American LaFrance Steam Fire Pumper

[rhitee93]

Cool tip Larry!

 

[steamin]

Greetings, been working on some of the pump components this weekend.

Picture #1 shows one of the pump pistons with one of two leather packing rings. Yes, I am going to try what they probably used in the good old days; leather packing. Leather will swell with water and seal the piston to the pump wall plus the water will act like a lubricant. The other thought is to soak the leather in steam oil. It is extremely slippery and impervious to cold water. So we will see.:brows:

Picture #2 shows the various components that make up the pump piston assembly. Again, I am using a leather washer for the packing around the shaft.

Picture #3 shows the pump housing with the piston assemblies in place.

Picture #4 is a close-up of the top of the piston shaft assembly.

Next is the 8 ball check assemblies and lots of plugs for the pump body .

Thank you for viewing and your kind comments.

Till later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Greetings,
I have been able to devote some time to the LaFrance project over the past few weeks.
1] Drilled and tapped the holes in the cylinders.
2] Drilled the holes in the top and bottom caps.
3] Made 8 studs for bolting the cylinders and steam chest together.
4] Turned 16 acorn nuts for the studs.
5] Fitted everything up and mounted it to the base plate.

The big thing was to make the pattern for the cylinder wrap. Once the pattern was working, then I used 0.010" thick brass shim stock for the wrap. The ends have a slight bend to tuck in behind the acorn nuts. The bottom edge is setting in a groove that was machined in the bottom cylinder cap. The top edge is held in place with the decorative cap that covers the top cylinder cap. The wrap will be polished and the LaFrace logo will be attached via double sided tape.

Till Later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Good Evening, I had a chance to spend a few hours on the LaFrance water pump linkage this past week.
Picture #1 shows the general components involved. To the left are the 1/8" diameter stst rod for connecting the two yokes together. To the right are pieces of 1/4" diameter brass that has a thread cover turned on each end. In this case I did the same operation to each end, thus limiting the changing of lathe tools. The little brass guys are to cover the last bit of thread that is exposed on the connecting rods. Just thought it might dress it up a bit. In the top portion of the picture is the yoke that screws onto the pump shaft with the the top yokes screwed in place. I used the bottom yoke as a jig for drilling the holes in the top of the top yoke.
Picture #2 shows a general assembly of the bits and pieces.
Picture #3 is a close up of the brass thread covers.
Picture #4 is a mock up of the entire assembly.
Till later,
Larry

 

[vcutajar]

Larry

Still following you with amazement in your build. Those parts sure look fantastic.

Vince

 

[steamin]

Greetings,
Just a follow up on the last post with more pictures of the finished pump linkage.
Again thank you for all the kind comments. I am planning to be at the Cabin Fever Expo next month. Please do stop by and introduce yourself. It would be great to put a face to the many fine modelers that have contributed so much to this build. I will try to do the same.
Till later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Good Evening, I had some time this week to spend on the LaFrance project. The steam engine pistons have been turned and the connecting rods mated to them (picture #1). I need to generate the piece that goes on the other end of the connecting rod and fits the wrist pin; those pieces are next. The wrist pins have been made and are in place (picture #2). The big thing was to install the engine and pump assembly into the fire engine main frame. Wow, now it is really starting to look like something. As I assemble the various reciprocating parts, it is becoming very clear that alignment of said components will be very important to a successful running engine. I will let the various pictures speak for themselves. I am trying to get a few more things accomplished on the project for the upcoming Cabin Fever Expo next month.
Till Later, Larry

 

[ozzie46]

Ooooohhhh that is a beauty alright. Great work.th_wavth_wavth_wav

Ron

 

[steamin]

Good evening,
Picture #1 shows the end of the steam cylinder piston connecting rod fitting that was made to mate up with the wrist pin. It is actually made of 2 pieces. The brass piece that screws onto the end of the connecting rod is screwed into the collar that the wrist pin goes through. They have been Loctite together.
Picture #2 shows the completed wiffle trees for the draft gear.
Picture #3 shows the wiffle trees with chains connected to the equalizer arms ready for the horses to be hitched up.
Picture #4 is a close up of one of the wiffle tree assemblies.
Till later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Been at it again :brows: This time it is the bracket and threaded stubs that will hold the various nozzles.
Picture #1 shows the bracket with the threaded stubs that the nozzles will screw on too.
Picture #2 is 1 of 2 nozzle extensions. It will be wrapped with white cord like the original ones. The cord/rope provided a better gripping surface for the fire fighter.
Picture #3 shows the bracket in place on the main frame. It will be bolted in place at a later date.
Picture #4 shows how the nozzle extensions will come up right behind the drivers seat.

The actual water nozzles will screw onto the other 3 stubs. The firemen would actually walk under the engine frame to retrieve the desired nozzle. I have seen nozzles under the floor mounted to the fifth wheel frame and under the seat on the floor boards. There was one engine that had them all lined up on a special rack on the outside of the frame.

Anyway, till later, Larry

 

[varonicaleon]

Thanks for share

 

[steamin]

Nozzle Update:
Picture #1 shows the 2 nozzle extensions (tallest ones) and 3 nozzles of different lenght and orifice sizes.
Picture #2 shows the nozzle rack bolted in place and the 2 nozzle extension wrapped in white cotton cord to resemble rope that would have been wrapped on the full size extension.
Picture #3 is a top view showing how the nozzles fit behind the driver's seat. I had to move the make up water tank to the rear 3/8" to give more clearance for the nozzle bracket and nozzles.

Have a great Easter. Our Lord has risen !!!! God Bless all of you !
Till later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Greetings, just wanted to say a "BIG Thank You" to all those that stopped by at our table at the Cabin Fever Expo this past weekend. Your comments and suggestions were greatly appreciated. It was especially nice to meet those that have been following this build on this forum.
Till later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Good Evening,
I had a chance to spend some quality time on the LaFrance project this past week. I dis-assembled all the major components surrounding the engines and pump. I am starting with the main bearings and finishing up the details to mark it completed on the drawings and so on and so on. I will be assembling the pump/engines in a special fixture for ease of assembly.

Picture #1
The main bearings have 4 mounting screws each. I have placed a 4-40 socket set screw opposite each mounting screw for adjusting the alignment of the bearings once they are mounted in the frame. A small oil cup has been mounted in the bearing cap. There is a .250 thick spacer between the back of the flywheel and the bearing. That is for assembly purposes only. That is where the cam will be for the feed water pump. The other flywheel will have a similar cam to operate a mechanical lubricator.
Picture #2
Instead of set screws to hold the flywheels on the crank shaft, I have threaded the end of the crank with a 3/8-32 thread and made a mating cap to screw on. On the back side of the flywheel there will be a .125" wide groove that will engage with a .125" diameter dowel pin that will be in the crank shaft. Screwing the cap on will lock the flywheel to the pin and to thus to the crank shaft. That is on my to-do list for tomorrow.
Picture #3
These are the 9 pieces that make up the crank shaft. The pieces will all be pressed together and pinned with 6/0 taper pins. No welding, no soldering, no warpage and no big messes to clean up.
Picture #4
I started with the connecting rod journals first. I used a gage pin to help keep the pieces in alignment while pressing together and through the drilling and reaming process.
Picture #5
This was my setup for drilling the taper pin holes so the rod journals were 90 degrees apart.
Picture #6
This is an overall view of the crank, flywheels and main bearings installed in the assembly fixture.

Till Later My Friends,
Larry

 

[steamin]

Good evening,
Spent most of the weekend and all day to day working on the LaFrance.
Picture #1 shows the eccentric for the feed water pump in place between the hub of the flywheel and main bearing.
Pictures #2&3 shows the eccentric strap with bosses to be silver soldered in place. The bosses are for attaching the arm that will operate the feed water pump and the other one will be for a oil cup. The bosses and the strap were tapped 2-56 and the pieces were held in place with 2-56 brass screws for the soldering process. After soldering, the screws were drilled out and the hole re-tapped 2-56.
Picture #4 shows the final assembly of the eccentric, strap, the link rod for the feed water pump and the oil cup.
Picture #5 is a close up view of the assembled flywheel from picture #4 in place.
Picture #5 is the middle bearing support casting all machined and in place.

I did start the feed water pump body tonight, but will post something on that at a later date.
Till later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Good Evening,
Just came in from the shop. Thought I would share what I have been up too.
Picture #1 shows the two new suction hose connection pipes with their removable caps. The handles were made from 1/8" diameter brass stock. The ends were tapered. The hole in the cap was reamed for a nice sliding fit. A little Loctite holds them in place.
Picture #2 is the beginning of the feed water pump. I am using two 3/16" ball check valves to control the flow. They came from PM Models. Great folks !!! The valve body will be mounted to the brass plate via four 2-56 screws instead of silver soldering as the print suggestion.
Till Later, Larry

 

[steamin]

Good Evening,
Been at it again ;D

Picture #1 shows modifying the feed water pump mounting plate. The 1/8" thick brass piece looked a little out of proportion. So the pump was mounted to the plate and a line scribed all the way around the pump body. then a 1/8" ball end mill was used to mill right up to the scribed line. The cut was a 1/16" deep. Then a 1/4" end mill was used to remove the remainder of the material.

Picture #3 shows the end result.

Picture #4 is an overall view of the feed water pump and its associated piping. A special pipe was made to go from the main pump body to the 3/16" pipe union. This eliminated several joints and cleaned up the installation.

Picture #5 & #6 are other views of the feed water pump and associated piping. The hand valve is the feed water bypass valve. When closed it will force the water output from the feed water pump to go into the boiler.

Thank you for your interest and kind comments.
Till Later, Larry

 

[xs4all]

ps. beautiful work you're up to here - absolutely

 

[xs4all]

here's a lovely completed one i've found on the web. thought you might enjoy.

 

[steamin]

Thank you for your kind comments. I am hoping to get back to my LaFrance this weekend. I have been tied up with a lot of contract work of late.

I actually had a chance to see that LaFrance model in person at the Cabin Fever Expo 3 years ago.. It is very well built and follows the detailed drawings almost to the letter. It is for sale. It needs a good home and a lot of TLC.

Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
God Bless, Larry