New Mills Pumping Station

[steam guy willy]

Thanks everyone for the info and I will explore all my options ..cheers.. The gear housing part is filed out and I use a saw to remove quite a lot of the excess material ..the next job is to fit it to the top plate 

Willy

[steam guy willy]

The gear housing is now soldered on to a plate with some of the parts sawn off to speed up the machining. the top cap has a vertical face and a horizontal face and these have now been turned true on the lathe faceplate ... I now need to make a template to turn the curved part ..actually I shall make two templates .one from the cap and the other to fit that to check up the turning process.

[steam guy willy]

The templates have been made and the curved part turned to shape..this was domne by turning the face plate by hand to continually check the curve . The part was then filed smooth with the curved riffling file . the part was then screwed and soldered in place ..just needs some JB weld to fill the gaps .I also made a quick backstop for the topside .
Willy

[RReid]

Looking great, Willy. I really enjoy following your work, and learning from the different techniques you use. 

[steam guy willy]

Hi Ron thanks ..however I do make it up as I go along and I do spend a lot of time thinking about how to do each part ... So the gate housing is soldered on the cap and it has been milled flat to take the top bearing cap  so itisnowall together and just needs tidying up and JB welding

[crueby]

An impressive assembly, fascinating to watch along.


 

[steam guy willy]

 Thans Chris, and more work  ...ihave been tweaking everything to male the motion smoother and have made a perspex box to see how it will perform at scale size   1/20th ...Also some random tools from the car boot sale..an old tool that looks like a device to hold screws in place like the more modern one in the pic ?? there is stamped on it LONDON H/H. ??  so Holtzappfel   perhaps .  And a lovely multi tool   with indistinct woods on it ...BRITTON    MASS  USA. plus more ...also on the central rod   PAT  NOV 29   93.  so quite old . it has a Brazilian rosewood handle  so it will have to stay in the UK !!

willy

[MJM460]

Hi Willy, I like the Perspex box idea for the demonstration.  I assume you have a cunning plan to collect all the water at the bottom!  And perhaps even return it to the top.  It will be interesting to get an idea of how much torque you get from the head you are able to provide to the turbine.

Have I understood correctly that the turbine is intended to drive air compressors for the sewage lift system?  I assume you will have to extend the drive shaft, and the blade adjustment gear shaft to above the water level. 

MJM460

[steam guy willy]

Hi MJM , Yes the turbine drives an air compressor that pushes the sewerage reservoirs effluent over the hills and then the syphon takes over and empties the reservoir  ready to fill pagan from the houses nearby .. also I have filed a square on the gate and turbine shafts and will fit long rods to the top of the perspex housing to operate the gate and show the turbine spinning  the actual scale height of the water flow should be about 3"..so we will see what happens !!? . I have used this hardened steel shaft gripper to file the squares and this was made by a Mr Broom some time ago ...so thanks to him !! also I have found the makers details of the nifty multitool made over a hundred years ago ....

Willy

[Don1966]

Still with you silly awesome work….



 
Don

[steam guy willy]

Hi Don thanks ...and the S button is quite close to the W button  !!!! So the two rods are fitted with the square section ferrules and now ready to have the water test ... it works ok on air but I dont know about fluid dynamics but will find out soon ?!!!  I need to seal all the  perspex joins and will need to find something that will come apart afterwards ..??

Willy

[MJM460]

Hi Willy, you might also need a bit of a spout to guide the outlet into a bucket.  A bucket and a stop watch is an essential tool for investigating fluid flows.  Would some electrical tape on the inside corners of your tank seal it well enough until you are ready for a final assembly with a sealant?

MJM460

[steam guy willy]

Hi MJM ,..Ihave now sealed the corners and put it in the bath above the water level then used a bucket to pour the water into the tube ..but..nothing actually happened  it did try to rvolve but no continual movement .. the water just poured out of it instantly .?? so may have to lookup  fluid dynamics and recreate the actual water channels and have a continues head of water flow as in a river situation ??!!!

Willy

[MJM460]

Hi Willy, over the bath is a good idea, but not turning?  That’s disappointing. 

I am not sure that channels will make the difference, though it may be worth trying some fixed guides around the inlet to encourage a bit of pre-swirl but those gates are supposed to direct the water tangentially onto the blades, and the reaction on the blades should turn the wheel. 

I presume you did the obvious and checked that the rotor turned easily when you spin the shaft with your fingers?

Did you get any level build up or was the water flow running through as fast as you poured?  And did you try with the vanes nearly closed as well as at a few partly open positions?  Those gates are also called variable nozzles, which are supposed to squirt the water at the blades in a tangential direction, so you may need to get a foot or so of water in the tower before easing them open a little.

Obviously difficult as always to tell without actually seeing what is happening, but I would be looking closely at the how the water flows past those blades.  I really expected it to turn well enough.  Hopefully nothing major.

MJM460

[steam guy willy]

Hi MJM, there has to be some clearance for the gate to move smoothly laterely and vertically so perhaps too much ....so I will continue with the rest of the build and think about this  Also there's a sluice gate to adjust the river inlet level  ??

Willy