Old Fools Journal: The Boy Mechanic Revisited

I love these line drawings.

I have been perusing an online copy of "The Boy Mechanic " vol 1 again and ran across this explanation of how to make a working steam engine from what you have on hand. It reminded me of my early adventures in making "things". What I had as a boy was wood, baling wire, fence wire, tin cans, bottles, jars , nails, matches, killer fire crackers, sticks and rocks. It was not much to work with but I managed to make a couple of coaster cars with rope steering and hand drag brake that worked, just not very well. I only had three wheels so I never got to make a 4 wheel car. I used giant nails for axles fixed to boards with other bent over nails. A couple of trips down our short little hill was about all it would take without major rebuild. Very unsatisfactory.

In the late 1940's, for me, there was no "stuff" just laying around. Things I take for granted now, such as brass and steel rod, bar stock, pieces of sheet metal, drawers of assorted machine screws and bolts and tubing just did not exist. There wasn't anything to salvage because stuff didn't break or it got fixed or it was to valuable to throw away even if it didn't work. One Christmas I asked for a 25 foot length of rope as there was just nothing but short pieces laying around. When I started making crystal radios I saved my money and purchased a 100 foot length of stranded copper wire from in town to make an aerial. If I wanted a sling shot I made it from a piece of tree (available) and an inner tube (available real rubber), fabric or leather (for pouch) and string (cotton, available). There were tools of every kind so I was not deprived. I made a lot of stuff but I was scarred for life by only having three wheels. Now I have a lot of wheels. I am obsessed with wheels. I may never use them for anything but it's comforting having them. One day I'll mount them all on the side of my shed so I can just look at them. All connected, of course, so if you turn one you turn them all.

Below is one of the many things I am going to make someday. Just 'cause. There are many things in this 97 year old book I want to make.


How to Make a Toy Steam Engine [73]

A toy engine can be easily made from old implements which can be found in nearly
every house.
The cylinder A, Fig. 1, is an old bicycle pump, cut in half. The steam chest D, is part
of the piston tube of the same pump, the other parts being used for the bearing B, and
the crank bearing C. The flywheel Q can be any small-sized iron wheel; either an old
sewing-machine wheel, pulley wheel, or anything available. We used a wheel from an
old high chair for our engine. If the bore in the wheel is too large for the shaft, it may be
bushed with a piece of hard wood. The shaft is made of heavy steel wire, the size of the
hole in the bearing B.
The base is made of wood, and has two wood blocks, H and K, 3/8 in. thick,
to support bearing B, and valve crank S, which is made of tin. The hose E connects to
the boiler, which will be described later. The clips FF are soldered to the cylinder and
nailed to the base, and the bearing B is fastened by staples. The valve motion is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. 2 the steam is entering the
cylinder, and in Fig. 3 the valve B has closed the steam inlet and opened the exhaust,
thus allowing the steam in the cylinder to escape.
The piston is made of a stove bolt, E, Fig. 2, with two washers, FF, and a cylindrical
piece of hard wood, G. This is wound with soft string, as shown in Fig. 3, and saturated
with thick oil. A slot is cut in the end of the bolt E, to receive the connecting rod H. The
valve B is made of an old bicycle spoke, C, with the nut cut in half and filed down as
shown, the space between the two halves being filled with string and oiled.
The valve crank S, Fig. 1, is cut out of tin, or galvanized iron, and is moved
by a small crank on the shaft. This crank should be at right angles to the main crank.
The boiler, Fig. 4, can be an old oil can, powder can, or a syrup can with a tube
soldered to it, and is connected to the engine by a piece of rubber tubing. The heat from
a small gas stove will furnish steam fast enough to run the engine at high speed. This
engine was built by W. G. Schuh and A. J. Eustice, of Cuba, Wis.



Notice that there are no disclaimers in this set of instructions. It is assumed that if you can read it then you know that fire burns, steam is hot, boilers can blow up, saws will cut skin as well as other things, that if you jab a screwdriver in your eye you will likely go blind and that a hot poker jabbed up your butt will hurt. It is assumed that you don't need a lawyer to tell you that. In third world countries that is still assumed. My example is that when living in Mexico I could buy an Evinrude outboard motor without any safety features. I could not buy that same motor in the USA. That motor was made in Canada for third world countries. I had the opportunity to compare what was good enough for the poor savages and the new improved model for the non-thinking dullards from more advance countries. The motor made for the Mexicans was much simpler which meant it could be started, run and repaired. It was also much less expensive. When the motor made for us more civilized denizens of the world balked at starting you never knew if it was the motor or one of the things that was protecting you. I stripped all of the unnecessary stuff off my American made motor.

Once I bought a propane water heater there that had a big placard with lighting instructions. It explained in detail how you were supposed to hold this lever, turn that valve, press a button and how to hold your mouth just right. Of course it didn't have any of that. To light it you turned a valve, struck a match, pushed a button. It would light instantly (burner and pilot) with a great roar and after about 15 seconds you release the button. If it stayed lit you were good to go. If you pushed the button then watched a little TV or had a beer before lighting you would burn all the hair off your arm and maybe your eyebrows. Everybody there had these and no one blew up their house that I know of. Everybody lost a little arm hair.

Below in the fine print is where you can get this wonderful book if you are so inclined.