FABRICATION AND WORKING OF PUTT PUTT BOAT

Presented by VAMSHIDHAR

INTRODUCTION
Often toys can be found that employ simple physics principles in ingenious ways and one such toy is putt putt boat y The boat was invented and patented by a Frenchman named Thomas Piot in1891
y

A putt-putt boat is a toy with a very simple heat engine without moving parts, powered by a candle or oil burner. The name comes from the noise the boats make

WORKING PRINCIPLE
 Heat

from a small candle inside the boat makes it eject pulses of water from tubes at the rear just under the water level, at five or more cm per second. That propels the boat at 10 cm/s or more, and it will go for as long as the candle burns.

FABRICATION
Materials Required
a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

two 2-litre (1/2 gallon) milk cartons with ends cut off two flexible drinking straws one (used) birthday candle, only 1 1/2 cm long large paper clip soft drink can, the thin, aluminum, 355 ml type aluminum foil (only about 20 cm off the roll) metal tape, 5 cm wide; a piece only about 10 cm long, cut lengthways into 3 equal strips

Tools Required
y y y y y y y y y y

sharp scissors glue stick Tape a few clips to hold parts while glue dries Sandpaper sharp one-sided razor blade ruler a pair of pliers to bend the straightened large paper clip caulking gun with waterproof caulking a fine-point felt pen would be handy

PATTERNS

Details about these nine parts:

A B C support for the "tail-pipes" and it measures 5.5 cm x 1.5 cm the cabin; overall length is 12.5 cm; the middle part is 2.5 cm wide. the transom support; it folds in the middle and is glued over the actual transom to give it more strength; 6.5 cm x 8.2 cm. pattern for cutting the soft-drink can which becomes the "steam chamber"; 10 cm long; the middle part is 2.5 cm wide and the two edges are .8 cm wide brace to keep the sides of the boat a proper distance apart; 7 cm long; each part is .7 cm wide

F - This part is cut from the DOUBLE edge of the milk carton so it is 2x as thick as all the other pieces; it is for the rudder, it measures about .5 cm x .5 cm and has a pin-hole in the middle G - roof of the cabin; two cuts are for holding the chimney; overall it is 10 cm x 8.6 cm H - the chimney; the one tab on the end slides into the cut in the other end I - rudder; folds in the middle

Final layout of the boat

"K" is the deck of the boat Part L is is a tool to help place the cabin(part "B") precisely on the deck.

Construction
 Print out the 3 sheets of patterns  Cut very roughly to separate all the pieces  Take the boat hull or body and fold where

needed  Use sandpaper to roughen the inside of the gunwale so that the glue stick will work better and glue them

 When

the glue from steps 3 and 4 has completely set/dried, carry on with the bow (front)  Now fold part C, the transom support, on the line and fit it into the boat, over the transom, to make SURE that it will fit perfectly  Part H, the chimney: pull this part over the edge of your kitchen counter a time or two, printed side under, to make it nice and round

Now take part G, the cabin roof, make sure the two curved slots are cut, and then slide the two tabs of the chimney into those slots, on the TOP side. Put a dab of J-B Weld on the tabs on the underside of the roof.  Now take part L; and glue it onto the deck where you want the cabin to sit  Take the roll of aluminum foil (approximately 30.5 cm wide) and cut off a piece 10 to 15 cm wide. Roll this foil, from one end to the other, around a drinking straw or a pen


 First, take

the clean soft-drink can and cut off the

ends  Tape pattern D, the pattern for the steam chamber, onto the aluminum and cut out one piece.  Now make 4 tiny tape pieces and stick them on the underside of the steam chamber, that is, the side which does not have the folded edges  Now take the two flexible drinking straws. Push both of the long ends into the steam chamber as far as they will go.

 Take

the large paper clip and make it as straight as you can  Glue the rudder onto the back of the boat, centered as well as possible. I like to set the boat into a mug, nose down, rudder up, until the J-B is dry.  Lastly, attach the deck and rear trim

MECHANISMS TAKING PLACE

Priming
Two pipes run from the heated chamber (boiler) to exit at the back of the boat. Why two? The system must be primed before the heat is applied, by putting water into an exit tube. It will go in only if air can come out. That the second pipe serves no other purpose was shown by plugging it after the system was primed and running. The pulsing went on

Gravity
As the boat sits in the water, the two pipes have a downward slant Boer turning up to the boiler. y While the motor was running, the boat is topped upto 45 degrees, keeping the exits of the pipes under water. y Put-putting continued. This showed that, whatever the water does, pressure changes in the boiler must be more important in moving it than gravity is.
y

Temperature of the pipes

After running a minute the heater tray was removed quickly and the pipes were felt with a finger. They were cool up to where they started to bend upward, then too hot for the finger. That showed that live steam may get into the bend but not further.

CONCLUSION