Author Topic: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)  (Read 242242 times)

Offline Don1966

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #870 on: October 16, 2017, 05:03:50 PM »
Awesome Kim very good progress and work.... :ThumbsUp:

 :cheers:
Don

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #871 on: October 16, 2017, 05:20:05 PM »
Thanks Don!
Kim

Online Roger B

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #872 on: October 16, 2017, 10:14:23 PM »
I'm still following along  :wine1:  Looking good  :ThumbsUp:  :ThumbsUp:
Best regards

Roger

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #873 on: October 22, 2017, 12:50:33 AM »
Thanks Roger!  Appreciate your encouragement!
Kim

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #874 on: October 22, 2017, 12:51:39 AM »
With the engine working, I will now shift my focus to the steam plant.  The first item there will be the burners.  There are two of them, and they are designed to use alcohol.

I started by making the cup for the burner.  These were made from a piece of brass tube, silver soldering in a bottom piece.  Here I’m cutting a length of 3/4" brass tube to length for the burner cup.


Next, I took some 3/4" brass rod cut a 5/8” boss in it to fit in the bottom of the tube.


Cut it off at 1/16”;


Then flipped that part around holding the 5/8” boss in a collet to clean up the bottom side.


I then administered flux around the bottom of the tube and the plug bottom, and put a circle of silver solder inside the tube against the joint.  Here I am ready to solder:


The after solder picture.  The first one was successful but I think I over cooked it a bit – I need to get the part to temperature faster.


Looking down inside the burner cup.  Turns out I soldered the cup to the piece of steel it was sitting on.  I had to heat the steal up to get it to let go of the burner cup!


The second one went much better.  Here are the burner cups after a pickle and a clean.


Then I drilled a hole for the fuel line to the burner.


Prepped and ready for soldering.


Soldering completed.


And here are the completed burners.


Next up will be the fuel tank.

Thanks for checking in,
Kim

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #875 on: October 22, 2017, 12:58:13 AM »
Nice work Kim. What goes inside those burner cups?

Bill

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #876 on: October 22, 2017, 01:03:30 AM »
Nice looking parts Kim!


Dave

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #877 on: October 22, 2017, 01:07:57 AM »
Thanks Bill and Dave!

... What goes inside those burner cups?

I have a roll of lamp wick that I'm going to pack in there.  I'm just basing it off of the pictures in Rudy's book, but I think it ought to work.
I'm planning to give it a try after I get the fuel tank built and together.  Then get the wick in there and light it up to see how it goes.
I've seen other people using ceramic burners, but that seems to be more for LP.  Would it work for alcohol?

Kim

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #878 on: October 22, 2017, 01:27:42 AM »
Don't think so Kim. I have seen that and used it with propane as you say. Any alcohol burners I have done used some sort of wick as well. It should work well!

Bill

Offline Jon Cameron

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #879 on: October 22, 2017, 09:46:46 PM »
I've just spent a happy couple of hours reviewing the 50 odd pages in this thread, I'm impressed with how far you've come, and the ways you have over come the hurdles you've encounted. Keep up the good work ill be following going forward  :cheers:

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #880 on: October 22, 2017, 11:01:47 PM »
Thanks Jon!
I'm no expert, as you can tell by following my antics here. But with the great advise from everyone on the forum, I've made it a long way and learned a ton in the process! And I have no doubt I'll get it finished someday :)  I'm even planning my next escapade, though its still some ways off yet.

For me, leaning all the new skills and tackling new challenges is what makes this hobby so fun!
Kim


Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #881 on: October 23, 2017, 01:17:33 AM »
I didn’t get much shop time today, but I was able to get started on the fuel tank.

I created a pattern to fold a single piece into a box of the appropriate size, marked it out on a piece of 22Ga sheet metal, and cut it out.


Next I’ll be drilling the necessary holes, bend it up and solder it into a tank.  (And try to get it not to leak! :) )

Kim

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #882 on: October 23, 2017, 12:20:11 PM »
Nice start on the tank Kim. Will be looking forward to seeing it all bent together and soldered. I noticed on the print that the filler tube extends almost to the bottom of the tank. While this will work, (liquids seeking their own level, etc.) I would think it might make for slower filling unless done under some pressure, but maybe that is what Rudy had in mind.

Bill

Online Kim

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #883 on: October 23, 2017, 04:52:03 PM »
Hi Bill,

I'm not sure, having no experience with a fuel tank design.  But the fill tube has the end cut at a diagonal, so it doesn't really feed directly into the floor of the tank, that might mitigate your worry there.


However, it seems that the real limiter would be the sized of the vent tube.  The vent is 1/8" copper tube, with an ID of 1/16", the Filler is 3/16" copper tube, with a passage of 1/8".  So the filler has 4x the area of the vent.  That seems like the thing that will limit the fill rate.

My concern hasn't been the fill rate though. I'm trying to figure out how I will tell how full the tank is?  How do you keep from overfilling, as overfilling will result in fuel spewing out the vent tube.

And maybe worse, with this design, how do I empty the tank when I'm done playing with the engine?  I don't really want to store it with fuel in it do I?  Or do you just wait for it to evaporate?  Not my ideal solution.

Kim

Offline crueby

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Re: Steam Tractor 3/4" (Rudy K)
« Reply #884 on: October 23, 2017, 05:05:57 PM »
For emptying the tank, could you stick a syringe tube end down the filler tube to draw out the liquid?

I remember that there was a reason for the fill tube to be so far in and the vent to come in from the bottom, but I can't remember what the reason was!  Another case or CRS....   :thinking:

 

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