I hope the museum realizes how lucky they are to have a resource like you. I don't mean to embarrass you, but you really are their go-to guy for so many things.
Mate, do it! You ain't never too old to learn. I bought my lathe when i was 55, and my mill when I was 58, and I',\m still acquiring tools: just bought a three-axis CNC router to make a kitchen, and I'm pushing 70. Don't wait.
I always had the curiosity to know what was behind the bulkhead , now I have a clearer idea of how to operate the steam locomotives , kate as always thank you for sharing your work and thank you again for the charming notions that you add in video .
That's a nice way of lapping the pieces, should be fast and efficient. When building sewer treatment plants, I always enjoyed working with the large ...8"-16"... ductile iron piping and fittings. It was just a pleasant day's work when you could stand back and admire your accomplishments...and my employees where happy too! (happy employees, happy contractor). I know that your ductile iron material and what we used are different, but it looked like your proper tooling and the ease of working with it made for a pleasant day of volunteer work. You did a great job, and thank you for your videos! ....13
I'm a few years late, but I just got to watch this video. Years ago when I took a course in auto mechanics, I still remember about lapping new valves unto their seats in the heads of a V8 motor.
When I was a young lad my neighbour had a car repair workshop where I worked in school holidays, mostly for interest and to learn a bit. When lapping in cylinder valves the spindle would be turn run back and forth between the palms of the hands then rotated about 90 degrees, never spun with a drill, (which we had even then). I believe you got a better finish although it was harder work. Originally this is how that engine would have been done - by hand.
Good job Keith, there are not a few joints on a steam locomotive that are hand lapped, done some myself. It is always satisfying to apply old techniques and experience how effective they are.
Informative as usual Keith. Shows our ancestors knew ingenuity and how to make things work. If ever we take a giant leap backwards the reference material you high lighted is always relevant in many other aspects and elsewhere the need may arise. Thanks.
It is easy to imagine steam boilers and engines to be simple, old, unrefined machines. At the latest, when listening to your discussion of something that would seem so trivial as a steam pipe connection it becomes apparent that there is a lot engineering that goes into these machines. Even the little Wilesco toy steam engine I loved as a kid had its share of issues, many of them similar to the ones on big engines. Thanks so much for clearly explaining the intricacies of these wonderful old machines!
one thinks of steam as simple, and thus easy to make and tolerances as slack, in reality, theres a whole lot of precision, machining, valves to make, pipes to seal, and pressure to deal with, none of that is for casual sloppy backyard bodgers!
By the 1900's, steam was a very mature technology. The only crudeness was due to machining limitations (and not much of that by 1917), not engineering. To think what was accomplished with slide rules and manual machines is mind boggling.
Don't forget; they had to transfer the power to the drive wheels somehow. And to the generator. And to the compressor, for the brakes. Some engines even provide(d) steam heating to passenger coaches. Some still do, like over in the United Kingdom...I think.
The engineering that went into these old steam engines is amazing to me - all figured out by people who for the most part had nothing to go by - they just made it up and refined things as the went along. Amazing! And if you think these guys were not technical back in the day, just get some of the old engineering books that I have on steam engines and just see how much they did know!
Nice job Keith, here in the UK we use what is known as a "navy union" for steam connections, the mating surfaces have a brass insert ring cast into both mating surfaces and they are both soft enough to make a steam tight connection when tightened up and as the union gets hotter and expands the surfaces become ever more tight.
Hey Keith! I really enjoy your videos. I learn much and they have given me a great deal of confidence for my home tinkering (I am a healthcare executive, so I do this tinkering as a hobby). Thanks for your cool and steady way, and your teacher's heart. I imagine that these videos are work to produce. Thanks for putting in that work. I watch all of them as they come out. Very very useful, and relaxing for me to "be in the shop" with you as you teach.
I'm not sure which impresses me more, the fact that all this was figured out over 100 years ago and still is applicable today or that they had the foresight to write it all down in books for future reference?? Either way that is awesome.
Steam (just like water) is a powerful etchant when passing through tiny openings. I read somewhere that the process is similar to cavitation etching on marine propellers (not prop aeration, which is something else). As it passes through a pinhole at high speed, the water actually turns to vapor momentarily at low-pressure points and when it returns to liquid it slams into the metal since the liquid is incompressible and actually blasts tiny particles of metal from the surface. Steam, of course, is already in vapor form, so as it passes to cooler, lower-pressure places in the pinhole leak it condenses directly to liquid with the same slamming effect. This is why you need nice wide, good-fitting contact surfaces in water and steam valves and joints. (And why you need to keep them in good repair.)
What causes the steam to be abrasive is the water droplets in the steam. Unless the steam is superheated it is very difficult to keep it dry. Any heat loss at all will cause the steam to begin to condense. This condensate form tiny droplets of water and with the velocity of the steam flow these droplets act like sand. The low pressure end of turbines for instance, are always dealing with wet steam.
That useless, waste of time, Friday morning meeting was CANCELLED. So, I can watch STEAM LOCOMOTIVE VIDEOS. YEAH. Nice video Keith and the historical and engineering info was great; very interesting. If I could give it TWO thumbs up, I would.
An excellent job of explanation at the beginning of this. I had no idea what a steam box was a half hour ago and I felt like I totally understood it by the time you fired up the lathe.
Hello Keith, Great video and learned again a bit of the locomotive, things you normally never hear or see so detailed. Hope there come more of this kind video's about repairs on the locomotive. Always like that old technics they used and especially the way you explain it how it works. Looking forward to the next video and many greetings from Roel !
Thanks for the video, Keith. Interesting as always. If you google "exhaust pipe ball joint", you will learn that the principle is widely used on exhaust systems on cars.
Keith, very interesting setup for lapping the the two parts together. Also thanks for the lathe machining tip for putting a slight radius on parts using a sanding disk and angle grinder. Regards, Paul
I finally caught up on all the videos, now I can spend more time in the shop.! Also loved the 2" bit; I recently picked up a free 2-1/4" or 2-1/2" on a MT4 shank- what a monster! Thanks for all the videos, past and future!
Nice work. Cast iron and delrin - good materials to work on the lathe. When I have needed to put a radius on a small part without the right size radius tool, I have cut a hole with the right radius in a piece of 3/4 plywood, cut the ply with the hole into suitably sized blocks and glued pieces of emery paper into the concave sections. These concave blocks, with successive grits can then be used to radius and polish the part. Works well if the part does not need too much material removing. Best wishes
I was basically eyeballing the original one that had the correct radius on it. I though about making a template, but I just did not think it was necessary.
Wonderful repair job Keith, and thanks much for the increased insight about what goes into keeping these mechanical marvels working and operating. What really caught my eye was that book you referenced to, published in the 1850's to illustrate the problem that ground steam pipe rings were created to address. Using a grinding wheel during lathe work! That was pretty improvisational, but also ingenious to turn a simple convex radius since the museum's Lodge & Shipley lathe doesn't have a tracer attachment. That radius looked too big to try and grind a custom high-speed tool to cut it. I'm thinking the stick-out would have been excessive had that been tried and so there would have been unsolvable chatter problems. Slick setup meanwhile for doing the facing of the mating surfaces inside the smokebox. ^^
Some people have said that my method would not be precision enough for the job but since I am lapping the two curves together, it really just does not matter. Sometimes you have to get creative to get a job done! Truth is, I got the tip on doing it that way from another guy who does locomotive repair work - it works for him!
Wonderful to see the time honoured skills in use .. thank you for sharing with us. Greetings from New Zealand .. we have a few steam locomotives here too.
Thanks for the video Keith. My short time as a machinist mate in the navy taught me to never check for super heated (600ppsi) steam with any part of one's body. A broom stick was usually used. Small leaks couldn't be seen just heard. It would cut into the stick rather quickly when found. Scary. Cheers.
Looks good! There are times when I feel I need my pipes lapped. Well, I knew there were special fittings for steam like the tubes were swedged (or how ever it's spelled). Oh well, bricklayers usually used a concave joint between courses to help seal the mortar joints but that's another story. Greg
very interesting, this kind of recuperation is much more brain work than the initial fab work. lapping is mostly needed due to wear and corrosion, the new parts being straight and pitting free. excellent refurbishing work
Really nice video, very informative. One word of caution, that type of universal joint can kink under power. When it does, it will Jerk the drill right out of your hands, and possibly Injure you. preferably, use a Wobble extension, or a impact universal joint. These will limit the amount of bending that is possible and is much safer to use. If neither is available, Put a stiff rubber hose around the Standard universal joint, so that it will not allow it to bend to the point of Locking up. a standard universal joint will work fine as long as it's fairly straight. There's a point where these universal joints or more of a nuisance/safety issue that I would like. Even used by hand, No power tools involved, they can be a nuisance. Having an impact universal joint in your toolbox is highly recommended. Even if you don't have air tools. stay safe and have fun. Joe.
Hi Keith, Thanks for a super interesting video, just a shame we couldn’t have any of the lapping stuff but anyone who has rebuilt an Car Engine will know what it happening and there is not I would imagine too many that have not done this or done it themselves to a car engine. There’s room to see on those engine’s, whereas there is almost zero room to film anything that will enlighten those who do not already know the procedure.
I was not in town when they lapped the pieces together. Well, I did see about five min of the operation as I was heading out of town one morning, but it was nothing super interesting. Very tight quarters, I am not sure I could have filmed it even if I had wanted to....
Very cool! I visit IRM each year for the annual "ArnFest" event that is held there. This will make year number 12 for me I think. I should be around on Fri - Sat, Sep 30-Aug 1. Been on the steam shop tour many times - you guys have a great shop there!
It was fascinating to see that plastic/perspex material be machined. It is so strange to think you can work something other than metal in a metal-working lathe! However, I have heard that carpenters can use a wood lathe to turn brass and gun-metal pieces, so... Very strange and very interesting to see! Many thanks as ever Keith!!!
I have done quite a bit of plastic work on a metal lathe. I have also cut wood on a metal lathe. Never had to cut metal on a wood lathe, but only because I have a metal lathe.....
LOL - I actually washed my hands first, but they were stained from working around the stuff on the locomotive. I have a hard time getting clean after working on the locomotive....
Great Video Keith!! Love the 1917 Vulcan Iron Works Steam Videos ... When she is all spruced up You'll have to get 1917 to 2017 ~ 100 year Celebration photograph of all of you that keep her running ... Be a nice historical photo for the Museum wall :-)
Very nice job, thankyou Keith! It would be interesting to see how the lapping went, maybe you could twist someone's arm to take some pictures before it all goes back together again...
AvE just gave you a shout-out in his latest vijayo!! He was singing the praises of your long-format videos and your excellent repository of all things old and cool! Expect a few new subs soon!
being on old plumber from scotland the tapers remind me of a water fitting made by j h lamount called securex in which we drifted a bellmouth on the pipe end remembering to fit the nut of course before drifting
Intake manifold gaskets for a steam engine, made in the manner of ground unions, and for the same reasons. Another nice job, especially the lapping arrangement. I hope the crew kept the abrasive out of the passages to the cylinders, else upcoming videos will show Keith boring new steam cylinders on the K&T!
Keith: Most people do not understand the engineering and knowledge that people like you have to have in order to fix this equipment. When people go to a mechanic to fix their car for instance they don't consider those things. So let's give credit where credit is due.
Fortunately for me, I was out of town the week they did the lapping. I think they had over eight hours in that part of the job (spread over several days).
G'day Keith I found this very interesting and you explained very well, you showed how hot steam gets to by the indentations on the seal. Thank you for showing the vid and explaining where the seal fits and the job it does. Thanks mate John Kinnane Tasmania Australia. PS I lost you for a while due to computer problems ( Virus ) al fixed and subscribed
Hello from California. Isn't the internet great. People living thousands of miles apart can meet and talk. Some day my girls will both finish at university and I might have the chance to visit Australia; I'd love to visit Tasmania. But, I'm betting that I'll end up paying for weddings and grand kids first so I'll have to just dream about it.
+John Ferguson G'day John keep the dream alive as we say and I hope that you do get down here. It's a truly beautiful island and worth seeing, two daughters well you never know they might put off getting married, one can hope. Very nice of you to write to me keep in touch regards John
John Kinnane I worked with a fellow from Australia and he always said that everyone had it all wrong. Australia is up top and the rest of the world is down under. He had a map in his office with Australia in the middle and the south pole at the top .The names of all the countries printed to be read that way.
