Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Kinetic Steam Works”.
So this is a group called kinetic steamworks and what they do is they take old steam engines and use them to do some really interesting things. They have a really big boiler in the back there that they use to generate their steam and um over. Here is a steam engine, that’s probably probably from the turn of the turn of the 20th century, or maybe even late late 19th century, and it’s about uh three horsepower and they have that running this rod that goes over the top. And then these big belts transfer the power over to this printing press on the right here and what the printing press is doing. Is it’s uh, printing out these commemorative uh beer, coasters or beverage coasters? If you will um, which are uh super cool, i already have one i’m gon na, take it home with me.
This is a oh. This is a whistle. How are you what’s your name, sir uh stephen rademacher and you’re from kinetic steamworks? That is correct. Awesome. What’S your name, sir, my name, sir, is michael columbo and i am an online editor for make magazine here to uh, get out in the field and and meet the makers.
So does that sound good? That sounds great i’ve i think you’re famous on the internet right. Okay, man so anyway uh. So this is a big uh steam-powered engine and and what was it originally used for? Well, why don’t you come up here and i’ll? Explain? Okay! So, what’s going on here? Well, we are making steam with an auxiliary boiler and uh powering the engine which is atop this 40 horse 1920 case steam, traction engine and uh.
What is going on well, we’re doing a whole bunch of sit and still idling the engine um. This is essentially a portable power plant that a farmer or a lumberjack would bring to the location. It was needed under its own power, yeah yeah right, so it’s designed to also run under its own power.
But what so? What would you do? So you, then, you have this uh, this big wheel over here. That would provide power for whatever else you wanted yeah, that’s called the flywheel and you would belt up a thresher or a sawmill or a rock crusher or in our case uh artwork, carousel, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera and uh use. The energy created by this engine to do more glamorous things more glamorous things like what i i don’t.
I don’t have any ideas. Do you got any great ideas? Yeah? Maybe we can, we can, you know, have a steam powered punk rock band. I, like that, sounds pretty glamorous all right cool. We already have a bike-powered sound system over on the other side.
So why not right calories or calories? You know that’s true. Energy is energy, so um. Where did you did you find this and restore it when you have you had to maintain it? Yes, we, it was brought to the organization uh. Actually, the organization was founded around it, eight or nine years ago, in oakland by a few talented individuals, and they realized that what they really needed was a lot of help to keep it going and to maintain it and to continue learning which this engine being our Real founding member gave us the opportunity to draw people in with other talents and skills that uh is really what the organization is about is to share resources, share talents, share experiences and look back at old technology and see how they shaped today and how they shaped. Yesterday, that’s great how i do you know a piece of machinery could could bring a whole bunch of people together. Uh.
You know, i think, that’s that’s really magical! That’S the kind of stuff we’re looking for! That’S what that’s! What this place is. That’S what all these people are, they they find that what they do and what they have and what they’re interested in brings them together with two hundred thousand of their closest friends yeah. It’S super cool yeah! Well, thanks for talking to me. Okay, no problem yeah all right have a good day yeah. Thank you very much.
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