Tin Plate Clyde Puffer

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Well said Richard and fully agree.  However ‘plain speak’ would be a good thing.  Where can the ‘regulations’ be found ?  What unit is ‘bar-litres’?  What authority sets the regulations and rules?  Where can they be found in East Lancashire. How much does the ‘who-ha’ cost?

I can and would hydraulic and steam test any boiler in my workshop at home for my own safety, well out of the way of ‘a crowd of children’.

Please give a helpful reply.

Len.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I’m afraid Richard is right. what was acceptable 40 years ago is not now. As always, the imposition of ‘elf & safety’ is annoying to those who are knowledgeable enough to understand and follow safe practice but sadly education standards have slipped in many of these areas over the years and many people simply don’t appreciate potential hazards.

Questions that repeatedly come up on the forums indicate that an awful lot of people have only the faintest grasp of the basic laws of physics and just want answers that don’t include actually understanding the reasons for those answers.

Probably twent five years or so ago I and a number of intelligent, well educated colleagues attended what was then a fashionable ‘away day’ together as a team bonding exercise. We were given various practical exercises to solve and they looked on in awe as I demonstrated how to rewire a 3 pin mains plug. It’s got much worse since then!

Colin

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Colin,

Fully agree again, but information would be better.

Len

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Len,

Richard is our resident expert and has posted a lot of information and written articles on the subject for the magazine. He can probably email you a pdf file of his last  article in June 2021 if it is still up to date.

Meanwhile there is a lot of technical information here:

Pressure Vessels and Testing

Hope this helps,

Colin

 

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Thanks Colin

Len

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Colin,

Had a look at “The federation of Model Engineering Societies “.  It’s impossible to get into.  This is all the ‘who-ha’ I’m talking about.

Len

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I can get into the Services section OK without any problems. Relevant links seem to be:

https://fmes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Boiler-Test-Code-2018-Volume-2.pdf

https://fmes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BTC2018V2-FAQ-February-2019.pdf

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Len, I have sent you a PM with my phone number.  Please feel free to call me whenever is convenient and I’ll help in any way I can.  The first step is to read through the rules, which Colin has sorted for you.  Volume 1 is for boilers over 3 bar-litres and Volume 3 is for gas tanks so concentrate on Volume 2.  You don’t need to know the entire contents but a read through will be very helpfull.  I can then help to explain the bits you don’t understand.  If you give me your e-mail address, in a PM, I will forward you the article I wrote explaining what the bar-litre number is and how it is worked out.

A telephone conversation will be worth a dozen e-mails or about 25 forum posts!

 

 

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for that.  I’ll print the PDF’s out and have a good read over the holidays.  All I could see on the FMES site were the topic headings.  Apparently you need to login to access those and you need a password to do so.  You can’t chose your own.  You need to be given this from a club that is a member or affiliated to the FMES and to get that you need to join the club first.

I don’t doubt for one minute that the regulations are important.  Why not just publish them openly?

Len

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for that.  Reading through Colin’s links.  Two PM’s sent.  One with my number and one with my email (forgot to include it in the first).

Len

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Hi Len,

I never logged into the FMES site. Just did a Google search and was able to access those documents immediately. A bit odd because it does say you need to log in. Maybe it’s because Google provided me with a link that was effectively a ‘back door’ bypassing the login process.

Quite agree that the regs should be in the public domain as they pertain to public safety.

Colin

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Colin,

Just tried the same thing on Google and there was all the information large as life.  Very strange.  Anyway, job done.  Many thanks for your help and effort.

Len

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Happy New Year to all.

Managed to get some work done over the holidays but at a price.  Had to do all the washing up and rubbish duties to clear the kitchen table!

Most of the soldering on the hull finished (keel strip etc), all cleaned up and given a coat of acid etch primer.  Here’s a picture of the bow:-

And here’s one of the stern:-

I wanted the rudder to be easily cleared to allow easy access to the propshaft tunnel so here’s a picture of the missing bits:-

The bottom keel section is attached with 2 stainless countersunk cap screws and easily removed to release the rudder.  Here’s the whole job assembled:-

The propeller was just an old plastic one that was modified to fit and give me some idea of the size.  It’s a 3 blade but I’ve seen many Puffers pictured with 4 blades.  At the moment a 4 blade is on the cards.  The bits are made in brass and copper and I just need to sort out the assembly jig:-

All for now,

Len

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Len,

You’ve certainly made more progress over Christmas than I have. A bit of decorating is holding me up at the moment. Now you’ve put some colour on your hull the rivet detail shows up well.

I hope mine does as well when I get round to that point.

Jim.

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Jim,

So do all the other imperfections such as mis-aligned rivet lines and plates!-)  Spent some time over Christmas watching all the old Vital Spark repeats on You-tube and David Hayman’s BBC documentary about Puffers.  Some excellent detail to be seen and it’s nice these days to be able to freeze the TV screen.  Also started reading my Christmas present “Para Handy-Neil Munro- Complete collected stories”.  Takes some getting into – I think I’ll be speaking Gaelic before I’m finished!  Think I’ve picked a name to paint on her bows and stern- “Miss Fire”.  -)

[Stephen GarradParticipant @stephengarrad28964]

Hi Len, what is the title of the BBC documentary about Puffers please.

Thanks

Stephen

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Stephen,

It’s “Scotland’s Vital Spark the Clyde Puffer”.  David Hayman takes you through Puffer development from the the horse drawn barges to the last steam powered coastal boats with excellent historical film clips and interviews.  Just type “Clyde Puffer” into You tube or BBC iPlayer and you’ll easily find it.

Len

[Stephen GarradParticipant @stephengarrad28964]

Thanks Len, I’ll have a look.

Stephen

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Again

Next step was to clean up the inside of the hull.  The internal ribs were only really needed to give form to the hull shape and so much of them removed.  The real strength in the hull is the plating shell so nothing except weight is lost.

To get rid of all the flux residues etc the hull was filled with universal thinners and given a good scrub with tooth brushes etc.  This is a hard taskmaster.  The thinners is very penetrating and will quickly show up any leaks.  I had 3.  Easily repaired and I expected many more so happy so far.

The painting inside is again with acid etch primer.  A paint brush or a spray can will never get into all the nooks and crannies so again the hull was flooded with a can of paint and rolled around to get the coverage (the excess just went back into the tin).  Here’s where I at:-

All for now.

Len

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Wonderful Len. What a coat of paint does for a model. Dare I say it, the un-eveness of the construction will look really good on the finished model, better than a beautifully smooth fibreglass job. After all, essentially you have plated it as per the originals (albeit with probably less plates).

Ashley

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Len,

Managed to stay logged in this time and catch up with other comments. Agree with you about David Hayman’s video on the Puffers, a really interesting hour. I’ve gone back to it many times to look at different things. ( And the Auld Reekie web site )

Richard Simpson steered me in the direction of Puffer photos on the Scottish Maritime History site and they have many pictures on there as well. You may already know of it.

Regarding misaligned rivets etc, I’m pretty sure rivet lines on Puffers would have maybe wandered a bit. Adds to the character

I’m still at the rudder steering stage and getting more and more frustrated with it. I think I might call mine ” You took long enough!”

Jim.

 

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Thanks for all your kind comments.  Decided to leave the hull for a few days for all the primer to fully harden and get on with the shaft and prop.

Getting the right shaft seals proved difficult at the size needed.  In the end the shaft was wiped with WD 40 and the seal housing filled with a twin pack rubber compound.  The pic shows the seal in place.

The WD 40 kept the shaft free and the rubber compound stuck well to the shaft tube.  It appeared to work quite well when I tested it. The shaft was stuck into the bottom of a milk bottle and run for an hour with a Dremel against a 6 inch water head:-

Not one drop of water came through.  Suppose time will tell on it’s longevity but it is friction free at the moment without any grease in the tube.

Here’s a pic of the prop jig set up and ready to go:-

The blades were silver soldered.  Soft soldering works just as well and is more than adequate for normal boating but I’ve found them more prone to loosing a blade during handling accidents such as dropping the hull etc.  The end result doesn’t look very pretty:-

Now needs a good clean up and the blades bending into shape.  I’ll post some pictures of the finished job.  All for now.

Len

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Len,

Love that rig for soldering the prop blades. I made my own prop for my TID Tug many years ago, but a fellow modeller soldered mine for as I hadn’t got the tools to do it at that time. Did you make the blades individually? I made four, then sweated them altogether, filed them as one blade, then separated them. There isn’t a great pitch on them, but it drives the boat nicely.

Looking forward to your next instalment.

Jim.

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Jim,

All the blades where made as one but just clamped together.  Forgot to mention that when setting everything up it’s good to have a prop in front of you to get the basic angles the right way round.  I’ve made a few left hand props in the past. 🙂

Len

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Just a couple of pictures of mi finished prop.

Not going to try and clean or polish it any more.  In fact now looking for some nasty compound to make it look well old.

Len

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