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Wood stove Steam Boiler.

Lester Bowman

Hot Rolled
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Location
Modesto california USA
I think I've developed a copper fetish. The pic shows three boilers..at least I think the third one is some form of boiler. The one in the middle is the one this thread is focused upon.

The safety valve or what is left of it is the "dead weight" variety and appears very old as well as the test cocks. The only way this boiler can be filled is through the fitting this safety valve screws into...about the size of 1/4 npt. Wall thickness I'm guessing is about .040" The bottom is a formed piece like an upside down "top hat" riveted and soft soldered to the bottom. The top is a spun piece also soft soldered to the barrel.

If you take a copper wire and push it through one tube it comes out the other tube. What in the world is this boiler for? It measures about 7" x 16" tall.

Is it for use on an old wood stove? I removed the griddle plate ( Whatever that round thing is called which you remove with a handle) and it doesn't fit very well in my old Martin stove. Anyway the shape of the bottom lends itself to that assumption of being heated on a wood stove and used for steaming something. But what?

Maybe clams or crab? I don't have a clue! But it's a boiler and copper and it was cheap..damaged hence the next pics.
 

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So being clueless as to what this boiler was used for I am also clueless how best to work out the dents and the bottom plate which leans drunkenly off to one side. I haven't tried to pressurize it with air. In fact my other boiler is taking all my free time. However I thought it interesting and would like to know what I have here.
 

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..would like to know what I have here.
Might try Google and the like for images.

Could be anything from Eastern Europe/Russian DIY Samovars to Middle-Eastern coffee machines to Turkish steam-bath goods to small-laundry steam irons to whorehouse hot baths to DIY liquor stills..

Tons of stuff made the hard way out of whatever was 'locally available' for farms, bars, restaurants, and such by folks with more immediate need than immediate money for factory-built. Almost as many 'attempted factories', some more durable than others.

I'd assume intended for 'hot' but not necessarily 'boil', even though it was known to be possible, hence some attempt at safety.

:)
 
I'm wondering if second 2 pics they could possibly be hot water heaters. Early hot water heaters were on demand type of heaters with no tank. I remember my grandmother had one which was just a coil of copper over a big burner.
The first does look like a steam boiler.
 








 
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