S.C. Firewater
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 2:48 pm
After 13 years of not getting my larger boat running, mostly due to space and money constraints, I've decided I have to have a going steamer in 12 months or less. So it has to be cheap, use as many parts on hand as possible, and fit into the workshop I currently have. So: the steam canoe Firewater.
The plan:
Hull: 16' or 17' aluminum canoe. Used ones are plentiful in the Chicago area. Good ones seem to go for $300-$500. I am toying with the idea of modifying the stern at the keel to produce a semi-tunnel hull. Any advice on this would be welcome. I'm going to purchase the hull as soon as I have a going engine.
Engine: 2"x2" ex- air compressor. Was $5, pulled out of the mud in a rural Wisconsin junk yard. Piston, cylinder, and bearing surfaces appear like new. Plan is to make a simple head for it with a piston valve working horizontally across the head driven through a bell crank. Slip eccentric reversing.
Boiler: Modified monotube. Currently leaning toward 3/8" stainless in a beehive coil. It will be wood/charcoal fired (to me one of the primary joys of steaming). I am planning on putting a 4" diameter water separator/ resevoir at the outlet, with the goal of maintaining a water level in it, to produce only saturated steam. Excess feed water increases the water level, and too little feed water would produce superheated steam to the seperator, which would boil off some of the water in the separator, bringing it back down to saturation. Variable stroke feed pump. This seems to me like it should be a crude and reliable way to control steam temp output. The boat will have no electronic controls.
Prop: Federal Equi-Poise 11x20. This beautiful little prop has been my most prized paperweight for years. I can't wait to see it spinning.
Anyway, that's the outline, for what I hope will be a cheap and cheerful little steamer. I've promised my 4-year-old that we're going steamboating next summer, so it has to happen. I'll post pictures of components as I get them.
Cheers,
Scott
The plan:
Hull: 16' or 17' aluminum canoe. Used ones are plentiful in the Chicago area. Good ones seem to go for $300-$500. I am toying with the idea of modifying the stern at the keel to produce a semi-tunnel hull. Any advice on this would be welcome. I'm going to purchase the hull as soon as I have a going engine.
Engine: 2"x2" ex- air compressor. Was $5, pulled out of the mud in a rural Wisconsin junk yard. Piston, cylinder, and bearing surfaces appear like new. Plan is to make a simple head for it with a piston valve working horizontally across the head driven through a bell crank. Slip eccentric reversing.
Boiler: Modified monotube. Currently leaning toward 3/8" stainless in a beehive coil. It will be wood/charcoal fired (to me one of the primary joys of steaming). I am planning on putting a 4" diameter water separator/ resevoir at the outlet, with the goal of maintaining a water level in it, to produce only saturated steam. Excess feed water increases the water level, and too little feed water would produce superheated steam to the seperator, which would boil off some of the water in the separator, bringing it back down to saturation. Variable stroke feed pump. This seems to me like it should be a crude and reliable way to control steam temp output. The boat will have no electronic controls.
Prop: Federal Equi-Poise 11x20. This beautiful little prop has been my most prized paperweight for years. I can't wait to see it spinning.
Anyway, that's the outline, for what I hope will be a cheap and cheerful little steamer. I've promised my 4-year-old that we're going steamboating next summer, so it has to happen. I'll post pictures of components as I get them.
Cheers,
Scott
Boy had you better deliver, or you will be mud! 4 yr/olds are like elephants - they NEVER forget! 
