Re: George Whitney boiler
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:19 am
I had to smile upon reading Lopez Mike's description of a Volvo left handed adjustable wrench.
When I were a lad my father bought a new 1970 Volvo station wagon. It was then that I figured out that "Volvo" was Swedish for "Lemon". That is a story for another time. It, however came equipped with its own adjustable wrench in the tool kit.
I also discovered the peculiar wrench and had the same problem with it. I never reached the crescendo of rage that Mike did, I found that when there was absolutely nothing else to use that the wrench would turn nuts and bolts. Something about the one eyed man in the land of the blind being king comes to mind. I seem to remember that the other end of the handle was forged into a flat spoon that was most useful for getting bicycle tires off and on the rim. I still have no idea if the Swedish engineers intended it to be used to change the car tires. I never thought of it as left handed, I just assumed it was a Metric Adjustable Wrench since I found it in the same box as a reversible Sawzall, now that is rare bird, very useful in tight quarters.
There is reference to left/right thread pipe boilers in Audel's Engineer' Manual in their
description of a Roberts type boiler. Always seemed like a clever idea, though I think I would rather have welde joints in order to not reduce the wall thickness by threading. But, if welding is not an option then threading could steam your boat.
Best regards, Steamboat Mike
When I were a lad my father bought a new 1970 Volvo station wagon. It was then that I figured out that "Volvo" was Swedish for "Lemon". That is a story for another time. It, however came equipped with its own adjustable wrench in the tool kit.
I also discovered the peculiar wrench and had the same problem with it. I never reached the crescendo of rage that Mike did, I found that when there was absolutely nothing else to use that the wrench would turn nuts and bolts. Something about the one eyed man in the land of the blind being king comes to mind. I seem to remember that the other end of the handle was forged into a flat spoon that was most useful for getting bicycle tires off and on the rim. I still have no idea if the Swedish engineers intended it to be used to change the car tires. I never thought of it as left handed, I just assumed it was a Metric Adjustable Wrench since I found it in the same box as a reversible Sawzall, now that is rare bird, very useful in tight quarters.
There is reference to left/right thread pipe boilers in Audel's Engineer' Manual in their
description of a Roberts type boiler. Always seemed like a clever idea, though I think I would rather have welde joints in order to not reduce the wall thickness by threading. But, if welding is not an option then threading could steam your boat.
Best regards, Steamboat Mike
