The cut opposite represents the right side of the Peerless, Side Crank,
Rear Gear Traction Engine.
The main engine frame is of the girder pattern, and contains the guides
and pillow block bearing. It also forms the front cylinder head,
to which the cylinder is bolted. The cylinder is overhanging, and
connected to the long feed water heater by the exhaust pipe.
The valve is of the piston type. The reverse gear is the Landis Patent
Reverse and Variable Cut-off. It has the Cross-head Pump connected with
a long Feed Water Heater, Governor, Injector, and the locomotive style
of boiler swings in an iron frame, to which it is attached, and rests
upon springs at both back and front ends.
The smoke stack is water lined, and traction wheels have wrought iron
rims with high grouters and wood spokes. The platform has two steel
tanks for water and tools, and the steering wheel and band wheel are on
opposite sides of the engine.
_Slide valves should be fitted_ to their seats by filing and scraping,
and never by the use of emery and oil. The piston rod and valve rod may
be packed with braids of hemp or cotton wicking, with rings cut from
patent packing of various kinds or metallic packing.
_To clean brass articles_ with acid is a great mistake, as with such
treatment they very soon become dull. Sweet oil and putty powder
followed by soap and water, is one of the best mediums for brightening
brass and copper.
_To frost brass work_ and give it an ornamental finish, boil the
article in caustic potash, rinse in clean water and dip in nitric acid
until all oxide is removed; then wash quickly, dry in box-wood sawdust,
and lacquer while warm.
_The best material_ for grinding in valves and stop cocks is pulverized
glass. It is superior to emery for this purpose. Fine sand may be used.
_To remedy a leaky_ angle, check or globe valve, it should be taken
apart, and the valves ground to fit their seats properly with either
fine sand, pulverized glass or emery.
_A lever stuck_ between the spokes of the fly-wheel of an engine for
the purpose of starting it, is a very dangerous instrument, it is
liable to get caught and do a great amount of damage. If a lever is to
be used, be sure that the steam is first turned off.
_A cubic inch of water_ evaporated under ordinary atmospheric pressure
is converted into one cubic foot of steam (approximately).
_Steam at atmospheric pressure_ flows into a vacuum at the rate of
about 1550 feet per second, and into the atmosphere at the rate of 650
feet per second.
_Condensing engines require_ from 20 to 30 gallons of water
to condense the steam represented by every gallon of water
evaporated—approximately; for most engines we say from 1 to 1½ gallons
per minute per indicated horse-power. Jet condensers do not require
quite as much water for condensing as surface condensers. Surface
condensers require about 2 square feet of tube (cooling) surface per
horse-power of steam engine.
_The best designed boilers_ well set, with good draught and skillful
firing, will evaporate from 7 to 10 lbs. of water per pound of
first-class coal. The average result is from 25 to 60 per cent. below
this.
_When you have_ your boiler furnace to repair, and cannot get fire
clay, take common earth mixed with water, in which you have dissolved a
little salt; use same as fire clay, and your furnace will last fully as
long.
_To make iron take bright polish_ like steel, pulverize and dissolve
the following articles in one quart of hot water: Blue vitriol 1 oz.,
borax 1 oz., prussiate of potash 1 oz., charcoal 1 oz., salt 7½ pt.;
then add one gallon of linseed oil, mix well, bring your iron or steel
to the proper heat, and cool in the solution.
_To write inscriptions on metal_, take 4 oz. of nitric acid and 1 oz.
of muriatic acid, mix and shake well together, then cover your metal
surface to be engraved, with bees-wax or soap, write your inscription
plainly in the wax clear to the metal, then apply the mixed acids,
carefully filling each letter. Let it remain from three to five minutes
according to appearance desired, then throw on water, which stops the
etching process, scrape off the bees-wax or soap, and the inscription
is complete.
_To remove rust from steel._—Brush the rusted steel with a paste
composed of ½ oz. cyanide potassium, ½ oz. castile soap, 1 oz.
whiting, and enough water to make a paste; then wash the steel in a
solution of ½ oz. cyanide potassium and 2 oz. of water.
_A solvent for rust._—It is often very difficult, and sometimes
impossible, to remove rust from articles made of iron. Those which are
most thickly coated are most easily cleaned by being immersed in, or
saturated with, a solution of chloride of tin. The length of time they
should remain in this bath is determined by the thickness of the rust,
generally twelve to twenty-four hours is long enough. The solution
ought not to contain a great excess of acid if the iron itself be
not attacked. On taking them from the bath, the articles are rinsed
first in water, then in ammonia, and quickly dried. The iron when thus
treated has the appearance of dull silver; a simple polishing gives it
its normal appearance.
_One of the best varnishes_ for smoke stacks or steam pipes is good
asphaltum dissolved in oil of turpentine.
_Iron or steel immersed_ warm in a solution of carbonate of soda
(washing soda) for a few minutes will not rust.
_Cement to fasten iron to stone._—Take 10 parts of fine iron filings,
30 parts of plaster of Paris, and ½ part of sal ammoniac; mix with
weak vinegar to a fluid paste and apply at once.
_Cement for joints._—Paris white, ground, 4 lbs.; litharge, ground, 10
lbs.; yellow ochre, fine, ½ lb.; ½ oz. of hemp, cut short; mix well
together with linseed oil to a stiff putty. This cement is good for
joints on steam or water pipes; it will set under water.
_The average consumption of coal_ for steam boilers is 12 pounds per
hour for each square foot of grate surface.
_One ton of coal_ is equivalent to two cords of wood for steam purposes.
_Doubling the diameter_ of a pipe increases its capacity four times.
_A cubic foot_ of water contains 7½ gallons.
_A gallon weighs_ 8⅓ pounds.
_Water expands_ ¹/₉ of its bulk in freezing.
_Ice weighs_ 56½ pounds per cubic foot.
_Engineers can judge_ of the condition of their machinery by the tone
it gives out while running. Every make of engine has a peculiar tone
of its own. The engineer becomes accustomed to that, and any departure
from it at once excites a suspicion that all is not right. The engineer
may not know what is the matter, he may have no ear for music, but the
change in tone of his machine will be instantly perceptible and will
start him upon an immediate investigation.
_An Indicator_ is an instrument used to determine the indicated
horse-power of an engine; it shows the action of the steam in the
cylinder and serves as a guide in setting valves to get the greatest
amount of energy from the steam used.
_Atmospheric pressure_ is the weight of the air.
_To take lime from injector tubes_, mix one part muriatic acid and ten
parts soft water. Immerse tube in this mixture over night.
_Compound for Cooling Heavy Bearings._—For cooling heavy pillow block
bearings, or the steps of upright shafts, the following will be found
very valuable: Four pounds of tallow, one-half pound of sugar of lead,
three-fourths pound plumbago. When the tallow is melted (not boiling)
add sugar of lead and let it dissolve; then put in the plumbago, and
stir the whole mass until cold.
_A mixture_ of soft soap and black lead makes an excellent lubricant
for gears, as it lessens the abrasion and noise and has the advantage
over tallow of not becoming hard. It is also easily removed should it
become necessary to clean the parts on which it has been used.
_The axles and axle arms_ of a traction engine should be well greased
or oiled before moving, to prevent them from being cut and wearing both
hub and axle rapidly.