Locomobile

The band brakes I have experience with (1899-1902) were leather lined. Asbestos came in around the 20's, as I understand it. Of course, they are re-lined with general purpose brake lining. The first band brakes were a single wrap, single pull brake that would only work going forward, then the cantilever band brake was introduced around 1900 which worked going forward and somewhat in reverse. Example 1, is the 1899 Locomobile that Thomas Edison purchased and converted to electric, it has the single pull brake. Example 2, is the rear axle of my 1901 with the cantilever brake which compounds the brake action. Example 3, some heavier vehicles had two bands. -Ron

I use the "Leather hide store" to get my leather. they have restoration black, the quality is very good and so is the price. It has a nice distressed look and very few blemishes. It's on sale right now. If ordered, make sure to order all you need, up front and they will send hides that match in finish. I used the same leather on my Locomobile and it has held up very well. https://www.leatherhidestore.com/restoration-black-distress-leather-upholstery-hide.html No offense implied, but the hide being shown in this thread is pretty bad quality, all that around edges would have to be simply removed, it's not usable, and the damages in the main field of the piece would make it very difficult to use. If it's going to be cut in to squares or strips and sewn it would be ok if a person wanted to toil with it, but not for a folded seam diamond tuft. It looks like a half hide and about half of it is usable, at 50 dollars, that is all it's worth, they are now 99, that is way too much for that. Upholstery work is difficult enough without adding additional issues to work around. Spend a bit more money and get something better quality and easier to use. The machine I use is a walking foot Sailrite machine with the Monster wheel for slower speeds and higher inertia in the stitch and #140 polyester thread with a Schmetz diamond point needle. It works, but I think if I had it to do over, I would shop around for a good used Pfaff or similar. Here is a seat I just did over Christmas. There are some wrinkles in the upper right and left back which I removed by restuffing, also a small gap in the lower right corner which I fixed too. Of course the flash of the camera picks up every little wrinkle. I used high density foam with horsehair over the top, I sculpted the foam to shape and used spray adhesive to keep the horsehair in place. The reliability of foam and the feel of horsehair under the leather. Not sure if this is a known technique or not as I am self taught, but it seems to work well. I used upholstery tacks exclusively to secure everything, no staples. I've tried using staples and they just don't work on this sort of seat construction. -Ron

The car isn't worth what 40 years of indoor storage would cost. Often times, the person would be money ahead to give it away. In the small town I have lived in now for 4 months, it's a very low crime area, a guy parked a nice Harley dresser out on the side drive next to the street, it has been sitting there for 4 months now. No cover over it, it hasn't moved. Rain, snow etc. Amazingly it still looks like new. -Ron

People not responding to accurate help? That's what they do about 90% of the time, but if they are never heard from again, take comfort in knowing that the information provided was most likely accurate and resolved their issue. It's a "Support" scenario. I can attest after doing email support on products for many years it's a thankless job, most people will not respond once their problem is resolved. It's a "No news is good news" situation. However in a searchable support forum like this, the exchange is archived, so the information stays there for future access and reference. So, that is a good thing. It cuts down on rehashing the same topic repeatedly and cuts down on the drive-by one-timers. -Ron

It is being implied that American companies can raid pension funds, no they can't. It is a violation of Federal law. The UAW leadership has embezzled money from the pension funds, an estimated $300 million, so far, and several are being investigated/indicted for those infractions. It sucks that those plants are closing and I feel for the employees and their families, especially at this time of year. I think the real story here is, it is 2019 and we are discussing the present US automotive industry. I myself have been trying to/pretending to run a business for the last 20-some years and I can attest, it is not an easy thing to do, it's good times and bad times. The fact that after almost a hundred years of the unions on their backs and they still survive is a testament to the brilliant leadership of these companies. Someone asked "Where did the money go?"... I could spend a few hours outlining how and where it went. Like putting people on medical for months at a time at full pay without a doctors slip, Jobs bank,paying people to stay home, buying out contracts, some received as much as 60 grand, people with only a few years were given new cars to opt out of their contract. It's a miracle any of these companies still exist. I know one guy, that worked on the steel track at the Rouge, he had a coffee stand set up, yes he was an employee of the mill and ran his own coffee shop in the plant. Another one at GM tech, spliced in to the phone lines in the underground pipe chase and was running a real estate office. Someone mentioned above about employees sabotaging tooling, they absolutely do that, I had it happen to tools I designed and built for the line. It's frustrating, luckily management knows what is up and doesn't blame the toolmakers when the evidence was that the tool was intentionally damaged. What precedes that is they simply refuse to use it, as it usually resulted in fewer man hours, but once the company wrote it in to procedure, they had no choice or get written up, that is when they would damage it and render it inoperable or claim some ergonomic issue, wrong angle of a handle or some nonsense. The best fix for any tool we delivered was a simple one, change the operator. -Ron

The absence of tariffs and this free for all trade situation we've had has hurt many people far more. It means nothing that someone's lawn chair that was 4 dollars is now 5 dollars. You're missing the point, the lawn chair can be made here and provide jobs for US workers, that pay taxes, that reinvest their earnings back in to our economy, those dollars going to China aren't doing the US economy one bit of good. It's like throwing cash in a dark hole, they get US dollars and we get junk that doesn't last until the weekend, and the deficit just keeps rising. I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but as Mercer points out, the farmers have been subsidized for a hundred years, there are large land holders drawing compensation through "soil bank" and now "Conservation reserve" and other freebies to farmers and they haven't dropped a plow in the ground for years. Lot's of family businesses go under; where is their help? Where is it etched in stone that the taxpayers have to subsidize farming and none of them can fail? I've worked in rural areas and dealt with Farmers, some are good at, some aren't. They have no one but themselves to blame. These people were all too happy to tell US suppliers that provide US jobs and feed the US economy to take a hike and start getting their goods from China. I have no sympathy for them. They should have kept their US supply chain intact and made adjustments to their business to cut costs and remain solvent and keep their products "US MADE" and not simply US assembled. Chinese imports were an easy route to exorbitant profits. Nothing is free in life, time to pay up. This whole thing has been an unsustainable situation from the get-go. That house of cards was going to fall sooner than later. I said it 30 years ago "If we are going to trade with those folks, we better learn to live like them" -Ron

Some products, even without our history of horrible (to us) trade deals, would have been and will still be imported. Permanent magnets for instance, China has the largest natural deposits of rare earth in the world. So we will still be subject to the import of DC motors and electrical components containing rare earth minerals. That doesn't mean we cannot make the other billion or so different products being unnecessarily imported. Yep, that's how it works. True freedom. In a system where you can't lose, you'll never win. -Ron

As I see it, Capitalism is the freedom of opportunity. Most everyone is greedy, if they aren't, they don't have much unless it was given to them. Don't get jealous, get busy, anyone can do it. Those complaining about the tariffs, simple solution, buy US goods, no tariffs. There is nothing unusual about the US having tariffs on imports, EVERY other nation on the planet has some form of tax on our imports. Randy mentioned he doesn't ship much to Mexico, that is because their tariffs about double the price of most good brought in. I too have been shipping all over the world and can state with utmost certainty, the US has been on the short end of every trade deal for the last 30 years. Canada has the least amount of duties/GST of any other I've shipped. Some of the Euro countries, like Italy and France have horrendous duties on our imports. As Mercer points out, that 23 Trillion national debt isn't going away by itself. Someone mentioned that we can eventually get things "back to normal". Us getting screwed on trade deals was never any sort of normalcy, it was extremely irresponsible and underhanded, fleecing our manufacturing sector. Biggest thievery in US history. -Ron

It's possible. John B? What a great guy he is, we met and instantly became friends, I did some machining work for the museum system as well through him. John is an absolute pleasure to work with, knowledgeable, intelligent. -Ron

There are a lot of folks upset about the path the HF museum has chosen. First, they moved the public school classrooms in there, I was there once during the day, the museum looked like a daycare center, there were kids toys out in the aisles, kids running up and down and yelling. Weird. Not to mention the many artifacts that were removed to make room for the classrooms. At one time, they had the progression of steam power from the earliest to the last, that's all gone, what is left is a hodgepodge of a few very early engines. We joked, the only reason the really old and heavy ones still exist is because they haven't figured out how to move them out. To the present curators it seems anything before around 1970 is just old junk that needs to go. It's becoming a center for political and societal issues, covering race and gender. The last thing I want to think about when I'm visiting a museum of history. One of the retired curators is a very good friend of mine, and he agrees with this sentiment. I let my annual membership expire this year. I'll still go back for OCF, but the museum isn't worth the trip anymore. -Ron

That is likely more so for long term preservation and to prevent fires. I was referring to the motor windings, leads and other high amperage carrying components of the system. In reference to pulling a heavy trailer. -Ron Let's be careful, we are swaying ever closer to the elusive "perpetual motion"

Regenerative braking on an interstate? It takes a lot of energy to propel a 4000 pound vehicle at interstate speeds with wind and road resistance playing in, it is doubtful there is anything left to convert to "Regenerative deceleration". Try it in a normal I/C vehicle. All of these vehicles nowadays coast in that situation, the transmission disengages and is another way they increase fuel efficiency. Unless one is going down a steep grade. Just about anywhere one travels, if the throttle is returned the vehicle immediately starts slowing down. So to maintain speed with traffic some acceleration is typically always required. Not much opportunity for any sort of regenerative scenario. -Ron

What happens with the EV during heavier than normal loading is not the same as the effect on an I/C vehicle. The higher than normal EV current draw results in high inductance and creates heating, which increases resistance (think blown fuse over time), it's essentially a death spiral for the battery under these conditions. The harder it works, it's efficiency drops relative to the load, it's not a straight line on the graph. The EV is at a much larger disadvantage than simple halving the range like the I/C under heavier than normal loading. The I/C does not suffer from this, with ye olde thermostat out front keeping the engine at operating temperature, just keep pouring on the fuel, nothing changes until it runs out of fuel. ::waving hand:: A "light duty" truck nowadays, 1500 Silverado, F150 etc, have 8500 pound or better towing capacity. A 5000 pound trailer would be easily handled behind either. These ain't our Dad's half-tons. My old half ton 5.3 Litre (modern 327ci), six speed, Silverado handles my big heavy steel 8-9000 pound Tugboat no problem at all, I've had it all over NE United States. Over mountains etc. pulls it no problem at all, keep the Debit Card handy though. She loves the open road and she's a heavy drinker. One meet I went to about 200 miles away, I towed the tug and had the bed loaded with firewood. Knowing how to drive, helps a whole lot. -Ron

Here is some of what is left of Henry Ford's electric railroad. During class, I used to see some of these outside the window of Allen Park high school. " Pennroad's analysis determined operating costs could be reduced -- by converting the line back to steam power. " https://localwiki.org/wyandotte/Henry_Ford's_electric_railroad

That is mostly correct, the amount of lithium based batteries I use wouldn't propel one of these EV's two inches. In this day and age of our "civilized" society, although horrific acts are being committed daily, no child anywhere should be required to work period and especially not in a dangerous environment. Oh there is plenty in between, if you want an electric car have it, but I've been watching how all this works for a long time and listening to the "green new deal" politicians. This isn't about climate, it's about more control of the masses, and implementing any and every new tax possible along the way. As I wrote, if one wants an EV, have at it, but when the rest of us are taxed out of our vehicles of choice and forced in to an EV or public transit, then it's too late. That is what they are pushing for. People laughed when I said medical insurance would be more expensive under Obamacare, they aren't laughing now. Be careful what ya ask for. I certainly hope it is, I understand the carbon emitted by coal is raising the temperature, not sure if you've noticed, but we could use some global warming as cold as these winters are getting. I about wore out my snowblower the last few winters in Michigan. Coldest winter on record in 2014-15, the great lakes froze over 100%, never happened before in recorded history, funny though, none of the climate alarmists mentioned it. Or those who would discuss it gave me the usual blanket reply to any glaring contradictory evidence that their argument is hollow "That's part of it!" It could be snowing in July - "That's part of it" -Ron

Or the many Children that work in the mines to get the minerals all these batteries require. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/child-labour-behind-smart-phone-and-electric-car-batteries/ "The glamourous shop displays and marketing of state of the art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks, and miners in narrow manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage." -Ron

168,000 charging stations will not replace those 168,000 gas stations. Take the average square footage of a gas stations' property, there isn't enough available space to park the number of cars that need to stop for at least a few hours every few hours. It takes roughly 5 minutes to refill a standard passenger vehicles' gas tank -- see where I'm going with this? A coarse estimation based on refill time, a gas station with est. 10 or 12 pumps can fill 100 cars per hour, a Tesla station with equal number of hookups, can fill about 5 cars per hour, including the people that say "screw it I have enough to get home" and leave before fully charged. Based on the above abstract they'll need 3.2 million charging stations. They have 16,000? yeah that's 0.5% of the requirement. Add in the typical I/C vehicle has twice as much range and it looks even worse for the EV. The politicians pushing this want us riding public transit, that will be the breakthrough solution to fix this impending disaster. Cars would again be "play things for the few and the very few", to quote an old publication. -Ron

And neutral Steam engines are fascinating seeming simple but very complex beasts, valve linkage alone is practically a science in and of itself. I'll refrain from taking this any further off-topic, apologies to the OP. -Ron

You wrote "Johnson" without the bar, I thought that is what you meant, it is for cut-off. Or hook up as some call it. it's really "cut off" as the linkage is adjusted to cut the steam off earlier on each stroke, or simply put, shortening the stroke of the valve linkage for economy of steam. -Ron

All through the same wire, cheap stuff and expensive stuff That is like the old joke about the two bums splitting a bottle of beer, one said he had to drink the his friends half to get to his half. You lost me with that one Do you mean "cut-off"? Here is what I posted on another thread regarding that: It's doubtful that will ever happen. The glaring problem with an external combustion engine, virtually any fuel that can be burned in an external combustion chamber can be processed and burned in an internal combustion chamber much more efficiently than using water/steam as a means of transferring the power from the heat, even coal and wood can be gasified and burnt in an I/C engine more efficiently. It takes an enormous amount of heat to boil water with great loss, in a steam plant any flue gases which are high volume, under 400 Fahrenheit are useless for other than heating feedwater and lost, this kills any chance at any competitive economies with it's internal combustion rival. Another huge problem is thermal loss, I've written the statement many times regarding heated surface that if a surface in a boiler is not seeing fire it's condensing steam. If it's not making it, it's losing it, and why they used to wrap the boilers and cylinders in wood on the outside, it was insulation. Pressure and temperature of steam are like two meshed gears, whatever one is, the other corresponds. ref. steam tables. My little Locomobile can achieve around 18 mpg due to it's fuel type, weight and relative low friction drive train. A good running heavier Stanley - 10 hp etc will get about 12 mpg, the larger high performance cars like the Doble with it's 1.2M BTU burner will get in the range of 5 mpg. The SES Monaco steam car program, the Besler/Crank Chevelle and Australian Pritchard Falcon were probably the three best studies in to a modern steam car and although all three were successful, the mileage was abysmal in the sub 20 mpg range, and too, they all came in around the time of the 70's oil embargo and the last thing anyone wanted to see was the introduction of a vehicle with poor fuel economy. That is what kills the modern steam vehicle. No big conspiracy. The key to a modern steam car, is to utilize a source of heat that cannot be used any other way except to boil water, etc. A common mistake made and misconception is that steam cars do not require very much heat, they require an enormous amount of heat, my little Locomobile has a 300k BTU burner, which is enough to heat about three average size homes in the winter. A cookstove burner is about 10k BTU so about 30 of those to get started They are pointless, but sure fun to play with. -Ron

I'm assuming it all comes through the same grid. I'd just tell everyone I'm using that green electric part but refuse to pay for it. -Ron

You're going back too far, electricity at that time i.e. 1900 was far more readily available than gasoline. There were no gasoline stations, gasoline was only sold in general stores as spot remover, hair straightener etc. Refineries burned it off to get rid of it as their production items were lubricating oils and kerosene. I have publications from 1908 that warn about the availability of gasoline being uncertain and may not be available at all in the near future. Patent lawsuits and the 1901 Olds killed the steamer, coupled with the long start up times and freezing in the winter. They were much easier to drive than the current I/C rivals at that time, which had very low octane fuel, problematic electrical systems, poor engine designs etc. They shook, they smoked, were noisy.. The implication was made in the literature that even a woman could operate a steamer, the first licensed woman driver in the US, Anne Rainsford French Bush drove a Locomobile. -Ron

We use cordless drills a lot and have for about 20 years, mostly for tapping small holes in aluminum and driving small machines screws, the drills will last one or two hours doing this. Even the latest and greatest Dewalt 18volt brushless 1/2" drill won't last all day. We use them because they have much lower torque and are less likely to snap a stalled tap. We also have Milwaukee hole guns, those drills have an enormous amount of torque. They supply two batteries for a reason. Maybe Musk should do that. -Ron Sadly, you're probably right. But remember this, it has nothing to do with "climate change" hoopla and the ecology, it's about economy, their idea of it, not yours. This is all about tighter control of the masses, fewer freedoms and higher taxes to pay for their social engineering plans. Oh they will still let us drive our big gas guzzlers, but we are going to pay dearly for the freedom to do so. Folks advocating this have no idea what their fighting for, "Californication". -Ron

That's not really the same thing, that was a fundamental change in travel, EV's are just a different type of propulsion, old tech in a different wrapper with few improvements. 120 years ago, they introduced electric cars, nobody wanted them. Steam power lost out to the I/C as well as battery power. -Ron

That's like saying, I see cops carrying firearms, but they never use them. These cops don't need to carry a gun!! Some of us use our trucks quite often. For my purposes, a car would be absolutely useless. EV trucks commanding the market in 10 years?? That's highly doubtful. Musk pulled that tug-of-war stunt with the Ford pickup, Ford should run an ad showing Musk's "wind it up and go" truck pulling a 8,000 pound boat and dead on the side of the road less than a hundred miles. Now I'll make a prediction, the EV truck is going to flop for 95% of the country. They might be used in local city deliveries or some other specific superficial service, but the core of the pickup market will remain I/C powered. And feel free to quote me on that. -Ron