Topic starter
12/03/2014 10:00 pm
Hi everyone,
Would anyone know about 1850 construction of riverboat engines? Yesterday I found the blacksmith shop of an early California pioneer, Peter Lassen. In 1850 he owned the small riverboat the “Lady Washington” renamed the “Ohio”. Peter was a master metal worker, trained in Denmark by the Denmark royal family. I have found the “Plumas” from 1854 in an old inlet next to his cabin site. We can saw that Peter would have a reasonable expectation to repair a gold rush era riverboat engine. Yesterday, near his blacksmith area I found a short length of ¾ inch pipe with threads cut on one end. The metal was of sufficient decomposition to be of the right period. I cast it aside at first, thinking it was a contemporary object until I noticed the threads were not tapered like the pipe threads of today.
Would a gold rush era riverboat, use straight threads like what is found on a bolt?
The picture should be uploaded. Peter Lassen did not have plumbing at his cabin at his ranch, so the possibility of this being an artifact from a period riverboat is pretty good.
Thanks again for your assistance,
Dave Freeman
Topic starter
13/03/2014 3:19 pm
I have a possible match to the thread. It may be European thread called BSPP.
This would make sense, as Lassen was trained in Denmark. The pipe would have needed a gasket at the end of the pipe, like a copper washer in order to seal.
Davef