Author Topic: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel  (Read 573262 times)

Offline cnr6400

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4035 on: June 10, 2019, 02:52:19 PM »
It's looking great Chris! Like the roof work!  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
"I've cut that stock three times, and it's still too short!"

Offline Don1966

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4036 on: June 10, 2019, 03:19:17 PM »
Looks great Dog reminds me of the dredges I use to work on and repair. They were all DC motors and generators though not steam. Keep it coming Chris awesome results...... :praise2:


 :popcornsmall:
Don

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4037 on: June 10, 2019, 04:04:07 PM »
Looks great Dog reminds me of the dredges I use to work on and repair. They were all DC motors and generators though not steam. Keep it coming Chris awesome results...... :praise2:


 :popcornsmall:
Don
I was surprised to see how far back the electric versions went, they made them alongside the steam ones for use in places where electricity was readily available, and in mines/tunnels where coal boilers were not practical. There were also ones where they ran compressed air lines in from an external compressor to run the steam engines, for use in tunnels. The same machinery was mounted on barges to make dredges too, great variety from the same machines.

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4038 on: June 10, 2019, 04:04:31 PM »
It's looking great Chris! Like the roof work!  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
:cheers:

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4039 on: June 10, 2019, 10:19:42 PM »
Got the exhaust piping for the crowd engine made and test fit (needs paint before final install):

It runs down to the bottom of the boom and out to the end - assume they did it this way to keep the steam plume from blocking the operators view of the working area.

In the background behind the hoist bucket chain you can see a large copper tube - this is the blank for the boiler tube that arrived today. The flue tube was also supposed to be here, but those swarf-brains at Online Metals gnomed up my order, and that piece wont even ship till at least Wednesday.  They didnt even tell me till I contacted them wondering where the other piece was... Charged full amount on card already even when they dont have it in stock and are waiting on a backorder they didn't tell me about... :cussing:   

Fortunately I have other things to make in the meantime, like the control links for the hoist and steering throttles.
 :wine1:

Offline cnr6400

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4040 on: June 10, 2019, 10:33:23 PM »
I hate ordering stuff these days... seems there are frequently issues like the backorder thing, split orders with extra ship costs, etc. Hope your flue tube and other supplies for the boiler get there in reasonable time. Meanwhile you could visit the bank to arrange the second mortgage for buying the 4 feet of silver solder for the boiler..... :mischief: (If you fund your projects like I do) :Lol:

That big copper tube behind the shovel is yelling "BOILER TIME" !  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
"I've cut that stock three times, and it's still too short!"

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4041 on: June 10, 2019, 10:57:29 PM »
I hate ordering stuff these days... seems there are frequently issues like the backorder thing, split orders with extra ship costs, etc. Hope your flue tube and other supplies for the boiler get there in reasonable time. Meanwhile you could visit the bank to arrange the second mortgage for buying the 4 feet of silver solder for the boiler..... :mischief: (If you fund your projects like I do) :Lol:

That big copper tube behind the shovel is yelling "BOILER TIME" !  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
I dont mind backordered items, but only if I know about it up front. Waiting a full week to tell me, AFTER I have to contact them to find out where the rest of the parts are, and not replying to initial emails, is not good business. They were better before they got bought by a bigger company.
The silver solder can be pricey, just looked at what the thin wire is going for, about $32 per troy ounce, but that is about 21 feet of wire, so that lasts a while. Not bad considering what this model is costing overall (dont know, have not added it up, dont WANT to know! )

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4042 on: June 10, 2019, 11:14:20 PM »
Hello Chris,

Sure looking good and I like how the Cab has turned out.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline rspringer

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4043 on: June 11, 2019, 12:27:12 AM »
Silver solder is cheap compared to what copper is going for.  How big is the boiler going to be?  Side note I got the tube for the Lombard and plates.  Tube is 6 inches and firebox is going to be 1/4 in plate. Steel would have to get a mortgage for one in copper.   Have not decided on flues yet.  Good news I am up to 50 lb weight limit.  I am only about 3 weeks behind in following the build. Keep up the good work.

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4044 on: June 11, 2019, 01:21:07 AM »
Silver solder is cheap compared to what copper is going for.  How big is the boiler going to be?  Side note I got the tube for the Lombard and plates.  Tube is 6 inches and firebox is going to be 1/4 in plate. Steel would have to get a mortgage for one in copper.   Have not decided on flues yet.  Good news I am up to 50 lb weight limit.  I am only about 3 weeks behind in following the build. Keep up the good work.
Hi Rod, glad you are doing better! Love to see some pics of your parts so far.


For the Marion, the boiler main tube is 10.5" x 3.5 diameter, length includes the smokebox. Pure scale diameter is 3.7, so will make it up in insulation. It will be butane fired, trying a different larger burner than the Lombard had. The copper for the boiler parts is over $125, definitely more than the solder!

Offline Art K

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4045 on: June 11, 2019, 02:50:01 AM »
Well, at least no horses were abused by having to drink green beer on St Patrick's day to turn all the copper roofs green.  :ROFL: :cheers: On a more serious note my boss ordered several tubes of SS only to have it not arrive before we were starting to run out of stuff, after a call it was determined that one size was on back order so they held everything. :headscratch:
Art
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you" B.B. King

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4046 on: June 11, 2019, 04:07:55 PM »
Well, at least no horses were abused by having to drink green beer on St Patrick's day to turn all the copper roofs green.  :ROFL: :cheers: On a more serious note my boss ordered several tubes of SS only to have it not arrive before we were starting to run out of stuff, after a call it was determined that one size was on back order so they held everything. :headscratch:
Art
Green... beer... horses...   :lolb:    :ROFL:   

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4047 on: June 11, 2019, 04:17:16 PM »
Few more bits done - got the exhaust piping for the crowd engine painted and installed:

a little piece of sheet stock wrapped around the pipe and drilled to hold it to the top:

Also got the throttle linkages installed and working - the one for the steering engine is not soldered into the clevis, waiting till the linkages at the back of the cab are in.

I do have the main shell tube for the boiler (still waiting on the firetube tube as mentioned yesterday  :shrug: ) so I got that cut to length (10.5" long, 3.5" OD). I figured it would have to go in through the back wall, but turns out that it fits through the gap between the studs on the sidewall - had wondered why that spacing was so wide, maybe Marion did it the same way. Here it is in the position it will be in when complete. The firebox holds up the back end, and there will be a support bracket at the front end that rests on the steel crossbar visible at the right hand end in the photo.


I can get started on the forming blocks for the end caps - am using some .100" sheet copper left over from the Lombard boiler (think the sheet was used on the Shay as well). The forming blocks will be turned out of some Sapele wood that I have left over from some furniture projects (the big cabinet in the background of most of the model pics is made of it). Nice dense wood with enough interlocking fibers so it wont split easily.

Offline crueby

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4048 on: June 12, 2019, 12:43:18 AM »
And yes - Boiler Time as CNR called it!
After getting the main shell tube cut to length, next up was to make the forming blocks to bend up the two endcaps, which will be made from .100" copper sheet cut into discs, annealed, and formed into shape (which includes rounds of hammering and annealing over and over). Rough cut the forms, screwed them to the faceplate and turned to size with a radius on the corner to give the metal an easier bend:

Two blocks needed, so the sheet can be clamped between them to keep the center from bowing up while tapping on the edges. One will be glued to a plywood board to hold it down on the workbench.

Offline Don1966

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Re: Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel
« Reply #4049 on: June 12, 2019, 01:21:40 AM »
Ok Dog go for it!..... :popcornsmall:



 :drinking-41:
Don




 

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