Boiler 3
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With the barrels ready I took the opportunity to test fit the smokebox tubeplate.
Another job I've been working on is the preparations to solder the other inner firebox and tube bundle up. The first, and probably most time consuming job is to ensure that the inner firebox is a good fit around the plates. 8BA bolts are used to hold the bits in situ during this process. Here are some pics of the inner firebox bolted up.
I've also made a start on the outer firebox wrappers. After initial annealing the plate was formed to the approximate form before a second annealing to take care of those little details. Here's the annealing in process.
I must admit that one of my favourite part of the boiler work has been the actual platework. There's nothing quite like just you and a hammer - makes you feel like an artisan ! It taakes quite a bit of time to get the plate just right but it's strangely relaxing. As with the inner firebox the outer firebox is 'bolted up' during assembly. In the pics below note the backhead drilled ready for the bushes to be soldered in situ.
NEW 29/06/2003
When I assembled the first tube bundle I never got round to taking any pictures except the before and after. So on setting up the second tube bundle I thought I better sort that out. So firstly here are a couple of pics of the tubes and firebox being assembled.
The white card in the background is a laminated diagram of the smokebox tubeplate with each tube being numbered. You can also see the flux spread around the tubeplate.