Coal crusher

[fred55]

Has somebody got any details of a hobby sized coal crusher machine that I can copy.
I have found a reasonable supply of coal (free, if you DIY pickup) but the size is about 50-80mm.
It needs to be reduced somewhat. 20-25 mm would suit best.
I did a search but only found DrJohn's model, which is not quite what I had in mind
Pete

[Boadicea]

Sorry, just could not resist.

Attachments:

[leliev]

;D ;D ;D

[ejparrott]

In my experience, hammer is the best way. Been involved with a couple of coal crusher projects in the past, non have been very successful.

[fostergp6nhp]

This does work. www.livesteammodels.co.uk/stonecrusher.html

[albert]

Hello,
I have seen a small crusher duing just that,the problem was that the coal is made up of layers and as the crusher breakes the coal up it shatters on the layers as well lkeaving you with very little usable lumps and loades of dust.Welsh steam coal is almost all dust.

Albert

[RLWP]

Jan 24, 2013 8:25:13 GMT Boadicea said:

Sorry, just could not resist.

How crude! You should always use the correct tool for the job:



;D

Richard

[steam4ian]

G'day Pete

We have a stone crusher at SASMEE like the one discussed. We use it for char and it is very effective. The crushed char drops into a trommel with graded mesh so we get two sizes of lumps, the little dust there is and fines goes to the boiler house.

Jaw and cone crushers are not the best for coal and there is a particular type for coal and lime stone which is more like a rotating drum with dogs on it. The dogs jamb the coal against a fixed strike plate and the coal splits along its fracture lines. This type of crushed would be easy to build. If you want I shall try to find my manual on crushers.

We get Blackwater coal at PRR and I do not recall that being particularly seemy so the jaw crusher could work with it.

Regards
Ian

[smallbrother]

When the mines were working round here many years ago......

Miners would get an annual allowance of something like 10 tonnes of run-of-mine anthracite delivered in the street (not all at once I hasten to add)

As well as bucketing it in, someone in the house had the job of cutting the coal i.e. hitting it with a hammer, to break up the large lumps.

Don't recall any home made crushers though!

Pete.

[Boadicea]

Jan 24, 2013 18:38:46 GMT fostergp6nhp said:

This does work. www.livesteammodels.co.uk/stonecrusher.html

Can't beat that, but an oil cake breaker could do it - but output would be too small I think.

Attachments:

[jma1009]

i suppose it depends what type of coal it is.

'friable' good welsh steam coal is light and will break into the correct size for miniature locos with a toffee hammer (remember those?)

whenever ive visited a steam railway ive asked for some steam coal in lieu of a suitable donation.

i remember on one occasion visiting the Bluebell Railway and asking the guys who were working on STEPNEY (my current 5"g project) if i could have some coal from the bunker expecting best welsh. imagine my surprise when my carrier bags were filled with Coventry Hard!

apparently STEPNEY steamed very well on Coventry Hard. it looked like large blocks of slate! smashing it up for use on my locos was quite a trial...it produced small chippings once i'd got the hang of it and the grain. it burnt very well. however i wouldnt want to smash it up ever again! the polish coal used by lots of steam railways in the UK for many years was similar.

im lucky enough to have a shed full of best welsh steam coal that will keep me going for quite a few years!

cheers,
julian

[fred55]

Thanks all. The hammer is the usual approach, but becomes messy and very hard work when using this coal.(haven't had as much practice as the crews at Darjeeling) The most success so far is to use the vice as it scatters less than hammering
The stone crusher looks interesting, but the results are a bit random.
Ian, your setup sounds pretty good, can you give me some more details. I figured that a drum would be more controlled than a hammer mill.
Pete

Attachments:

[Tony K]

Jan 25, 2013 23:31:11 GMT jma1009 said:

I'm lucky enough to have a shed full of best welsh steam coal that will keep me going for quite a few years! Cheers, julian

Now Julian, just exactly where do you live?

Being a local, I assume you have had/have the right contacts. Many of us are buying Welsh steam coal from Poland et al and are not sure what it is like until we have tried it. Then we either wish we had bought ten tons of it - or never bought it at all!

Incidentally, I did have a friend who used an oil cake-breaker as above to reduce the size of coke so he could use it in a small forge. I think the smaller coke was called breeze but was difficult to get.

[jma1009]

fred, your coal definitely looks hard. i wouldnt want to have to break it up.

tony, getting decent coal is a problem, and i suspect will become an ever increasing problem. i dont have any contacts im afraid, just years of working on the railways here and picking up lumps (which became something of a joke to some people). canton sheds and rhymney depot (neither of which had been relaid since steam days) used to be covered with lumps of steam coal... now all in my shed. ovoids and anthracite went on my stove, as does the dust from breaking up steam coal for my miniature locos.

breaking up coal is a chore (even with best welsh steam coal) that is reserved for a sunny afternoon in the garden, as it's something i hate having to do on a running day.

there is currently a large open cast mining operation at merthyr tydfil (Ffros-y-fran) which is quite good but as its primarily for crushing and burning in power stations it isnt washed or graded... so you might get some excellent stuff or some not so good stuff. so far as washed and graded welsh steam coal is concerned that all finished around 1989 when oakdale colliery closed. smallbrother knows alot more about this than me.

there are still a few coal agents about who can tell you what the chemical content is of any type of coal still available, but these details are pretty meaningless if the stuff hasnt been washed or graded. stuff from the middle of a seam will be very good but the closer you get to the top and bottom of the seam the quality deteriorates to 'slack', and you cant guarantee what you will be getting.

this of course creates enormous problems for mainline steam locos.

cheers,
julian

[freddo1]

Check youir P/M Fred55

[steam4ian]

G'day all

Had a good look at the club coal crusher yesterday.

It is of the Jaw type of what I think is the Dodge pattern. The top of the moving jaw is hinged off the eccentric of the main shaft with a toggle lever holding the bottom of the jaw. This way the jaw not only swings to crack the coal but also moves along the fixed jaw to feed the coal down.

I took pictures but will have to work out how to post them, needs time I have got unitl later in the week.

Regards
Ian