# PMR Horizontal Boiler - A Riveting Build



## Sshire (Aug 23, 2013)

Now I get it. Building a boiler consists of drilling an infinite number of holes, which are then filled with an infinite number of rivets, which then results in the boilermaker running to the the nearest bar and ordering an infinite number of boilermakers.

I've never riveted before and, after the last two days, I don't think I want to repeat the exercise. Not that it's difficult and the instructions from PM Research are excellent. It's really, really boring and I'm hoping that after I get LOTS of paint on it, my crappy Riveting 101 exercise won't look too bad.

The horizontal boiler kit from PM Research is excellent. Quality castings. Everything you need, including stock to make the tools, is included.





Here are the riveting tools. Simple lathe work. Since they look identical on the bench, I "numbered" them with 1,2 and 3 grooves. The riveting dolly is in the anvil, a piece of 3/4"x 2" x 12" CRS (just about the only thing not included.)





Drilling and riveting pictures will now commence.

The drilling and milling template from the plans is taped around the shell. This saved much layout.





Fitting the tube sheets to a slip fit. Yesterday I didn't even know what a tube sheet was, now I'm fitting them.





Drilling the outlet hole for the steam dome.





Deburring the rivet holes for the tube sheets.





Milling the shell









Drilled and milled





The steam dome. One hole is drilled and riveted to hold position. then a second hole is also drilled and riveted. With the parts now fixed in place, the remainder of the holes are drilled.









More holes for more rivets.









It's like building a ship in a bottle.





Next installment - End sheet riveting if you can stand the suspense.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 23, 2013)

Very nice work Stan, and another thing I have never done. That steam dome looks an awful lot like the hat that the mad hatter wore in "Alice in Wonderland".----Brian


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## Swifty (Aug 23, 2013)

Looks great Stan, I have never made a boiler before, are the rivets the only thing holding it together and sealing the joints, or does it get soldered as well?

Paul.


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## Sshire (Aug 23, 2013)

It does, Brian. I may have a lot in common with him before I finish riveting.

Paul
It's also soldered. They even included flux and solder.


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## Sshire (Aug 24, 2013)

Another day, another rivet

I had decided to drill the hole in the dome after riveting to insure that I had it aligned with the hole previously drilled in the shell for the water level sight glass. There is also a hole 180 degrees from this one on the dome for the pressure gauge. I found the center of the hole in the shell and then carried that across to the dome.





To insure that things were square when drilling, I used the milled out portion against a square.





Clamped, supported, center drilled and then drilled.





Thinking that it might be a good idea to fit the tubes prior to my next bout of riveting, I mounted the 3 jaw, took very light cuts, moved to a file and then wet/dry paper until I had a nice fit. Repeat for both ends of five tubes.









Test fit. All seems well.





To set the plates at the depth indicated on the drawings, I cut a piece of tubing from the plumbing parts box and kept fiddling with the length until I arrived at the correct depth. The tubing also provided a flat surface so that the sheet was level for marking.





As before, drill a hole, rivet to hold position, repeat at 180 degrees. Then all holes can be drilled.





Centered the Y axis to insure that the holes were drilled straight, then unlock vise, locate hole, drill, repeat for 20 holes.





And one end done. One to go tomorrow.





Hanging it up for the evening.





Best
Stan


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 24, 2013)

Stan--What a really great thread!!! I have always kind of wondered exactly how these model boilers were built, and your pictures make it very clear. Thank you for posting this.---Brian


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## aonemarine (Aug 24, 2013)

Stan, i would really like to see the steps involved for setting the rivits.


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## Sshire (Aug 24, 2013)

I'll do more detailed riveting picks on the next end plate


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## Sshire (Aug 24, 2013)

Brian
Glad you like it. I'm just trying to give back a small percentage of what I've learned here. When I began this model engineering stuff about 2 years ago, this was my primary learning source. John Moore's (Bogstandard) excellent instructional posts along with Arnold B and many others taught me so much.

Best
Stan


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## Sshire (Aug 25, 2013)

More banging

On to the end plates.
The drawings give the dimension for the recess of the end plates. After juggling a plate and the depth mike, I decided to mill a proper spacer to get the correct depth for prick punching the plate.
A square 6061 bar that will rest on the previously riveted plate.









Now, with the plate resting squarely on the spacer, marking it was not a problem.





Then center drill and &#8539;" drill for the first hole.





Deburring 





With the spacer bar in place, rivet is placed in the hole and the opposite hole is marked









Then remove the rivets and spacer bar and replace the rivets.





Then I can check the depth of the plate and mark and drill for rivet #3.





Now, Riveting 101. 

Disclaimer: I had never done a rivet (other than a pop rivet) until a few days ago. The following is what I know from the PMR instructions and setting 70+ rivets. I'm quite sure that there may be a better, more efficient way to do this and comments are encouraged. 

Important: If you don't have one of these hearing protectors and you are going to rivet; get a pair. Not expensive and will keep your ears from ringing and from a (hopefully temporary) high frequency hearing loss. Also, I don't need to say this here but, banging on the end of steel rods over and over and over could cause a metal fragment to chip off. Safety glasses please.





This is the anvil and rivet dolly. The preformed head of the rivet rests here while you mercilessly beat  the other end. Clamped in a bench vise and then a c-clamp to clamp down the other end to prevent tipping.









First is Tool #1. The hole is deeper than the rivet length. Its function is to bang the sheets together and tighten everything against the rivet head in the dolly.





Tool #2 is the "swaging" tool. The hole is about ½ the length of the rivet stem. Banging on this causes the exposed portion of the rivet to belly out, locking it in position and filling the hole.





Then forming the head with a small ball pein hammer. 









Final step is Tool #3 which smoothes and shapes the rivet head.









Riveting completed.





Next is making the flaring tool for the 5 tubes.There are two of these on a threaded rod. The end with the 45 degree chamfer flares the tube and the other end presses the flare down flat onto the end sheet.

The kit came with a short piece of hex bar which is to be cut in half and each machined to make the tools. Short pieces and the bandsaw don't do well. I've mounted a small drill press vise on a ½" plate to put in the bandsaw vise but that was not quite making it. I've now found another use for 5C collets.









Some turning, drilling and tapping and we have a tool. Another followed.









Hopefully, tomorrow will see the tubes flared, the boiler cleaned up and, if all goes well, soldering.

Best
Stan


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## Sshire (Aug 27, 2013)

On to setting and flaring the boiler tubes.
The drawing shows the tubes at 8" long (assuming you have set the end sheets at the correct depth) with 1/16" stickup at each end for flaring. I measured and, astoundingly, the 8" length will be correct.

After milling one tube to length, I set up a table stop and made quick work of the other four.





The high helix end mill did a nice job on the copper tubing.





A brief detour to make the stays and the stay nuts













Another brief detour to drill a hole in the steam dome top. Note the precise leveling setup.





Now, on to the tubes. All cleaned and ready.





Both ends stick out about this much.





The flaring tool is mounted with the taper in each end of the tube.





A wrench at one end and a 3/4" socket in a ratchet at the other and both ends are flared.





Now both ends of the tool are turned to the spigot side and more turning and ratcheting.













So the boiler is now ready for soldering.


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## wagnmkr (Aug 27, 2013)

Stan, Thank You for such an informative thread. You are taking some of the mystery out of boiler making. I am still no where ready to try one, but at least I know it is possible.

Thanks

Tom


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## Sshire (Aug 27, 2013)

Tom
My first boiler. It was all a mystery to me also. The PMR kit and excellent instructions were the key. Keep trying new things. You'll be surprised. I know I am.


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## aonemarine (Aug 27, 2013)

A very informative build! Makes me want to order up one of the kits and have at it.  Nice work Stan.


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## Jtrain (Aug 28, 2013)

Very nice build, great photos.  But I am confused as to the five flue tubes, I would have thought they should be at the bottom of the boiler, and the stay bolts at the top under the steam dome.  
John


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## Sshire (Aug 28, 2013)

Correct. I'm working that out now.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 29, 2013)

Stan--You didn't did you? I have seen the way you referred to this build in your latest post about the PMR pump.---Brian


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## Sshire (Aug 29, 2013)

Brian
I absolutely did.
There is a lengthy series of posts about it (and the solution) at MEM


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## Philjoe5 (Aug 29, 2013)

Nice work Stan.  Very informative and your photography is up to your usual standards.  Thanks for documenting this build

Cheers,
Phil


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## Diversion900 (Sep 1, 2013)

Interesting build so far Stan, would love to see how you worked through the solution.

What is MEM, and where do I find these posts ?

Cheers Neil


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## Sshire (Sep 1, 2013)

After thinking through all of the suggestions here and on MEM
www.modelenginemaker.com
I decided that the best solution for me, from both a time and safety view, was a call to PMR to order a new shell, end plates and steam dome. Two days later it was here.


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## aonemarine (Sep 2, 2013)

aww crap man, I didnt see it until it was pointed out...


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## Sshire (Sep 2, 2013)

Stuff happens, but then it's done and we move on. 
I didn't see it either (until I got a PM that said "I think your end plates are upside down")


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## old-and-broken (Sep 2, 2013)

Now that you are not needing the first boiler body.  You could give "milling the heads of the rivets off" a try, and see how well the endplates  match up with the rivet holes when all is rotated 180 degrees.  It would make an excellent practice piece for soldering(caulking) practice.


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## Sshire (Sep 2, 2013)

That is my intention. I'm so used to silver solder that I need to back off on the heat, etc. so a practice boiler will be useful.


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## Orrin (Sep 5, 2013)

Stan, are my eyes playing tricks on me?  I thought I saw you attaching the steam dome with layout blue sandwiched between the boiler shell and the dome.  

If I am correct, I'm wondering how soldering will pan out.  Surfaces should be scrupulously clean before soldering.  Therefore, shouldn't they be cleaned before assembling with rivets?

Please excuse me if I'm mistaken.  

Regards,
Orrin


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## Sshire (Sep 5, 2013)

Hope you didn't miss the thrilling "I riveted the end plates on upside down" episode. You are correct. That boiler is on the shelf and the new one is progressing. In addition to cleaning meticulously, I've fluxed before riveting this time. Thanks for noticing. First boiler. Learning a lot.


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## skyline1 (Sep 5, 2013)

Stan,

I know how you feel,   boilermaking will either drive you "to the nearest bar for an infinite number of boilermakers" or you with a great boiler and divorce papers pending citing "neglect, he's run off with another woman and she's made of copper"

"an infinte number of holes, an infinite number of rivets" and an infinite number of ways to screw it up

And to really rub it in you are working with copper, which is expensive, does not like to be drilled, and REALLY does not like being threaded

As a fellow sufferer I sympathise but so far you are doing great (I too have written off  some pretty pricey bits of material)

Regards Mark


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## Sshire (Sep 11, 2013)

Back on Track

The recovery is complete. We now return you to your regularly scheduled boiler build.

Ready to go. This time with the end plates correctly oriented.





Although I won't show steps that I've already covered here, some refinements for your viewing pleasure.

I turned an internal spacer for the dome. 





It's also used with a mill stop to fix the dome cap in position until a few rivets are in to hold it.





With the first two holes drilled, I'm ready for the rivets. Per Jo's instructions, I'm fluxing as I go. (Yes, I did remove the Dykem blue as soon as I took this pic.





After riveting, cleaning, more flux and soldering, I did (also thanks to Jo) leak testing as I went. No leaks here. FYI. I spoke with PMR about what kind of solder is supplied. It is Harris Stay Brite. 96% Tin, 4% silver.





Next, the dome was drilled for three threaded bushings. I wired them in place with iron florist wire. The grey stuff around the bushing is anti-flux to keep things a bit cleaner.





I heated the outside and applied the solder on the inside of the dome. It flowed through very nicely.





My addendum to PMR's template. My attempt at not doing anything stupid this time around.





On the original shell, I wasn't happy with the setup for holding the tube for drilling and milling. This is much better. Rock solid. A cold rolled round, both ends flattened and clamped solidly to the table.









Lining up the ends plates VERY CAREFULLY this time.





Another height gauge to position the plate.





And a few clamps to keep it in place until a few rivets are in.





A double-check. Bang on.





I remembered on the first build, that the rivets were a PITA to get through the drilled holes. A .125 reamer in a pin vise solved that issue.





The rest of the riveting proceeded as before.

With the shell riveting done, I moved to the chimney casting.

You may have read the "Boring Question" thread. With a great deal of help and suggestions, I followed Steamer's procedure for making an expansion mandrel to hold the casting. Thanks, Dave!
But before I could do that, I needed to bore the casting to fit the chimney.

Taking no chances, I made a V block for the angle plate, one clamp on the inside of the casting, and two more to prevent any rotation.









Indicated the bore.





Other than making sure that it worked, I'd never REALLY used the Bridgeport's auto quill-feed. 
I set the movement at the lowest feed of .001 per revolution. WOW! it's very spooky watching that.

A short film.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PsUkBCpXCo[/ame]

And, a perfect sliding fit.





With that done, I could now finish the mandrel.
Turned a some 6061 to slightly over the ID of the casting.





Drilled and tapped ¼ NPT.





Two cuts through, front to back at 90 degrees for the expansion slots, then back to the lathe to turn down to just under the ID. This was with the ¼ NPT plug in place. 

On like it's welded.






I had some excellent suggestions to set an interrupted cut to a radius in the drawing. (See the "Boring Question" thread). In the end, I just put a piece of plate in the vise and "scratched" the surface with the boring head. Measured, moved the boring bar out based on the reading and hit it dead on in three tries.





Then, centering the mandrel on the Y axis.





And making the cut with the auto feed






Another video of this op.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqBrOTPCQ5w&feature=c4-overview&list=UUtv2FL7ehRo9CV-vt2kPlWw[/ame]

It fits!





Starting to look like it could be a boiler.





Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get the tubes and stays in place and soldered.

Thanks for being patient while I got back on track.


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## skyline1 (Sep 12, 2013)

looks very much like a boiler to me,

I love your steam dome nice close rivets 

a quick flash with the torch (plenty of flux) get it to good red and a quick few dabs of Easy Flo,

JOB JOBBED

Nice clean joints (like yours)  and the silver solder will suck itself  in  ( high S to B factor , family forum so P.M. if you don't know the expression)

Carry on boiler baking you'll get there


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## Sshire (Sep 20, 2013)

Got the hydro test done yesterday. No leaks!! Held pressure.


Water tank and Displacement Lubricator

Since the water tank and displacement lubricator are accessories for the boiler, I decided to put the build here. If you guys think I should also post them as separate builds, I can do that.

The tank shell and bottom are exactly the same size as the boiler and end plates. Good thinking by PMR. The shell is soft soldered inside the shell. Sorry, didn't take pix.

The base casting almost fit inside the tank shell, but needed a bit of reduction in girth. Onto the 3 jaw and quick work to make a good fit.













Two holes are drilled, 180 degrees apart, for screws to attach the shell to the casting.





And one hole for the ¼-40 bushing which will be soldered in. Note the soldered-in tank bottom.





Then mounting holes are drilled in the base casting.





As usual, I thought the tank top looked "unfinished." A decorative ring for the top started with marking out and cutting a rough circle in 6061 plate.









Then, using one of Bogs' techniques, I taped the back of the plate to get some friction against the chuck jaws. 





A live center for pressure and light cuts to true up the outside of the circle.





Then, with the outside diameter true (enough), I clamped the disk in the 3 jaw and used my biggest bi-metal hole saw to hack out the center.





The boring bar cleaned up the hole to the diameter I wanted.





Using a round over bit, I rounded one side, flipped the disk around and did the other side.





And finished up with this. Much happier with the top now.





Still haven't decided on paint or polish for the copper.

Bogs to the rescue again. John sent me some of his classic CoC drawings of displacement lubricators.

Cleaning up a 0.6250" brass rod.





Drilled nearly all the way to the bottom and tapped 3/8" deep.









Bling in progress





After threading a ¼" pipe ¼-40 at both ends, a 1mm hole is drilled. This is the cross pipe and the hole is to admit oil.





The cross pipe is soldered in and a top with o-ring is made. I really have to improve my knurling.
I do know about calculating the diameter for knurling and will probably remake the top.









Now, tomorrow its back to the boiler firebox and associated castings.

Stay tuned.


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## Sshire (Sep 21, 2013)

*Closing in*

Most of the morning was spent with wet/dry paper, emery cloth, buffing wheels and files, but I have the shell to a point where I'm happy with it.





Too much time was spent removing my excesses of solder around the steam dome.  With various files, I managed to remove the solder. In fact, I prefer the term "fettling" to "filing." It's so Dickensian. "Mr. Cratchett! When you finish with those accounts, there's fettling to be done."

So, onto the firebox castings.

The doors were put in position and marked where they would need fettling. There is not much to do as the castings are first rate and fit fairly well.





The hinges will need a good rounding over also.





So off to Oliver to fettle.





A few fettles later





A few minutes more with Oliver and the fitting is finished.





Drilling the 1/16" holes for the hinge pins. I had the bit as far out of the chuck as was possible and managed 3 hinges deep.





Fortunately, in one of my few moments of thinking ahead, I had ordered a few 1/16" aircraft drills. Obviously for a very tiny aircraft.





BTW, the casting couldn't be inverted to do this. A lip at the top extends out further then the hinge pin position.

I did manage the top three holes with a thou-over reamer because the 1/16" brass rod for the hinge pins seemed too tight. The bottom hole just made it with the reamer in a pin vise and hand turning. Now it's a light press fit.





It looks like I should be able to fit the firebox upper doors and rear casting machining and drilling  tomorrow if all goes well. We may have a test fit, all together then.


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## skyline1 (Sep 21, 2013)

Hi Stan

It seems as though boilermaking hasn't driven you completely potty and your boiler is lovely.

What pressure is it to run at ?

Those firebox door hinges look a bit tricky.

A quick pic of a bit of riveting done by a better boilermaker than me (my Dad) these are 1/16" rivets in 1/16" M.S. Plate.  How he got into those corners heaven knows 





Regards Mark


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## Sshire (Sep 21, 2013)

Mark
Your Dad's riveting shows that he's done far more of that than I will ever do. 
The corner rivets must have been done with a dolly purpose-made for them. Amazing.
Actually, the hinge leaves are in the casting and just required some cleanup and drilling. I did run a DTI up the front and side before drilling to make sure that the holes would run true.
The holes for the doors are secured in position and use the previously drilled holes as guides. So, hopefully, all will align.


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## Sshire (Sep 22, 2013)

As I was putting in the door hinge pins, it occurred to me that I have, at this point, a working boiler. Needs a lot of finishing; paint, some other odds and ends (or bits and bobs), but it could actually make steam.
It does.th_wav

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iJ0meOOqEQ[/ame]


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## Brian Rupnow (Sep 22, 2013)

Stan--That is just too Kool for School!!! Very nice!!!----Brian


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## Herbiev (Sep 22, 2013)

Well done Stan.


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## Sshire (Sep 23, 2013)

Becoming Unhinged

First, thanks for all the comments. ArnoldB said that there is something about an engine running on steam. I never realized how amazing it is. I like engines that have lots of things moving. Probably why I added a propellor to Elmer's 3 cylinder radial: nothing happens to suggest the engine is even running, other than the rotary valve behind the plexi valve cover.
Adding steam to the mix is like a 3 ring circus. Lots happening in many places.

So back to the build. This is where we last saw the engine.





Actually, it was here, at the garden party.





The upper doors and casting being fettled.





And post-fettle.





I was able to make good use of my woodworking clamps.





With the doors clamped in position, and using the casting hinge pin holes which had already been drilled, these holes guided the drill in making hinge pin holes in the doors.





I did straighten the doors before drilling.





After polishing the shell, I was very careful not to put more scratches in while I drilled for the chimney casting screws.





When I was adjusting the burner flame, the burner kept trying to escape. It really needed something to fix it in place in the firebox. The first step was marking the position for the burner tube in the firebox.





And then drilling in the rear casting.





The Bix Burner in position.





A 1"x1" x .5" piece of brass thru drilled for the burner tube then cross-drilled and threaded for setscrews.





Next, clearance holes for 4-40 brass fillister head screws.





The part was aligned with the hole in the casting and the holes were transfer punched to the rear casting.





Then spot drilled, drilled and tapped 4-40









Another adventure in "Now how do I clamp THIS casting?"





The mount screwed to the rear casting and set screws tightened on the burner tube.





A view from the top.


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## Philjoe5 (Sep 24, 2013)

Really nice work Stan.  Steam does add that extra special aspect to running the engine don't you think?

Engine running on air = kissing your mom
Engine running on steam = kissing your girlfriend
                                                                     - anon -

Cheers,
Phil


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## Sshire (Sep 24, 2013)

While they do run on air, with steam I'm now hooked on the sounds, the visuals, the plumbing and all that goes with it.


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## skyline1 (Sep 25, 2013)

Hi Stan 
 I quite agree 

A compressor just isn't as much fun as a proper hissing, gurgling boiler with all it's foibles. Stuck check valves, odd steam weeps, and injectors that need cooling down with a cold rag before they will "pick up".

Coal fired ones are even more fun, and very tiring !

Either way lots of opportunities  to use the oilcan , I like your dis lube BTW very neat

Steam Turbines won't even run on air without changing the nozzle geometry, well they will, but they just poddle round at few thousand revs, it's only when you get 'em on steam that they really take off.

@philjoe

Nice analogy mate spot on

Regards Mark


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## alde (Jun 27, 2014)

Stan,

I know this is an old thread but it's new to me and I wanted to thank you for the great detailed information. I have both this kit and the vertical kit and have been a bit intimidated by them. Only a couple of days ago I started on the vertical BLR-1 and your photos and descriptions are a huge help. This is my first real project using my lathe and mill so it's a bit of a challenge for me. I already had to order a new top casting because I messed up the first one.

Thanks again, Al


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