My non-boat Hobby

[SteamRUs]

I had the pleasure of working with one of the mods here, Lumberyard Dave, and helped him reverse-engineer an old ship engine (hey Dave; what's up?).

And I lucked out and got to sit next to a guy named Dave Nelson last year at NAMES, and he got me excited about building ships and such.
He has a great website.

My dad built model steam engines for about 12 years until his death in 2006, and I picked up the hobby in 2012.

I decided to make a cast engine, and built a foundry.

I saw a photo of a nice engine in England, and so I made a 3D model of it from 3 photos, made patterns, and cast the parts.
The flywheel is gray iron, and the remaining parts are in 356 aluminum.
I thought it turned out pretty well for a first engine.

Below are photos of the 3D model screencapture, the original engine from England, and the last photo is the engine I built.

I made a sailboat when I was a teen, and I remember doing the hull in strips of wood.
I would like to build a tugboat, perhaps 72" long, with a boiler and steam engine in it.

Happy boating !!!

Pat J

A video of me pouring the flywheel for the engine below is here:

 

[PT-2]

Making the part to be moulded and cast for finishing is a real art in itself as well as having those parts fit together and run smoothly. Your foundry is more than the typical model builders shop. Great work. It will be intereesting to see your combination of steam engine in a hull and possibly RC to control the voyage. Bon voyage! PT-2

 

[SteamRUs]

I purchased the drawings for a simple tug design.
I am in the process of digging a photo of a finished tug from that design, but have not found it yet.

As I was looking, I ran across photos of two steel-hulled boated that my dad built.
One was a 30' crusier built from plans in a magazine with originally a wood-hull design.

The second boat my dad built was a 50 foot houseboat designed and built from scratch, with a Detroit diesel engine.
The boat was launched in 1972, and is still in perfect condition today, and owned by my sister and her husband.
The engine is on its third rebuild.

Some of the photos rotated below, not sure why.

 

[SteamRUs]

And I totally forgot that I built this little model, from the lines out of a boat book.
Having never built a boat from hull lines (is that the correct term), this was a trial and proof of concept that I could actually build something that resembled a boat.

 

[SteamRUs]

I have plans for the coatal tug "Nameaug", but this is a complex boat.

I thought I would start with a simple tug plan, such as the Arnold S, which I purchased the plans for.
I figured I better play it safe and build something simple first.

 

[SteamRUs]

For a boiler, I am designing a Scotch type, which will have a 12" diameter.
It is similar to the photo of the full sized boiler below.

Here is the design so far, and the copper for it.
I guess the engine will be some sort of vertical twin. I would custom design the engine.

I need to build a slip roller to roll the copper sheet, which is 12" wide and 0.187" thick.
Any slip roller experts here?

 

[SteamRUs]

Here is a marine engine design I started on in 2010, with a 3" bore.
At the time, I really did not know how to design an engine correctly, and so I would start over with a new design.
I made the cylinder head, and two pistons from the same piece of iron, which I then sliced into two pistons.

For a new twin marine engine, it would most likely have a 2" bore.

 

[SteamRUs]

I sort of like this engine design, although I guess it is not really a "marine" engine.
I would put the cranks at 90 degrees instead of the 180 degrees that were often used with generator sets (to make the engine self-starting).
And it would be simple, not compounded.

I haven't really decided on an engine, but this is what I am leaning towards.
Something simple, but robust.

 

[SteamRUs]

My dad's folks came over from Denmark in 1897, and so I suspect that dad inherited the love of all things boats.
I am the same way. If I had my choice, I would live on a big wooden boat in the ocean.

Dad built wood and steel boats, and also purchases a 118 foot Corps towboat that would sleep 12 (it was a crew boat).

Two big engines, with air start and no transmission.
You had to either run the engines forward, or stop them and start them backwards to reverse.
Always nerve racking when approaching the dock if the engines did not start in reverse immediately.

Tiller steering.
I learned "put your hand on the end of the tiller, and move your hand in the direction you want the boat to go".
Seems self-evident, but it wasn't to everyone.

 

[PT-2]

I purchased the drawings for a simple tug design.
I am in the process of digging a photo of a finished tug from that design, but have not found it yet.

As I was looking, I ran across photos of two steel-hulled boated that my dad built.
One was a 30' crusier built from plans in a magazine with originally a wood-hull design.

The second boat my dad built was a 50 foot houseboat designed and built from scratch, with a Detroit diesel engine.
The boat was launched in 1972, and is still in perfect condition today, and owned by my sister and her husband.
The engine is on its third rebuild.

Some of the photos rotated below, not sure why.

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Sarah K. Looks like your dad was an excellent boat and cabinet builder producing a beautiful boat that must be a great one to cruise about in many different waters. PT-2

 

[SteamRUs]

Looks like your dad was an excellent boat and cabinet builder producing a beautiful boat that must be a great one to cruise about in many different waters.

Thanks much.
Dad was quite the builder. One never really knew what he may build next.
And he was a part of the family hardwood lumber company, and thus all the beautiful pecky cyprus paneling.
Even the bathroom door was carefully selected to show that hardwood pattern.
Ceiling beams perhaps cedar? I should know that, but am not sure. The curve was cut with a Skill saw and a pattern.

Sofa folds out into a double bed.
Trundle beds in the back that pull out and raise to make four twin beds.

When the time came to move the boat from the lumber yard to the launch ramp at the river, which was about 4 miles away, the boat was loaded onto the lowboy, and dad called the police to tell them he was transporting.
The police asked "how wide is the boat".
Dad told them (I guess 12 or 14 feet), and they said "That is too wide to transport, you can't move it; ever".
Dad very politely told the guy "Thanks so much, I appreciate the information, no problem".
He walked outside and told the truck driver "Lets go", climbed up on the front deck, and they drove it to the ramp.
I was able to witness part of that move, but did not get to ride on the deck.

They drove past a policeman on a motorcycle who was next to them at a traffic light.
The policeman called out "How wide is that thing?".
My dad played dumb and said "I can't hear you..........I can't hear you........too much noise.......what did you say".
LOL, and the light turned green and off they went their separate ways.

As far as range, it has a 500 gallon fuel tank, and so that will go pretty far depending on speed/rpm.
Dad kept it in Memphis TN, and took it up the Mississippi to the Ohio, to the Tennessee River, then to the Tombigbee Waterway, down to the Florida intercoastal waterway, and then out in to the Gulf of Mexico.
Dad was a boater's boater.

The boat still looks exactly like that, but with new carpet.
All new electrical wiring and devices were installed a few years back.

Dad was fearless, and we would go out during high winds on the Mississippi.
One time the waves (more like ocean swells) were so big that the entire front deck would plunge several feet underwater, with just the railings protruding.
Dad acted like it was no big deal, and we just motored through it.

And dad would navigate the river at night, and he knew the Mississippi like the back of his hand.
I learned to navigate the Mississippi at night driving that boat, and can still navigate at night on a busy river, no problem.
All we had were maps; no GPS, no radar (dad was old-school).

It is very comfortable to travel on, and has a bathtub, shower, hot water, full mini-kitchen, etc.
No generator though; everything ran on either propane, 12VDC, or kerosene lamps.

The lines were inspired by the classic Mississippi River boats of old.
The cabin walls slope in slightly as they go up.
Dad hand drew the plans on vellum, using the old style Indian ink pens.

The steel pipe at the front around the deck was a straight piece of pipe, and dad took chalk and string and drew a radius on the concrete outside, and then used a hydraulic pipe bender, bending the pipe a little bit every foot or so, until it matched the chalk line. I saw him do this, and remember marveling at the technique.

I think he should have bowed the front of the cabin outward a bit, but he was in a hurry to get it done.
It was build in a year, start to finish.

The 671 was built with a separate injector for each cylinder, and so even if one cylinder started misfiring, the engine would always keep on running.
Dad never had any trouble with the engine. It would generally get low compression after many years, and require starting fluid to start.
Its on its third rebuild, so maybe 20 (+) years between rebuilds?
Last rebuild was about 3 years ago.

 

[Sulaire]

amazing stuff - I could live on that boat!

 

[SteamRUs]

amazing stuff - I could live on that boat!

Thanks, yes I could too.
I attempted to purchase it after my dad died, and had the funds for purchase, but not the funds for the continuing dock fees, which were substantial.
Sometimes you have to just let things go.

I may make a model of it though.

.

 

[PT-2]

A navy term used more frequently on destroyers relates to your expeience of "Taking a greenie over the bow."
PT-2

 

[SteamRUs]

My cousin was an officer in the Navy for about 20 years, and he related a story of getting caught in a typhoon, I think around Japan.
He said he counted his blessings by being on a carrier, which he said was bobbing around like a cork.
He said the destroyers near him had a very bad time of it, but nobody went down.

I have heard stories of sailors falling up ladders during heavy weather; not sure if that is myth or true.

.

 

[PT-2]

Not heard of falling up ladders which would mean the ship had rolled over but I can envision having the steep ladder if pitching downwards providing a more horizontal plane or upon the return pitch coming back to more vertical. I do know that black shoe tread marks on the companionway bulkheads were not uncommon with the rolling motion. With our aircraft squadrons deploying on carriers I too was glad for the greater stability and slower pitching. PT-2

 

[Uwek]

Great to have you on board - sending you a warm welcome here on board of our forum

 

[SteamRUs]

Great to have you on board - sending you a warm welcome here on board of our forum

Thanks much.
Seems like a great site here with some nice and very talented folks.
.

 

[mrshanks]

Welcome aboard Pat. I have a fabrication shop here in North Carolina and am doing a lot of work with Dave Stevens. I have a feeling we might be working together as I have some interest in making parts for some of your steam engine models!!!!

Check this out...

 

[SteamRUs]

and am doing a lot of work with Dave Stevens

I had a great opportunity to work with Dave and help him try to reverse engineer the Mississippi engine.
What a learning experience that was.
I would really love to cast a Mississippi engine, but I have both work and hobby projects lined up as far as the eye can see.

I currently use Solidworks to make 3D models, and I 3D print the patterns.
Here is a pattern I am printing in order to cast a replacement cylinder head for an O&H horizontal steam engine that I purchased.
The original head is cracked, and has been repaired.

This head will be cast in gray iron, and the plan is to exactly match the original head.















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