The Contraption 2.0

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:31 pm

Our big yard dog has laid down to die.. He is not in pain.. 12yr old akeita.. Shop cat Rusty Pants has some big shoes to fill..

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:02 pm

Sorry

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:07 pm

sorry John...lights a candle for the big yard dog.

Digital-Dragonfly · Post by **Digital-Dragonfly** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:56 pm

Truly Sorry John...

still missing Ikeo... two years later

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:42 pm

*sigh*

Sure wish we were all sitting around a burn barrel instead of looking at backlit screens.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:01 pm

LeChatNoir wrote:*sigh*

Sure wish we were all sitting around a burn barrel instead of looking at backlit screens.

Soon.

We're going to celebrate the birth of our nation by blowing up a small part of it.
I will be thinking of you guys when we touch the cannons off.
We might take out the Kalashnikov with the hand crank too.
Cheered me enormously last time we fired it.

Come on down.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:16 pm

We're going to celebrate the birth of our nation by blowing up a small part of it.

That post'll get each of us placed on yet another list.

I always wanted to fire an old hand crank Gatling Gun.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:29 pm

Looks like fun!

I hear they have shoots in Lexington every year, all auto fire.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:11 am

Knob Creek...

Like the bourbon.

I've never been. Weird, huh?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:44 am

It was after I talked to a burner who had just gotten back from one of those shoots that I knew I was going to love burning man.
He was the first person I had talked to, outside the org.
He was all excited about the shoot and told me stories of the playa, last year's Drive-By Shooting Gallery and so on.
Of course, it was many years before I got there.
The burning man I became interested in, was gone by the time I got there.
I wish I could find that guy, John, I think.
He got transferred and I lost touch.
He started out on the beach early days.

Anyone else watching Le Mans?

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:30 am

unjonharley wrote:Our big yard dog has laid down to die.. He is not in pain.. 12yr old akeita.. Shop cat Rusty Pants has some big shoes to fill..

Oh no! I'm so sorry John.

Badger

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:33 am

unjon, I hope your doing ok this morning.

Rusty Pants has got a lot of work ahead of him.

Bambi of Finland · Post by **Bambi of Finland** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:59 am

Unjohn take the time to care for yourself. I just went through this with my best dog Ricky. He had lymphoma and ....oy....it does'nt get better it just gets different. Ricky was also 12 years old. I'm sure hes in good company now.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:21 am

The reason I posted about Axel on this thread.. He was a part of burning man contraptioneering.. He was the "teeth" in the theft insurance on the shop..

The shop is an old Model T garage set on the back corner of the lot.
About 150 feet from the house.. At a 100 plus lb Axel could tell you "stay out of his yard and shop" and you did..

His master (my grandson) Was at has wedding in Jammaca (spell).. We will tell him later..

In the mean time I have had to invent my own sprocket hubs.. No one told me not to try and drill bycycle sprocket metal.. It's like heavy banding strap.. I'll will be finished with the drive axel in the next day or so.. Have been taking a few pictures as it comes into being..

Has the Black Cat gone into "secret laa bore a tory" work and keeping us out of his inter loop?

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:45 am

Unjohn,

Sorry to hear about Axel, sounds like it has been a rough spring your way for the four legged. It always seems harder than it ought to be.

Karine just posted about the Detroit temple project so I think our bad kitty has more than one draw on his weekends.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:05 am

Karine and kids were actually working on the Temple project without me. And actually I am holed up in the shop working today.

Working on the control box right now. It's a bit of a booger.

Pics soon...

And unjon, I wanna see some of your stuff in this thread too, now...

Dusza Beben · Post by **Dusza Beben** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:35 pm

Unjohn, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. Anyone that thinks that they eran't family members is a fucking liar.

Le Chat,
As a contraptioneer at heart I must confess that I have been deeply moved by your prioject and the sense of community that you have instilled into it.
I've been holding on to this item for a project that won't happen for a while (an auto rickshaw) so I'd like to offer the LOAN
(my project will happen, just not yet)
of said item if you think it could be used on Le Contraption Extroidanaire. See below.

She's a little high pitched but she'll definitely get attention!
Sorry about the sucky photo. It's father's Day and I been drinkin'

She's 6 3/4" not including the nipple. (lol, I said nipple)

Regards,

DB

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:43 pm

DB, I have fallen in love with the picture.. I do hope she looks that good in person..

I have been messing around with a whistle made out of a old brass garden hose sprayer.. I'll just keep it for myself and the Black Cat can borrow yours

Dusza Beben · Post by **Dusza Beben** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:27 pm

unjonharley wrote:DB, I have fallen in love with the picture.. I do hope she looks that good in person..

I have been messing around with a whistle made out of a old brass garden hose sprayer.. I'll just keep it for myself and the Black Cat can borrow yours

She's sexier than me, and that's sayin' somethin'!

The pic does not do her justice in any way.

DB

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:47 pm

DB, I am flattered by your offer, and she is truly a beauty. But I must confess that I already have a whistle in the works. What with a lathe and all, how could I resist? Still, I am humbled by your offer since I know how hard those things are to come by and I appreciate the sentiment immensely.

So since I've already got one, you and unjon will neither one so easily get out of putting your whistles on steam projects of your own!! Heh Heh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following is a pic of what has been giving me fits for the past week or more. Presented before you is, what in preliminary tests seems to be, a working control box. Itâ€™s about the third attempt and you may note some extra holes in it form previous attempts at making a working feed water valve assembly.

There are two push rods within the box. The one on the right is driven by the pressure of the steam from the boiler. As the pressure increases, the piston pushes out and touches the small switch. This is a â€œNormally closedâ€

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:11 pm

Bringing us to my favorite question. How are you gonna get the water in there under pressure?

An inquiring mind wants to know.

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:17 pm

fciron wrote:Bringing us to my favorite question. How are you gonna get the water in there under pressure?

I was wondering the same thing.

here are some whistles http://www.hornandwhistle.net/forsale.htm

waits with great anticipation for the steam.

Temperature can change spring tension. so you may have to recalibrate.
Make sure you have a steam safety pop-off valve in that system.
They are made for the high temp and it will let go before the boiler will blow.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:33 pm

Yesâ€¦ that is a question, now isnâ€™t it?

Well, I think I want to use a small pressure tank that is fed by a pump from the larger water tank. By the way, fciron, did I tell you that this really great guy gifted me an uber-cool water tank for this project? Iâ€™ll post pictures as that stage is reached. Youâ€™ll like it.

And best I can tell, I have two option s for getting water into the smaller pressure tank

The first is to us a diaphragm pump that runs on 12 volts DC and can handle up to 100 psi. This would b a good approach for ease of installation. Some of them even have built in pressure switches that shut them off when not needed. Butâ€¦ its electric after all.

The second is a mechanical pump driven by the flywheel. This pump herecan deliver up to 250 psi. A diverter valve could simply send water back to the main tank when the pressure is reached. The engine calls for water, the pressure in the pressure tank drops, and the diverter allows water back in and keeping it at around 110 psi (Iâ€™m planning on running the engine on 80-100 psi)

Iâ€™m leaning toward the mechanical pump. Itâ€™s a very reliable type of pump that will last much longer. Plus you get the added benefit of having to get somebody to jump up there and pump the flywheel by hand to prime the pressure tank before you can fire the engine. I think thatâ€™s the way to go myself, if only for the interactive value of it.

Thoughts?

Make sure you have a steam safety pop-off valve in that system.

Oh yes... I'm using an Aquatrol steam releifvalve set to vent at 150 psi. Yes, this is a very important part of the system.

(Edit to fix links)

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:39 pm

mechanical pump all the way.

set to vent at 150 psi

very good no blown up black cats that way

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:52 pm

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. What do you want me to say about the mechanical pump that you are going to be using as a water injector?

Needing a pump up is cool too.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:57 pm

I'm wondering your thoughts on a mechanical pump verses electric pump...

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:06 pm

No contest. How are you going to confuse archaeologists with an electric pump?

You're not! It's not like you made a strong case for the electric pump: less pressure, less reliable, less cool, less interactive, just less.

Oh, and I found out how injectors work. I think you're right, you don't want to sacrifice steam on it. Pretty nifty though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injector

Wikipedia - Doh!

Dusza Beben · Post by **Dusza Beben** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:47 am

LeChatNoir wrote:DB, I am flattered by your offer, and she is truly a beauty. But I must confess that I already have a whistle in the works. What with a lathe and all, how could I resist? Still, I am humbled by your offer since I know how hard those things are to come by and I appreciate the sentiment immensely.

So since I've already got one, you and unjon will neither one so easily get out of putting your whistles on steam projects of your own!! Heh Heh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No worries! I'm going to use it eventually, but frankly it will probably be
with compresses air as my tinkering skills are more geared toward that
and not steam. Though I would love to, I know my limitations (budget and otherwise

).
Only 9 weekends left till the big show!

DB

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:03 am

LCN: PROCON pump is a "carbonator" pump, used to pump syrup into carbonated beverages, and also used for espresso machines. They have a shaft with a crosswise slot that fits an electric motor with the matching carbonator mount. The pump is mounted to the motor with a clamp ring similar to a hose clamp, except the band is "U" shaped instead of flat.

They work great, have adjustable relief valves, some have filters.

Never run them dry as the carbon vanes will wear very fast.

They are very nice die cast brass bodies

Grainger has them and some mounts also.

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:39 am

MozyBonz wrote:mechanical pump all the way.
set to vent at 150 psi
very good no blown up black cats that way

I'm starting to rethink this. I think the electric will give a more stable
steam system. it can be hidden very ez.

yea yea its not mechanical.

I'm also thinking you need an alternator hidden under there some place also.