The Home Machinist!

Nice work, Marty.

Your welding is neater than my caulking the bathtub!

Steve

Thank you Steve, but that is Glenn Grasley's welding. He has been working with me for the last five years, and is about the best welder I've known.

Marty,

Looks great. A lot more hydraulic press oragami than the shay boiler. What type of Miller Tig machine is that in the background? Looks like a 3 phase machine.

Regards,

John

jlakes85 wrote:Marty,

Looks great. A lot more hydraulic press oragami than the shay boiler. What type of Miller Tig machine is that in the background? Looks like a 3 phase machine.

Regards,

John

Hi John - Thank you!
It is a Miller Dialarc HF, a 300 amp machine for TIG and Stick. We do have 3 phase in the shop, but that is a single phase machine.

Here Glenn is welding the stays inside the firebox. The vacuum is set up to draw the fumes out.

The stand wouldn't go low enough to level the mud ring, so Glenn improvised. A length of pipe made a good support.

Here are some views of the inner firebox.

Here is the inner firebox after welding. The pipes keep it from distorting from the welds.

Wow...!

Here Glenn is lapping the dome base.

Here he is lapping the dome cap. We have a large lapping plate, a small lapping plate, and a hand lap. We use Timesaver non-imbedding lapping compound. The flatter the mating surfaces are, the easier it is to get them to seal.

Marty, the boiler looks great. I have a question about the through stays, what size of pipe do you use for that? Sch 80?

Thanks Tim