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I volunteer on a non-profit volunteer based ship museum. Many of the people who volunteer are in their 60s and 70s plus. I often marvel at their skill sets and not you couldn't find guys with these mechanical skills if you advertised.

There is bottom/primary air fed from the ashpit and up through the grate, and then top/secondary air enters via the holes in the firedoor. After a pitch, we keep the firedoor open a bit to allow extra top air to enter to help burn the volatiles driven from the fresh pitch. We might also clear a...

When I teach newbies how to coal fire on marine boilers, I explain that black smoke derives from unburned carbon. As carbon is a combustible that could heat water in the boiler, its loss is a loss of heating potential. We endeavour to see firemen (stokers) add additional top air via a partially...

On our steamships (Sydney Heritage Fleet) we use Morris 680 cylinder oil non-compounded (vital as condensate is returned to the boiler. If not using condensate as feed, use a compounded oil.) We use Morris 460 bearing oil for external steam engine bearings. The emulsions are essential and...

Yes - Not sure about the crank angles on these locos - Certainly rare. Then also, IC 4 cylinder engines balance out the rocking couples with a flat plane crankshaft. At sea, the last gasp of steam saw 4 cylinder triples and quadruples with Yarrow, Schlick and Tweedie crank angles There were...

Perhaps depends on the application. A single-cylinder engine or a compound will not start without the 'engineer' noting where the crank is and reversing the gear or positioning the crank manually. Twin simple with cranks at 90 degrees will self-start and includes locomotives, winding engines...

Great question - I did not get born knowing this stuff. I remember a long time ago at school my tech drawing teacher taught us the 4 stroke and 2 stroke cycles, and when I became a tech drawing teacher, I remembered and made sure I taught kids this too. Reciprocating means backwards and...

We once drew a scale on the lower part of a drawing that was say zero to 6 or 12 single inches marked on the right and then fractions of one inch on the left side. You used dividers to pick up a size from the drawing and transferred this to the scale below - You did not measure off the actual...

I have seen cars on TV shows use waterless coolants that will not corrode engine internals and have a higher BP than water based products. Perhaps an option? - Not cheap...

Large engines MUST have cushioning. There will be a point where the exhaust edge of the valve closes and compression starts. It can clearly be seen in an indicator diagram. Little engines will not decelerating these large masses, but a theoretical diagram is possible. Perhaps one of the...

Oops and P.S. - Forgot that with one port for steam and exhaust, this single port has to be sized to get the exhaust out and not the steam in, so there is more port volume to add to the clearance volume.

Engineers could use clay or plasticine to physically measure the clearance dimension, but not always best practice as there could be high spots... Better to jack the piston up to bump and mark the crosshead, then lower to bump for other bottom - Then work out best piston installed height. With...

These are really interesting engines - I had a Union in a boat once (C1897?) The inlet valve was suction operated and gave a very nice slurping sound. Also M&B spark. Much later would work on a Frisco that rust wedged out barrel and head. A patternmaker mate produced 2 great patterns (He retired...

Not sure about 'simpling valve' for a marine compound or triple... I teach that these were usually called an Impulse Valve and only gave a shot of steam into IP or LP receiver for nudging a stuck HP piston off dead centre - Rarely needed if you had some vacuum as working the links was faster...

It is said that making a new engine may be easier because "when restoring an old engine, the old engine gets in the way". Keep on going though. The old engine was an interesting shed project for a relative, and sentiment/respect for that person and their work is important.

We have turned rings oversize and then cut a bit out - Works for steam/display engines, but gives irregular wear. For essential applications like main engines or boiler feed pumps we use Harringtons in Melbourne - They premachine close to size, then cut + expand in clamp, then heat to set. Then...

For a small to medium lathe how about using an engine hoist? Owned, borrowed or hired... This is how I move these smaller units, again always slung carefully.

Do this a lot - When lifting lathes and mills never lift with forklift tines under steel and cast iron machines as the coefficient of friction is way too low. Professionals use web slings and lift from above. I run the sling down through the bed to a block of wood, then up and around each side...

Sorry for reply length, but a complex subject... Yes - Condenser vacuum is created ONLY by the collapsing volume of exhaust steam and air harms this vacuum because at these low pressures, air occupies a huge volume. A condensate or extraction pump (termed by my steam turbine friends) removes...

2 steam ships I engineer see condenser vacuum to be 26-27" and LP chest at around 5-10" vacuum. If there is an air pump or circ pump malfunction the main engine slows dramtically.