Keith Black

Unfortunately I can't hit the laugh emoji and thank you emoji at the same time.

A huge thank you to everyone for the likes and for following along. Thank you, Richard. The later improved duel cylinder, duel drum Donkey engines dwarfed this early version. Thank you, Ken. Yes, there'll be an elevated oval water tank on a stand that will gravity feed the boiler. Something like this measuring 8x4x6 feet would hold 1,436 gallons weighing (including tank weight) a little over 12,000 Lb's. In all likelihood this will be somewhat modified in the making. A milestone day. We started this little project on July 11th with an idea and 49 days later as of today, the Donkey engine was permanently attached to the barge and the drum lines run over the sheave wheels. The engine shed is filled with the engine, there's no way a water tank would fit and little else for that matter. The water tank will go at the back of the shed attached to the shed wall. The friction drum line cleated at the base of the tower needs a coiled line. I'm not sure at this time how I'll handle the line on the friction drum head but it won't as it is currently pictured. The shed base is not attached and as soon as I've satisfied myself that all is well I'll remove it by cutting the shed base where the front doors are located and slip it around the Donkey engine lines. Next up, we start the shed. Everyone's support for this project has been incredible, thank you. Keith

My friend, if anyone can make the awning framing look elegant, it's you. Polished brass in itself will do wonders to improve the looks.

We need a 'whew' button.

Absolutely but the awning framing isn't elegant nor aesthetic either. With the exception of the railings all the deck metal work looks cheesy.

Congratulations on 48 years of marriage, Bob!

Thank you for the comments and likes. I'm going to build a 4x4x6 water tank with a hand pump between the tank and boiler. That size tank is just over 700 gallons. Lula, the help boat/tug, will deliver water in the AM when she brings the pile driving crew to the barge. If 700 gallons isn't enough water for the day she'll make a midday delivery along with piling logs and fire wood if necessary. Most Donkey engines were wood fired till the 1920's. That's the way it's going to work in my world unless someone has a better plan. Thank you to everyone for your support. Keith

And weight calculated in stones. What's up with that?

Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Gary. Golden times those moments when the work flows like that. Not like the current moment as I'm trying to spool the drum and it isn't going like I had it pictured in my head. Thank you again. Thank you for the response, Ken. The Brooklyn Navy Yard sits at the mouth of the East River, that's why I thought the harbor water might have been useable as feed water, guess not. So the question is, do I need to build a water tank for the Donkey and if so any guesses on size and shape? I can't find diddly on water usage rates for a single cylinder Steam Donkey. It couldn't have been too great as loggers drug these things out into the middle of nowhere. Contrary to popular belief there's not a babbling brook every hundred yards in the middle of the forest. Having first hand experience it could be a hike to get to a stream or river and you sure wouldn't be hauling at the most more than ten gallons at a time. Water usage is a bit perplexing for me. I don't wanna just throw a Donkey in a shed and not address the obvious water needs. If someone tells me "Keith, you'd need a square, rectangular, or triangular fifty gallon tank at least painted purple", I'm off to the races.

Thank you to all for the likes. Thank you, Bob. I gave the Donkeyman jeans as they were invented in 1873 but bib overalls came on the scene much later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overalls Thank you, Peter. I wanted to make the flywheel with a built up outer edge but my hole chisels failed at the end of the making as they were tearing the card instead of punching through cleanly. Thank you, Ken. The links will be invaluable, thank you. Like Alice I expect this to be an amazing journey. Okay, now that I've got a Steam Donkey built, can we please talk feed water? I've a couple of questions that I don't have answers to so any help would be greatly appreciated. 1) Would the water available at the Brooklyn Navy Yards have been fit to be used to feed the boiler? 2) Would a hand pump have been sufficient to feed the boiler or would a tank have been necessary? 3) I'm assuming that if a hand pump was sufficient to feed the boiler that it would have been placed inside the engine shed to keep from freezing up on cold nights. is that a safe assumption? Thank you everyone for being part of the journey. Keith

Thank you to everyone for joining in and the likes. Thank you, Keith. The shed's rear and front doors will be open and there will be two windows on each side. I think there'll be enough light to be able to look inside the shed and see that there's a Donkey engine in there. I'm happy with some parts of the engine and not so happy with others. for sure, it can't be mistaken for anything else but a Steam Donkey. What a great series. No more daytime photo shoots, stupid camera. The Donkeyman is painted and attached. I wish it was logically possible to have painted him a color where he stood out more but the environment he would have worked in dictated the dark clothes colors. View of the flywheel. I'm very disappointed the way the flywheel turned out. Maybe I'll throw a shop rag over it. Thank you to everyone for your support, I am truly humbled. Keith

Tom, put a mirror on edge blocking the left side, allowing the right side to be reflected, voila!

You might try this guy. I bought my figures from Shapeways but they are his work. Shapeways didn't print anything themselves, they sold other peoples work via their site. Unfortunately Shapeways went bankrupt the first part of July. https://www.facebook.com/HOLDEN8702/ The lad in the back (our) right looks the part.

That's great stuff right there, Gary.

YouTube star, Derek Bieri. One of his favorite expressions is "feed her the onions", meaning, give it the gas. Funny guy and worth watching, IMHO. By the by, don't feed your donkey onions. Talk about not understanding why something doesn't turtle. The base rotated, the boom didn't have a counterbalance, it was stayed to the rotating base. How in the world was it pegged to Mother Earth that kept it upright when the boom was loaded? Unfortunately, I find very little information via Mr Google. I'm sure if I build one it'll become perfectly clear.

Thank you everybody for the likes and for following along. Keith, as much as I like ya, I don't trust your ability to come up with a plan to increase my modeling years. Besides, I've a long nap just up ahead. Tom, I normally get into my chair for the night between 11pm and 1am so stretching it out a couple of hours isn't a biggie though I will say, I slept most of yesterday. And no, Keith, it did not improve my looks any whatsoever! I feed the Donkey the onions. Let's see how many of you good folk get that reference. Thank you, Brian. God has truly blessed me with the health and eyesight that I have at age 77. First, I want apologize for the quality of the following photos. I think there's too much light coming in from the window which is counterintuitive? That or the camera, like all of us, has it's good days and bad days. I made the flywheel this morning, got it installed and painted and with that, the Donkey engine is done with the exception of loading the drum with line and installing the Donkeyman. I finally found his position from which to operate the engine and it's perfect! His left hand is on the control lever and he's gesturing caution with his right hand. Once he's painted he'll get attached and I can then permanently fix the engine to the barge deck. I've mentioned a long term project I have in mind that includes this pile driver and the future help boat/tug, Lula. Provided the Lord allows me the time, I want to build a dock diorama based on the Brooklyn Navy Yard location that consist of a finished dock with a wooden dock crane, warehouse fronts, and maybe a skid driver doing repair work. Another part of the diorama would be a new dock under construction that features this driver and the future help boat. Those early dock cranes fascinate the heck out me and I would love the opportunity to build one. The whole diorama project is something I hope I'm able to accomplish and would be a fitting project to end on. Launching of the USS Maine at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1889. This dock crane is very similar to the dock crane pictured next to the USS Tennessee in 1869. a Thank you to each of you for stopping by and being part of this journey. Keith

Beautiful work as always, Keith.

Thank you to all for the likes and for taking the time to follow along. Don't tarry. In my youth I had many bottle projects but as I remember the only momentum was downward. Too funny, Tom. Thank you, Bob. It is a joy when the work flows effortlessly and time ceases to exist. I said I'd have the engine finished by today, I worked till 3 AM this morning trying to get everything done but alas, not to be. I still have the flywheel to make. Flywheels are neat objects and some foundries made them works of art. As the left side of the engine is pretty boring I want to take my time and try to make a nice flywheel. The Steam Donkey isn't fixed to the deck so I can't spool up the drum with line, that will make a huge difference in appearance. It won't be hard to spool the drum as the drum shaft turns so it's just a matter of winding on line. As I said, the left side is pretty plain. Drive shaft less flywheel. The viewer has to imagine teeth on the drive gear and the drum's bull gear. i'm pretty cagey but I ain't that cagey. Close up photos are so critical but I look at it this way, there's lots of tooth for the pastels. Thank you to each of you for being part of this journey. Keith

Fantastic work, George. I work at 1:120 so I understand the issues you have working at 1:144. You did an excellent job selecting the blocks for their placement due to size.

Close up photos always show our errors. Sometimes i take close ups photos just for me where I can see what i need to work on. For a first layer i think it looks great, Simon.

Beautiful planking job, George.

Very nice, Tom.

Tom, looks like you 'nailed' it.

Rob, unfortunately Chris doesn't offer ship's boats in the scale and time period the Tennessee requires. Shapeways also offered figures in 1:120 scale. Other than Shapeways, I've been unable find another source for naval figures in 1:120 scale from the 1870 to 1890 time period.

I was going to purchase ship's boats from Shapeways, they offered exactly what i needed for the Tennessee. The boats were expensive but I thought they well worth the price because of the quality. Unfortunately Shapeways filed for bankruptcy this past July. Shapeways didn't print anything themselves, they offered items printed by independents that Shapeways then marketed on their web sight. This has left a void in the marketplace that as of now is going unfilled.