Buzz Sawing, Pinckneyville, Illinois American Thresherman Show
The engineers burn both wood and coal at Pinckneyville, and much of that wood comes from the slabs at the sawmill. This is how it is processed to be firebox ready.
I would not use that saw and I'm not happy that a young person was involved.
To put it in perspective. Aircraft carrier propulsion boilers have safety valves. After repairs or overhaul the valves are bench tested and then bolted back on the boiler. The boiler is lit off and the pressure is slowly and carefully raised to where the safety should lift. The safety must lift at the designated pressure, blow down to a preset pressure and then reseat. If the valve needs adjustment, the boiler pressure is lowered from the normal pressure of 1200 pounds per square inch to around 1000 pounds per square inch and held there with fire in the boiler while a shipyard mechanic climbs to the top of the boiler and gags the safety. With the gag applied, and keep in mind that the gag is a small device that looks much like a tiny gear puller, the mechanic can loosen the locking nut and add or remove tension to the spring to change the lift pressure. If the re-seating pressure is not correct, then the mechanic must remove a small pointed plug from the body of the valve, insert a flat bladed screw driver and move the re-seating ring a few notches. Keep in mind that while the mechanic is doing this, he is separated from a thousand pounds of steam pressure by only the tension of the gag on the valve stem. And when he is adjusting the re-seating ring, the steam is on the other side of the safety valve disk. I've done that job and lots of other dangerous work in a shipyard, military, or law enforcement environment.
John: Too many body parts are working around the business end. One wrong move and someone is maimed, maybe bleeding out. I have never had the urge to operate one. Most engine show people with a buzz rig never let it turn. Adjusting a pop valve on a hot boiler...I don't know what to say!
Nope.
ReplyDeleteI would not use that saw and I'm not happy that a young person was involved.
To put it in perspective.
Aircraft carrier propulsion boilers have safety valves.
After repairs or overhaul the valves are bench tested and then bolted back on the boiler.
The boiler is lit off and the pressure is slowly and carefully raised to where the safety should lift.
The safety must lift at the designated pressure, blow down to a preset pressure and then reseat.
If the valve needs adjustment, the boiler pressure is lowered from the normal pressure of 1200 pounds per square inch to around 1000 pounds per square inch and held there with fire in the boiler while a shipyard mechanic climbs to the top of the boiler and gags the safety.
With the gag applied, and keep in mind that the gag is a small device that looks much like a tiny gear puller, the mechanic can loosen the locking nut and add or remove tension to the spring to change the lift pressure.
If the re-seating pressure is not correct, then the mechanic must remove a small pointed plug from the body of the valve, insert a flat bladed screw driver and move the re-seating ring a few notches.
Keep in mind that while the mechanic is doing this, he is separated from a thousand pounds of steam pressure by only the tension of the gag on the valve stem.
And when he is adjusting the re-seating ring, the steam is on the other side of the safety valve disk.
I've done that job and lots of other dangerous work in a shipyard, military, or law enforcement environment.
And I still would not be near that saw.
John: Too many body parts are working around the business end. One wrong move and someone is maimed, maybe bleeding out. I have never had the urge to operate one. Most engine show people with a buzz rig never let it turn. Adjusting a pop valve on a hot boiler...I don't know what to say!
ReplyDeleteDavid: Both heavy industry and the tree work that you do could be accurately defined as doing something dangerous as safely as one can.
ReplyDelete