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Post by alanstepney on May 3, 2006 14:48:55 GMT
LG2 or LG4 will work OK.
In fact, it isnt that critical which grade you use.
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Post by Nexuas on May 3, 2006 15:20:09 GMT
That's good as I have done a fair amount of the fittings in this...
Slightly off topic, but where is the best(cheapest) place to buy copper for boiler making? 3mm plate and tube... And also the best place to get silver solder and flux?
Cheers
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Post by alanstepney on May 4, 2006 2:14:27 GMT
It depends. If you want complete sheets, bars etc, any of the non-ferrous suppliers. I use Smiths metal (used to be Smithc of Clerkenwell), see: www.smithmetal.com/smc/index.htmIf you happen to live near one of their branches, (or that of any other non ferrous stoockists) getting friendly with them and rummaging in their oddments can be rewarding! If you only want short lengths of bar / tube or part sheet, then the usual ME suppliers, albeit at a higher cost. |
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Post by Jo on May 4, 2006 14:35:03 GMT
nexaus,
My own preference Is to get a friend to go down to Southampton Docks and get it directly from the importers. I Paid £55 for a 6ft * 4ft sheet of 16 SWG Brass last year. As for copper I recall paying £60 for the same sized sheet of 1/8th copper about 10 years ago. But you have to collect it.
FLux/silver solder: Horses for courses. I use Polly for Flux and EKP for Silver solder. But you need to watch out for the cadnium free C**P. One of the club members brought a lot of Easy flow direct from Johnson Matthey which worked out at a good price, but large minimum order.
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Post by Nexuas on May 4, 2006 16:37:23 GMT
I will be ordering from Edward's metals in Birmingham, these were recomended by a friend of my dad's and they worked out over £200 cheaper than Reeves' for the same stuff they even do Easy flo2 and flux etc... Only down side will be that I have to wait a week to recieve it. But that is not too much of a problem as I am working all weekend and so will have no time to do anything with it even if it arrives earlier.
All boiler tubes/barrel/plate for firebox/riviets/solder and flux came to less than £300. I was expecting to pay this just for the copper...
Just need to order some flashback arrestors for the oxy/accetalene set and I think I will have everything I need to produce the boiler...
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Post by modeng2000 on May 9, 2006 7:07:39 GMT
I am now getting round to making the bushes for my boiler and I would like to know if there is a technique for fitting bushes to a curved surface such as the side of the boiler. The boiler diameter is 64mm so with a bush of say 12mm dia the boiler curvature means the bust only touches the surface in two places.
John
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Post by baggo on May 9, 2006 9:19:00 GMT
Normal practice is to just use a plain turned bush which as you say will leave a gap under the flange on two sides of the bush. This shouldn't be a problem as the gap is usually hidden by the boiler cladding and insulation. It would be difficult, if not well nigh impossible, to machine the underside of the flange to match the curvature of the tube with the spigot that fits in the hole in the barrel in place. The only easy way to do this would be to make the bush in two pieces i.e. make the spigot seperate from the flange. The underside of the flange could then be machined or filed to fit the curve of the barrel and then bored out to take a seperate spigot to fit the hole. The whole lot would be silver soldered together when the bush is fitted to the barrel. Incidently, there is a very nice website by a Japanese enthusiast about building 'William' which has some good photos of his boiler during construction: ww3.tiki.ne.jp/~hwata/e-Wiltop.htmJohn |
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Post by modeng2000 on May 9, 2006 10:38:03 GMT
Thanks for the web link John.
I guess that silver solder would fill the gap if it was of the type that can form a fillet. I don't fancy making the bush in two parts.
John
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Post by Nexuas on May 9, 2006 11:30:31 GMT
A useful link as his photo diary shows a lot of useful information, although I am a little alarmed that he seamed to use BRASS bolts in the boiler construction.
I will be printing this off to help with some of the stages of the boiler I plan to build...
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Post by modeng2000 on May 9, 2006 13:06:32 GMT
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Post by baggo on May 9, 2006 16:16:58 GMT
I think he only used a few brass screws to hold the throatplate in position before silver soldering. As the joint would have a large area and the screws would probably finish up covered with solder, there probably wouldn't be a problem. If it was me, I would use bronze or gunmetal screws to be on the safe side, certainly for securing the boiler backplate before soldering. Another problem with brass screws is that there's a chance the screws may melt during the soldering operation!
On a similar topic, I know a lot of people use brass for boiler fittings such as water gauges but I've read some horror stories where such fittings have broken or disintegrated on removal due to severe corrosion. It probably depends on the grade of brass used, some being more suitable than others. I think I will be tempted to use bronze or gunmetal for the fittings on my next boilers.
John
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Post by chameleonrob on May 9, 2006 19:24:31 GMT
using brass for boiler fittings was recommended to me because if you over tighten bronze fitting in a bronze bush you could very easily damage the bush, which would be much harder to repair plus if you need to remove the fitting often (eg safety valves to fill the boiler) the bush will wear less.
rob
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Post by Nexuas on May 10, 2006 7:48:26 GMT
using brass for boiler fittings was recommended to me because if you over tighten bronze fitting in a bronze bush you could very easily damage the bush, which would be much harder to repair plus if you need to remove the fitting often (eg safety valves to fill the boiler) the bush will wear less. rob However electroloysis will occur between the copper, the water and the brass, causing the loss of the zinc from the brass alloy which leaves a soft hollow mess which can fail under boiler pressure... |
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Post by modeng2000 on May 10, 2006 20:24:35 GMT
John, When I first went to this web site - ww3.tiki.ne.jp/~hwata/e-Wiltop.htm - it was in English but now all I get is Japanese characters. Is it the same for you or am I doing something wrong? John |
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Post by baggo on May 11, 2006 0:03:12 GMT
Hi John,
I've just tried it myself. It was alright until I refreshed the page then I got the same as you. Obviously the original pages were still stored in the web browser cache. I hope it's not gone forever as it was a very good site with a lot of useful information. I'll keep trying it and see what happens. It could just be a server problem.
John
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Post by GWRdriver on May 11, 2006 1:09:27 GMT
Most people do as Baggo has described in his first sentence, but if you wished to have the bush head flush to the curvature all around one way to do this would be to counterbore the shell to the OD of the bush head creating segments of a "seat" side and side in the hole which the head will sink into. The shell curvature then surrounds the bush head and it's flush all around. A second way would be to turn the bush virtually the same diameter its full length except for a few thou' step in the OD to act as a stop as it's pressed in. Those few thou' are as good as 1/8" when it comes to pressing in.
I always drill or bore the holes in my copper first, before turning bushings, because you never know precisely what hole size you will be left with until its done. I then turn the bushings to a light press fit for their individual holes and then I don't have to worry about them falling out in the midst of a heat.
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Post by modeng2000 on May 11, 2006 5:56:08 GMT
I have just noticed that the web site comes up with a block of Japanese characters together with the words 'not found' so I guess there must be a problem.
Thanks for that Harry. As you have probably guessed, I am still a picking up the tips needed to end up with an acceptable looking boiler without compromising the safety aspect.
John
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Post by greasemonkey on May 11, 2006 8:32:22 GMT
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Post by baggo on May 11, 2006 10:29:33 GMT
Hi Andy,
Thanks for posting that. I never even knew such an archive existed!
John
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Post by modeng2000 on May 11, 2006 13:23:26 GMT
Thanks from me as well Andy.
There is always something new to learn!
John
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