Romulus build

[Fred_V]

Fred,
What rpm did you run the hole saw? Lubricant or not? Will need to make a 2.25" diameter hole in a boiler you already know about.

I ran it at about 100 RPM with cutting oil. It never got hot or smoked. Cut through in about 10 minutes. I was a bit surprised as I had not done that before.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Fred,
What rpm did you run the hole saw? Lubricant or not? Will need to make a 2.25" diameter hole in a boiler you already know about.

I ran it at about 100 RPM with cutting oil. It never got hot or smoked. Cut through in about 10 minutes. I was a bit surprised as I had not done that before.

Thats what I did cutting the holes in my boiler barrel. Went pretty quick and easy with a bimetal hole saw. Now its all ready for the big metal hot glue gun!

[NP317]

I also drilled the holes in my 2-8-2 smokebox with a hole saw.
Low rpm and oil lube. Took about 10 minutes.
Patience and a steady hand were requirements because of the lack of rigidity using my drill press.
I used the machined saddle assembly for support, and it worked rather well.
I now have a milling machine large enough to do this job with a more "proper" method.
Next time...
~RN

[Fred_V]

Fred,
What rpm did you run the hole saw? Lubricant or not? Will need to make a 2.25" diameter hole in a boiler you already know about.

I ran it at about 100 RPM with cutting oil. It never got hot or smoked. Cut through in about 10 minutes. I was a bit surprised as I had not done that before.

Thats what I did cutting the holes in my boiler barrel. Went pretty quick and easy with a bimetal hole saw. Now its all ready for the big metal hot glue gun!

Tristan, what will you use to bed the stack to the smokebox? I was thinking high temp. RTV.

[Soot n' Cinders]

I ran it at about 100 RPM with cutting oil. It never got hot or smoked. Cut through in about 10 minutes. I was a bit surprised as I had not done that before.

Thats what I did cutting the holes in my boiler barrel. Went pretty quick and easy with a bimetal hole saw. Now its all ready for the big metal hot glue gun!

Tristan, what will you use to bed the stack to the smokebox? I was thinking high temp. RTV.

I haven't decided yet. Probably either Permatex or the high temp RTV, but I was going to post this question on here as well.

[Fred_V]

Today's job was to get fittings and make an adapter to connect the 1/2" tube flare fitting to the 1/4" pipe thread fitting coming from the exhaust port. The flare fitting has a 3/8" female pipe thread. I made the adapter so I could get the length needed to get the tube fitting up into the smoke box and accessable. I'll use the 1/2" copper tubes to make the exhaust/blast nozzle.
A 3/8" copper tube will connect the dry pipe from the boiler to the steam chests. The owner wanted all this inside the smokebox saddle rather than outside as the prints called for. I had to remove the left cylinder and redo the steam feed pipes to move the supply line to the side so as to clear the exhaust. Again the prints called for the supply to be to the rear of the exhaust tubes.

[tomc]

Hi Fred, we found the copper in the smokebox rotted out every few years for the blower line. We ended up using SS and it has held up better. Enjoy following your threads.

Tom C.

[Fred_V]

Tom, I've had that problem too and have made sheet metal cover to protect the copper. So far it's been working. SS is so darn hard to work with; I hate it.
Glad you like the posts. This is mostly for the owner to keep up with what is happening here. I always enjoying seeing what others are doing too.

[Soot n' Cinders]

What some of the guys up here do it buy braided stainless tube casing from McMaster Carr and put that around the copper lines.

[Fred_V]

Thanks Tristan, I'll look that up.

[Fred_V]

The last 2 days have been spent trying to get a workable exhaust nozzle set up. After trying flare fittings and copper tubing failed I was successful today with pipe and a made up top fitting.

[Fred_V]

Today I plumbed up the steam feed to the cylinders. I'll make sheet metal plates to cover the big hole and seal things off. Next is the blower tube and that will finish the smokebox.

The 2nd pic was taken from under the smokebox saddle. You can see the steam feed coming down and the exhaust tubes going up.