Steam Launch parts acquired

[seikeinlemming]

Hello All!

Got my hands on the parts for my fourth boat, and thought I would share them with you all! I am not normally one to chronicle what I do for all to see, but since this is a rather unique boat, I thought it might be of interest to members of this forum. It will be a Steam Launch (Elliott Bay style), and is powered by a Steam Engine which will be built from the castings pictured below. We also purchased the hull (23' 4"), among other parts like deck hardware. This will be a multi-year project (3-4), so I will post updates as the project progresses.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Well, this just has to be way cool. I'm looking forward to seeing you steaming along. Please do post progress updates!

 

[DustinJean]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

very cool project, please keep us up to date as i would love to watch this build

 

[benjh1028]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Can you provide us with some background for those of us that are clueless about thes boats? This sounds really interesting.

Ben

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Of course Ben!

As stated before, the steam launch is powered by steam (very similar to a steam locomotive). there will be a boiler on board with fire that produces the steam, which then runs through a two-cylinder "york-compound" engine, which drives the propeller. Many different types of steam engines may be used, however, the castings for mine are for the "York-compound" style.

The water used to generate steam will be in a "condensing"-style system. What this means is that after the steam cools down, the water is reused again. This eliminates having to draw from the lake water, and allows me to know exactly what is in the water I am putting through the boiler and engine.

Built mainly for lakes where the water is not too rough, this boat will hold about six people comfortably and travel at about 7 knots. We will be building this with a canopy, so that there is protection from the sun. (pictures on the site in the link below).

Everyone that sees the hull of the boat refers to the movie "The African Queen" as a large part of it takes place on a steam-powered boat similar to the one I am building.

More information can be found at www.steamlaunch.com (manufacturer's website).

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Cool project for sure.

Have you seen this thread? http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=453972

 

[oops!]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

hi....welcome to iboats !

thanks for posting.....and you are correct......we love to see all types of construction.

i love your hull. wow.....very nice.

we used to have a steam guru on this site.....but he passed on.
too bad....he more than likely would have been very helpful to you.

please keep us posted !

 

[Ned L]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Nice project!! That looks like you could have a lot of fun with it. (Years ago I worked at a small shipyard that had a side business of building similar launches - I was in charge of building them, so I know what you're up to.)
Some advise on the canopy when you get there. - Have some large zippers sewn in it ( like in a "U" shape at each end) to let the wind out in an emergency. When growing up, a friend of my family's had an original 1880's fantail launch with a canopy. He was out alone one day when a storm kicked up, the wind got under the canopy and knocked the boat right on her side with water pouring in over the gunwale. With some qiuck thinking he took out his pocket knife and slashed some long tears in the canopy to vent the wind and let the boat come back up. When he had the new canopy made he had big long zippers put in it.

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Ezmobee- I have seen that thread, and have already pulled a lot of ideas for mine from it. Mine will be very similar except for the fact that the hull is fiberglass, and instead of starting with pre-built boiler/engine, the engine is a bunch of castings, and the boiler will be custom designed/built by a company that can build them to code.


Ned- thanks for the idea. Things like that are VERY helpful. A few of my dad's coworkers are building similar launches at the same time (and in some cases have built launches before), but the more experience and insight I have will only be a good thing!

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Attached is a picture of the spun brass top that will go on the top of the boiler (purely decorative), as well as the two steam launches that got me hooked on this project. The white one is the same style hull exactly as mine, while the boat with all the woodwork looks more like how the mahogany will be finished. Unfortunately, neither of these have canopies, but hopefully this helps for people who aren't as familiar with the steam launch style of boat.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Question of ignorance: Why are they "launches" and not "boats"?

It's a beautiful "launch" though!

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

halfmoa - Good question! (and even one that I had to look up, as I've always just called them steam launches, and never thought to look up the reason). A launch refers to a boat which carries passengers for short distances, particularly on the lake or a river. This size boat would be carried on board larger ships and used to get passengers to shore. (Just like many cruise ships anchor in deeper water and shuttle passengers to shore in their lifeboats).

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Interesting, thanks!

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

So this week the main tube came for the boiler. It is 22" in diameter, and gives a bit of an idea how big of a boiler is necessary to power a boat like this. I started machining a few parts of the engine (a few washers). Now that the restoration of my powerboat is complete, hopefully this project should move forward a lot faster.

 

[cedarlattice]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Very cool project!!!! I am looking foreward to this build.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Just joining in so I remember to watch.

That is a sleek looking hull and thanks for the explanation for "launch".

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

I've started machining the counter weights for the steam engine. There are four of these and they will mount on the crankshaft. The picture below shows what the engine will look like when completed (and hopefully explains why this is a multi-year project to those who may not understood the huge amount of hours being dumped into this). In this picture, one of the counterweights can be seen directly above the "K" in 'york'.

 

[seikeinlemming]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

The boiler is progressing rather quickly as we try to meet milestones for inspection (building several at one time, so we only have to run the inspector out once to inspect at each phase). The other week we marked and torched out what will be the firebox door hole in the outside tube of the boiler.



After that, the torched holes were machined so that when the entire thing is welded together there are nice smooth edges to weld to. Seen here is the outside of the boiler (with the two small holes that look like eyes), and the firebox (picture on right).


Today we just finished up making various tubes for inside the boiler that will deliver water to the boiler, and send steam to the engine. Each of these tubes had to be heated in 8" segments and hand bent.



A few more pieces of steel are on order yet (flues and flue sheets), once that comes in, we will be very close to being ready to weld everything together and have a completed boiler.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

I applaud you for keeping us updated. Still very, very interesting!

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: Steam Launch parts acquired

Very cool!