Author Topic: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel  (Read 572111 times)

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #855 on: March 15, 2018, 06:31:11 PM »
Chris, work is progressing and looking great as always. Did you notice how much those two pieces looked just like a chainsaw bar?

Cletus
Yes I did - it feels like one too if it slips in the hand!

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #856 on: March 15, 2018, 08:13:23 PM »
This afternoon clamped the larger block between the booms, and drilled the through-holes for the horizontal bolts. Did several holes, replaced the clamps with some threaded rod, then did the rest of the holes.

Then likewise with the smaller spacer block:

Parts so far:

Now, time to cut a batch of long studs to go through the blocks, and a set of short ones to go through the booms between the blocks. The ones in the way of the dipper boom opening will be peaned over on the inside,nuts on the outside. The ones at the narrow end of the booms will just be bolted inside and out, the chain sheaves are spaced so they won't hit them. Once the short bolts are all in, I can bolt up the whole assembly.
There are a number of other holes for mounting the engines, chain sheaves, other bits that can be drilled after the assembly is done, will drill them as the parts are made to ensure proper fits. Some of the parts go on these through bolts, some have new holes.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 09:10:20 PM by crueby »

Offline Steamer5

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #857 on: March 15, 2018, 09:21:48 PM »
Dam that’s looking mighty fine Chris!

Good thing the extra corn fields were cut before we got the high winds a couple of weeks back! :popcorn:

Cheers Kerrin
Get excited and make something!

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #858 on: March 16, 2018, 01:13:49 AM »
Dam that’s looking mighty fine Chris!

Good thing the extra corn fields were cut before we got the high winds a couple of weeks back! :popcorn:

Cheers Kerrin
Knew I shoulda bought stock in that popcorn ranch!   :Lol:

Offline gbritnell

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #859 on: March 16, 2018, 11:09:12 AM »
Truly outstanding work Chris!
gbritnell
Talent unshared is talent wasted.

Offline steamboatmodel

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #860 on: March 16, 2018, 05:37:41 PM »
Bit more done on the booms, got all the vertical holes drilled, some of the studs are in, lots more to go...

As in..."darn, this might be a full day job instead of an hour or so".  ;D

At your pace...

You live by a different clock.

Or in a different universe.

I'm thinking the latter. In my universe, it sometimes takes a half a day just to wake up.
Perhaps I should change my choice of coffee.
Zee,
Have you considered it may not be the coffee, but what you put in it.
Gerald.
Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors--and miss. Lazarus Long

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #861 on: March 16, 2018, 08:02:31 PM »
Bit more done on the booms, got all the vertical holes drilled, some of the studs are in, lots more to go...

As in..."darn, this might be a full day job instead of an hour or so".  ;D

At your pace...

You live by a different clock.

Or in a different universe.

I'm thinking the latter. In my universe, it sometimes takes a half a day just to wake up.
Perhaps I should change my choice of coffee.
Zee,
Have you considered it may not be the coffee, but what you put in it.
Gerald. thanks


Well, it's niether, since I don't drink coffee! Keep saying, dark chocolate mint chip cookies!! They bend time.   :Lol:


This afternoon I've been working on the cross bolts, one more session and they will be done...

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #862 on: March 16, 2018, 09:20:00 PM »
Truly outstanding work Chris!
gbritnell
Thanks George!

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #863 on: March 16, 2018, 09:37:00 PM »
Just finished getting the last of the nuts on the studs on the main boom - sure are a lot of the little things!

I did some experiments, and changed my mind on how to do the inside ends of the studs where the dipper handle goes through. Rather than peening over the ends of the studs there, it worked out much faster and better to counterdrill halfway through the inside plates, using a drill just larger than the outside diameter of the heads of some 2-56 socket head screws.

Then, ran in the socket heads and tightened the nuts on the outside, and used the belt sander to grind off the tops of the socket heads and take them smooth to the inside faces of the booms. In this next photo, the center bolts are all in and smoothed out on the inside, and the short bolts are ready to install at the narrow end of the boom, up near the tips where the chains cross through. Those do not need to be flush mounted, since the chains will be inboard of the booms.

Then, it was just a matter of putting a nut on one end of each cross stud, pushing them through the holes, and putting on a nut on the other ends. Some of the holes did not line up that well in the center of the wood block, so ran the drill bit through those again to smooth out the inside of the hole, and got them all in. Once all were in, went back and tightened them up, adjusting till the exposed threads were about even on all of them.

The last two columns of cross bolts at the base ends of the booms are left off for now - they will hold the bottom caps in place. The wood cores stop 0.800" back from the ends to leave room for the plug ends of the caps, which will have a curved section on the ends that fit into the socket on the turntable. The boom sits in the socket, and is held at the base with some turnbuckles, and at the top with some long cables that go back to the A-frame on the turntable - it is all designed so they can dismantle it in the field and put the booms on a flatbed rail car for transport to a new site. In this next photo you can see the holes left in the base of the main booms.

The gap in the wood core will be covered with a thick steel plate, that has slots in it for the ends of the chains that go around the turntable and attach to large eyebolts through the wood core - these eyebolts are used to tension the slewing chains (the chain starts at the base of the boom, goes around one side of the turntable, back to the drum at the slew engine in the cab, back forward around the other side of the turntable, and into the other side of this slot where it is pulled tight).
With this much together, it was not long before the shop elves made me hold up the dipper assembly and the main boom so they could take a picture of it:

Now THAT deserves a cookie!   :cartwheel:

Next parts will be the base caps, then probably the bearing blocks for the shipper shaft, which is the axle that the gears ride on to connect the two booms. Still lots of parts to make on the main boom - chain sheaves (4), bases for the two sheaves on the top of the main boom, the large gears on either side that drive the dipper in and out, assorted brackets and steps, controls for the crowd engine... All that before the turntable can be started. I will probably finish the turntable before starting the crowd engine (which is nearly identical to the slew engine, both will be made together).

 :cheers:
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 09:10:45 PM by crueby »

Offline Steamer5

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #864 on: March 17, 2018, 12:04:07 AM »
Looking good Chris!
All that cookie munching & sleep deprivation is paying off!

 :popcorn: :popcorn:

Cheers Kerrin
Get excited and make something!

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #865 on: March 17, 2018, 12:15:54 AM »
Impressive work Chris!


Dave

Offline Steam Haulage

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #866 on: March 17, 2018, 09:18:53 AM »
Hi Chris,

As others have said some really good work, and at such a pace. The following may be of interest.

Yesterday I received the Spring issue of Equipment Echoes, (the journal of the Historical Construction Equipment Associaton (HCEA) based in Ohio, you probably know it already)

In it there is an interesting item on the Marion Model 91 shovel with a picture from the HCEA archives showing the machine at work. Apparently it was one of the machines originally used for the Panama Canal construction.

Last issue there was an article on the Marion Company itself.

Keep the elves happy
Jerry :happyreader:
Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, pigs treat you as equal.

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #867 on: March 17, 2018, 12:21:16 PM »
Hi Chris,

As others have said some really good work, and at such a pace. The following may be of interest.

Yesterday I received the Spring issue of Equipment Echoes, (the journal of the Historical Construction Equipment Associaton (HCEA) based in Ohio, you probably know it already)

In it there is an interesting item on the Marion Model 91 shovel with a picture from the HCEA archives showing the machine at work. Apparently it was one of the machines originally used for the Panama Canal construction.

Last issue there was an article on the Marion Company itself.

Keep the elves happy
Jerry :happyreader:
I have heard of the hcea, but don't subscribe, have to go look that up. Thanks!

There were a number of model 91s used in Panama, stories at the quarry here claim this one was used there and brought back, but no documentation has been found to back that up, might be speculation, might be true, we don't know.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2018, 12:24:18 PM by crueby »

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #868 on: March 18, 2018, 12:02:52 AM »
Got started on the main boom base caps today - laid out where the centerpoints of the arcs were on a pair of brass blocks, drilled those points, plus a third one, for bolts to hold it to a aluminum block on the rotary table - one of the bolt holes is on the center of rotation on the aluminumm piece, so it can be used as a pivot. Then made a template for the block shapes, and traced that out on both sides of the brass, and started milling out the recesses (these caps were huge castings in the original engine, with large recesses to reduce the amount of steel needed).

Once the inner shapes were milled in, the arc at the lower end was done:

then the part was moved so the other bolt was on the center of the rotary table, and the outside arc going to the edge was cut. This photo shows the reason for the third bolt, to keep the part from spinning when the corner was milled off:

With both parts milled to shape, here we are so far, with the parts set next to the ends of the booms:

Last step to milling them is to narrow the square ends to form tenons that fit into the ends of the booms. Once that is done, the bolt holes can be drilled in and the caps bolted in place.
To give a better idea of where all this is going, here is a picture from the 3D model of the assembly:

In this picture, I omitted the turntable plate and the swing chain, to show the base of the main boom.  The curved part of the base cap rests in the curved saddle on the turntable base, and the boom is held in with the turnbuckles above it and cables up at the top. The hole in the center of the caps is not used to hold the boom in place here, it is used to lift the boom off the turntable to place it on railroad flatcars for transport (its WAY too tall to fit under bridges when on the shovel).
The lever/handle you can see above the boom, just below the chain sheave, is the throttle/reverse lever for the crowd engine up on the main boom.  The large I-beams below the base cap are the ends of the main frame of the machine. The round pipe in the back of the saddle that the base caps are in is the pivot bearing for the turntable.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 09:11:11 PM by crueby »

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #869 on: March 18, 2018, 01:54:15 PM »
And finished up the base caps this morning....

Milled the tenon into the blank ends, to fit the openings in the bottoms of the booms,

Test fit, all looks good...

so drilled the cross bolt holes through the tenons (the holes were already there in the booms and the core block)

and drilled/tapped the holes for the top/bottom studs. These just go 1/4" in, to hold a short stud, and are threaded into the cap 'casting'.

Installed the studs and nuts, that finishes the caps.

Next up is to make the rectangular plate that goes from the bottom ends of the booms up along the bottom edge, to brace the booms and also give access to the ends of the slew chains. This is the plate with the 4 holes in it in the rendering in the previous post.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 09:11:18 PM by crueby »

 

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