Things To Make Part 12

Bolt Holes.--The marks for these, six or twelve in number, are equally s.p.a.ced on the outside of one plate, and the two plates are clamped or soldered together before the boring is done, to ensure the holes being in line. If the bolts are to screw into one plate, be careful to make the holes of the tapping size in the first instance, and to enlarge those in D afterwards. Make guide marks in the plates before separating, between what will be the uppermost holes and the circ.u.mference.

Bolts.--These should be of bra.s.s if pa.s.sed inside the ring. Nuts are not necessary if E is tapped, but their addition will give a smarter appearance and prevent-the bolts becoming loose.

Bearings.--Bore central holes in the discs to a good fit for the bearings, and prepare the hole for the exhaust pipe. This hole is most easily made by drilling a ring of small holes just inside the mark and cutting through the intervening metal.

For A, B, and C cut off pieces of bearing pipe, 1/2, 1/4, and 3/4 inch long respectively, and bevel the ends of B and C as shown, to minimize friction if they rub. File all other ends square. (Lathe useful here.)

Bore oil holes in B and C, and clear away all the "burr." Make scratches on the bearings to show how far they should be pushed through the case.

Now a.s.semble the case, taking care that the edge of the ring corresponds exactly with the circles marked on the discs, and clean the metal round the bearing holes and the bearings themselves. The last are then placed in position, with the lubricating holes pointing upwards towards the guide marks on the discs. Push the spindle rod through the bearings, which must be adjusted until the rod can be revolved easily with the fingers. Then solder in the bearing with a "Tinol" lamp.

The Wheel.--Anneal this well by heating to a dull red and plunging it in cold water. Mark a circle of 1-1/4-inch radius, and draw radial lines 1/4 inch apart at the circ.u.mference from this circle to the edge. Cut out along the lines, and twist the vanes to make an angle of about 60 degree with the central part, and bend the ends slightly backward away from the direction in which the rotor will revolve. (The directions given on p. 189 for making a steam top wheel can be applied here.)

Bore a hole in the centre to make a tight fit with the spindle, and place the rotor in position, with piece B in contact on the C side. Get everything square (rotation will betray a bad wobble), and solder the three parts together with the blow-lamp.

Mount the rotor squarely by the spindle points between two pieces of wood held lightly in the vice, and, with the aid of a gauge fixed to the piece nearest the wheel, true up the line of the vanes. (Lathe useful here.)

The Steam Pipe is 15 inches (or more) of 5/16-inch copper tubing, well annealed. To a.s.sist the bending of it into a ring one needs some circular object of the same diameter as the interior diameter of the ring round which to curve it. I procured a tooth-powder box of the right size, and nailed it firmly to a piece of board. Then I bevelled off the end of the pipe to the approximately correct angle, laid it against the box, and drove in a nail to keep it tight up. Bending was then an easy matter, a nail driven in here and there holding the pipe until the ring was complete. I then soldered the end to the standing part, and detached the ring for flattening on one side with a file and emery cloth. This done, I bored a hole through the tube at F to open up the blind end of the ring.

Attaching the ring to disc D is effected as follows:--Tin the contact faces of the ring and disc pretty heavily with solder, after making poppet marks round the guide circles so that they may not be lost under the solder. The ring must be pressed tightly against its seat while heating is done with the lamp. An extra pair of hands makes things easier at this point. Be careful not to unsolder the spindle bearing, a thing which cannot happen if the bearing is kept cool by an occasional drop or two of water. A little extra solder should be applied round the points where the ports will be.

The Steam Ports.--These are drilled (with a 1/32-inch twist drill), at an angle of about 30 degrees to the plate, along the circle already scribed.

If you have any doubt as to your boiler's capacity, begin with one hole only, and add a second if you think it advisable. As already remarked, pressure must not be sacrificed to steam flow.

Lubricators.--These are short pieces of tubing hollowed at one end by a round file of the same diameter as the bearings. A little "Tinol" is smeared over the surfaces to be joined, and the lubricators are placed in position and heated with the blow-lamp until the solder runs. To prevent the oil flowing too freely, the lubricators should be provided with airtight wooden plugs.

Escape Pipes.--The pipe for the exhaust steam is now soldered into disc E, and a small water escape into the ring at its lowest point. This pipe should be connected with a closed chamber or with the exhaust at a point lower than the base of the turbine case.

Stirrup.--Fig. 69 shows a stirrup carrying a screw which presses against the pulley end of the spindle. This attachment makes it easy to adjust the distance between the rotor and the steam ports, and also concentrates all end thrust on to a point, thereby minimizing friction. The stirrup can be fashioned in a few minutes out of bra.s.s strip. Drill the holes for the holding-on screws; drill and tap a hole for the adjusting screw; insert the screw and centre it correctly on the spindle point. Then mark the position of the two screw holes in E; drill and tap them.

Feet are made of sheet bra.s.s, drilled to take the three (or two) lowermost bolts, and bent to shape. Note.--A side and foot may be cut out of one piece of metal. The difficulty is that the bending may distort the side, and prevent a tight joint between side and ring.

a.s.sembling.--Cut out two rings of stout brown paper a quarter of an inch wide and slightly larger in diameter than the casing ring. In a.s.sembling the turbine finally, these, after being soaked in oil, should be inserted between the ring and the discs. Put in four screws only at first, and get the ring properly centred and the bearings exactly in line, which will be shown by the spindle revolving easily. Then tighten up the nuts and insert the other bolts, the three lowest of which are pa.s.sed through the feet.

Affix the pulley and stirrup, and adjust the spindle longitudinally until the rotor just does not rub the casing. The soldering on of the cap of A completes operations.

To get efficiency, heavy gearing down is needed, and this can be managed easily enough with the help of a clockwork train, decreasing the speed five or more times for driving a dynamo, and much more still for slow work, such as pumping.

A More Elaborate Turbine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 70.--Vertical section of steam turbine with formed blades (left); outside view of turbine, gear side (right).]

The turbine just described can hardly be termed an efficient one, as the vanes, owing to their simple formation, are not shaped to give good results. We therefore offer to our readers a design for a small turbine of a superior character. This turbine is shown in elevation and section in Fig. 70. The casing is, as in the preceding instance, made up of flat bra.s.s plates and a ring of tubing, and the bearings, BG1, BG2, of bra.s.s tube. But the wheel is built up of a disc 3 inches in diameter, round the circ.u.mference of which are 32 equally-s.p.a.ced buckets, blades, or vanes, projecting 5/8 inch beyond the edge of the disc. The wheel as a whole is mounted on a spindle 3-1/8 inches long, to which it is secured by three nuts, N1 N2 N3. One end of the spindle is fined down to take a small pinion, P1, meshing with a large pinion, P2, the latter running in bearings, BG3, in the wheel-case and cover. The drive of the turbine is transmitted either direct from the axle of P2 or from a pulley mounted on it.

CONSTRUCTION.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 71.--Plate marked out for turbine wheel blades. B is blade as it appears before being curved.]

The Wheel.--If you do not possess a lathe, the preparation of the spindle and mounting the wheel disc on it should be entrusted to a mechanic. Its diameter at the bearings should be 5/32 inch or thereabouts. (Get the tubing for the bearings and for the spindle turned to fit.) The larger portion is about twice as thick as the smaller, to allow room for the screw threads. The right-hand end is turned down quite small for the pinion, which should be of driving fit.

The Blades.--Mark out a piece of sheet iron as shown in Fig. 71 to form 32 rectangles, 1 by l/2 inch. The metal is divided along the lines aaaa, bbbb, and ab, ab, ab, ab, etc. The piece for each blade then has a central slot 5/16 inch long and as wide as the wheel disc cut very carefully in it.

Bending the Blades.--In the edge of a piece of hard wood 1 inch thick file a notch 3/8 inch wide and 1/8 inch deep with a 1/2-inch circular file, and procure a metal bar which fits the groove loosely. Each blade is laid in turn over the groove, and the bar is applied lengthwise on it and driven down with a mallet, to give the blade the curvature of the groove.

When all the blades have been made and shaped, draw 16 diameters through the centre of the wheel disc, and at the 32 ends make nicks 1/16 inch deep in the circ.u.mference.

True up the long edges of the blades with a file, and bring them off to a sharp edge, removing the metal from the convex side.

Fixing the Blades.--Select a piece of wood as thick as half the width of a finished blade, less half the thickness of the wheel disc. Cut out a circle of this wood 2 inches in diameter, and bore a hole at the centre.

The wheel disc is then screwed to a perfectly flat board or plate, the wooden disc being used as a s.p.a.cer between them.

Slip a blade into place on the disc, easing the central slit, if necessary, to allow the near edge to lie in contact with the board--that is parallel to the disc. Solder on the blade, using the minimum of solder needed to make a good joint. When all the blades are fixed, you will have a wheel with the blades quite true on one side. It is, therefore, important to consider, before commencing work, in which direction the concave side of the blades should be, so that when the wheel is mounted it shall face the nozzle.

To make this point clear: the direction of the nozzle having been decided, the buckets on the trued side must in turn present their concave sides to the nozzle. In Fig. 70 the nozzle points downwards, and the left side of the wheel has to be trued. Therefore B1 has its convex, B2 its concave, side facing the reader, as it were.

The Nozzle is a 1-1/2 inch piece of bra.s.s bar. Drill a 1/20-inch hole through the centre. On the outside end, enlarge this hole to 1/8 inch to a depth of 1/8 inch. The nozzle end is bevelled off to an angle of 20 degrees, and a broach is inserted to give the steam port a conical section, as shown in Fig. 72, so that the steam may expand and gain velocity as it approaches the blades. Care must be taken not to allow the broach to enter far enough to enlarge the throat of the nozzle to more than 1/20 inch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 72.--Nozzle of turbine, showing its position relatively to buckets.]

Fixing the Nozzle.--The centre of the nozzle discharge opening is 1-13/16-inches from the centre of the wheel. The nozzle must make an angle of 20 degrees with the side of the casing, through which it projects far enough to all but touch the nearer edges of the vanes. (Fig. 72.) The wheel can then be adjusted, by means of the spindle nuts, to the nozzle more conveniently than the nozzle to the wheel. To get the hole in the casing correctly situated and sloped, begin by boring a hole straight through, 1/4 inch away laterally from where the steam discharge hole will be, centre to centre, and then work the walls of the hole to the proper angle with a circular file of the same diameter as the nozzle piece, which is then sweated in with solder. It is, of course, an easy matter to fix the nozzle at the proper angle to a thin plate, which can be screwed on to the outside of the casing, and this method has the advantage of giving easy detachment for alteration or replacement.

Balancing the Wheel.--As the wheel will revolve at very high speed, it should be balanced as accurately as possible. A simple method of testing is to rest the ends of the spindle on two carefully levelled straight edges.

If the wheel persists in rolling till it takes up a certain position, lighten the lower part of the wheel by sc.r.a.ping off solder, or by cutting away bits of the vanes below the circ.u.mference of the disc, or by drilling holes in the disc itself.

Securing the Wheel.--When the wheel has been finally adjusted relatively to the nozzle, tighten up all the spindle nuts hard, and drill a hole for a pin through them and the disc parallel to the spindle, and another through N3 and the spindle. (Fig. 70.)

Gearing.--The gear wheels should be of good width, not less than 3/16 inch, and the smaller of steel, to withstand prolonged wear. Constant lubrication is needed, and to this end the cover should make an oil-tight fit with the casing, so that the bottom of the big pinion may run in oil.

To prevent overfilling, make a plug-hole at the limit level, and fit a draw-off c.o.c.k in the bottom of the cover. If oil ducts are bored in the bearing inside the cover, the splashed oil will lubricate the big pinion spindle automatically.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 73.--Perspective view of completed turbine.]

General--The sides of the casing are held against the drum by six screw bolts on the outside of the drum. The bottom of the sides is flattened as shown (Fig. 70), and the supports, S1 S2, made of such a length that when they are screwed down the flattened part is pressed hard against the bed.

The oil box on top of the casing has a pad of cotton wool at the bottom to regulate the flow of oil to the bearings. Fit a drain pipe to the bottom of the wheel-case.

Testing.--If your boiler will make steam above its working pressure faster than the turbine can use it, the nozzle may be enlarged with a broach until it pa.s.ses all the steam that can be raised; or a second nozzle may be fitted on the other end of the diameter on which the first lies.

This second nozzle should have a separate valve, so that it can be shut off.

XVIL. STEAM TOPS.

A very interesting and novel application of the steam turbine principle is to subst.i.tute for a wheel running in fixed bearings a "free" wheel pivoted on a vertical spindle, the point of which takes the weight, so that the turbine becomes a top which can be kept spinning as long as the steam supply lasts.

These toys, for such they must be considered, are very easy to make, and are "warranted to give satisfaction" if the following instructions are carried out.

A Small Top.--Fig. 74 shows a small specimen, which is of the self-contained order, the boiler serving as support for the top.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 74.-Simplest form of steam top.] [1]