How to Build a DIY Steam Boiler

How to Build a DIY Steam Boiler

 

DIY Steam Engine Boiler
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First off, playing with steam – especially under pressure is a dangerous thing. Failure to use common sense and a healthy dose of caution can melt the flesh from your bones.

However, if channeled properly steam can transmit a lot of power and turn heat to torque.
I have already shown you my weed-eater conversion to a basic single acting steam engine, now I will show my DIY Steam Engine Boiler.

This portion of the project caused me the most sleepless nights and research.  I fully expect you to do your own research if you plan to create your own boiler. As I am not there to ensure you take the necessary precautions, I cannot be held liable for your actions.

That being said I used a pressure cooker for my boiler. I did this because I know it is tested to the pressures I plan on using for my boiler.

Start with a Pressure Cooker

I flirted briefly with a building firetube boiler.  However, I feel much careful using something that was designed and constructed to boil water under pressure.

My pressure cooker has a pressure release that is designed to rupture  if the pressure gets to high.  If it ever goes off cut the heat immediately and get AWAY.

The pressure cooker has a pressure gauge on it also. The Agricultural extension office will test your gauge to ensure it is accurate.  This calibration should be done annually for food preservation.  I would suggest you get it checked BEFORE you modify your boiler.  They will not test it with a roll of copper pipe coming out the end. They may even call the revenuer’s thinking you have built a still…

By the way, my boiler is aluminum, and that reacts with alcohol so my steam boiler is in no shape, form, or fashion an alcohol distillation device.

Replace the Pressure Weight

The other thing your pressure cooker should have on it is a weight of some kind to let steam out during the cooking process. This is the only thing of the three you should mess with. I used some tools and unscrewed it from the cooker lid. I replaced the weight with a brass ¾ mpt fitting and used hard copper line to attach the fitting to a ball joint and a quick release coupling. (Before I use this for more than testing I will also plumb in a 150 psi safety valve).

From the quick release coupling I attached an air tool line – I looked into using soft copper ¼ tubing, and even though the burst pressures were 900psi which was plenty strong enough, for testing I wanted the flexibility of a hose.

Do Not Overfill

When filling the pressure cooker/boiler do not overfill it, don’t go more than 1/3 full or you could have dangerous overpressure. Believe me just a small amount of water will run weed eater steam conversion a long time, especially considering this is something you cannot fire and forget. If you have heat to your boiler you HAVE to be present at all times.

In Conclusion

So in closing, a pressure cooker makes a pretty decent steam boiler, but you have to take into consideration the strength of all the components and realize that you are dealing with extremer heat and pressure, and if a failure occurs it will be at the weakest link. You have to think through the process and ensure that precautions are taken to keep that weakest link in a safe place.

Please watch the video, as it will explain things a lot better, as well as show the engine working.

How to Eat Acorns

How to Eat Acorns: Removing Tannins and Making Flour

 

How to Eat Acorns
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Acorns are not something most of us think about as food, however, Acorns were a staple of many Indian tribes and were used as a primary foodstuff from one coast to another. According to Jackie Clay (of Backwoods Home fame)

Acorns have been tested and found to be possibly the best food for effectively controlling blood sugar levels. They have a low sugar content, but leave a sweetish aftertaste, making them very good in stews, as well as in breads of all types.

Instead of Asking Can You Eat Acorns, We Show You How to Eat Acorns

Problems with Eating Acorns

The only two problems I have with eating acorns are I am too lazy to pick them up quick enough to prevent worms from ruining them, and the bitter taste the tannins give them. Luckily there are solutions to both problems, and this article and accompanying video will show How to Eat Acorns.

This year I decided to harvest acorns from the oak trees in my front yard. Being lazy, I spread out a large tarp and weighted it down with rocks. Every afternoon (or so) from September to early November I would take a quick look and scoop up any acorns I saw on the tarp. (I went the even lazier route and used by bullet roller since it was originally designed for picking up nuts). If the acorns were soft feeling, or looked like they were compromised I tossed them down the hill, the good ones went in my solar oven to collect in a place where they would not be subject to rot or worms.

How to Process Acorns to Remove Tannins

Once I got enough acorns to make the process worthwhile I took them inside to process them to remove the tannins. Tannic acid makes the acorns bitter, but different oak trees have differing amounts of tannins in the acorns. Depending on the oak tree and your taste buds, it may be possible to eat the acorns without any processing. However these oaks are rare, and normally in the west coast, generally eating an acorn without removing the tannins will make your mouth feel like cotton, can cause constipation, and with large amounts even kidney damage. Luckily to process your acorns all you really need is water.

Indians basically threw their acorns in baskets and left them in swiftly running streams until the tannins were leached out. For us modern folks, there are faster ways.

Dry and Peel the Acorns Before Trying to Eat Them

First thing to do is dry them out so that they don’t mold. You can lay them out on a sheet or tarp single layer deep and let the sun cook them. Personally, I would rather throw them in the dehydrator for a couple hours, or put them on a cookie sheet in the oven at its lowest temperature for an hour (about 175).

Next peel the acorn, its simple to crack the shell with a nutcracker or slip joint pliers, peel off the thin skin, and throw the good acorns in a bucket. If the acorn has a black hole its evidence of worm infestation – throw those out.

Grind the Acorns into Meal

Next get your food grinder and make a course meal. Put the meal in a pot and cover with boiling water. After an hour the water should be brown to black. You can throw this out, however, I have heard of using the tannin containing water to TAN animal hides. Since I don’t have both at the same time, I just dump it out. Taste the meal, if it taste sweet it’s done, if it’s like eating a green persimmon repeat the boiling water soak. Do this as many times as necessary.

Once you are happy with the meal, lay it out to dry. A good way to start this process is to dump the wet meal in a sheet or doubled sheet of cheesecloth, gather the ends like a jelly bag and press the water out. Next put in in the oven at its lowest setting or a dehydrator. Be careful with this process as if you let the meal sit around wet it will mold.

In an airtight jar the course ground chucks will last a while in the freezer, grind it to flour as you need it, because the acorn oil will go rancid about as fast a whole grains will. Either way course of fine, it will start go rancid in a couple weeks if stored at room temperature.

Eat Acorn Meal the Same Way as Wheat Flour

You can use acorn meal in many of the same ways as wheat flour. I have seen recipes online for acorn pasta, pancakes, and various breads. Today we are going to make a kind version of bannock bread that is a cross between a pancake and an unleavened bread loaf. Historically this is the closest to the common use of acorn meal I can find. Let’s see if an 11 year old will eat it, which in itself is a test of usefulness as a foodstuff.

Be Balanced in Your plan

Prepper Precepts #16 Be Balanced in Your plan

 

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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Be balanced in your plan. All food no gun, makes you vulnerable to those with all gun and no food. It’s better to have a lower level of prep that is more versatile.  You must cover water, food, shelter, defense, communications, and medical.  You should not have an extremely high level of preparedness that covers only one or two areas.

This is something I see all of the time.  People who claim the title preppers but have thousands of dollars in guns and tactical gear but do not have any food storage.  How long would it be before you were bartering away all your ammo cans of .223 for canned soup if you had a starving child?

I used to work with a particular Air Force Colonel that would on occasion ask me what I did to prep that weekend, It always ended up with him talking about his new AR or the cases of ammo he bought.  All guns he was.  no food.  eventually I asked what would happen if he ran out of food.  He said he would go out and acquire some.  I replied – so you are planning on becoming a criminal.  He stopped asking about my preps after that.

Be balanced in your plan, be balanced in your preps, be balanced in your life.  It matters.

Rules of Civility: The 110 Precepts that Guided Our First President in War and Peace

These precepts are my creed, and having prepper precepts guides me when I face tough choices.  A wise man once told me that when facing a moral problem, the right choice is usually the action you don’t want to take.

I am not a pollyanna person that is wishy washy or blindly follows rules, heck I have a little rebellious streak and love to know the WHY of rules, but I do respect and understand the need for law and know how vital it is for a society to have a moral code.

By knowing what I believe in you can know how I will act. This is very important in times of stress.  If you don’t want to read these precepts one by one, the completed list can be found here: Completed 27 Prepper Precepts.