Restoring an old Cotton Gin

13,839 Views | 86 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by The Fife
stbabs
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AG
In August 2018 I volunteered to coordinate restoration of an old cotton gin here in the Nacogdoches area. The effort is funded by the Bright Foundation of Nacogdoches. Ultimately, the restored gin will be located at Millard's Crossing; a historic village in Nacogdoches.

I dropped a couple of shots of the restoration in another automotive thread and was encouraged to open a separate thread to track progress.

My participation has been voluntary but we've engaged a couple of paid helpers and have paid for services such as sandblasting, welding and sheetmetal fabrication.

If things go well the gin will be operational and could potentially gin a few bales for an occasional exhibition.

The gin we're restoring was operated by the Langston Bros of Garrison TX. It closed in the late 1930s, as did many gins in East Texas as cotton moved west and out of the piney woods.

Where we started

It was a mess. The gin building had collapsed much of the duct work had separated and was scattered.
This is the view from the south end where the gin press was located.



One of the gin stands with timbers located as we found them



This was a 3 stand gin. Stands as they looked after the collapsed roof had been removed

stbabs
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AG
The gin was colocated with a saw mill. Both were steam powered. Many old gins and mills in the area had been converted from steam to IC engines but ours had remained steam.

One of 3 steam engines on the site



Steam engines need a boiler. Here's ours as we began to remove the firebrick.



And the boiler after brick was removed. Took a lotta steam to power three engines. This bad boy is almost 20 ft long and 6 1/2 ft in diameter. It was made by Houston, Stanwood and Gamble of Cincinnati.


SpiderD02
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B/CS Dreaming
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AG
What a cool project. Thanks for sharing and keep us updated!
Centerpole90
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stbabs
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AG
An interesting story about this flying ball Governor:



These contraptions govern the RPM speed of steam engines. In researching how to repair it I found a site called SmokStak; bunch of steam enthusiasts sharing info.

Someone posted contact info for a guy in Ursa IL who is the expert on these Gardner governors.

I called him. He asked for a serial number and called back the next day. He had purchased company records and spare parts when the company closed several years ago.

He checked the records and told me that this Governor was shipped by Wabash RR on 25 July 1912 to Peden Iron and Steel in Houston and sold for $48.
stbabs
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AG
This little jewel is a steam driven feed water pump:



I had no idea what it was when I took this pic. It was well away from the gin and boiler and the water pipes had been broken off it long ago. I sat it aside for several weeks before finally researching it.

Made by Union Steam Pump Co of Battle Creek MI.

It can pump again but will take some detailed machine work.

Interestingly, it pumped water from a spring about 50 yards away on my family land.
alt75
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You might call Tony Williams with the Texas Cotton Ginners Assoc in Austin. He and others have done a lot of work and restored the Gin in Burton Tx
stbabs
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AG
Went to the Burton Gin Festival a few weeks ago and made several great contacts.
Actually got original plans for our gin from Carl Northern of Lubbock.
Needed those plans to fabricate a missing part.
stbabs
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AG
Continually amazed by the engineering and ingenuity of the steam era. This machine converts steam energy to hydraulic power.

It provided power to run a hydraulic piston which compressed lint into bales.

It's was located outside the gin building and has been exposed to the elements for probably 100 years. It's disassembled and looks restorable



And the hydraulic cylinder it drove:



Or at least the exposed top of it. It was buried in the ground vertically. The piston moved freely after we pulled the cylinder out of the ground.
lotsofhp
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AG
Wow really awesome stuff. Preserving history is a worthy endeavor. Keep us posted
Silvy
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AG
Where do you drop the LS in
stbabs
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AG
silverado_lover said:

Where do you drop the LS in


Funny you should ask!! Acquired an old Hercules, about 1922 vintage, from another gin near Milam TX.

4 cylinder but 875 cu in.

It's been sitting since 1940 when that gin closed. Remains to be seen if it will run again.

I'd love to see the steam engines run again but buying a new boiler and annual certification may be a bit much.
Maximus_Meridius
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AG
So I actually work for one of Union's competitors, but I provide engineering support for our steam pump line. If you guys decide to do anything with it, let me know. Steam pump design principles didn't vary much from one manufacturer to another.
stbabs
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AG
Thanks Max. I'd like to restore the old pump to working order even if we never get a boiler.

Would be pretty cool running it on compressed air if not steam
Maximus_Meridius
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AG
Did an overhaul of a duplex steam pump that was about three times as large as this one and we tested it with air. Was definitely cool.
CATAGBQ04
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AG
This is awesome
stbabs
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AG
Ducts being removed, some can be restored, some will be replaced:



The floor was so badly collapsed that the gin stands had to be stabilized with a chain hoist to avoid having them fall and break the brittle cast iron parts. Some cast was already cracked but we were able to repair it by brazing

stbabs
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AG
Finally some evidence that I've actually restored something.
First a shot of how the stands looked when we pulled them out of the collapsed gin building:





And the same parts as they look today:



stbabs
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AG
In addition to the three Continental stands that were operating when the gin closed in 39 or 40, there were three much older stands that had been pulled out of service and placed in a storage shed behind the gin.

These older gins were built by Lummus Gin Co of Columbus GA

This is the gin door of one of the Lummus stands as we found it. Even with the fading and weather exposure you can see that the Lummus logo is pretty artsy. This stand may date to the 1890s. I'm still researching manufacture dates.



Here's the same door after putting in joining biscuits and regluing. Oh, and several coats of primer. Prime, sand, then repeat about 5 times. The newly painted door is now with an artist friend in Nac who will paint on the Lummus logo.

Centerpole90
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My first reaction is "damn, they sure didn't have much pre-cleaning capacity in those old gins"..


but then I remember that cotton was picked by HAND. There wasn't much need for pre-cleaning, it was clean from the field.
stbabs
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AG
Centerpole90 said:

My first reaction is "damn, they sure didn't have much pre-cleaning capacity in those old gins"..

but then I remember that cotton was picked by HAND. There wasn't much need for pre-cleaning, it was clean from the field.


Yep, nothing but lint, seed and a little boll husk. At least it the pickers were good.
BCOBQ98
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AG
stbabs,

It's amazing to me that it survived in East Texas especially the wood. The roof must have been standing for quite a bit of time.

I'm into the single cylinder hit miss engines that are on the smokestack website you reference. I've picked up some that were in West Texas and they were rusted solid and required quite a bit of work to get going.

Is your plan to power this with steam? I think the gin in Temple that the club there has is powered with a Fairbanks diesel engine.

BCOBQ98
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AG
Also, I'm looking for some decent hardwood timbers at least 4 x 6 inches. If you know of a source I would appreciate you passing it along! Thanks
stbabs
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AG
B Co, steam power was my initial goal but the state regulation, liability and expense of a boiler will likely drive me to an old IC engine.

Thought I had one that would work but 80 years in the elements probably turned it into a boat anchor.
I haven't given up yet but flake rust in the cylinders isn't very encouraging.

I mentioned the engine above but it's a 4 cyl 875 Cu In Hercules model TXO; likely from the early 20s.

Hardwood lumber. I'm using a shavings barn at a local tie yard as my gin shop. The owner has some rough cut hardwood stacked over in one corner. I'm thinking it's either 6X8 or 8X10. I'll check.

Can you use those dimensions and how much you need?

Regarding survival of the gin; while the posts rotted at the ground long ago, the tin roof just settled down over the equipment and kept it relatively protected.

The biggest corrosion problem we had was from 80 generations of coon and squirrel piss in the ducts and inside the sheetmetal of the gin stands. Required new metal for much of it.
dubi
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stbabs
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AG
BCOBQ98 said:

Also, I'm looking for some decent hardwood timbers at least 4 x 6 inches. If you know of a source I would appreciate you passing it along! Thanks


BCo, timbers are nominally 4" X 9" X 9' 3". Looks like oak and maybe some hickory
BCOBQ98
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AG
thanks
Dr. Doctor
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AG
stbabs,

Question: Were the parts originally different colors like you have in the finished product or were they all the same? I like the different colors; makes seeing the parts easier.


Side thought: would you be able to electrify the motors for demonstrations, but restore the steam parts to 'partially operational'? i.e., the electric motor is what is doing the actual work, but the steam parts are cleaned, painted, primed and could be used if steam were provided (and you uncoupled the electric motor)? I would think that might be the easiest to get permits for. And you wouldn't have to worry about running out of gas or fixing an engine after a while.

~egon
Maximus_Meridius
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Dr. Doctor said:

Side thought: would you be able to electrify the motors for demonstrations, but restore the steam parts to 'partially operational'? i.e., the electric motor is what is doing the actual work, but the steam parts are cleaned, painted, primed and could be used if steam were provided (and you uncoupled the electric motor)? I would think that might be the easiest to get permits for. And you wouldn't have to worry about running out of gas or fixing an engine after a while.

~egon
Air compressor would probably be easier and would look just like it did before. A lot of steam pumps (a bit bigger than the Union shown above) have been converted to run on a common air pipe. No real design changes needed for it to work. Could probably just hook the air line up to all of the steam engines.
stbabs
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AG
The colors are as close to original as I could make them. I was trying to guess at what the colors would have looked like 100 years ago and after all that time and exposure. And yes, 3 colors, red, Yellow, green.

Trying to avoid electrifying if possible. Don't think compressed air would provide enough power to turn the entire gin.

In dropping the pan on the old Hercules today. Local heavy equipment guy says he thinks it can be sleeved. If so, I have my power unit
Dr. Doctor
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AG
I assure you, compressed air would provide enough power. A fluid I did not think about before.

WORK = CHANGE_IN_PRESSURE x VOLUME

POWER = CHANGE_IN_PRESSURE x VOLUME / TIME

So if you know how much work the old steam engine did, you can calculate the air requirements (based upon a basic assumption of compressed air at XXX psig going to atmospheric pressure).


~egon
stbabs
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AG
I'd love to see the old steam engines run again. Prefer steam but will look further into compressed air.
Reading some steam blogs it seems that air was used to run the engines without load only.
The old Hercules engine was second choice behind steam, with steam likely being cost and liability prohibitive.
The Herc is appropriate to the time.

The old steam engines, if not used to power the gin, will at least be displayed and air can be used to run them in display mode.

Bottom line; TBD
stbabs
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AG
Someone asked earlier if the colors we're using are original to when the gin stands were new. My answer was basically, "as close as we could match 100 year old paint.

I also used some examples from the web. Here's a stand restored by the Lummus Corp. The stand is in the Smithsonian.



We have a Lummus stand very similar to this one but ours is smaller; a 60 saw gin vice the 80 saw stand in the Smithsonian.

These things were more than a machine, they were works of art. Ours will look this good, guaranteed.
stbabs
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AG
This steam engine is displayed in Mississippi but appears to be exactly like the one that ran our gin.



Same size, same manufacturer and the flywheel looks about the same size as ours.

Ours is in pieces now with the cylinder and piston in the machine shop for boring and having an oversized piston built.

Red and green seem to be the go to colors for this stuff.
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