Customer Reviews

Model Boilers and Boilermaking

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are in anyway involved in Live Steam, this is a must have book. The author lays out principles of design, construction methods along with tips for building. I am confident the information in this book is essential learning, even if you choose to have someone else build your boiler. If you get a chance to find this book, get it. Believe it or not I had to have friend bring me a copy back from a trip to England, that's how rare the book was when I got mine.

This book is not for the beginning novice machinist.... It is, however very complete and if studied will allow you to design, test and make miniature and not so miniature boilers for powering steam engines and turbines.. It is written in formal British English but after a few pages, the motivated will understand.

Lots of info here - especially about British steam engines (stationary, locomotive, marine, etc); and boilers and the associated attachments and accouterments. Be forewarned, boilers can be dangerous and to design and properly build boilers you need to bring some skill to the table; and knowledge (this book); and the ability to braze and hard (silver) solder; and some machine tools (lathe etc).

I highly recommend this book to the curious, the serious, and the home machinist enthusiast interested in steam.

Ken

Model Boilers and Boilermaking
This book is offered for FREE in PDF format from Model and Allied Publishing, $5.25 in paper copy. Why are we being ripped off ---- down load your own for free -- I highly recommend the book, it is very complete for the serious model maker.

Trade paperback, 185 pp, small format. B&w illustrations: 9 tables, 27 plates, about 100 drawings/sketches

TABLE OF CONTENTS HIGHLIGHTS
General Considerations
Construction Materials and Their Physical Properties
Materials, Calculations Relating to Safe Working

Types of Boilers

Practical Methods of Construction

Fuels and Firing Methods
Boiler Mountings and Fittings
Testing Model Boilers

Tube Proportions
Model Locomotive-type Boilers

Boiler Designs

As a newcomer to the arcane world of steam, and having just finished making a miniature steam engine, and needing to provide some power for it, I needed an authoritative, well written, trustworthy, and detailed explanation of the science and construction of small boilers. This book was recommended by the experts at my local model engineering club as the best on the subject, and having read it cover to cover, I can totally endorse their recommendation. The hard back version is a collectors book and is expensive, but the identical (except for the binding) version in paper back is inexpensive and absolutely worth the money. Highly recommended.

If you are looking for information on building model boilers, mostly of the British style, made entirely of copper, this is a book for you. If you are working in 1" scale or larger, and want to build SAFE boilers made of steel or a combination of materials, this book is NOT for you. There is scant information on American designs, use of steel is discouraged, and the formulae given for calculating safe working pressure does not include a "safety factor". ALL steel boilers must have a safety factor figured into the calculations. I could not find any guidance for figuring flat, stayed surfaces, either. I cannot imagine using this work as a guide to building a steel boiler for, say, a 71/2" gauge or larger American locomotive. But, if you are into copper boilers, go for it.

This is the classic book in the field of working model steam boilers. Harris goes to great lengths to make sure nothing is omitted. This could have been a ponderously unreadable book, but it is a delight to read. It is generously illustrated with photos and drawings. I reccommend it to all who wish to try this sort of modeling.

Yes, there are places where errors lurk. The only ones I found were errors in referring to figures. Minor!