Pelton wheel-powered machine shop - video

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Feb 7, 2019, 05:13 AM
Altair

Pelton wheel-powered machine shop - video

Nineteenth century machine shop powered by a 2" Pelton water motor. Invented by Lester Allan Pelton in the 1878, the Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the traditional overshot water wheel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZkxCnH3OgE

More:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelton_wheel
https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-...eel-collection

Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...912#post124708
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...793#post118983
Feb 7, 2019, 08:44 AM
mklotz

If you're ever up in California gold country, be sure to visit the Knight foundry. The foundry manufactured Pelton wheels to be used as power sources. The large machine shop next to the foundry is powered by these wheels driving a forest of overhead shafts which, in turn, power period antique machine tools, some of them of gargantuan size.

https://knightfoundry.com/

Only a mile or two from the foundry is a gold mine that offers tours to the public. They're no longer mining there but you can still see quartz with bits of gold in the walls.

My memory is sketchy but I think it was the Keystone mine located near Amador City. Ask at the foundry and they will know for sure.
Feb 9, 2019, 07:01 AM
bigtrev8xl

I was rather hoping to see the Pelton Wheel
Cheers
Feb 9, 2019, 08:07 AM
mklotz

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigtrev8xl

I was rather hoping to see the Pelton Wheel

Wikipedia is your friend...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelton_wheel

Not only a picture but also a good description of the advantages of the design.
Feb 9, 2019, 09:19 AM
bigtrev8xl

Quote:

Originally Posted by mklotz

Wikipedia is your friend...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelton_wheel

Not only a picture but also a good description of the advantages of the design.

Already been there and done that, It was the actual one he was using, to power his workshop, I was hoping to see
Feb 10, 2019, 06:51 AM
Philip Davies

Hmm. So they notched the beam to accommodate the replacement drive wheel? Hope they reinforced it! I would like to have had a more extensive tour, especially as I am unlikely to visit California.