Building the 2.5" Scale Shay

[Soot n' Cinders]

Well, more welding done today although not as much as I would've liked. Got a piece of filler rod that evidently had something on it and that gave me a section of root weld with porosity along the mudring. So after letting things cool down a bit I got the grinder out and took out the porous sections and got them rewelded. Filling that back in took a whole stick of 1/8" filler but it all looks like it should now, just more weld there than intended.
So along with getting the mudring welded to the inner sheets, I also got the engineers side outer sheet welded on and the washout half coupling tacked in. Next step is the throat sheet follow by the firemans side sheet. The backhead sheet will be one of the last to go on I think, I want to be able to see in the barrel as the firebox goes in and also possibly for rolling the flues in. So not much longer till the firebox gets set aside and the barrel drug out to get the dome, water couplings, and all internal plumbing.

[Soot n' Cinders]

I guess you could do the same thing in a shop press. BTW it could have been a 3" pipe but I think it was 4"

JB

I'll try the press first, I think the neighbors will appreciate that. Especially after all the grinding that's been going on around here.
I'll do a little research on squashing pipe into an oval and see what I can come up with for a size.

I did some research and the perimeter of the ellipse in the boiler drawings is the same as the outside circumference of 4" tube. So I will order a piece of 4" DOM tubing and throw it in the press when it gets here and see what happens.

And on a side note, I've been talking to a fellow in Germany who has put some 2.5" scale working gladhands up on Shapeways. They look nice, I'll probably get some when I get to that point on the shay. Then just need some angle cocks and an air compressor.

[Trainman4602]

How are you going to get 100% weld on the side sheet and main barrel. Not good You should have put in your stays last. Your are only welding one side of them anyway.

[Soot n' Cinders]

How are you going to get 100% weld on the side sheet and main barrel. Not good You should have put in your stays last. Your are only welding one side of them anyway.

I don't follow. The joint between the barrel and the side sheets is going to be a grooved open root weld, and therefore should get 100% penetration anyway. I just have not ground the bevel on the sheet yet as I don't want it to corrode between now and the time the firebox gets mated to the barrel.
Doing the stays first on the inner sheets is a trick I picked up from Marty Knox. And so far it's worked out well, it would've been a headache for me trying to weld the stays inside the finished firebox given its fairly narrow but tall.

[Trainman4602]

Well I guess so I just do it differently the you are. I tig the entire boiler as far as the girder stays are concerned I would rather use conventional stays but it would be difficult to tig them deep in there. I would use a straight tig torch.

Being in the business, I do build the occasional boiler , just finished one. I don't like to comment on how I construct them.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Well I guess so I just do it differently the you are. I tig the entire boiler as far as the girder stays are concerned I would rather use conventional stays but it would be difficult to tig them deep in there. I would use a straight tig torch.

Being in the business, I do build the occasional boiler , just finished one. I don't like to comment on how I construct them.

Well to each his own. I dont think radial crown stays are needed given how stout our boilers are, the girder stays should provide plenty of support. Especially since mine are 5/8" wide on a 6" wide crown.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Got the firebox assembly done for now! Both side sheets and the throat sheet completely welded. Also chased the threads in the washout holes, pretty neat looking through them already. Still think Im gonna wait to put the backhead on till the firebox is mated to the barrel but havent decided yet. It cant go on till the new firetube gets here anyway. This sucker is heavy enough as it is, probably in the 90 pound range but I'll weigh it tonight after it cools off. The whole thing is around 150F on average right now so its too hot to handle, much less set on a plastic bathroom scale.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Had to test fit the barrel when I brought everything in. Starting to look like a boiler!

[Brian Hilgert]

Your Boiler is coming along real nice. I'll be starting on my soon. Did you make your firebox narrower than Johns?

[Soot n' Cinders]

Brian, it is 1/4" narrower than johns as I went with 3/8" plate instead of 5/16" but the same 5/8" mudleg.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Not much going on lately. Couldn't weld today because of the rain and storms so it was a shop day and will probably continue to be after dinner.
I got the top of the steam dome machined flat and smooth and drilled and tapped the holes for the lid bolts. Also got the inner radius of the barrel marked on the dome pipe so all I need to do is grind away the excess metal. Last machining to do is the flanges for the throttle line and opening up the hole in the back head for the throttle packing gland.
Gonna get my flues this week and have also lined up the use of a flue roller. Won't be long before this thing is ready for the initial hydro. Also thinking of doing a boil out procedure. Anybody ever done one on a new boiler before?

[FLSTEAM]

"Also thinking of doing a boil out procedure. Anybody ever done one on a new boiler before?"

You can do a boil out but just a good wash out is fine. If you have any oil left from reaming and rolling you might get some pull over in the steam dome for the first firing. No big deal...

John B.