[MLC] Steam Donkey Update

Posted by Gerd on Sunday, 5 February 2023

Hi folks,

as announced in the review post, I like to share some o the progress I made on my steam donkey last year.

The project came to a stop when I was making the pedestals for the main drum. The pieces and design I used were not suitable for the parts. Since I had to order some laser-cut parts for another project, I ordered the two pieces also in laser-cut. I drilled the holes by coordinates as before and I milled the legs to a T-shape in cross-cut. This makes them less massive and a prototypical look.

With the pedestals finished, I was able to install the gears to transmit the power from the steam engine to the main drum. The first set of gears are hidden inside the flywheel.

The small pinion gear will drive the bull gear for the main drum. Also hidden behind the flywheel sits the lubricator for the steam engine. Its driven by an excenter from the intermediate shaft same as the boiler feed pump.

Before I started with the cable drums, I made the bearing pedestals for the second drum. All shafts are turning in IGUS bearings. Another nice feature are the spokes, milled into the bull gears for the drums. Details like this are very important for my when building such a project.

The drums are made from two disc-parts and a section of pipe in between. As on the prototype, the drums are assembled with long stay bolts. I loacted the release spring to open the clutch inside the drums as well. The clutches are designed as wooden surface friction clutch.