Things To Make, Archibald Williams [great book club books .txt] 📗

[Illustration: FIG. l04.-Spirit lamp for hot-air engine, with regulating tap.]

The packing of the piston should be sufficiently tight to prevent leakage of air, but not to cause undue friction. When the packing has settled into place, an occasional drop of oil in the cylinder and guide tube will assist to make the piston and slide air-tight.

The engine begins to work a quarter of a minute or so after the lamp is lit, and increases its speed up to a certain point, say 300 revolutions per minute. When the water becomes very hot it may be changed. The power might be applied, through demultiplying gear, to a small pump drawing water from the bottom of the tank and forcing it through the water chamber and a bent-over stand pipe into the tank again. This will help to keep the water cool, and will add to the interest of the exhibit by showing "work being done."

FIG. 105 is a perspective view of a simple water motor which costs little to make, and can be constructed by anybody able to use carpenter's tools and a soldering iron. It will serve to drive a very small dynamo, or do other work for which power on a small scale is required. A water supply giving a pressure of 40 lbs. upwards per square inch must be available.

We begin operations by fashioning the case, which consists of three main parts, the centre and two sides, held together by brass screws. For the centre, select a piece of oak 1 inch thick. Mark off a square, 7 inches on the side; find the centre of this, and describe a circle 5 inches in diameter. A bulge is given to the circle towards one corner of the square, at which the waste-pipe will be situated.

Cut out along the line with a keyhole saw. Then saw out the square of wood. A 5/8-inch hole is now bored edgeways through the wood into the "bulge" for the escape, and in what will be the top edge is drilled a 1/4-inch hole to allow air to enter.

[Illustration: FIG. l05.—Simple water turbine.]

Cut out the sides, and screw them on to the centre at the four corners, taking care that the grain runs the same way in all three pieces, so that they may all expand or contract in the same direction. Plane off the edges of the sides flush with the centre.

The parts should now be separated, after being marked so that they can be reassembled correctly, and laid for a quarter of an hour in a pan of melted paraffin wax, or, failing this, of vaseline, until the wood is thoroughly impregnated. Reassemble the parts, and put in the rest of the holding screws, which should have their heads countersunk flush with the wood.

[Illustration: FIG. 106.—Water turbine, with pulley side of casing removed.]

For the shaft select a piece of steel rod 5/32 inch in diameter, and 3 or 4 inches long; for the bearings use two pieces, 3/4 inch long each, of close-fitting brass tube. Now take a drill, very slightly smaller in diameter than the bearings, and run holes right through the centres of, and square to, the sides. Both holes should be drilled at one operation, so that they may be in line.

With a wooden mallet drive the bearings, which should be tapered slightly at the entering end, through the sides. Push the shaft through them. If it refuses to pass, or, if passed, turns very unwillingly, the bearings must be out of line; in which case the following operation will put things right. Remove the bearing on the pulley side, and enlarge the hole slightly. Then bore a hole in the centre of a metal disc, 1 inch in diameter, to fit the bearing; and drill three holes for screws to hold the disc against the case. Rub disc and bearing bright all over.

Replace the bearing in its hole, slip the disc over it, and push the shaft through both bearings. Move the disc about until the shaft turns easily, mark the screw holes, and insert the screws. Finally, solder the bearing to the disc while the shaft is still in place.

The wheel is a flat brass disc 4 inches in diameter. Polish this, and scratch on one side twelve equally spaced radii. At the end of each radius a small cup, made by bending a piece of strip brass 1/4 inch wide and 1/2 inch long into an arc of a circle, is soldered with its extremities on the scratch. A little "Tinol" soldering lamp (price 1s. 6d.) comes in very handy here.

To fix the wheel of the shaft requires the use of a third small piece of tubing, which should be turned off quite square at both ends. Slip this and the wheel on the shaft, and make a good, firm, soldered joint. Note.— Consult Fig. 107 for a general idea of the position of the wheel, which must be kept just clear of the case by the near bearing.

[Illustration: FIG. 107.—Plan of water turbine, showing arrangement of nozzle.]

The nozzle should be a straight, tapered tube of some kind—the nose of a large oil can will serve the purpose. The exit must be small enough to allow the water to leave it at high velocity; if too large, the efficiency of the wheel will be diminished. To the rear end of the nozzle should be soldered a piece of brass tubing, which will make a tight fit with the hose pipe leading from the water supply. A few small brass rings soldered round this piece will prevent the hose blowing off if well wired on the outside.

Now comes the boring of the hole for the nozzle. Fig. 106 shows the line it should take horizontally, so that the water shall strike the uppermost bucket just below the centre; while Fig. 107 indicates the obliquity needed to make the stream miss the intervening bucket. A tapered broach should be used to enlarge the hole gradually till the nozzle projects sufficiently. If the line is not quite correct, the tip should be bent carefully in the direction required. One must avoid distorting the orifice, which should be perfectly circular; clean it out with a small twist drill of the proper size.

A brass elbow, which may be purchased for a few pence, should be driven into the waste hole, and a small shield be nailed under the air hole. A couple of screwed-on cross pieces are required to steady the motor sideways and raise the elbow clear of the ground.

The motor may be geared direct to a very small dynamo, if the latter is designed to run at high speeds. If a geared-down drive is needed, a small pulley—such as is used for blinds, and may be bought for a penny—should be attached to the shaft, and a bootlace be employed as belt. Avoid overloading the wheel, for if it is unable to run at a high speed it will prove inefficient.

[Illustration: FIG. l08.-Water motor working a photographic dish-rocker.]

Lubrication.—The water will keep the bearings cool, but the bearings should be well lubricated. The most convenient method of effecting this is to bore holes in the bearings, and from them run small pipes to an oil reservoir on the top of the case (as in Fig. 70), where they are fed on the siphon principle through strands of worsted.

Alternative Construction.—If an all-metal case is preferred, the reader might utilize the description given of a steam turbine on pp. 170-178. The details there given will apply to water as well as steam, the one exception being that a nozzle of the kind described above must be substituted for the steam pipe and small ports.

Every steam boiler which has to run for long periods and evaporate considerable quantities of water should be in connection with a pump capable of forcing water in against the highest pressure used. On a previous page (p. 158) we have described a force pump driven directly off the crank shaft of an engine. As the action of this is dependent on the running of the engine, it is advisable, in cases where the boiler may have to work an engine not provided with a pump of its own, to install an independent auxiliary pump operated by hand or by steam, and of considerable capacity, so that in an emergency water may be supplied quickly.

[Illustration: FIG. l09.-Vertical section of force pump.]

Making a Hand pump.—Fig. 109 shows the details of a hand pump which is easy to make. The barrel is a length of brass tubing; the plunger a piece of brass or preferably gun-metal rod, which fits the tube closely, but works easily in it. The gland at the top of the barrel, E, is composed of a piece, D, of the same tubing as the barrel, sliding in a collar, C, soldered to E. The bottom of D and top of E are bevelled to force the packing against the plunger. The plates A and B, soldered to D and C respectively, are drawn together by three or more screws. A brass door-knob makes a convenient top for the plunger. When the knob touches A, the bottom of the plunger must not come lower than the top of the delivery pipe, lest the water flow should be impeded and the valve, V, injured. Round off the end of the plunger, so that it may be replaced easily and without disarranging the packing if pulled out of the pump.

The valves are gun-metal balls, for which seats have been prepared by hammering in steel cycle balls of the same size. Be careful to select balls considerably larger than the bore of the pipes on which they rest, to avoid all possibility of jamming. An eighth of an inch or so above the ball, cross wires should be soldered in to prevent the ball rising too far from its seat.

[Illustration: FIG. 110.]

A convenient mounting for a hand pump is shown in Fig. 110. The plate, F, of the pump is screwed to a wooden base resting on a framework of bent sheet zinc, which is attached to the bottom of a zinc water tray. The delivery pipe, G, will be protected against undue strains if secured by a strap to the side of the wooden base.

The same pump is easily adapted to be worked by a lever, which makes the work of pumping easier. Fig. 111 gives details of the top of the plunger and the links, B. A slot must be cut in the plunger for the lever, A, to pass through, and the sides bored for a pivot pin. The links are straddled (see sketch of end view) to prevent the back end of the lever wobbling from side to side.

[Illustration: FIG. 111.—Details of lever for force pump.]

A Steam Pump.—The pump illustrated in Fig. 112 belongs to what is probably the simplest self-contained type, as no fly wheel, crank, or eccentric is needed for operating the valve.

The steam cylinder and the pump are set in line with one another (in the case shown, horizontally), and half as far apart again as the stroke of the cylinder. The plunger is either a continuation of the piston rod, or attached to it.

[Illustration: FIG. 112—View of steam pump, showing details.]

An arm, S, fixed at right angles to the piston rod, has a forked end which moves along the rod. This rod is connected with the slide valve through the rocking arm, R1 and the rod, R2. On it are two adjustable stops, T1 T2, which S strikes alternately towards the end of a stroke, causing the valve to shift over and expose the other side of the piston to steam pressure. The absence of the momentum of a fly wheel makes it necessary for the thrust exerted by the piston to be considerably greater than the back pressure of the water, so that the moving parts may work with a velocity sufficient to open the valve. If the speed falls below a certain limit, the valve opens only part way, the speed falls, and at the end of the next stroke the valve is not shifted at all.

The diameter of the plunger must be decided by the pressure against which it will have to work. For boiler feeding it should not exceed one-third that of the piston; and in such case the piston rod and plunger may well be one.

A piston valve, being moved more easily than a box valve, is better suited for a pump