Merryweather Fire King - a novice build

[Bob Wild]

Thanks Richard - I have never heard of a rocket stove before, but just looked it up and it looks interesting.
Thanks Steamchick - don’t know much about the spec of the boiler, I’m just working from the drawings. As soon as I have put it into Solid Edge I’ll post it on here.
Bob

 

[Steamchick]

Thanks Bob.

 

[Richard Hed]

Thanks Richard - I have never heard of a rocket stove before, but just looked it up and it looks interesting.
Thanks Steamchick - don’t know much about the spec of the boiler, I’m just working from the drawings. As soon as I have put it into Solid Edge I’ll post it on here.
Bob

Glad that you consider this rocket stove idea. Some are just simple out door stoves for a camp out, and some are permanent heater systems inside a house, but the house type designs are suitable for your shop if modified somewhat to reduce the "mass" and incorporate it into the design of your shop. I can see that these rocket designs will certainly be used for heating homes in the future over fireplaces and even closed heating stoves by a wide margin.

 

[Steamchick]

On "Rocket stoves" - but not...
I had a compost maker in the garden that was a tapered steel tube 15" diameter tapering to 10"and 6 ft. long. I decided it would make a good incinerator for woody stuff - partly dried. So I set it off with kindling and started to stuff it with twigs and branches. I used too much fuel and when that got going the whole thing glowed red hot for 2 or 3 feet in the middle - and there was 6 ft of blowlamp flame out of the top! The flame was 10" wide to 6" where it disappeared from view... I could not get near it and a painted wood greenhouse a few feet away started to smoke, so I rigged the water hose to cool the greenhouse!! - My "rocket" burner was like a jet engine on re-heat! Sucking-in all the air it needed and burning the fuel as fast as it could! And it roared like one too! A lesson there: So take care not to over-fuel wood stoves. A little at a time and let them build to a controllable level.
In Norway (a Norwegian told me in the 1970s) they used a similar stove: Using wood shavings from the saw-mill, they compressed the shavings into a 10" cylinder with a hole through the middle 2"diameter. This fuel plug was then dropped into the burner - a simple cylinder of cast iron with an air damper at the bottom, and the top (exhaust) feeding a hot air duct to heat the log-cabin/house. The centre hole was lit, after which the damper closed to control the sawdust plug burning from the bore outwards, in a gentle burn - subject to the air damper. The Hot air from the heat exchanger pipe around the exhaust pipe meant the exhaust to "outside" was "cool enough to just warm your hands" - so being very efficient, and the clean hot air re-circulated around the house to warm it. The sawdust was free, but wood cost money, so they used the sawdust. Now it has a value as the base material for Kitchen furniture, so Norwegians use free hydro-electricity...
K2

 

[goldstar31]

I had no idea what a Rocket stove was- and Googled and found the instructions.
OK I have a Mig to make one but will it get rid of everyone's leaves.
I've got a Oak( Sessile) and several horse chestnuts, an ash and a number of sycamores but most of these are NOT mine, Again, I have fences and chestnuts full of unwanted ivy.
Mybe I should get someone to clear it all and I cought get back into my little workshop

Decisions, decisions

 

[Richard Hed]

On "Rocket stoves" - but not...
I had a compost maker in the garden that was a tapered steel tube 15" diameter tapering to 10"and 6 ft. long. I decided it would make a good incinerator for woody stuff - partly dried. So I set it off with kindling and started to stuff it with twigs and branches. I used too much fuel and when that got going the whole thing glowed red hot for 2 or 3 feet in the middle - and there was 6 ft of blowlamp flame out of the top! The flame was 10" wide to 6" where it disappeared from view... I could not get near it and a painted wood greenhouse a few feet away started to smoke, so I rigged the water hose to cool the greenhouse!! - My "rocket" burner was like a jet engine on re-heat! Sucking-in all the air it needed and burning the fuel as fast as it could! And it roared like one too! A lesson there: So take care not to over-fuel wood stoves. A little at a time and let them build to a controllable level.
In Norway (a Norwegian told me in the 1970s) they used a similar stove: Using wood shavings from the saw-mill, they compressed the shavings into a 10" cylinder with a hole through the middle 2"diameter. This fuel plug was then dropped into the burner - a simple cylinder of cast iron with an air damper at the bottom, and the top (exhaust) feeding a hot air duct to heat the log-cabin/house. The centre hole was lit, after which the damper closed to control the sawdust plug burning from the bore outwards, in a gentle burn - subject to the air damper. The Hot air from the heat exchanger pipe around the exhaust pipe meant the exhaust to "outside" was "cool enough to just warm your hands" - so being very efficient, and the clean hot air re-circulated around the house to warm it. The sawdust was free, but wood cost money, so they used the sawdust. Now it has a value as the base material for Kitchen furniture, so Norwegians use free hydro-electricity...
K2

Har har har, that is too funni, I can just see that greenhouse getting hot and smoking. The rocket stove has some additions in that the feed spot is rather small and the pipe is covered with some kind of ceramic like clay or terracotta or brick or anything to absorb the heat and release it slowly. It also has ceramic or glass wool or some kind of insulation in the burning area or just above it in which heat is retained and gotten to the point that it automatically burns the "waste" fuel, that is, smoke! So the fuel is close to if not 100% efficient. And yes, these things are apparently so efficient you can put your hands in the exhaust and there is very little heat and virtually no smoke. I can hardly wait to build one.

 

[Richard Hed]

I had no idea what a Rocket stove was- and Googled and found the instructions.
OK I have a Mig to make one but will it get rid of everyone's leaves.
I've got a Oak( Sessile) and several horse chestnuts, an ash and a number of sycamores but most of these are NOT mine, Again, I have fences and chestnuts full of unwanted ivy.
Mybe I should get someone to clear it all and I cought get back into my little workshop

Decisions, decisions

The chestnuts need to be dry and why would you want to burn leaves? So the neighbors don't whine? Leaves are what make good soil.

 

[goldstar31]

Richard, Richard!!!! When will you ever learn about the Englsh English
We are a race that will happiliy spend 300 years making or trying to tame green grass to only grow an inch or less when it is programmed to grow TEN inches and go to seed.
We don't want leaves on our manicured 'bowling green' lawns that the rest of the World will come thousands of miles to sdmire and more money than senesce to say that they have seen the Playing fields of Eton or being pnted in a punt up the Cherwell or the little Granta and want to hear the Messiah sung by Huddersfiekld Choral Society. We want to hear leather on willow and wear whites and wear our school blazers o the Thames at Henley or be got at by an annoyed males swan before going to listen to a virtually confusing play by the Bard of Avon.
Then we want to puff out our scrawny chests and try to get into the Proms, to wear funny hats and sing 'Land of Hope and Glory'
Dammit Man! That is what the REST of this Stupid World wants to emulate.
I still have a couple of 'Morning Suits[ with a black jacket and striped grey trousers with a white shirt and my gold Waltham chain hanging from my black waist coat and wearing my old 31 Squadron tie. We wear our evening suits and long Johns if there ever is a heat wave in England.


And- And -- the Rest of the World is pleased to copy us- mad that we are.

 

[Richard Hed]

Richard, Richard!!!! When will you ever learn about the Englsh English
We are a race that will happiliy spend 300 years making or trying to tame green grass to only grow an inch or less when it is programmed to grow TEN inches and go to seed.
We don't want leaves on our manicured 'bowling green' lawns that the rest of the World will come thousands of miles to sdmire and more money than senesce to say that they have seen the Playing fields of Eton or being pnted in a punt up the Cherwell or the little Granta and want to hear the Messiah sung by Huddersfiekld Choral Society. We want to hear leather on willow and wear whites and wear our school blazers o the Thames at Henley or be got at by an annoyed males swan before going to listen to a virtually confusing play by the Bard of Avon.
Then we want to puff out our scrawny chests and try to get into the Proms, to wear funny hats and sing 'Land of Hope and Glory'
Dammit Man! That is what the REST of this Stupid World wants to emulate.
I still have a couple of 'Morning Suits[ with a black jacket and striped grey trousers with a white shirt and my gold Waltham chain hanging from my black waist coat and wearing my old 31 Squadron tie. We wear our evening suits and long Johns if there ever is a heat wave in England.


And- And -- the Rest of the World is pleased to copy us- mad that we are.

Har har, that is too funni. You should have been a bard yourself.

 

[Bob Wild]

Finally got all the parts for the engine finished. First the crossheads:

and with the pistons and crankshaft:

and to show my new toy milling machine, working on the eccentric rods:

and finally the valve chest and other bits:

Spent ages lining everything up and getting things to move almost freely. I've got a way of mounting the assembly on the lathe so I can then try and run it in and get it rotating smoothly.

Next up are either the gears or the boiler. Both frighten me; never made any gears and the boiler seems so complicated it scares me sh**less!

 

[a41capt]

Beautiful work! As a 42 year firefighter that’s also in love with firefighting history and engineering, I’m in love with your project!

Did you know that even though we no longer utilize an operating engineer, the driver and pump operator is still called an “Engineer”? They’re tasked with somewhat complicated hydraulics calculations regarding flow and pressure issues due to varying fireground conditions (input pressures/volumes, elevation, friction loss in hose and appliance, etc) and requires a pretty extensive testing process for promotion.

Highly sought after promotional opportunities, because who WOULD’NT want to drive a big red fire engine!

 

[Steamchick]

Hi A41 Capt.
When you can understand the Hydraulic system and make calculations under pressure (excuse the pun!) to get the water where you want it to fight a fire, I reckon you deserve the title "Engineer". Don't be shy, wear the badge with pride. In the words of a Greek (a very clever man) an "engineer" is someone who resolves problems "by the use of his Ingenuity". Also, "Ingenuity" is the combination of experience, taught and learned knowledge, and understanding of the problem, or of similar problems. Apparently Euclid and others discussed such things philosophically millennia before we had such things that we call "Engines". Archimedes is well known as a maker of "Engines of War" in Syracuse. Not a piston or spark-plug in any of them..., and the only fire was "Greek fire" - but later than Archimedes' "Engines". - Thought to be an ancient version of Napalm, perhaps with the addition of Sulphur and/or Phosphorus? (Sulphur is abundant on Mount Etna on Sicily for use by Archimedes, and on the Greek island of Nisyros and others, "Phosphorus" comes from the Greek word, which means "bringer of light."..???). Try Greek Fire
Of course, Archimedes was probably the first Hydraulics Engineer anyway.... Archimedes - Wikipedia
I'm sure the historians will correct me, where I am in error here.
Thanks,
K2

 

[a41capt]

Hi A41 Capt.
When you can understand the Hydraulic system and make calculations under pressure (excuse the pun!) to get the water where you want it to fight a fire, I reckon you deserve the title "Engineer". Don't be shy, wear the badge with pride. In the words of a Greek (a very clever man) an "engineer" is someone who resolves problems "by the use of his Ingenuity". Also, "Ingenuity" is the combination of experience, taught and learned knowledge, and understanding of the problem, or of similar problems. Apparently Euclid and others discussed such things philosophically millennia before we had such things that we call "Engines". Archimedes is well known as a maker of "Engines of War" in Syracuse. Not a piston or spark-plug in any of them..., and the only fire was "Greek fire" - but later than Archimedes' "Engines". - Thought to be an ancient version of Napalm, perhaps with the addition of Sulphur and/or Phosphorus? (Sulphur is abundant on Mount Etna on Sicily for use by Archimedes, and on the Greek island of Nisyros and others, "Phosphorus" comes from the Greek word, which means "bringer of light."..???). Try Greek Fire
Of course, Archimedes was probably the first Hydraulics Engineer anyway.... Archimedes - Wikipedia
I'm sure the historians will correct me, where I am in error here.
Thanks,
K2

I enjoyed my years as an “Engineer” with the fire department on both pumpers and ladder trucks. The best times were as the tillerman steering the rear of the ladder truck! I moved on to fire captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, and ended my career as chief of the department, but stuck with the nickname of A41Capt because of my time as the Fire Captain on A-Shift, Engine 41.

Now, if I could only improve my skillset as a model engineer to the level of Bob Wild... Keep us posted with the progress Bob, I’m looking forward to her first steam up and water flow!!!

John W

 

[Richard Hed]

Hi A41 Capt.
When you can understand the Hydraulic system and make calculations under pressure (excuse the pun!) to get the water where you want it to fight a fire, I reckon you deserve the title "Engineer". Don't be shy, wear the badge with pride. In the words of a Greek (a very clever man) an "engineer" is someone who resolves problems "by the use of his Ingenuity". Also, "Ingenuity" is the combination of experience, taught and learned knowledge, and understanding of the problem, or of similar problems. Apparently Euclid and others discussed such things philosophically millennia before we had such things that we call "Engines". Archimedes is well known as a maker of "Engines of War" in Syracuse. Not a piston or spark-plug in any of them..., and the only fire was "Greek fire" - but later than Archimedes' "Engines". - Thought to be an ancient version of Napalm, perhaps with the addition of Sulphur and/or Phosphorus? (Sulphur is abundant on Mount Etna on Sicily for use by Archimedes, and on the Greek island of Nisyros and others, "Phosphorus" comes from the Greek word, which means "bringer of light."..???). Try Greek Fire
Of course, Archimedes was probably the first Hydraulics Engineer anyway.... Archimedes - Wikipedia
I'm sure the historians will correct me, where I am in error here.
Thanks,
K2

I thot engineer was a Latin word. No matter, the Romans had their "engines" , they were balistas and catapults and maybe trebuchets.

 

[Cymro77]

I certainly enjoy the banter and especially the workmanship of you characters!! Wish my machining skills were half as good as what I see on this site!
keep up the entertainment - thanks for the opportunity to watch and learn. My great grandfather lived up in Sunderland and South Shields family-operated Side wheel steam tugs on the river. I rode in them as a yougster.

 

[Bob Wild]

Now, if I could only improve my skillset as a model engineer to the level of Bob Wild... Keep us posted with the progress Bob, I’m looking forward to her first steam up and water flow!!!

John W

John, you really flatter me. I still consider myself as very much a novice (the contents of my scrap bin bear witness to this) !!!

 

[a41capt]

 

[goldstar31]

I certainly enjoy the banter and especially the workmanship of you characters!! Wish my machining skills were half as good as what I see on this site!
keep up the entertainment - thanks for the opportunity to watch and learn. My great grandfather lived up in Sunderland and South Shields family-operated Side wheel steam tugs on the river. I rode in them as a yougster.

Fascinating. Pity poor old Don Ashton who was an expert on tugs wasn't about to respond.
Myself, been on the Blackmiddens on the North Side of the Tyne. I used to sail and kayak .


I seem to recall Tyne Tugs and Lawson Batey. Wasn't there a story of the Eppleton Hall? Too blind to read it but you should


Then there was France,, Fenwick?

 

[goldstar31]

I thot engineer was a Latin word. No matter, the Romans had their "engines" , they were balistas and catapults and maybe trebuchets.

As far as I can discover 'engineer' was fro the Middle french 'Ingeneur' from which we get ingenuity
That;
That's the best that I can offer.

 

[Cymro77]

Fascinating. Pity poor old Don Ashton who was an expert on tugs wasn't about to respond.
Myself, been on the Blackmiddens on the North Side of the Tyne. I used to sail and kayak .


I seem to recall Tyne Tugs and Lawson Batey. Wasn't there a story of the Eppleton Hall? Too blind to read it but you should


Then there was France,, Fenwick?

The Eppleton Hall was the Tug that my family members operated. She was sailed over to USA after being restored. Went through the Panama canal ending up in San Francisco in the maritime museum. I visited her there - quite an emotional time for me. She is now derelict once again as I understand. The museum was taken over by National Park System that did not have the finances to maintain her