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JasonB, thanks a lot for the video link. Yes, it was interesting. About 5 years ago, my wife and I went to a steam school at the Denton Farm Park, NC. We had the opportunity to plasma cut some tubes out and then go through the process on installing new ones. I totally agree with you on boiler...

Thank you gentlemen, if it were a snake it would have bitten my right pinky off. Try as hard as I can to proof read before I post, there seems to be a mistake in content or just plan wording.

Giovanni, I am not sure. Maybe some others can jump in here to answer that question. I did silver soldered a copper boiler yet to be pressurized. The flue tubes specs for that build was 5/16" OD x 0.032" wall. It is suppose to be able to carry 100 psig. I figure a wall thickness of 0.028" should...

Yes the cars do live outside. They have never been inside since we bought the property. My wife says we bought the garage and the house just happened to come along with the deal. That poor building has been through so many things. It was a full blown photographic studio with a black and white...

Yes, I have been a very lucky guy for sure and Blessed in so many ways. The steel cabinets and maple work tops came from a renovation projects at the college where I retired from. The Kennedy and Stanely/Vidmar cabinets came from my father's workshop. I am a firm believer in a place for...

Hi Giovanni, I plan to operate the boiler around 60 psig or less. I am not going to see how high and how far I can squirt water. Just want to have some fun and blow the whistle.

I just touched base with Coles Power Models about 5/16" OD x 22 ga. copper tubing. They do have some in stock and will be glad to cut my flue tubes to length. So I placed my request with them. Thank you Dan for all your input. As I get back to the actual boiler build, I will post some pictures...

I just pulled my Coles Power Models Catalog #26 out and they list a 5/16" od by 22 ga. copper tube. That is a 0.028" wall thickness and would give us a 0.256" id. PERFECT :) I will call them Wednesday 23rd to see if they have any.

HI Dan, I understand what you are saying ! I spent the last hour or so looking for 5/16" od copper tubing. Check out this link. http://www.redmetals.com/tube_pipe/roundcoppertubing.htm It is a company in Waterbury, CT. They list 5/16" od x 0.016" to 0.065" wall thickness. I will give a call...

Dan, I went to ebay and bought one of the flue tube expanders that you flagged out for me. It is the 3/8" x 17 ga.. It arrived today. The OD of the mandrel is 0.252". The rollers actually sit a little bit below this od. McMaster-Carr has some alloy 122 copper tubing in straight lengths. The size...

Picture #5 shows what I call the dirty area. The welding bench, surface grinder, belt sanders, bandsaw and a small spray paint booth. To the left of the Miller Dialarc TIG welder is a filing machine. If you ever have the chance to get one, they are extremely handy to have. You can put different...

Yes, my workshop is called Plant #1. There is a Plant #2. It is the wood workshop. But for now I will share Plant #1 with you. Picture #1 is what you see as you walk into the shop. In the far left corner is my daughter's art area. She is a freelance graphics art designer with no room at her...

Dan, the frame work is looking great! It reminds me of the "Climax" I started 18 years ago. I lost interest in it because of the 1/4 scale CASE I had built previous to the climax start. I was having to much fun going to the tractor shows. I sold what I had on ebay. It was about 70% complete. It...

Dan, great information ! I have heard of the L/D ratio. The details I never pursued. I have marveled at some model boiler makers that brag that they have just as many tubes in their boiler as the prototype and then can not understand why the boiler will not draw a draft. I will have to do some...

I forgot to add the distance between the the tube sheets is 5 and 1/8".

Thanks for the photos on the tube roller. It is similar to what I had in mind. I was thinking of trying to use tapered pins for the rollers and then machine a tapered rod to work in the middle of the cage as shown in the pictures. But a s I type this reply I am thinking the angle on the tapered...

I called the folks at USA Industries today. They are on central time. I quiz them about the Series 900 tube roller they had listed in their online catalog. That one is no longer available. They suggested the "AN" tube roller that is for 3/8" OD by 21 gauge. the cost was around $211.00. At this...

Good Evening, The plans for the La France call for a lot of items to be made from flat stock, especially the brake levers, brackets and supports. From my perspective this would be kind of boring to look at. The four attached pictures shows the basic technique that I have applied to achieve a 3-D...

Dan, I also thank you for the link to a US dealer for the tube roller. I will give them a call Monday AM. I just had a good feeling that I came to the right spot with my questions. You guys are awesome. JasonB, I got so excited about the tube rollers that I forgot to mention thank you for the...

Hi JasonB, My only concern about a flue tube protruding, especially on the fire side, would be the end of the tube over heating and causing some damage to the tube. The protruding portion would not be in contact with the tube sheet which would act like a heat sink back to the water. In my way of...