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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2009 14:25:43 GMT
Two rows at a time Chris. The solder rod was poked down between the small tubes onto the 3/4" tubes. I laid the unit horizontal to keep the tubes in place. They kept dropping into the combustion chamber otherwise!
JB
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2009 18:02:43 GMT
This weekend's job was to fit the two parts of the boiler together, and this has been done. Tomorrow I'll put the bushes in the backhead and fit/solder the foundation ring. My untidy efforts can't possibly compete with other recent pictures, but I'm getting there! Putting in the two 7BA securing screws for the headstay rivetting: I won't show you the head of the wrapper after soldering as it's a bit untidy due to the headstays not being an exact fit on the outer wrapper. 'Setting Up' the rivets with my customary hollow punch put a few dents in the surface! I just set up the boiler upside down and laid lots of solder strips on the stay head rivets and also alongside, and heated up from the bottom through the big hole in my hi-tech hearth.  Tubeplate fitted and soldered. It wasn't as difficult to line them up as I thought it would be: a fat biro did the trick! That barrel end expands slightly on heating and soaks up solder like a sponge. The boiler was poked up through the hole in the hearth, and box made around it with the vermiculite blocks. By the way, still no heating problems using just the one 25mm Sievert burner.....  Firehole aperture filed in the backhead. I'm now scratching my head as to what bushes are required, and to add to my dilemma, LBSC doesn't give ANY dimensions for positioning of the fittings. 
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2009 17:51:32 GMT
After some research (thanks Chris) I finalised the position of the backhead fittings. AUTOCAD was again useful in eliminating the need to mark anything out! I have an idea to do a 16g brass backhead 'skin' so this template will do for that as well. That excess at the bottom is a result of following LBSC's instructions to the letter..... The wrapper's too big as well so I will have to do a lot of trimming when it's all done: is this standard practice?  My thanks to the poster who gave me this sight glass alignment idea last year. I believe it was on a vertical boiler. Please identify yourself! Foundation ring hopefully on Wednesday.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2009 19:24:01 GMT
Another minor disaster!Whilst trying to be clever (and neater) by putting rings on the bushes, the angled bush, (you know, the lower, difficult one?) managed to weld itself to the alignment jig. Capillary action? More like defying gravity! I've melted it off again, but a drilling out and another bush is required. C'est la Vie! JB EDIT 20.30 Drilled and rebushed. I hope that's the last mishap.....  JB
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Post by drjohn on Nov 17, 2009 4:23:54 GMT
If you go to the MW black 5 boiler failure bit, you can see my quote from Dean (steamfittings)'s posting - if they can make a boiler in less than a day, what's the hold-up JB?
DJ ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 8:11:03 GMT
DJ, I'm doing my best but I don't have a private army at £2.50 a day!
Knowing what I do about mass production, I have no doubt that boilers could be made very quickly, given the demand. However, given the amount of work I've already put in on the Brit boiler, the £1400 quote received from Steam Technology together with a short lead time seems quite reasonable.
If the boiler leaks and can't be fixed then that's where I'm going!
JB
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Post by drjohn on Nov 17, 2009 9:04:32 GMT
DJ, I'm doing my best but I don't have a private army at £2.50 a day! How sad - I thought everyone of "our" caliber had such a thing. Never mind steam technology, swallow your chauvanism and go for Helen at Western Steam if all else fails. DJ |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 9:30:17 GMT
How sad - I thought everyone of "our" caliber had such a thing. DJ Watch out DJ: 'caliber', when spelled correctly, also means 'bore'! JB |
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Post by drjohn on Nov 17, 2009 9:38:45 GMT
Wow JB. I'm impressed you saw the subtlety of my post! ;D ;D
DJ
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 21:01:56 GMT
The 'Big Heat'!Well, I seem to have an assembled boiler, but there are a couple of issues remaining due to my lack of experience: they will show up in the pictures..... Preparing and fitting the four foundation ring pieces was not easy as I hadn't quite got a perfectly square aperture to put them in. I made the flanging plates and copper templates exactly to drawing but I still landed up oversize at one end. One piece was quite seriously tapered, and also the assembly doesn't lend itself to perfect connections! I was putting little bits of copper in all sorts of strange places..... Each piece is supported by two 1/8" rivets.  The first attempt at heating was aborted for two reasons: 1. The bricks were too high thus preventing effective heat transfer 2. The gas ran out half way through.......did you know you can upgrade your gas bottle from 3.9 kg to 6kg for just two quid?  Second attempt was more successful, although I will have to reheat tomorrow as there is just a chance that there is a small gap at the end of one of the pieces and one of the 'ears' isn't showing sufficient penetration. The two small deliberate mistakes in the backhead have been filled.....  At least the backhead doesn't look like a battlefield, unlike some that I have seen!! Bushes tomorrow, and then I will need some staying power! 
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Post by welshy on Nov 18, 2009 21:47:12 GMT
Looks like your really getting there jb, i'm impressed. Neat looking inner joints too.
Mike
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Post by Shawki Shlemon on Nov 19, 2009 7:28:44 GMT
I haven't been here for a day and missed this thread . I normally do the stays before the back plate and the foundation so that I can see the solder penetration . So far you have done a very good job , all the best with the stays .
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Post by mutley on Nov 19, 2009 10:56:00 GMT
I dont put either back head in until the stays are in. This enables you see penetration of the solder on the stays and get a gas torch inside the firebox to heat the ends of the stays inside the firebox.
Andy
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2009 11:05:26 GMT
Thanks Andy and Shawki, that's good advice: it's a pity LBSC didn't see fit to tell me that!
JB
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Post by mutley on Nov 19, 2009 12:07:43 GMT
One of the pit falls of following the words and music! There's a large amount of experince on this board and your clubs boiler inspector should have been able to advise you. However from your previous comment I cant help but wonder if he's ever built a boiler himself! When was the last time your boiler inspector looked at your assemblies?
My club boiler inspectors like to see the parts before they are assembled together, ie inner firebox with tube stack in place and outer wrapper joined to firebox outer and then again once the stays are in place.
You are going to have fun now getting flux onto the inside of the firebox wrappers for the solder to have a clean surface to flow and penetrate onto.
Andy
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2009 12:13:43 GMT
Andy
I can't help but agree with you over the W & M, but as I've said before, I don't know any better. To be fair to the boiler inspector he has seen the thing at the key stages.
I've just had a good tidy up in the workshop, and I found loads of rivets on the floor that had dropped out of the stays as I was trying to set them up: I didn't find the expletives that accompanied each one though!
I've decided to have a short rest from boilermaking, preferring to leave the bushes and stays till later. I've decided to do something easier, like mass producing globe valves....
Thanks for your advice and encouragement on the project, and your inputs might have set a record for this forum: 5,275 views and 154 replies. Mind you, Redmog's coming up fast!
JB
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Post by dickdastardly40 on Nov 19, 2009 12:46:42 GMT
Armchair non-expert observation (we all know ex means 'has been' and a spurt is a drip under pressure).
Would it be worth you while for you to low pressure test the boiler 'as-is' now (once plugged water tight) to assist you in deciding if it leaks like a sieve (I don't think it will) whether it is worth the added effort to do the stays or swallow your pride and warm through your cheque book on hot suction.
Just a suggestion from somebody who has never attempted to build a boiler. :-)
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Post by mutley on Nov 19, 2009 12:56:01 GMT
With the copper being as soft as it is I wouldnt. Even a few PSI on those large unsupported sides will make them bulge!
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Post by dickdastardly40 on Nov 19, 2009 14:04:27 GMT
Even a few PSI on those large unsupported sides will make them bulge! Fair point, I'll shut up now. |
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Post by jgb7573 on Nov 19, 2009 15:36:55 GMT
Hi Dickdastardly40 - don't shut up now. It's by asking such questions we all learn. "There's no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer!"
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