I see that the boat he has built, is a Selway Fisher. They do some superb designs in a wide variety of styles /types. That is quite a small boat, and I personally would prefer something a bit larger, but a lot will depend on where one is using it. I see he also has all the calculations on his site, so that will help with working out engine & boiler. (Most of them are on my website too.) So, John, what are you planning to build, and do we get a ride on it when it is finished? alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.alanstepney.info Model Engineering, Steam Engine, and Railway technical pages. . ----- Original Message ----- From: <john.burridge@xxxxxxxxxx> To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 10:34 AM Subject: [modeleng] Re: Full Size Steam Engines Alan,Plerre and Wilfried, Thanks for your advice and information it will come in very usefull,I live in Oxfordshire so a trip down to Henley-on Thames for the steam boat rally is my first port of call, and in October a visit to the Windermere Musuem for their open weekend. The link that Plerre sent me on building a steam launch is very good and goes through things step by step. It again at http://www.John'sboat.com its one of the best sites that i have seen building from beginning to end and includes the calcalations as well. Well to Alan its good to see that the Email group is as good as before and gaining strength. Regards to all John Burridge > Message date : Sep 01 2004, 08:55 AM > From : "alanjstepney" > To : modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Copy to : > Subject : [modeleng] Re: Full Size Steam Engines > I just received the following from Wilfried, who, for some reason, cannot > post to the list. > Alan > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > - > Hi John, > > I see you have a lot of questions and until now quite a bit are for me still > questions. > > Over here things started a bit different as I wanted to build a stationary > engine but it had to be a big one, being more or less a model and not to > simple. The drawing set of "Onder stoom" provided the answer except for the > size so I doubled it up. > > The idea of an steamboat dawned only later. And with that intention in the > first place it would probably have been a different engine. The engines most > used in steamboats are more of the basic type and a bit oversized in some > parts to the benefit of reliability and easy maintenance. No one would like > to spend half a day down at the bottom of the boat with the lady looking at > his hands. > > Scanning the net learned me there are a lot of engine designs around. Most > of them available at far of places and to me unreachable prices. Just have a > look at the Stuart pages and the price for their castings. > > The boilers, many different types and until now I really haven't a clue > which would be suitable. The latest SBA magazine showed a possible candidate > design. As usually no detailed drawings just pictures, as on most web pages. > Until now I have been unable to find a real drawing as we ME know. There are > however a lot of firms around who sell them. Again at far of places and. > Hulls "to build or not to build that's the question" many designs for home > building are available, Selway Fisher does a few nice ones for home > building. Not only the skills but also the place to do it is a problem. I > have reconditioned me sailing boat which is 4.7m long, well a garage of 6x4 > m is a cramped working space so building a whole boat from scratch? Another > option is a boat from the Frollic range. Can be had in different stages of > completion and so the price can be adapted to suit your wallet at moment. > > Another option I seriously considered, and nearly did, was buying a second > hand complete steamboat, look and you will surely find a suitable one. There > are quite a few on the market, I had a look at quite a few and most of them > are in excellent condition. Use it as it is for a while and when me own > engine is finished install that one in the boat. > > All I can say is when you go to a SBA meet get your hands on one of the > steamboat registers. It lists all the steamboats of the associations with a > lot of details about the engines, boilers and hulls. That gives an idea of > what to look for. A lot of info about the boats can also be found on their > web page at http://www.steamboat.org.uk/xref/xref_index.htm . > > And I know it takes a lot of time but the links, some are useless but there > are nice ones, quite detailed, which show what others are doing. > > One danger . beware for steamboat disease. > > Regards > > Wilfried Vermeiren > > http://users.skynet.be/modelbouw.wilfried > > > > > MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, > modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. > -- Whatever you Wanadoo: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/ This email has been checked for most known viruses - find out more at: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/help/id/7098.htm MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. 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