Steam Fi?

We were at the steam fair at the Weald and Down land museum a couple of weeks ago and came across this machine, naturally I thought of this site.;)

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t229/VPR5/Steam1.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t229/VPR5/Steam2.jpg

The gentleman that built it exhausts the spent steam out through the horn and says that the denser air resulting makes it louder. We had a happy few minutes listening to some jazz on this beast (78’s of course) and it all sounded rather fine, but had some slight hiss of escaping steam. Apparently one has to use a nice and soft O-ring to retain the diaphragm to avoid resonances, and also replace the needle at each change of sides. He uses a single cylinder motor directly driving the platter via bevelled gear and centrifugal governor.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t229/VPR5/Steam3.jpg

Well I can report that this worked remarkably well , with no detectable wow and flutter and no tiresome winding of handles. Much art of sound in evidence here don’t you think?

Perhaps I am going mad in my old age, but a few times lately when I have listened to wind- up horn gramophones playing period Jazz on 78’s I have thought how valid the sound was. Never mind about new fangled vinyl and electric reproduction, shellac and a freshly sharpened needle (might) be where it’s at. Perhaps we can get Transcriptors to build a limited run.?:eyebrows:

That looks great. Love to have that hissing away in the corner of my room playing a 78.
Grand pics Thermionic :)

How superb. :):)

Love it!

Weald and downland museum! I used to go there when I was small... My dad had one of those screw lid plastic money cases with a neck strap that you can take in water with the Weald and downland museum on the side

We are exhibiting at the AUTUMN COUNTRYSIDE SHOW 9-10 October 2010 10.30am - 5pm at the Weald and Downland, i'm shitting myself as we are camping over the weekend as we watched Most Haunted special on the place, its full of ghosts and demons according to them :eek: :uhho:

Well Jonboy you might be right, but we have been there a few times and I haven’t felt any vibes around the place. Though of course it was in bright daylight and with loads of happy people around....

We are also hoping to go to the AUTUMN COUNTRYSIDE SHOW 9-10 October 2010, might see you there.:)

We will be with the Stationary Engine section and i'm the vice chaiman of S.E.A.M.S

That is ace, thanks for sharing it Gino.

Love the record player :) I bet it's expensive to run though :eek: What with Elf N Safety as it is these days it'd require a professional pressure test each year to be legal to fire the thing up. That'd be over £500 on it's own :eek:

Unfortunately the same now goes for the old Mamod steam models :mental: :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Reid Malenfant

Unfortunately the same now goes for the old Mamod steam models :mental: :rolleyes:

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Since when ? i've not heard of this

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Originally Posted by Jonboy

Since when ? i've not heard of this

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Tbh Jon i don't know when this came in. I was informed of this by a friend who should know what he's on about as he happens to have an old steam engine (nothing huge). We happened to be on about the old Mamods as well & he mentioned that unless they get pressure tested professionally then it's illegal to use them :mental:

I'd suggest you look into it if you need to genuinely know as it's secondhand info. I really wouldn't be surprised though with the way Elf N Safety is these days. Apparently some council is thinking of banning people walking on cobble stones in case they trip or slip on them :doh: Then there is the council that cemented a load of flat stones over an ancient load of stepping stones over some river just in case of the same thing :rolleyes:

Nanny state has gone mad imo :mental:

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Originally Posted by Reid Malenfant

We happened to be on about the old Mamods as well & he mentioned that unless they get pressure tested professionally then it's illegal to use them :mental:
Nanny state has gone mad imo :mental:

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My initial reaction is that they do not get enough pressure up beacuse they are only soldered presure vessels so would be exempt, but if they are to be used in public then maybe there is some truth but not come across this before

Ok i have looked it up and it seems that if the Pressure vessal (boiler) is less than 3bar litres then it is exempt but they advise you to have a safety valve fitted ( most mamods i have had or seen have one fitted) and that the whole unit be checked over once a year

i think i must be writing in the wrong forum :mental:

From The Grave

Fantastic idea and great pics.

Wasn't Jack (Eco-Fan) working on something similar?

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directly driving the platter via bevelled gear and centrifugal governor

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Now there's an idea for a turntable drive system. Could you imagine ways to reduce the gear noise? :lol:

Just found this one