The Home Machinist!

Picked this up 2 years ago from son (75 years old) of Man who built it . Father(92 Years old) ran it in his back yard on 50' of raised track. He also belonged to GGLS club in Ca. Don't know if he ran it there. Had a flat car (Don't Have )for water and can of coal. No Tender. First boiler (steel ) proved not to be successful so he had a copper boiler built for it off the plans book LE provided with kit. It has a combustion chamber in it just like drawings shows. Nicely done . I ran the chassis on air and it ran ok but I think it will need some reworking. I think its a bit loose?? Back to the boiler > It had some piping on the back head when I picked it up as can be seen on one of the pictures including a working gauge. I believe the missing domes are inc and only one pair of side frames are inc for the tender trucks. Good thing is that there is a set of patterns for the frames that I'm including with purchase of these pieces so you can cast some extras for sale if so desired. I also have the build book that Lewis sold with these castings. Shipping will be based on zip code. Don't know weight yet but its heavy. Machining of trucks ,Drivers ,cylinder block etc seem to be VG. There is a small corner piece missing on saddle where smoke box mounts. Should not be a problem . Won't affect bolting or air leak problem. Also inc was a new Throttle being built for smoke box. There is another Throttle inc but don't know if it didn't work or builder decieded to build a new 0ne.???
I'm asking 2000.00 for whats here . Theres a box of extra stuff inc. I know that this was the most popular 3/4" Little Engines marketed . There are a ton of them out there. Heres your chance to own one. This is the 4th one I have sold. Thanks for looking !!!
Bob..........

dare I ask what the boiler is soldered with?

Bill- All silver soidered. Im going to clean the shell so its looks like its new condition. I believe the owner had it built after his steel boiler failed but never fired it. Thanks for your question.
Bob....

not sil-fos or cos-copper which was very common that vintage

I a friend got burned on one many years ago that was that vintage and the stuff had gone porous in the firebox..no fixing it (I tried before making a new boiler).

is OK on propane or diesel (low sulfur).

I know you wouldn't sell something with a leaky boiler....

Bill Shields wrote:not sil-fos or cos-copper which was very common that vintage

Since Sil-fos soldered boilers do not leak until possibly after decades of use, how can you tell what type of solder was used? Is there a chemical method?

It's not difficult to see the difference between clean specimens if the silver solder has a silver content above 15%. There is also normally a visible difference in the shape of the flow. Phos-copper can be, and often is, built up. Silver solder normally does not build up although blobs and fillets can occur and not lay down with additional heat.

I will say that Sil-fos is much more friendly to work with .No flux is needed and the copper only has to be clean. Not shinny. I have welded many boilers in the past and worked with 55% silver. Good old Cadium bearing . Breath deep !!! Just kidding. I got 4 rolls from the Forest service. They were tossing it because they thought it was brazing rod. I repaid lender with about 10 lbs of brazing rod and 2 cans of flux , if I remember right. Not a bad trade. Each roll of silver weighed 5 lbs I think and the wire was 1/8" Thick . Oh yes I still have a roll and its NOT FOR SALE !!!

This engine tentatively sold .

Original Buyer dropped out due to health issues. I will kick in 100.00 towards shipping now. Thanks Bob........

Bill Shields wrote:not sil-fos or cos-copper which was very common that vintage

I a friend got burned on one many years ago that was that vintage and the stuff had gone porous in the firebox..no fixing it (I tried before making a new boiler).

is OK on propane or diesel (low sulfur).

I know you wouldn't sell something with a leaky boiler....

The illustrious Mr. Shields states:
"not sil-fos or cos-copper which was very common that vintage"

Would he not mean to say "Phos-Copper" ??

KRK

yes....early morning type.....phos copper is an alloy used industrially. You don't see if very often in our models, but it is there. I have used it on boilers that run propane only/

Still have it bob?