16mm IDRIS

Drilled the 2 bushes out tonight. Got em both pretty much spot on.

Fishing the end of the steam bush out was not easy. The pipe helped until I snapped it off....

New bushes made and if I can get the propane torch i'll solder them at the weekend.
Next edition of ME should be with us very soon

Soldered the 2 new side bushes in today. Much happier with the joints this time.
Water gauge bushes tomorrow.
I note there is no angle on the drawing for the bottom bush. I guess it at least needs to clear the fire tube.
I just hope it clears the frames wherever I put it.

Completed the Boiler Fittings today.
It's all reasonably good, not perfect.....
Need to clean it properly still. Another day !

Comming along well, just watch those two top bushes have sealed all round looks like you could have done with a little more heat on them as the solder has not quite flowed out.

J

Hi Jason.
Yer - looks a tad bad but they are soldered and soldered well with Silver Flow24.
I tried to fill the gap with EasyFlo2, that made a load of mess !
Fair bit of cleaning to do now....

Alex ... have you got somewhere locally to do a pressure test on the boiler ... probably to 80 P.S.I. ( about 5. 5 bar ) assuming the safety valve is set to 40 P.S.I.

martin

Hi Martin. We have the local Chelmsford Society of Model Engineers who I hope can help.
This is as you are aware my first attempt at a Boiler of any kind.
I'd like to know that it is safe to use before I apply any pressure to it.

Alex ... if it is tested by the Chelmsford society make sure they know it is a SMALL boiler ... much smaller than the 3 bar - litre sizes they may be used to .... the size of this one is approximately 0. 53 bar - litres ... i. e. pressure in bars times the volume in litres.

The test for small boilers is little more than a pressure test ... for a LARGE boiler it is much more complex.

Unless all the rules have changed recently ???

If you take the boiler to them it may be wise to have already made lots of blanking plugs to fill up all the threaded holes ... one of the holes will need an adaptor to match whatever pipework they use on their force pump.

hope all is O. K.

martin

Alex ... just a thought ... if you are taking the boiler to Chelmsford M.E. then would you consider asking someone there for some sulphuric acid ??? If you look at M.E. page 427, down at the bottom, there is a picture of my boiler straight out of the pickle ... no scraping or sand blasting needed, just a wipe over with a cloth ... the brown-pink colour is a very, very clean surface ... ideal for any extra silver soldering.

Safety precautions for handling acid are commonsense really ... old clothes, rubber gloves, glasses or goggles, do not rush anything ... always work with a large bucket of clean cold tap water handy ... turn off the TV or mobile phone !!! I have used old ice cream tubs and old cups from the kitchen for many years ... these happily hold the dilute acid with its item being pickled ... get a plastic funnel to pour the acid back into the container ... if you mix concentrated acid with water remember to add ACID TO WATER slowly .. never the other way round ... if you are interested I am sure someone there would give you some ideas.

New copy of ME arrived today
Also got around to ordering the stuff from Roundhouse. Have to say they were very helpful.

Martin: Do we get a drawing for the Check Valve ?

I'm wondering why every bit of metal I seem to have is not quite right.
I have 4 thicknesses of brass sheet to do the side plates, everything but 0.059" (1.5mm)
I also have Brass 1/4 square and 1/2 square bar, but no 1/4 X 1/2.

More Metal ordered.

Alex ... the easiest way to find brass bar 1/4 x 1/ 2 inch would be from KENNIONS in Epping ... the man on the phone is very helpful and their speed of posting is very fast ...www.glrkennions.co.uk ... possibly other suppliers would be able to help ... as regards the check valve ... well spotted ... I have made many. many similar valves over the years and the last time I actually drew a picture must be about 20 years ago ... the 2 important measurements are the lift of the ball off its seat and the diameter of the hole under the ball ... the rest depends on the particular model.

I have a typical drawing from a long time ago ... most of the sizes can be varied to suit the needs of any model ... all I have to solve is how to attach it to this message ... any ideas ?? cannot find a "paperclip" image or how to set up an "album" will go and ask God.

martin

Hi Martin. Thanks for the details on Kennions. I'd not found them before.
After a dig I found 1/4 X 1/2" steel. Not quite so easy to machine as brass. Once it's painted no one will ever know
As I also have 1/4 X1/4 steel i'll probably use that for the other frame bars.
Soft Soldering steel I have done so no issues there either.

I have ordered a 2 KG pack of Brass Sheet offcuts and a 12" sheet of 1.5mm brass.
The offcuts packs are great. You get a lot of varying thicknesses and it's all usable sizes. it's rare to get anything with a dimension less than 100mm.

To attach drawings or pictures to the forum is a bit of a fiddle.
In the "Albums" Section, "Add New Photo's," create an album and add the drawing. I'm not sure which formats are allowed.
Once you have added the image to an album you can use the Camera icon in the forum to attach it to the forum.

I plan to use Metric threads for the Frames. I have metric taps an dies from M2 - M12. I also have loads of metric fastners I have no BA fastners and a set of 2,4,6,8 and 10 BA taps n dies. They are a bit cheap n nasty tbh.

Alex.

Alex ... thanks for your tip on "albums" ... so far no success ... nothing shows up as happening ... no indication of what I am trying to send ... will go and ask god ... see if she knows ... sledgehammer is twitching in hand ... will let you know.

martin

Martin, have a read of this how to

JPEG only for albums.

Neil

Alex ( and Neil ) ... SWMBO has assisted by prising the sledgehammer out of my hand and can understand what is required ... hopefully there are now 2 sketches included that you can see ... one is a typical drawing of a check valve and one is the actual valve fitted to IDRIS ... I made this one and did not measure anything ... I just got stuck on automatic mode and built it ... shows what an old dinosaur I am ... anyway back to the 21st century, these should be of some use to you ... let me know if anything else is needed.

Hi Martin.
Just what I needed.
I have also now worked out what the "Check Valve" does. It's to inject water into the boiler. I was a tad Puzzled.

The Ball - stainless steel That I don't have. I do however have Glass Balls that are 3mm dia used in Bearings.
Comments on suitability welcome.
I guess that means I will be making a lil water pump as well. That'll be interesting.

Nice package turned up from Roundhouse today. Gauge, Safety valve, Axles and Wheels. I have to agree that Making the wheels is gona be a lot of work !

Alex,

where are you buying your brass offcuts from please?

SGS Metals. They sell on Ebay.
I have used them before and had great service at a fair price. Opinions may vary !
£5 per KG of Brass Offcuts. + £2 postage per kg.
If you buy stuff they usually waive the postage costs- ask them to recalculate before you pay !

Their business is Door and other metal architectural fittings.

Their brass sheet is polished 1 side and comes with a film. Offcuts may be damaged sections they can't use.
The back may not be 'Pristine' but is seldom badly marked.

Many thanks Alex, I've book marked then for future use...