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Post by Bill Holland on Oct 16, 2012 18:35:50 GMT -5
Looking good!
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Post by kvom on Oct 21, 2012 16:38:26 GMT -5
Here's the (slow) progress on the steam dome/throttle. Made the lid, tapped the holes, and bored the hole for the throttle rod. Mock-up assembly: Tried to SS the brass flange again today using black flux and my little oxy-a torch, and still couldn't get it hot enough. Arggh! Will try again with the large torch at the club later on.
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Post by kvom on Nov 13, 2012 23:01:39 GMT -5
Made a little progress the past few days despite lots of other distractions. First little job was attaching the number plate to the smokebox door. Soldered a little piece of round brass rod to the rear, drilled and tapped 10-32 to match the door, and attached with a set screw and a jam nut. Second task was a complete remake of the reversing bar assembly. The 3/4" scale setup for the latch did not scale well, so I came up with this design for the lever and locking bar. I'll wait to locate the notches on the quadrant before repainting it. Final job of the day was making two nuts for locking the crank to the spindle of the throttle valve. The spindle is threaded M6x.05, , not an easy size to find locally where all M6 fasteners at 1mm pitch. It seems to be a good idea to try to use stainless for stuff in the steam dome, so I decided to make two nuts for SS316. I found and ordered a 5.5mm drill and a tap online. Since I had some 1/4" 316 bar, I drilled and machined the nuts on the CNC mill. The nuts will take a 3/8" wrench rather than 10mm. After freeing and facing to size manually, they do fit the valve. The fit is pretty loose, whether due to the drill bit or the tap (both imports). They should still work well enough though. I also tremade the crank in 316.
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Post by kvom on Nov 20, 2012 16:41:17 GMT -5
Some more halting progress. Made the first part of the 2-piece throttle reach rod from 1/4" 303 stainless, then a brass pin to connect it to the valve spindle crank. The assembly is retained by a small stainless latch pin as show in the pic. The through hole in the brass was drilled with a #56 drill, the smallest hole I can ever remember drilling. While no visible in the photo, each end of the rod was milled flat half way through the diameter to provide a better mating surface. The second part of the rod will be identical to the first, except its length will be determined by the size and position of the turret when made.
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Post by kvom on Dec 9, 2012 17:15:19 GMT -5
Thanks to a friend from our club, my steam dome is now welded up on the boiler. I need to grind the welds and paint. With the flange mount for the throttle tube, I'll have some trouble with a dome cover, but I do have a few ideas that way. I also bought material to make a rolling stand for the loco and tender, mainly 1" square thick wall tube. Started by welding up the pads for the casters. Not pretty welds, but they should hold together.
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Post by kvom on Dec 13, 2012 16:54:51 GMT -5
Got the throttle pipe and flange silver soldered together this week using the large oxy-a torch at the club. Now I need to determine the length of the tube and solder another flange on the other end to connect to the turret. In the meantime, I did a bit more on the rolling stand, welding the lengthwise parts of the base and bolting on the 4" casters: The long span won't support a huge amount of weight without bending, so there will need to be some "trussing" to make everything solid, even though the loco and tender together will weigh less than 300 lbs. Cleaned out the truck bed this afternoon, so I can mount the carry board and measure the height of the rails on the truck. Then will shoot for the same height with the stand.
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Post by kvom on Dec 19, 2012 16:41:27 GMT -5
More work on the rolling stand, which is now a monorail. My material calculations were off by one stick of 1" tube. Should get another later this week. Found out that I was not cut out to be a welder. My order from Locoparts came in this week, including the water glass, so I'll need to locate/drill/tap the backhead, always a nerve-wracking task.
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Post by kvom on Dec 23, 2012 19:12:34 GMT -5
Finished up welding the stand, and moved the loco and tender chassis onto it: Now a better measurement of the total connected length shows that they will just fit on my truck carry board without hitting the truck toolbox. Even with the tender on the stand, the 8' rail length allows over a full turn of the drivers. I also drilled the hole for the water gauge in the boiler backhead. Wanting to make a straight hole, I came up with the idea of super-gluing a drill bushing onto the backhead. Good idea in theory, but the bond was not strong enough to hold once I started drilling. However, by keeping the bushing on the drill and against the backhead using magnets, the hole looks to be pretty d**n perpendicular. Now if only I can find my 1/8 NPT tap. I located the hold by measuring the top of the crownsheet through the top bushing, and then drew a line across using a sharpie. Then a second line at the level that made the bottom of the glass 1/2" above the first line. Finally over the left so that the fire door won't hit the gauge.
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Post by kvom on Dec 27, 2012 12:19:13 GMT -5
Got the backhead tapped for the water gauge and mounted it for a look see. Also cut gaskets for the throttle tube and the top for the dome, and did a trial fit. I originally planned the two bushing on the top for the turret and the water gauge, but now that the throttle pipe will be attached to the turret and under steam pressure, I have one for a different purpose. Might make sense to use one for the pressure gauge rather then attaching it to the turret. I made this adapter from some 9/16 hex brass bar. 1/8-NPT male on one end and counterbored 5/16 on the other. This will be used to connect 5/16 tube to the elbow for the water glass. Took less than 15 minutes to make on the lathe. Seems I can save a few $ making this type of fitting vs. buying at the hardware store. I don't have any suitable material for making the turret as yet. Looking for some brass 1.5" square bar about 4" long. I ordered some 5/16 straight copper tube that will be used for the blower line inside the hollow boiler stay, and a coil of 5/16 tube for the rest of the piping from Mcmaster. Seems to me I could start by doing the water feed from planned quick disconnects (to be purchased) to the injectors and thence to the boiler check valves. The rest will need to wait until I can make the turret.
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Post by kvom on Dec 29, 2012 19:34:22 GMT -5
Having sourced a pair of Parker quick-disconnect couplings for the tender water supply hoses, I set out today to make the brackets that attach these to the frame. Kozo specified two different lengths (p. 193, drawing 33-11), but seeing no real reason for this I made both the same as the right side dimensions. The first step was using the CNC mill to drill the holes and mill the profiles. Stock is CRS 1.25x1x2.5". The two sides are mirror images as the rear of the brackets are to be tapped 1/8NPT, and the front soldered to 5/16 tube. Next to the BP to tap one side. I really like the spring-loaded tapping follower; ensures the tap goes in straight. Then I cut the two pieces apart on the bandsaw and then milled off the remaining bottom stock, and drilled the mounting hole for the 1/4' screw. The brackets are mounted using the rear screw that also fastens the grill support rails. On the left side, there's nothing to get in the way: On the right side the ash pan latch will be directly below the coupling with the brake pedal directly above, but it looks as if it should be OK. My tender outlets are threaded 1/4NPT, so I'll need two different sets of hose barbs. I'll probably use 1/4" ID hose.
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Post by Ed Hume on Dec 30, 2012 11:40:08 GMT -5
Very nice machining on the brackets.
Will the steel be in constant contact with water and the brass? I am wondering if there is a possible galvanic corrosion problem. I'm not experienced with this as a practical matter, I'm just aware that contacting different metals with water can create an electrochemical cell.
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Post by kvom on Dec 30, 2012 18:18:08 GMT -5
Got the same message on another forum. Being warned that my steel brackets are liable to rust and foul the injectors, I came up with a plan to save the day. I drilled/reamed the brackets to .368 (T size), then turned/drilled/tapped these sleeves from some brass rod. The sleeves will be soldered to the copper tube as well as the brackets.
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Post by Ed Hume on Dec 30, 2012 23:10:51 GMT -5
People who accomplish things understand the old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention."
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Post by kvom on Jan 1, 2013 21:53:50 GMT -5
First part of 2013. There was a nice NYE getogether at the club, where I picked a few members' brains on soldering the piping. Seems the black flux needs too high a temperature for soldering copper/brass tube using the silver-bearing solder; I need zinc chloride. I looked it up on the net, and hunted for a local source. Seems I might want "Rubyfluid liquid", that should be available at a hardware store not too far away. We'll see tomorrow. I'll also need some 1/8" copper tube for the siphon and piping the lubricator. I'll have a lookout for that too. In the meantime, since everything is closed on Jan 1, and it was raining all day, it was a good day for shop time. I made this coupling for the pressure gauge and siphon. I bought the gauge online from a fellow steamer, so hopefully it will work properly. It's threaded 1/4NPT, so my coupling is tapped to match and drilled though 1/8" for the siphon tube.
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Post by kvom on Jan 8, 2013 17:56:59 GMT -5
Got in some fittings from McMaster, so made a start on the tender water piping. Screwed in these elbows (1/4NPT to 5/16 compression, and after placing the tank onto the frame discovered that the end of the compression fitting is about an inch too high, so that the front of the tender frame blocks it. So I'll need a coupling of some sort to lower it. A simple straight barb wouldn't work as the supply tube would hit the wheels. Same problem with turning the elbows to face inwards. I also found a 6' coil of 1/8 copper tube with some fittings for sale at Autozone (brand name Sunpro). The fittings allow 1/8NPT male or female, so I plan to use these for the siphon rather than soldering. My tubing cutter is too large to cut this, and a coping saw doesn't work much better. Found I coud cut it cleaner with scissors. I also wanted to replace the brake assembly on the chassis, only to find that the rails get in the way. The only way to install them is from the bottom with the drivers in the air. Ordered a chunk of brass to make the turret, so if I can get that build I can get serious on the piping.
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