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New member with steam powered Lane mill saying hello

Started by metalshaper, July 20, 2015, 03:11:43 PM

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bandmiller2

Anyone interested in steam google the New England wireless and steam museum in Greenwich RI. interesting place to visit, They have an old steam engine of mine on display, A Granger inverted Vee two cylinder. Funny story a friend of mine and collector was sitting in the barber chair and saw the engine go by on a car carrier and thought it was heading for the scrap yard just about messed himself to chase it. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

steamsawyer

J. A. Vance circular sawmill, 52" blade, powered by a 70 HP 9 1/2 x 10 James Leffel portable steam engine.

Inside this tired old mans body is just a little boy that wants to go out and play.

Great minds think alike.....  Does your butt itch too?

Alan Rudd
Steam Punk Extraordinaire.

beenthere

alan
Would be great if you would make a link out of the loooong url you posted. Helps with the over and off the monitor screen problem.
Maybe that doesn't happen with all computers, and would like to find a way that it doesn't on mine. 
Use square brackets [url = .....] name [/url ] for a format (remove spaces shown between the brackets and put the link where the ..... is shown).
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

steamsawyer

Sorry beenthere.  :( I'm not sure what you mean... What I don't know about computers would fill a really big book.  :-\

While I'm back on here.

Brian... When you get the hand holes open and clean, be sure to replace all the gaskets. They should never be reused. Don't let anyone talk you into making your own gaskets out of the red rubber material or anything else, buy the right thing, real hand hole gaskets. Several companies out there can supply what you need. I use Topog-E brand and they work very well, they are only a few dollars each. I keep plenty of spares on hand, usually half dozen per hole size. It's bad enough having to shut down and change a gasket much less having to wait on UPS to bring them when you need them right now.

Alan
J. A. Vance circular sawmill, 52" blade, powered by a 70 HP 9 1/2 x 10 James Leffel portable steam engine.

Inside this tired old mans body is just a little boy that wants to go out and play.

Great minds think alike.....  Does your butt itch too?

Alan Rudd
Steam Punk Extraordinaire.

beenthere

Here is your link, embedded with just the word Digital Inspection Camera. You can click the "Quote" for this post to see how the long link is embedded between the square brackets. It's a neat way to link to things, and see it often when Magicman uses this technique.

Digital Inspection Camera

That inspection camera looks pretty neat. How well does it work and can you post some pics taken by this camera?
Does it record on an SD card or some other way for downloading onto your computer?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

metalshaper

alan,
I do plan on replacing a lot of things on the boiler, any good places that you can recommend for buying gaskets and such?   
In addition to hand hole gaskets I need to make some for valve chest and piston.  What type of material is used for gaskets
subjected to steam?  Also any advice on feed water pumps?  One is there and the other is missing and this is one area that  I
want to make sure is correct and working perfectly.  I have to replace all the piping anyway as it is schedule 40 and want to work
in the feed water pumps as I am doing the new schedule 80 piping.   

Brian

steamsawyer

Hey Brian,

I use Stellar Industries for my gaskets http://www.stellaritco.com/ I always order by phone. I can't remember but I think the man I talk to is Tom. He is familiar with the antique equipment and can point you in the right direction. He should be able to help you with steam rated gasket material and other fittings like valves and fusible plugs.

Feed water is the most important thing once you are underway. You should have no less than two ways to feed. I have two injectors on my mill engine, and an injector a hand pump and engine driven pump in my boat.

Here is a link to Smokstak. This is a extensive site with lots of helpful antique engine folks that do just what you are doing. Join in and post some questions there.

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7


Thanks for the help beenthere.

The cheep camera I have doesn't record but they have a more valuable one that does and it comes with a wire to hook up to your coputer. It works well for looking inside though.



Alan
J. A. Vance circular sawmill, 52" blade, powered by a 70 HP 9 1/2 x 10 James Leffel portable steam engine.

Inside this tired old mans body is just a little boy that wants to go out and play.

Great minds think alike.....  Does your butt itch too?

Alan Rudd
Steam Punk Extraordinaire.

bandmiller2

The best thing for steam chest gaskets is the old sheet asbestos gasket in a roll. Its hard to find now everyone is running scared when you mention asbestos. Auto parts stores sell roll gasket material for exhaust systems that should work. The old timers used to mix grafite powder with cylinder oil as a thick paste and put it on gaskets to make removal easier, it looks and feels like never seize. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

metalshaper

thanks for the links, I am tracking down some gasket material now.  As far a feed water I have a Penberthy on one side
of the engine now and the other side was plumbed for another but it is missing.  Just trying to feel out what guys are
using for feed water pumps and which are the best and least troublesome.  Also I was wondering about amount of feed water
to have available.  Has anyone ever figured out how much water they are using per hour, per day, when sawing?  I plan on
having a very large tank buried underground for feed water.  The original mill that this engine came from had a large 2000
gallon tank for feed water.  Just trying to get a very rough idea of the amount of water used on an average day sawing. 

bandmiller2

An injector is very handy especially to add boiler chemicals, I had an old Metropolitan injector that served me well, its pickup was in a 30 gal. drum. Its good form to have two different types of feed like an injector and a steam pump or injector and a good hand pump as back up. Theirs a minimum pressure injectors will work. When I ran my boiler city main water pressure was higher than boiler pressure so that was my failsafe supply. Many folks have problems with injectors not working that is due to the check valve between the injector and boiler leaking and heating up the injector. I put a ball valve just after the injector to close when your done feeding. If I was doing it over I would have a dug pit under the ash pan and a sliding door under the ash pan so the fire could be dumped in an emergency. It would also make it easier to get in the firebox to replace tubes. The hardest work my boiler had to do was feed a 35hp Copus steam turbine to run a shingle mill, if the pressure dropped 5 lb. I could tell on the saw, the reciprocating engine was much easier on the boiler. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

metalshaper

thanks for the info bandmiller2.  Any ideas on where to find a hand pump these days. 
Are they still made new, or do I have to find an old one and perhaps rebuild it. 
"If I were doing it over"  is a great sentence.  Since you have been sawing with steam for a while
I would be interested in anything you would do differently now.  I have a blank sawmill pad cleared and
leveled right now that is multi layered.  Plenty of space to do anything.  I am going to get the husk set up
first and then move in the boiler/engine.  Any ideas are welcome.

Brian

Kbeitz

Trates surpluss gets them in every so often.

570-742-2101 ask for Gary. Tell them Keven sent you and to give you a deal...
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

bandmiller2

Brian, the hand pump would likely only be a backup to your injector or used to hydrotest. A  hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder and a couple of check valves with a handle will work. Will you have electric at your mill site, if so that will open many doors and make life easier. Also easier if you have well or main water available for initial fill and you won't have to lug water. You want good water for the boiler preferably something you would drink, our water tends to be on the acid side I always added a little soda ash to the feed water to keep it neutral. If you can find old steam engineering books their helpful Audels, and the Croft power plant series are very good modern ones not so. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

metalshaper

Latest additions to the sawmill.  Still working on getting the sawmill up and running but couldn't pass up a chance on some old equipment.  The Yates 282 Bandsaw was often used along with the sawmill .  The circle mill would make the cants and the bandsaw would resaw them.  With the thinner kerf there was more lumber output.  Maybe and extra board or two out of each cant. 
Hope you enjoy seeing the old machines.

Brian
https://youtu.be/ANqEUMzmTP4

Kbeitz

Just WOW....

I bet that bandsaw blade will be salty...
Watch out for them square heads. They like to kick.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Ljohnsaw

+1 on the WOW!  Can't wait to see these running.  I commend you for saving these from the scrap heap!
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

woodworker9

Nice score!  That resaw will be awesome once restored.  I've seen one in action.....marvelous.

P.B. Yates Machine Company was the name chosen in 1916 to succeed the Berlin Machine Works.  I have owned several Berlin machines, and currently own quite a few Yates American machines, but never a Yates.  They became Yates American in the merge of 1925 with American Wood Working Machine Co..

I'll be looking forward to a video of it running some day.
03' LT40HD25 Kohler hydraulic w/ accuset
MS 441, MS 290, New Holland L185

bandmiller2

Brian, I can see it now CT. sawmill museum. That old machinery is rock solid if restored will run for several generations. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

moodnacreek

Metal shaper, enjoy seeing your  posts again. Didn't know the 1sm was a chair style carriage so must be a rack drive also. I have all the iron from a chair style no. 1 chase. Keep up the good work. Doug

SineWave

That's some nice old iron, thanks for posting up. Reminds me of this huge jointer my Dad had when I was a kid, it had to be 18" or 24" – I think it was used in a paper mill, maybe to square off the ends of huge rolls of paper? – Dad was a mech engr in papermills and a part-time cabinetmaker, and I guess he wanted to convert the huge jointer to use for woodworking but never did. When parents split up and sold the house, the machine was donated to the guys at the landfill who scrapped it, I guess...it was a bear just to break it down into pieces small enough that my Dad and I could manage to lift them...

metalshaper

Glad to hear there are others out there like myself that love the old machinery.  Each piece will get restored back to working condition as time allows.  Will keep you posted on the progress. 
Frank, your vision is spot on.  Been trying for a while now to get my 501c3 status and turn this operation into a non profit so I can continue to acquire and use this old equipment and educate the public at the same time.   If anyone knows a good lawyer, who is familiar with setting up 501's please let me know.  Can't seem to find anyone to help who has the same vision as guys like us.   

bandmiller2

Brian, you could try calling the "New England wireless and steam museum" in Greenwich RI. They may be able to steer you in the right direction, hopefully your not considered competition, they have been around a long time and you probably have been to their steam ups. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

metalshaper

Good idea Frank.  I know the guys over there very well, but they are in Rhode Island so the people they used to get set up can't help me here in Connecticut for some reason.   I am really digging for someone to help me get set up and am very surprised it is taking so long to find anyone who wants to do anything.  Have had a few false starts but can't get anything to stick.  Working on the mill again this weekend, hopefully will have a few more photos or videos to share. 
Brian

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