Steam Donkey

[Jasonb]

That was actually the first thread I had ever cut using a lathe, give it a go, you won't know until you try it.

Jason

 

[Captain Jerry]

I'm getting closer. I think I've identified all of the sticky parts. This is a model of the hoist mechanism, complete with gears, clutches and brake drums. I'm trying to work out the gears now. I intend to make the gears as a separate rim on the drive. That will let me fiddle with the clutch mechanism without worrying about messing up the gears which can be pressed on after the clutches are working.

Right now I'm trying to work out the gears. The hoist gears are about 2.5" OD and the pinion is about .6" OD with a .5" face on each. I'm thinking 20DP, 20PA with 50 teeth and 12 teeth but I could be wrong. I would prefer to use steel but I could resort to brass if necessary. Having never cut a gear, I need to see if I can grind a suitable cutter.

Suggestions and recommendations are welcome.

Jerry

 

[Jasonb]

If those are the OD sizes then you will need to run 48/9, but your 50/12 will be right for the PCD of the gears at 2.5/0.6

Jason

 

[Jared]

I love steam donkeys, yarders, winches, hoists, cranes, derricks, draglines, well, you get the idea. I started a triple drum yarder of my own design a few years ago but it has been languishing. I'm hoping you'll build this so it'll inspire me. I'm gonna be following this.

I think I can do it this way:

My dad has an ancient small double-drum hoist on a boom truck he uses all the time for his welding business. It uses almost the exact same lever mechanism but without the pin between the two halves, and it slides the drum sideways against the rotating clutch made of wedge-shaped hardwood blocks. If you like I can get some pictures for you. You should be able to eliminate the pin and let the two halves slide against each other. It will have more bearing surface than the pin will give.

 

[Captain Jerry]

Jared

Thanks for your interest in this project. When I finally gave up on the idea of a 2 start square thread per the original, my first idea was exactly as you describe without the pin but as i worked out the details when I separated the two halves of the bushing, the slots appeared and the use of a pin seems more close to the original concept. It could go either way when I get to the actual part.

Your dad's truck must be a real antique. I thought wooden clutches disappeared with the end of steam power.

Jerry

 

[Captain Jerry]

:wall: :wall: :wall:

RATS!!! @#$%@#$%!!!

I just spent two hours trying to explain a really slick way I came up with to grind a gear tooth cutter and when I went to photobucket to get a link, I accidently closed the reply window before it was posted. That hurts more than messing up a part. :'( :'( :'(

I disheartened. I'm going to bed! Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

Jerry

 

[Jared]

Jerry,

The truck itself is a '70 Chevy 2-ton, but I wouldn't be surprised if the hoist is '20s,'30s, or '40s vintage. It was used on a piledriver on a barge for use on the Columbia River, back when nobody cared how many pilings you drove in the water and you could do all sorts of other neat stuff. It's fairly small; the drums are about 18" wide and 8" in diameter, which may account for still using the wood clutch.
:wall: I drove by it twice today and managed to remember exactly zero times to snap some shots of it.
I do know of two similar trucks that ARE antiques. A shipyard in Astoria, OR uses a 90 year old chain drive Mack and a 100-year-old Doane every day to handle lifting duties. A 70's vintage truck with a hydraulic crane sits in the weeds.

I'm curious why you're selling your sailboat. A man without a boat is a man in chains, as the old Norwegians used to say.

 

[Captain Jerry]

Jared:

Thanks for your reply. A picture of your dad's truck and would be interesting, but I enjoy neat old equipment. In my younger days, I was in the mining and earth moving equipment business and I have sold my fair share of Caterpillar, Komatsu, American Hoist (draglines), Mack (off-road mining trucks, LeTorneau, and Euclid equipment and have toured all of their factories (and museums). I've driven a chain drive Mack and I've pulled the levers on an electric Marion dragline. I won't say I "operated" the Marion, just pulled the levers through a few cycles under the VERY watchfull eyes of the real operator. That may explain the natural interest in building this steam donkey.

I'm curious why you're selling your sailboat. A man without a boat is a man in chains, as the old Norwegians used to say.
Posted on: April 17, 2010, 01:06:05 AM

I'm selling the boat because it has served it's purpose, which I only recently decided what it's purpose was. It eased my transition into retirement and gave me focus and confidence that I was not "over the hill". Sailing has been a big part of my life for the last ten years. It has kept me healthy and interested in life. I will miss it but I can do other things now.

I never touched a metal lathe until I was 70 and now I do things that I never did. I think I have a good handle on 3D CAD with lots more to learn. I may make a set of gears soon. My son-in-law asked me if I wanted to attend a welding course with him and I will. My wife starts talking very fast and tries to distract my attention when we drive by the Harley dealership and If I start to miss the boat too much, I have a big teak deck box which isn't going with the boat, so I can take it out in the hot sun and varnish it. That will let me miss th boat less.

Jerry

 

[Captain Jerry]

The project is started. It now is a work in progress so a new thread has been started under that topic. Thank you all for encouraging me to undertake this. Watch the progress at

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=9212.msg99807;topicseen#new

Jerry