The No-Machine-Tools Steam Plant

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k4kfh
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:08 pm

The No-Machine-Tools Steam Plant

Post by k4kfh »

I've been building this up over the last few months. I started with a PMR #3 machined kit (my first steam engine) and really enjoyed it. I don't have machine tools, so while I'd like to learn to machine an engine from castings eventually, in the short term, I had to get creative to have a steam plant.

This is the result. I combined the Popular Mechanics "hardware store steam boiler" (with some improvements, such as a sight glass and a burner pirated off an old campstove) with my PMR #3 engine, and just finished adding a displacement lubricator and a Microcosm governor. Right now the drive belt is just a rubber band (had one in the kitchen drawer) but eventually I want to swap it out for some leather or something nicer. I also added a Stephen Mintz whistle with a PMR 1/8NPT whistle valve, which were Christmas gifts. The Mintz whistle is rather large for this boiler, so it's hardly a "scale" model, but it sure is more fun than the tiny little single-chime whistles. Once you blow some steam through it to warm the whistle up, the boiler does a nice job running it. And it provides more than enough steam to run the little PMR #3 engine; I can be running the engine balls-out and popping the safety valve at the same time.

For anyone who's curious, I did use an air compressor and a set of pneumatic shears to make the sheet metal parts for the boiler base. I'm sure with enough patience, you could probably do it with tin snips, but for $25 at Harbor Freight, the pneumatic shears worked great. Everything else can be done with little more than a drill/drill press, some twist drills, and pipe taps. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Next on the to-do list is adding a water pump!

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The particularly observant among you may wonder why there is a wooden label under the sight glass mentioning candy-filled liquor...before I made this nicer looking base, the boiler was supported on a slab of steel with some threaded rods and a hardware store pipe clamp, and the friend of mine who helped me construct it made a wooden handle to carry it using some wood from the scrap bin. After he cut/drilled the scrap, we flipped it over and discovered he'd managed to perfectly center the label between the two screw holes, and we had a good laugh. When I reworked the base to look prettier, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, although I didn't need a handle anymore, so I made it into a little tongue-in-cheek machinery tag with some sheet brass. I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" things...
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Harold_V
Posts: 20231
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: The No-Machine-Tools Steam Plant

Post by Harold_V »

That's downright nice! Especially considering how it was built.
At what pressure do you operate the boiler?

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
k4kfh
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:08 pm

Re: The No-Machine-Tools Steam Plant

Post by k4kfh »

I tested it to about 100psi, but I usually run it around 30. The safety pops about 40 and drops it down to about 25, which is more loss than I'd like, but that's what I get for using a $7 safety meant for an air compressor. It works though, can't complain too much. That little engine will run happily on about 5-10lbs of pressure, so 30psi in the boiler is plenty, and keeps the Mintz whistle happy too.
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Harold_V
Posts: 20231
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: The No-Machine-Tools Steam Plant

Post by Harold_V »

Thanks. That had to be a fulfilling project. Amazing what a guy can do with a little talent with his hands.

H
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
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