers that will help me in further construction. What can be the maximum mass of moving parts of a steam engine to obtain high revolutions? The parameters are as follows. The weight of one connecting rod with bronze bearings is 5 kg, the weight of a piston with a diameter of 100 mm. together with the piston rod, crosshead - 5 kg. The weight of the piston with a diameter of 170 mm. - 4.5 kg. I designed a 132.5mm piston stroke. Do you think these parameters are outside the optimal range? Do they come out strong? The second question: what should be the area of ​​the steam bypass channels in such cylinders? I will be very grateful for the answers of knowledgeable people. I thank you for your help, I am attaching pictures of pistons and connecting rods for a general idea of ​​my project. My name is Ingvar.

Ingvar,

What are the dimensions of the connecting rod big end bearings?

TriangleTom wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:25 pm Ingvar,

What are the dimensions of the connecting rod big end bearings?

The diameter of the bronze bearing is 52.75 mm. Thickness -55 mm. at the crankshaft neck.

TriangleTom wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:25 pm Ingvar,

What are the dimensions of the connecting rod big end bearings?

The diameter of the bronze bearing is 52.75 mm. Thickness -55 mm. at the crankshaft neck.