Weekend Steam: 1948 Boiler Explosion

Here are some good photos and a good explanation of the explosion of a locomotive.  These stories are always fascinating, and you need to understand the causes if you hang around boilers and steam engines.  Thank You Merle, for good spotting!

Thinking About Steel Targets? Here Are Some Safety Tips From Hickok45

This video has been up for a few years, but new people are always coming into the hobby, so it bears another look.

Got My Feet Wet This Morning, And Was Cold All Day!

I had to be out for a while this morning, and walking in tall, wet grass will make your feet wet. You can grease your boots, wade quickly through a stream and stay dry, but walk in we grass and you will have wet feet the rest of the day. Oh Well, the flowers were sure pretty, with the raindrops decorating them.

 After dinner there is nothing as good as a warm dog or three on your lap!  The little blonde one is Godiva, who is still looking for a home. 

Tuesday Torque: Merle Found Some Big 'uns!

Merle sent links this week to a couple of gas engine videos, and big engines are always interesting to watch when they are fired up. It's not just that they require strength, knowledge, and the Knack.  They have the ability to pick you up and throw you, and it really does happen occasionally.  Engine guys are well aware of the dangers, but you always get on edge when you see somebody cranking a big engine.   Thanks, Merle!

Starting Up Again?

I hope it goes well for you!  Stick with it!


Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam: The World's Fastest Steam Engines!

Merle has spotted another good one that gives us a look at steam in Great Britain. This is history we don't hear in the U.S. Engines running more than 100 miles per hour seems as breathtaking today as it must have been 80-some years ago.  Thank You, Merle!

The Great Outdoors: Gather Next Winter's Wood Starting Now!

We have let both stoves go cold, and we might not light up again until next October. That's just five months, and the woodpile in the barn is only enough for a couple weeks of cold weather.  The weather now is perfect for cutting.  It's warm enough that we can work in shirtsleeves, but cool enough we don't work up a sweat.  Before you go out and do your necessary chainsawing, review your safety procedures.  Here is the list I use:

Chainsaw Safety  Rules

1. Always wear your safety gear when running your saw: hard hat, eye, face, hearing protection, cut resistant protection for your legs, heavy boots, gloves (depending on work conditions).

2. Safety devices on the saw must be in working order: front hand guard,chain brake, chain catcher, throttle lockout, and right hand guard.

3. Hold the saw on the ground or lock it between your knees for starting. No 'Drop Starts.' Set the chain brake before cranking.

4. The engine must idle reliably without turning the chain.

5. The chain must be sharpened properly, including properly set depth gauges.

6. The chain must be adjusted to remove slack and still run freely.

7. The operator must understand the forces on different parts of the bar as the saw runs: push, pull, kickback and attack.

8. Both hands must always be on the saw when the chain is running. The thumbs must be wrapped around the handles. Both feet should be firmly planted on the ground.

9. The operator must always know where the end of the bar is, and what it's doing.

10. Don't let the upper (kickback) corner of the bar contact anything when the chain is running unless the tip has been buried with the lower corner.

11. Let off of the throttle before pulling out of a pinch on the top part of the bar.

12. Make a plan for every tree you cut. Assess hazards, lean, escape routes, forward cuts, and back cuts. Evaluate the forward or backward lean, and the side lean of every tree you cut. Know your limits.

13. Clear your work area and your escape path of brush, vines, and other hazards that can trip you or catch your saw.

14. Escape from the bullseye when the tree tips. 90% of accidents happen within 12 feet of the stump. Go more than 15 feet, and stay out of the bullseye until things stop falling.

15. Keep spectators away more than twice the height of the tree in the direction it will fall.

16. Don't cut alone.

17. Keep your body and the swamper's out of the line of the bar in case of a kickback.

18. Set the brake when taking over two steps or when moving through tripping hazards. Keep your trigger finger off of the throttle when you are moving.

19. DO NOT operate a chainsaw from a ladder! Operating with your feet off the ground requires special training.

20. Do not cut above your shoulders.

21. Springpoles must be shaved on the inside of the apex between the ascending and descending sides. If the apex is higher than you shoulders, stand under the springpole and cut it low on the descending side. It will release upward, away from you. Leaning and heavily loaded poles that are too small to bore cut for a hinge should be shaved on the compressed side until they fold.

22. Do not cut a tree that is holding up a lodged tree. Do not work under a lodged tree. Think about a mouse trying to steal the cheese out of a trap.

23. Instruct your swampers and helpers to NEVER approach you from behind or the sides to within the reach of your saw when you are cutting. If you pull out of a cut with the chain running, or have a severe kickback, the swamper can be killed if he is coming up behind you!

24. Quit When You Are Tired!

25.  Pause and review; reflect, when you are being pushed. You may be pushed into danger. Do not let pressure to complete a task cause you to ignore safety rules!

Most of these rules carry a penalty of serious injury or death if you choose to ignore them.  You might get away ignoring some of them for a while, but eventually they will bite you. In my video below, I was at the end of a long day and was tired, so when I cut this lodged snag loose, I did not step back.  I saw the top snap and come back at me, but there was no time to move out of the way.  It is a good lesson for anyone who uses a chainsaw. 

You Take Your Excitement Where You Find It!

Wayne White Electric Coop linemen changed out four poles on us a few days ago. Could you be as cool as the guy in the bucket with 7200 volts just a few feet away?  Linemen are a special breed.

Tuesday Torque: Mogul 1 HP

Here is our friend Gary's 1 HP Mogul engine, an original from 1917.  Gary isn't getting ready for any shows, but he is pulling his engines out, oiling them, putting in clean fuel, and then running them  out of fuel so he doesn't have sour gas in his babies. Engines may sit for years and you don't want to leave gasoline in the tanks, check valves, and carburetors. 

By Hook Or By Crook

I think I can reach this, and it ought to pull down without too much strain. Plenty enough to pick up and cut this week, too.

                                                           Back To The Old Grind!

                                Bonus wildlife pic, just because they stood still for a minute.