Building the 2.5" Scale Shay

[jlakes85]

Sounds good. What mods did you have to make to accommodate the bump up to 3/4 in flues?

[Soot n' Cinders]

Sounds good. What mods did you have to make to accommodate the bump up to 3/4 in flues?

I lost two flues. I could only fit 16 3/4 flues where there were 18 5/8. Oddly enough that gave me slightly more surface area with the flues, but not enough to make a difference.
Another change I made based on material availablity is I went with all 3/8" A516-70 plate instead of the 5/16" and 1/2" A515-70 that was called for in the plans.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Well the fire sheets are done! The girder stays are tacked in place and will be finished next. Then its on to the mudring and grinding the firering. Welding that elliptical ring in place should be interesting...

[jlakes85]

Looking good. How hot did you run the cover pass?

[Soot n' Cinders]

As hot as I could, 180 amps. Slow goings cause my machine only has a 20% duty cycle at 180.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Well, I got the girder stays welded on today and the mudring tacked in place and a seal weld placed on the water side.
Discovered a bit of a problem though. I misread the prints and had the fire ring made to the wrong dimensions, so its too large and sits between the sheets when it was supposed to pass all the way through both sheets. Since the firedoor is elliptical, this poses a bit of a problem. Its too expensive to have the waterjet place cut a new ring, so how do I go about making one myself?

[Harold_V]

Since the firedoor is elliptical, this poses a bit of a problem. Its too expensive to have the waterjet place cut a new ring, so how do I go about making one myself?

Depending on its nature, you may be able to reduce the OD with a rotab. Posting a picture, with a better description of what needs to be done would really help, as not all of us are familiar with what you're talking about (I am not).

Harold

[FLSTEAM]

Actually I made my fire door ring from a piece of 4" pipe. Just smack it with a sledge hammer until it gets to the shape you want. It's been a while so check the dims.

John B.

[Soot n' Cinders]

Actually I made my fire door ring from a piece of 4" pipe. Just smack it with a sledge hammer until it gets to the shape you want. It's been a while so check the dims.

John B.

Thanks John! I guess I was making it harder than it needed to be. Sounds like if it don't fit, get a bigger hammer.

[FLSTEAM]

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

[FLSTEAM]

I just checked and it looks like it was 3.5" pipe.

JB

[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.