2-1/2" NG class A shay.

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Brian Hilgert
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Thanks Tristan,
With all of the stuff going on in my life right now... I think I made the right decision letting my friend do the welding. There are more boilers in the future where I will have the opportunity to weld.

Our process is actually working out very good, I do all the grinding and weld prep work and all he does is tig, tig and more tig welding.
The following are some in process pictures of welding the firebox.
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Brian Hilgert
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Boiler weld prep work
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The fire box is finished, welded inside and out.
I just placed the outer firebox wrapper over the fire box just to see how everything lines up. The outer wrapper is just tacked together and needs to come apart for more weld prep. it too will be welded inside and out when attached to the barrel.
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NP317
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by NP317 »

Nice work!
Looking at the crown sheet stays, it seems appropriate to weld the ends too, so that there are no gaps to collect water or scale which could cause hidden corrosion between the top of the crown sheet and the bottom of the bridge stays. I can see a small gap in the photos.
Maybe they got welded and I just can't see that detail in later photos.
Good welder.
~RN
Soot n' Cinders
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Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:24 pm
Location: Marietta, Georgia

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Soot n' Cinders »

Definitely looks good! Better than my job with my TIG, but then again I don't get paid to do it.... Be prepared to have a hoist for that thing though. I've made good use of my engine hoist picking mine up and taking it on and off the frame
-Tristan

Projects
-2.5" scale Class A 20 Ton Shay

Steam Siphon: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/leavitt ... tive-works
Brian Hilgert
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

it seems appropriate to weld the ends too
I believe what you are seeing is a chamfer from when I was de-burring the support. We did not weld the very ends. That is easy enough to do but since the supports have open arches for circulation, I do not think that we can get the weld torch in between the arches to seal up in between.
Be prepared to have a hoist for that thing though
. I've got the engine hoist ready. I lifted the shell to put it on the chassis myself for the NAMES show.... That was just plain stupid. :roll:
Brian Hilgert
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

It has been a while since I have posted anything on the shay project. The last several months have been filled with moving into the new house and getting settled. along with that, I've been working non-stop on my old house to get it ready to sell. This all involved finishing up the remodeled bathrooms, halfway remodeling the kitchen, Painting the whole house, tearing up carpeting, sanding and refinishing the hardwood floors, refinishing the basement, refinishing the deck, etc, etc... The majority of the work on the house is finish and it is currently sending sale. Along with all of this, I accepted a new job with a different company. It's crazy how everything happens at once.

Our new house has a really nice 2 story barn style garage. It is very solidly built but lacks insulation and a heat source. I was able to insulate the bottom of the garage and hang 1/2 OSB board before moving the machines in. I was hoping to get it primed and painted white, but I just ran out of time. Yesterday was the moving date for the machines. At first, I thought about tackling this job myself. After all, my father and I moved all of the machines into my old house, but that was over a span of years as I acquired one machine at a time. My father, Being wiser than myself, talked me into having riggers move the equipment. I'm so glad that we did, We spend all day yesterday moving the machinery.

Moving the Mills out of the old little 2 car garage
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All loaded up and ready to move to the new house
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My Oldest son, Helping out and getting dirty
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Moving into the new garage
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Brian Hilgert
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Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

The machines are all nestled in their new home. I still have to make some minor adjustments and level the machines.
Pictures are in the following post

It's still going to be awhile before I will be able to make chips again.

I still need to insulate the 2nd floor and ceiling. My plan is to use OSB board on the lower level walls for durability. I'll hang drywall on the ceilings and upper level walls. The current 30 Amp service will be upgraded to 70 or 80 amps. I need to install my homemade roto-phase and wire up the machines. The walls and ceiling will be painted white and Lighting will be upgraded to new LED shop lights. I need to run a gas line, mount the heater and install the exhaust vent. I am debating on going with a new heater that has a power exhaust. That way, I can just go straight out the side of the garage and not worry about going vertical all the way above the roofline. I do not do well on ladders.

I still have so much to do.
Brian Hilgert
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

For some reason, the pictures in the last post didn't come up and I cant find out how to edit my post.
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jcbrock
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Location: Oregon

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by jcbrock »

I've been doing the same Brian, and my Shay has been stalled for 2 years. But I've got the shop done and am about to order machine tools and was also going the rigger route. I've done it myself, but am now older and wiser. I insulated a 16x24 space as the machine shop portion and am using a packaged terminal a/c (PTAC) unit with heat pump for heat and a/c. It took a separate 20A 220v circuit but that was easier than running a gas line, and so far seems pretty economical. Your space looks bigger so maybe gas is the way to go there. LED shop lights are great, got mine at Costco for between $20 and $30.
John Brock
Brian Hilgert
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by Brian Hilgert »

Good luck with your shop John. Running a gas line is not going to be an easy task, I could do electric heaters but that would be too $$$. Another problem that I have is that the garage is two stories. I have enough insulation to do both the top and bottom and I eventually want the utilize the shop for a wood shop or a model railroad room or what ever else tickles my fancy. Right now it will just be storage for the mass amount of car parts that I have accumulated over the years. I do not have the top layer filled yet so now is the best time to insulate it. With the heat, my thoughts are to have a forced air gas heater on the lower level and let the heat travel up the stairs to the upper level. I can always put a horizontal door over the top of the stairs to keep the heat on the first level. I don't know much about Heat pumps, they are not too common around here. Thanks for the tip on Costco... I'll check that out. I've been looking at Sam's club and they are right at $30 each.
jcbrock
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Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 7:50 pm
Location: Oregon

Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by jcbrock »

I think the idea of letting the heat travel up would work, you might need a box fan assist. My Minnesota shop was 24x32 with a 9' ceiling. I heated it with a 50,000 BTU Modine unit ceiling-hung and that was way more than I needed (R-19 walls, R-38 ceiling) to give you another data point. If I recall that was the smallest Modine I could get. Western Oregon is so mild and electricity is so cheap that getting A/C and heat with the heat pump works well here (11000-12000 btus is more than enough).
John Brock
rkcarguy
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Re: 2-1/2" NG class A shay.

Post by rkcarguy »

Being you are TIG welding the boiler, something that might help, is you can do a small root pass, then purge the inside of the boiler with shielding gas and finish weld it. It makes the welds look like they were done from both sides and should leave you minimal gaps or edges to accumulate scale or start seam corrosion. We do this when welding stainless piping for food/dairy products because there is ZERO allowance for any edges bumps or bubbles that might retain product which will spoil and potentially contaminate future product.
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