American Ship Building

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i learned drafting but not engineering so my problem is understanding HOW these machines worked. This might be the same issues with model builders trying to scratch build seeing the drawings and understanding them is a whole other issue.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Great stuff! It's amazing what they were able to pattern and cast back in the day. I'm hard pressed to think of anything comparable these days. I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps we have better alloys that permit lighter construction. Back then, those humongous pours sure must have been something to watch... from a distance!



this is the frame for the steam engine of the Mississippi the bed plate was cast in one piece weight 15 tons. Each side frame was a one piece casting 20 feet long and 18 feet high

 

[Roger Pellett]

Of course, the development of electric arc welding and later developments; Tig and particularly submerged arc welding allowed complicated designs to be made from simple shapes.

Roger

 

[Bob Cleek]

i learned drafting but not engineering so my problem is understanding HOW these machines worked. This might be the same issues with model builders trying to scratch build seeing the drawings and understanding them is a whole other issue.

Live steam engines are fascinating things. I'd say they're the closest thing to a machine that's actually alive as man has yet devised. I always wanted to own a steamboat. I'm afraid there won't be time left for that in this life, though. I had this fantasy of owning a steam boat that I could fire with used cooking oil from McDonald's. Life couldn't be better than a boat that moves along silently and fills the air with the aroma of French fries! Of course, my dream steamboat would also definitely carry a steam siren, too. Those are the ear-shattering things that go "whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop,..." on the destroyers at flank speed in the old WWII movies.

Anybody with an interest in live steam power would do well to pick up a copy of Steamboats and Modern Steam Launches, ISBN 0-9641204-3-7, 6-3/8" x 9-1/2" Sewn Hard Cover, 672 pages, B & W photos and line drawings (800+), Indexed. $59.95, available from Elliot Bay Steam Launch Co. - Boathouse Books: [https://www.steamlaunch.com/store/p/steamboats-modern-steam-launches-1997-ed]

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

lets look at som

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the age of steam and todays tech cad and 3d printing opens an entire new genres to model ship building. building a scale model of a boiler now that is totally something different