Inventor posing with paddle steamer model, c. 1845

chubachus

First Sergeant
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Location
Virginia
dag paddle steamer model 1845.jpg


"Inventor demonstrating his paddlewheel steam device."

Source.
 
This good. I don't think I have ever seen this before. I wonder what he had invented that people would be interested in seeing or using. Maybe the engine, or the paddle wheels, or even the hull design.
 
Looks to be a scaled model to me- maybe 1:10- the hull only appears to be about 7-8 ft in length and very narrow based on the man at the helm. I see the tiller beside him and lots of stone ballast in the bow to off-set the weight of the man and the small engine in the stern. Half-shielded paddle wheels, with missing braces between the paddles, suggesting it's seen some use already. I can't see anything of the boiler, but there does appear to be a number (70?) written on the port side of the hull. Perhaps it's a small racing steamer???

The date is 1845, when daguerreotype image processing was dominant, but this looks like a glass plate image to me. I could be very wrong about that.

@AndyHall , thoughts?
 
I don't think that's a number ,I think it's the paddle wheel struts. the braces are there but very flimsy, the whole things looks very crude and I can't see how the paddles shaft is driven.
 
The date is 1845, when daguerreotype image processing was dominant, but this looks like a glass plate image to me. I could be very wrong about that.

In the photo of the image, there is definitely glass covering the image to keep air out. The image itself has the same bluish tint and tarnish that many other daguerreotypes have when photographed.
 
I don't know much about steam engines or paddlewheels, but I'm enjoying the analysis. In fact, I'm always fairly fascinated by models. I just wonder about the purpose of this thing. Is it a demonstrator? A patent model, as suggested? A sample from a boat building company? It's pretty intriguing.
 
You are absolutely right John. Now I feel silly.
I was looking at the starboard paddles when I mentioned many braces between them missing. Looks to me as if a fair amount of them are missing.
Actually John ,both sides look a bit chewed up. Just in front of him looks like a single cylinder with lots of piping and what may be a piston rod and crank shaft at the leading end. He doesn't look exactly happy does he - I wonder if he hit something, or the wheels started to break up, there's a bit missing from at least two blades.
 
I just noticed something which I find pretty odd about the paddles. Look at the paddles themselves on the far wheel. It looks like they are hinged so that they all hang vertically. Obviously, we'd expect the one in the top position to appear vertical. But look at the ones at 1 o'clock, 2 and 3 o'clock, ten and eleven o'clock. That seems very odd to me and I can't think of a practical reason to configure them that way. Maybe that's the feature this gent is trying to demonstrate. Could it be paddles that don't throw spray (and therefore don't need shielding) or something of that nature? And if they really are hinged, I wonder how they are locked for the actual underwater part of their revolution?

Coming back to acknowledge rebelatsea's observations. Perhaps I am just seeing a broken wheel.
 
I think it is a very interesting image. I love steamboats, but it is usually the larger variety. All of the posts have been interesting, and whatever the boat is or whoever the inventor was, it is something not often seen. In fact we have one Steamboat coming to town tomorrow. They land here pretty often actually. It is pretty fantastic to see something that while modern is a dream from the past.
 
I just noticed something which I find pretty odd about the paddles. Look at the paddles themselves on the far wheel. It looks like they are hinged so that they all hang vertically. Obviously, we'd expect the one in the top position to appear vertical. But look at the ones at 1 o'clock, 2 and 3 o'clock, ten and eleven o'clock. That seems very odd to me and I can't think of a practical reason to configure them that way. Maybe that's the feature this gent is trying to demonstrate. Could it be paddles that don't throw spray (and therefore don't need shielding) or something of that nature? And if they really are hinged, I wonder how they are locked for the actual underwater part of their revolution?

Coming back to acknowledge rebelatsea's observations. Perhaps I am just seeing a broken wheel.

I've seen drawings of paddles like that. The idea is to keep the paddle vertical for the whole time it is in the water, so that all the force goes into pushing the ship forward. As you say, there would need to be some sort of block to hold the paddle in place while in the water. So, it's more efficient but also more complex, probably why it does not seem to have been widespread.
 
I've seen drawings of paddles like that. The idea is to keep the paddle vertical for the whole time it is in the water, so that all the force goes into pushing the ship forward. As you say, there would need to be some sort of block to hold the paddle in place while in the water. So, it's more efficient but also more complex, probably why it does not seem to have been widespread.
It's called a feathering wheel, and you get the same power out of a wheel half the diameter of an ordinary wheel. It needs extra machinery inside the wheel and I can't see that here, so your guess is as good as mine.
 
It's called a feathering wheel, and you get the same power out of a wheel half the diameter of an ordinary wheel. It needs extra machinery inside the wheel and I can't see that here, so your guess is as good as mine.
Actually if you look closely at the starboard wheel I think you can see the shaft that is moving the blades on the inside of the three forward paddle blades. The top blade is showing just a little of the shaft, but the 2 blades progressively forward each show more of the shaft.
 
Actually if you look closely at the starboard wheel I think you can see the shaft that is moving the blades on the inside of the three forward paddle blades. The top blade is showing just a little of the shaft, but the 2 blades progressively forward each show more of the shaft.
I've had a close look at the blades, and they are actually stepped blades. That was another way of making them more efficient.
 
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