Nick brought out his forge bent some curved strap for cross braces. Other work continued including grinding the hull and more work on the rudder. Other members were prepping for the Sand by the Ton event this weekend.
See the gallery for more pics!
Nick and Bruce bend heated strap for Wilhelmina at worknight, Jully 28th 2010
KSW will be at Sand by the Ton this weekend at American Steel. We will have our steam-powered snow cone machine powered by Little Baby Steamy Pants, our small watertube boiler. Come out and join the fun!
Jim Hussey (left) diagnoses as Nick Monahan (right) looks on.
Jim Hussey brought his freshly overhauled and painted 3 & 5 x 4” fore and aft compound engine over to KSW for a test run before returning it to his launch, the 27’ SL Seahorse.
The engine was designed by Robert Scripps, builder of our beloved Wilhelmina, and was cast in his foundry in Fredricksburg Texas.
The design includes D valves on the HP and LP, the reverse is handled by Stevenson Link. The crankshaft is built-up multi piece and the engine was machined and assembled from a set of castings and blueprints by an unknown machinist.
Here the KSW crew attempts to remove the crankshaft from the ever mysterious double simple steam engine. All bolts are removed and we’re attempting to use the fork lift to gently lift the crank to break it free. With copious amounts of Aero Kroil (avoid eye contact), heat from a torch, banging with mallets and swearing it finally lifted clear.
”Pappy” made its debut at the Chico Threshing Bee & Country Faire.
It’d been two years of hard work. We learned a lot and we’ve completed a handsome restoration that we are proud of. Paul Bonderson’s “Pappy,” a 1917 J. I. Case Traction Engine was steamed-up and running in Chico, CA. We spent a good deal of time threshing, running the Baker Fan and lumbering around in tractor parades. Pappy came on like the majestic woolly mammoth, mere gasoline powered so called vintage John Deere lawnmowers cowered before it! Hyperbole aside, we were welcomed by so many at this event, we met a ton of new people and had a great time.
The KSW custom Baker Fan (like a treadmill for traction engines) is now complete, it’s a one of a kind Andrew O’Keefe design. It was used to load test Pappy for first time since 1917(!), in preparation for the Chico Threshing Bee & Country Faire.
We’ve acquired a rare “Double-Simple” type engine from the 1890s (photos too). A restoration plan and schedule are in the works.
